166. Ultimate Immortal Soul-Locking Formation

The residual warmth still lingered on her lips. The Snake Fairy bit her lip and drew closer to Xie Wuji. "I am sorry. I should not have used my charm arts just now either..."

Feeling the lingering warmth on her lips, the Snake Fairy felt an unfamiliar ripple stir deep within her heart.

"All right, let us continue... Let us get back on the road," Xie Wuji said.

The Snake Fairy followed closely behind him. "Um... my real name is Tang Xueyan. Everyone says... I look very much like my ancestor, Tang Xueyan."

"Tang Xueyan?" Xie Wuji said. "That is a beautiful name indeed."

"My mother is called Tang Qingrou," the Snake Fairy said.

A few casual words immediately eased the atmosphere slightly, but the Snake Fairy still felt somewhat apprehensive. Her heart was in a state of internal conflict; far from feeling repulsed by what had just happened, she actually felt a lingering sense of regret.

What she regretted most was that if she had not stopped herself earlier, would she now be Wuji's woman?

"Some things can only be done when two people share a mutual affection. Although we appear to be of a similar age, there are certain things I want you to know. If you are not truly fond of someone, acting in such a manner is prone to causing misunderstandings," Xie Wuji said.

Tang Xueyan's heart trembled. "Truly fond?"

"Yes. To give an example: you like him, and he likes you; you are willing to make enemies of the entire world for his sake, and he is willing to cast aside the entire world for yours. That is what it means to be truly fond," Xie Wuji said.

Having grown up entirely on Snake Island, Tang Xueyan had rarely been exposed to such concepts. Hearing Xie Wuji put it this way, she suddenly viewed the matter through an entirely different lens.

Was this what it meant to like someone? Was liking someone such a blissful thing?

After putting an end to that brief, awkward moment, the two continued on their way. However, the journey was far from peaceful, as they encountered numerous traps along the path, including falling rocks, volleys of arrows, and rolling logs. Naturally, these traps were of a relatively low tier, and thus caused no harm to either of them.

When they reached the end of the labyrinth, Xie Wuji saw people emerging successively from other exits as well. These individuals were all members of Snake Island.

"It is Wuji and the Young Island Mistress," a Snake Island disciple said.

"What are you all..."

"Young Master Wuji, look over there." That disciple gestured toward the front with his foot.

Only then did Xie Wuji realize that the eight labyrinth entrances were all viable paths. By now, the others had also walked out one after another, and at the far end of the eight exits stood a gigantic lion.

This lion was somewhat unusual, possessing three heads and standing ten meters tall with a robust physique, and it was currently resting.

It was precisely because of its massive body blocking the stairway that everyone was unable to proceed any further.

"It is the Lion King Arnas," the Island Mistress said. "Li Qianjun of the Extreme Immortal Sect has always been exceedingly fond of raising ferocious demonic beasts, and Arnas is one of them. However, Arnas has a bulky frame and can usually only serve as a siege war machine during peacetime, whereas this three-headed lion king before us is a ruthless character that kills without blinking an eye."

"A ruthless character?"

"Indeed. One head spews oil, another spews fire, and the third spews freezing mist. The oil-spouting head is quite special, for the oil it spews is no ordinary oil; it possesses extreme corrosiveness and will instantly burst into raging flames upon contact with fire, making it extremely difficult to extinguish," the Island Mistress said.

Everyone looked at this lion king with evident apprehension.

Right at that moment, XimenDeyi stepped forward and declared, "I have a way!"

"You..." Xie Wuji broke into a cold sweat, thinking to himself what kind of preposterous scheme Ximen had come up with this time.

Without further ado, Ximen immediately pulled a bottle of medicinal pills from his pocket and swaggered over. However, forcing the pill into the lion's mouth was clearly going to be fraught with difficulty.

Having no other choice, Ximen pried the lion's jaws apart, attempting to manually feed the pill so that the lion would swallow it.

Yet after two attempts, nothing seemed to have been accomplished. Just then, everyone grew tense as the eyelids of the three-headed lion king suddenly twitched, and swiftly, the lion's gaze locked onto Ximen, who was still busy tinkering.

Yet Ximen remained completely oblivious. "Hee hee hee, just look at this lion's fur—it is of such fine quality! If we were to shear a piece off to use as a blanket, it would be so warm!"

