Chapter 90: A Life Saved

"My good brother Wang, my apologies. The time just now was far too short, and I truly had no chance to react. Please do not take offense," Lin Xiao said with his hands clasped behind his back.

Wang Shixin gave a bitter smile. Too short?

As a grandmaster, even those few minutes would have been enough for him to enter and exit the cave several times. Such words were far too flimsy; Lin Xiao clearly had no intention of lending a hand.

"Since that is so, then I cannot fault Grandmaster Lin," Wang Shixin said, forcing back the anger in his heart.

Before a grandmaster, however many grievances he had, he could only swallow them.

Lin Xiao sighed, then asked, "Brother Wang, when you fought that ferocious beast, did you see what it was, or what abilities it had?"

At that, Wang Shixin gave a grim smile. "I was too busy staying alive to pay attention. My apologies, Grandmaster Lin, I need to tend to my juniors' injuries."

With that, Wang Shixin took some healing medicine from the chest and went to the injured members of his clan.

Lin Xiao had stood by and watched them die without lifting a finger; that was one thing. But to have the cheek to ask him about the beast afterward? There was no way Wang Shixin would tell him.

When Luo Zhan heard this, he let out a cold snort. "If Brother Wang is unwilling to say, so be it. Since you have failed, then it is the Lin family's turn."

"Suit yourselves," Wang Shixin said indifferently.

Lin Xiao gave a soft snort and walked over to the Lin family members. "You all wait outside. I will go meet that beast myself."

The Lin family members nodded. They had no doubt whatsoever about the strength of their patriarch, and were brimming with confidence.

As for the Wang family, who had suffered such heavy losses, the Lin family looked on with thinly veiled mockery. Foolhardy and ignorant. To dare steal the spotlight before a grandmaster—now they had made themselves suffer for it.

At that moment, Lin Xiao glanced at Lu Ming and gave a loud shout. Instantly, a spear eight feet long coalesced in his hand.

Lightning coiled around the spear, crackling and snapping, its might astonishing.

Gripping the thunder spear, Lin Xiao strode toward the cave with an air of absolute confidence.

The people of the Lin family looked at the imposing figure of their patriarch, then at Lu Ming and the Wang family, and their faces were full of sneering contempt.

As for Lu Ming, he looked upon them with equal disdain.

This Lin Xiao was a man who broke his word. He had promised to rescue the Wang family, yet had stood idly by at the critical moment. Worse still, after the fact, he had the audacity to ask Wang Shixin about the beast’s strength. He was nothing but a petty man.

Watching Lin Xiao, thunder spear in hand, stride into the cave with great pomp, Lu Ming gave a cold smile.

Though he had not yet seen the beast, Lu Ming judged that one grandmaster would likely not be enough to handle it.

Before long, the beast’s roars came from within the cave, followed by deafening thunderclaps.

Clearly, Lin Xiao had already engaged the beast head-on.

At this point, the Lin family looked relaxed, showing no concern for Lin Xiao at all.

In their eyes, the patriarch had always been an invincible existence, never once meeting his match. A mere beast was naturally nothing to worry about. A grandmaster’s invincibility was not empty boasting.

Not long after, the roars from inside the cave, along with the thunder, grew ever louder. With each thunderclap, faint flashes of light repeatedly lit up the cave mouth.

That was Lin Xiao driving his thunder spear and battling the beast within the cave, the electric light from the spear proving truly formidable.

Time slowly passed, and nearly ten minutes went by. Ten minutes might be short in ordinary circumstances.

But in a contest between experts, ten minutes was far too long.

And to fight such a beast for ten minutes meant only one thing: the beast’s strength was no weaker than Lin Xiao’s. At the very least, Lin Xiao was unable to kill it in a single stroke.

The Lin family’s expressions began to turn grave.

Lu Ming, however, wore a faint smile.

He had no fondness for Lin Xiao; if the man suffered a little, it was entirely deserved.

Just then, a sudden roar burst from within the cave. A muffled peal of thunder detonated, a blinding flash burst forth, and then came the furious roar of a beast.

The Lin family members were overjoyed, thinking their patriarch had already slain the beast.

Yet on Lu Ming’s face, there was only a cold smile.

At that moment, a hurried sound of running came from the cave, followed by the crash of something enormous slamming into rock.

The Lin family members froze, trying to make sense of what was happening, when they saw Lin Xiao burst out of the cave, hair disheveled and flying about him.

The instant he emerged, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Run!"

Before the Lin family could react, they saw a ferocious beast burst out of the cave in a wild charge, opening its massive jaws to snap at Lin Xiao.

