Chapter 244
"Szzzz . . . "
A hazy humanoid silhouette slowly emerged by the side of Fang Tan, hissing like a snake .
Before it got near, the duo including Fang Tan felt a bone-piercing chill pressing into their bodies . Goosebumps popped up all over their skin .
A thick stench of demonic aura emanated across the ground, covering the entire area within it completely .
Extraordinarily, this aura was tightly contained within the area and did not leak out in the slightest .
"This . . . this is . . . !?" Fang Tan could feel his teeth clattering against each other . Such intense demonic aura pointed only to a Great Demon . There was no second possibility .
Demonic aura was a very peculiar entity . It looked like fog, but was actually something else . To humans, demonic aura was more like a unique hazy substance produced by mixing the scent of demons with energy radiating from them .
It was grayish-white and looked indistinguishable from fog . But one could pick up a subtle scent from it . It was the natural scent of demons, produced by their bodies . At times, it was even corrosive and carried other dangerous properties . In fact, it was often mistaken for toxic fumes .
Presently, the duo including Fang Tan could smell a foul odor . It was obviously the raw stench of a snake .
"Run!" Fang Tan pulled Zhan Hongsheng away .
Without warning, a heartbeat-like rhythm resounded across the area .
"Bthump . "
Fang Tan's face was as white as paper as he knelt on the ground, frozen . He had almost collapsed to the ground . A mouthful of blood gushed out of his mouth the moment he opened it .
"Big Brother . . . Fang! Help . . . help me . . . " Zhan Hongsheng felt a stabbing pain in her chest . Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth . Her face was likewise drained of all color as she fell limply on the ground .
"This is . . . a Great Demon's Heartbeat Resonance . . . Hongsheng! Hang in there . . . I'm going to get teacher and the rest . You've got to hang in there!" Fang Tan struggled and was barely able to pull himself up . With a flicker, he mustered his black membrane which encircled him like a cloak . For a few seconds' span, he was bolstered with an ounce of strength . With a giant stride, he leapt away from the direction of the Great Demon and vanished on the plains in the blink of an eye .
"Big brother Fang . . . " Zhang Hongsheng was hardly able to speak a further word . But as she stared at Fang Tan's vanishing back, it was as if something in her heart shattered .
"What identity should I use?" A deep, hoarse and strange voice rang out abruptly .
Zhan Hongsheng was gripped with fear . She knew that the Great Demon had arrived . Any existence called a Great Demon would at least be in the realm of Snake or above . Some Great Demons of that caliber possessed immensely powerful bodies, which produced queer effects like Heartbeat Resonance . Once prey entered its hunting range, it would be shaken by the Great Demon's heartbeat, its limbs turning limp and numb . Its internal organs would bleed and it would lose all strength, turning into prey stuck on a spider's web, waiting helplessly as the Great Demon neared it and fed on it .
That was a hunting skill developed among Great Demons who did not move fast . When amplified, it was a nightmarish, unassailable demon art .
"Bthump . . . "
"Bthump . . . "
The heartbeat gradually approached . Suddenly, it retracted all of a sudden and faded .
Finally able to breathe again, Zhang Hongsheng was overwhelmed with joy . Before she could analyze the reason for the pause, she mustered all her remaining strength and rolled towards the cargo carriage on the side, hid behind a heap of cargo and sat down against it .
"Almost gave myself away . . . oh . . . better turn off Heartbeat Resonance . " The voice rang out .
After catching her breath, Zhan Hongsheng turned her head around and peered towards the direction of the voice through the gap between goods .
A snake-headed muscular man immediately entered her view .
The head of a black python and a humanoid male body, dressed in a set of ash gray robes which barely hid his muscular frame .
Zhan Hongsheng felt relief in her heart after a glance . Snake-type demons typically had very poor sight . Most of them relied on other means to navigate the world, such as body heat or scent .
Zhang Hongsheng swiftly activated one of her bloodline secret arts which controlled one's own breathing and body heat . Fortunately, being a disciple of the Fine Garden Sect, she was skilled in controlling temperature . Had it been any others, they might have found themselves in a tight spot trying to conceal their own selves .
Flooded by relief, Zhan Hongsheng recalled how Fang Tan had abandoned her and escaped on his own . Involuntarily, grief welled up inside her . As her emotions fluctuated, however, her secret art began to waver, shocking her back into focus . She dared not let her thoughts wander any further .
'Why would a Great Demon from the snake race appear here?' Zhan Hongsheng forced herself to focus on this question .
'This is clearly the meeting place for sects in the Hundred Lineages . With so many powerful sect masters and elders present, no snake demon, not even a Great Demon, should dare to enter this area . '
Through the gap, she scrutinized this Great Demon, which had just retracted its Heartbeat Resonance .
But immediately upon sight of the demon, her heart nearly stopped beating again .
Both the head and the body of the Great Demon were morphing at a visible speed . From a muscular man, it was turning into the body of a slender woman .
Its head was continually changing from one color to another . It scales turned into human skin . Before long, its facial features had taken on the form of a familiar face, and long black hair grew out, cascading down its back .
'THIS IS!!?' Zhan Hongsheng was horrified . She could identify the name of the person that the demon had turned into .
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It was He Xiangzi! Prime Devil Sect's present Eldest Apprentice Sister He Xiangzi!!
'What on earth . . . !?'
"It's her then . The most convenient identity . " The Great Demon seemed highly satisfied with its own morphing art . After inspecting itself from top to toe and finding no flaws, its mouth cracked open in a grin as it headed for Prime Devil Sect's horse carriages .