Ximen chuckled heartily. "How is it? I told you that the Integrity-Guarding and Lust-Warding Flower suits me best! Wearing it on my head makes us look like a match made in heaven, doesn't it?"

Ximen finally looked up, only to find that the three-headed lion had already lowered its head and was glaring right down at him.

"Arooo!" The three-headed lion king let out a roar, and its massive claws lashed out toward Ximen.

Ximen gave a thumbs-up and said, "Wuji, you are the best!"

Yet one of the lion's heads suddenly spat something toward Xie Wuji—and what came flying out was a string of bubbles!

Everyone around was dumbfounded, and even the lion itself looked bewildered. The lion spat once more, and still, it produced a string of bubbles.

One bubble struck Xie Wuji right on the face before popping.

"Heh heh, it seems my medicinal pill was a success! This pill is called the Realgar Lotus Root Pill. It reacts with heat energy, and once the heat energy combines with the Realgar Lotus Root Pill, it turns into bubbles. Although the air is a bit scorching, it at least managed to block its ultimate move!" Ximen laughed.

"Well done!" Seizing the opportunity, Xie Wuji closed in on the lion.

"Mountain-Shattering Strike!" Having attained the Nascent Soul stage, Xie Wuji unleashed his full strength into a Mountain-Shattering Strike aimed at the lion. Naturally, the might of this Mountain-Shattering Strike was incomparable to any executed during the Golden Core stage.

With a single collision, the lion was flipped completely upside down, its four paws flailing in the air!

Cheers erupted from the crowd. At that moment, the Snake Beauty took the lead and charged forward. With a wave of her hand, the white serpent in her grip opened its massive maw and lunged to bite the lion.

From the other sleeve of the Snake Beauty, a monster formed of dense smoke suddenly materialized, resembling yet another serpent as it lunged forward to savage the lion.

To everyone's surprise, the lion's remaining two heads reacted: one spewed a gale of freezing wind, while the other began spattering oil all over the Snake Beauty.

However, lacking the addition of flames, the destructive power of the attack was greatly diminished.

The onlookers did not let this opportunity slip by either, swarming forward in a collective assault that immediately battered the three-headed lion into a wretched state.

At that moment, the Snake Beauty leaped onto the lion's back and, with a single palm strike, dug out a tri-colored demonic core.

The Snake Beauty said, "My daughter, although your beauty-snake possesses formidable offensive power, it still cannot compare to this three-headed lion king. Why not replace your beauty-snake with this three-headed lion king instead?"

"Very well!" Tang Xueyan, the Snake Fairy, reached out and caught the demonic core. Realizing that this was not the right time to absorb it, she tucked it safely into her bosom.

With the lion finally dead, the crowd gathered together. The Snake Beauty sneered, "It seems this Dragon-Imprisoning Pavilion is nothing much after all. There are six levels in total, and two have already been cleared so easily by us. I believe that no matter what we encounter hereafter, nothing will be able to block our path!"

The crowd's confidence soared, and Ximen also obtained the pelt of the three-headed lion as he had wished.

The group ascended to the third level, only to find waiting for them eighteen disciples of the Extreme Immortal Sect.

"Tsk tsk, this is the Extreme Immortal Soul-Locking Formation. I never expected Li Qianjun to deploy these eighteen individuals here. This formation is modeled after the Immortal Heaven Sword Formation and retains roughly twenty to thirty percent of its power. We must still deal with it carefully," the Snake Beauty said.

Xie Wuji stated, "Since it is evolved from the Immortal Heaven Sword Formation, I shall test it with the Immortal Heaven Sword Formation itself to see whether the original article is mightier or the counterfeit."

As Xie Wuji spoke, thirty-six spiritual swords floated into the air around him.

"Big Brother Wuji is so handsome!" Song Xiaoyu cheered with delighted surprise nearby.

The disciples manning the opposing Extreme Immortal Soul-Locking Formation also closed in around Xie Wuji, each wearing a ferocious expression, clearly not a force to be trifled with.

"Mother, are you really going to let Wuji face those eighteen people all by himself?" Tang Xueyan asked.

The Island Mistress smiled faintly. "I, too, wish to witness just what kind of might the thirty-six lesser sword arrays within the Immortal Heaven Sword Formation truly possess."