It was a giant python-like beast. Its triangular head was larger than a millstone, and a single horn stood atop it, continuously exuding green mist at a glance clearly venomous.

Its open maw was like a bottomless pit, vile and terrifying. Its body was over fifty feet long, covered in a layer of black scales, hideous beyond measure.

Now, as the giant python lunged out, snapping at Lin Xiao, everyone was stunned.

A moment later, the Wang family members recovered. Though every one of them was injured, they still struggled to their feet and fled into the distance.

Lu Ming, however, remained where he was, expression unchanged, not moving an inch.

Futu and Yamaki Miyu stood behind Lu Ming, equally motionless.

They admired Lu Ming almost blindly. With Lu Ming present, no danger in their eyes was anything at all.

By then, the python’s gaping maw had reached above Lin Xiao’s head. Lin Xiao roared, and the thunder within his spear suddenly surged. Amid flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, he thrust toward the beast’s mouth.

But the python twisted its body, dodged the strike, and lashed out with its massive tail.

That tail, seeming like cast copper and forged iron, swept across the ground, sending rocks flying in all directions. Its force was terrifying. If it struck, one would likely be smashed instantly into a pulp.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao shouted again, and within three yards around him lightning abruptly surged, thunder booming without cease, as if the Thunder God himself had descended. For a moment, his momentum was unparalleled.

He had activated his domain; it seemed his path was of the thunder and lightning attribute.

At that moment, the python’s tail had already whipped down. Lin Xiao bellowed, and within the lightning domain, his thunder spear burst with dazzling arcs of light, striking toward the python’s tail.

Boom!

With a tremendous crash, the python’s tail was knocked aside, but Lin Xiao’s lightning domain scattered in disorder, nearly collapsing.

By then, Lin Xiao’s breathing had grown strained. This python’s strength had far exceeded his expectations.

The only reason he had held on at all was that his thunder attribute happened to restrain the python’s poisonous miasma. Otherwise, he would already have been defeated.

Yet before Lin Xiao could even catch his breath, the python turned and lunged at him again, its blood-red maw snapping once more.

Inside that cavernous mouth, enormous teeth interlocked like a jagged forest. Its throat seemed a bottomless abyss; if he were bitten even once, then even with his domain shielding him, he would likely still be torn apart.

With no other choice, Lin Xiao raised his spear again and drove his true energy toward the python’s mouth. It was the beast’s only weakness, as he had discovered.

But the python repeated the same trick, twisting its body and swinging its tail once more.

There was nothing for it. Lin Xiao’s speed was simply no match for the python’s. He could only brace himself and meet the blow head-on, thrusting his spear to strike the tail.

The python’s power seemed inexhaustible, while Lin Xiao, after repeatedly using his strongest techniques, was running short of true energy. If this went on, he would exhaust himself to death.

At this point, the Lin family could only watch helplessly. In such a perilous battle, they had no way to intervene.

Even a congenital expert would likely die if they went up. Wang Shixin was the living proof. And that had been inside the cramped space of the cave; now, in this open area, the giant python could maneuver and change direction with even greater ease, making it all the harder to deal with.

They could only stare as their patriarch struggled desperately, powerless to help.

By now, they no longer had the composure or confidence they had shown earlier; panic filled every face.

Lin Xiao and the python were locked in combat, and it was obvious he was at a disadvantage. Everyone’s face had gone pale with anxiety, including the Wang family’s.

Each of them was injured and poisoned, unable to run far.

Originally, if they had rested in place and controlled their wounds, their cultivation should have allowed them to suppress the poison and slowly find a way back.

But now that the python had burst from the cave, and Lin Xiao was clearly no match for it, once Lin Xiao died, everyone here would die too. Naturally, they too grew anxious.

Only Lu Ming, Yamaki Miyu, and Futu remained standing where they were, letting Lin Xiao and the python battle before their eyes without moving an inch.

A moment later, Lin Xiao finally could not hold on any longer. With a sweep of its tail, the python shattered his domain power, and the thunder spear in his hand vanished.

Lin Xiao dropped to one knee, face ashen as he panted heavily. Then the python flicked its tail and wrapped him up, leaving only his head exposed outside.

The python’s tail tightened and tightened, while Lin Xiao summoned his last threads of true energy to resist bitterly.

The Lin family cried out in terror, but none of them dared step forward. Their patriarch was no match for it—sending them up would be no different from courting death.

Just as Lin Xiao was about to be crushed to death, Lu Ming suddenly called out loudly, "Lin Xiao, give me ten million, and I will save your life."