"Senior Apprentice Sister? Why are you here alone? Where's teacher?" A familiar voice suddenly rang out from another direction .
Zhan Hongsheng paused in surprise . She recognized the owner of that voice . It was none other than that annoying disciple from Prime Devil Sect, Lu Sheng .
That arrogant, narcissistic block of ice with a paralyzed face—Lu Sheng!
'Crap!' She thought about how Lu Sheng had no idea at all that this He Xiangzi was a Great Demon in disguise . If something bad happened . . .
She dared not continue down the path of her imagination .
'I've got to alert him as soon as possible!' She tried hard to move her body . Unfortunately, her body had been too severely wounded in the Heartbeat Resonance . Right now, she was unable to budge an inch .
'He Xiangzi' laughed as she asked, "Oh, it's Junior Apprentice Brother Lu . Where's teacher? Did you see where teacher is? I specially bought teacher a small gift . I hope he'll like it . "
"Oh, I saw him on a horse carriage up north a little while ago . He's still chatting with Clan Master Floating Wanderer from Levitating Clan," Lu Sheng replied .
"Is that so? Then I'll go look for him," 'He Xiangzi' said smilingly .
"Sure . " Lu Sheng did not seem to be alone . A lady with skin fair as snow was beside him .
"In that case, I'll go look for my teacher as well and find out what caused that blast earlier . So many people around us have disappeared . They may have already gone to check out the situation," the lady said softly .
"Alright . " Lu Sheng nodded .
Zhan Hongsheng watched as the lady left and Lu Sheng began to walk in the opposite direction . She heaved a sigh of relief .
The 'He Xiangzi' that was the Great Demon in disguise was walking towards the north as if nothing was out of the ordinary .
Zhan Hongsheng's mind settled down . If two sect masters in the realm of Snake were together, they might have a chance to see through this demon's disguise .
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"Oh, wait," Lu Sheng's voice broke the silence once more . Zhan Hongsheng tensed her body nervously .
"Senior Apprentice Sister, when did you start wearing such clothes? How is it that I don't remember you wearing such an outfit before?"
"Me?" 'He Xiangzi' turned around in surprise . "Is there anything wrong with my outfit?"
Lu Sheng laughed . "Of course there is . You usually wear long robes and pants . Not to mention that on your right elbow, there's . . . "
"There's what?" 'He Xiangzi' asked, puzzled .
"Isn't there a scar there which you can't heal?" Lu Sheng frowned .
"Scar?" 'He Xiangzi' paused . She lifted up her right elbow and touched it . "It's right here, isn't it? Come and see . "
Confused, Lu Sheng looked again at her elbow . A scar really appeared on that spot .
"You . . . "
"ZAM!!"
A red flash of light streaked across in the blink of an eye .
'He Xiangzi' moved across the distance of several dozen meters in the blink of an eye, appearing right in front of Lu Sheng . A snake tongue, raw-red in color, shot out from its mouth and wrapped itself around Lu Sheng's neck like a noose .
The distance between the two of them was virtually nil .
"Then you tell me, what shape that scar is in . And this time, I'll be sure to make my disguise more convincing . . . " A creepy smile appeared on the snake demon's face .
"Boom!"
It grabbed viciously at Lu Sheng's heart .
"Clang!"
The snake demon's face changed when a metal-scratching sound rang out as its sharp claws struck Lu Sheng's chest .
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Lu Sheng looked down at the claws on his chest, then looked back up at the snake demon, which had by then morphed back into its original, snake-headed, humanoid body . A queer expression appeared on his face .
"Looks like I've been found out in the end . . . I wasn't intending to expose myself . . . "
"!!?" The snake demon stared wide-eyed, completely at a loss about what had just happened . Immediately, it felt a terrifying force gushing out from Lu Sheng's body .
Before it could even react, Lu Sheng's body inflated dramatically like a balloon .
In black smoke, his lower body turned into two extremely thick stumps like elephant legs . A giant tail, a meter thick, emerged behind him, filled with savage-looking black spikes .
He was a monster, cloaked in a layer of armor . His muscles had expanded and blackened, especially on his arms and neck, which looked as if purplish black pythons were formed around them .
Three pitch-black horns extended from his forehead . His mouth cracked open till the ears, revealing razor-sharp teeth like a saw . A single glance at them sent chills down one's spine .
In the mere span of a few breaths, Lu Sheng had turned from his previous fragile scholar's look into a three-meter-tall abomination .
"YOU!!" The snake demon had no time for further thought . Quickly, it activated its strength-amplifying demon art . The scales all over its body immediately stood up and its muscles twisted and turned madly beneath them, gathering all its physical strength and demonic power . It brought both its arms in front of him in a criss-cross as a shield .
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening boom, like an amplified war drum, blasted in the air .
The snake demon's criss-crossed arms were struck dead in the center by Lu Sheng's giant claws . Instead of flying backwards, however, it was fixed firmly into the ground like a pillar without budging .
But its entire body was quaking vigorously, as if it was receiving a terrifying force .
In her hiding spot, Zhan Hongsheng stared dumbstruck, her jaw hanging loose .
From her initial worry that Lu Sheng would be assaulted and killed by the snake demon to the sudden turning of tables, with Lu Sheng morphing into this frightening form . . .
She had no clue in the slightest what on earth had just happened .
'Isn't Lu Sheng just a recently-made disciple of the Prime Devil Sect? With that weird personality, anti-social disposition and arrogant temper which makes him disgusting to look at . . .
But . . . but . . . he suddenly turned into this . . . ' The transformation in between was simply incredulous to Zhan Hongsheng .Please download our sponsor's game to support us!