"It's over!"
As a Soul Emperor, Shao Wanqing looked at the rapidly contracting muscles around them and collapsed weakly onto the ground, completely devoid of any will to resist.
On the other side, the female students who had only just been awakened by Xiao Lin hadn't yet fully recovered from petrification.
In this instant, among the nine people present, only Xiao Lin was still able to maintain fighting intent.
"What kind of trash are you—aren't you a Soul Emperor?!"
Xiao Lin cursed angrily. The surrounding muscles were contracting at terrifying speed. In less than three seconds, this place would be compressed so tightly that not even an ant could squeeze through.
When faced with danger, one must not sit around waiting to die.
Xiao Lin proactively moved to the sides, watching as the muscles above, below, left, and right crushed his ice bit by bit. He quickly realized his calculations had been wrong.
If it were only two sides closing in, there might still be three seconds.
But this was compression from all directions—up, down, left, and right.
Even two seconds would be impossible.
Xiao Lin's thoughts raced. The instant he realized his miscalculation, he launched his counterattack.
His fourth soul ring flashed. The black soul ring was inconspicuous in the dim, flesh-filled tunnel.
But soon, to the shock of Shao Wanqing and the others, Xiao Lin's Coiling Dragon Staff suddenly expanded.
An ice-blue Coiling Dragon Staff shot out at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly breaking through the compression of flesh and violently piercing a hole through the Medusa Snake's abdomen.
First came the absolute zero of ultimate ice. The extreme cold instantly froze the Medusa Snake's flesh, causing its muscles to stiffen and lose control.
Then the frozen flesh shattered like glass as the indestructible Coiling Dragon Staff punched straight through it. The hole ruptured along with the frozen flesh—without even a drop of blood spilling out.
However, the intense pain and severe injury finally made the Medusa Snake notice Xiao Lin and the others inside its belly.
It couldn't understand how there were still living people inside its abdomen.
But as a soul beast nearing a hundred thousand years of age, the Medusa Snake's intelligence was no less than that of an adult human.
Very quickly, it began to thrash violently across the entire swamp.
Such violent movements were enough to make anyone inside its stomach unable to stand.
At the same time, it focused its attention, attempting to unleash another mental shock to attack Xiao Lin.
Unfortunately for it, as nothing more than a beast, it had still underestimated Xiao Lin.
First of all, ordinary soul masters indeed couldn't maintain stability inside a thrashing snake's body—but Xiao Lin could.
The moment he used ultimate ice, Xiao Lin had already frozen his footing in place.
Then the violent thrashing only served to amplify the power of his Comet Star Trace Slash to its maximum.
With the Medusa Snake's own movements assisting him, the indestructible Coiling Dragon Staff smashed through its back as easily as shattering glass.
Before long, a passage large enough for several people to pass through simultaneously appeared above Xiao Lin.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?!"
Xiao Lin roared angrily. The moment his voice fell was also when the Medusa Snake finally focused its attention on him.
At that instant, Xiao Lin felt a violent blow strike the back of his head.
The intense pain went straight to his spiritual body, leaving him stunned.
It felt as though his cerebellum had been struck—Xiao Lin lost his balance almost immediately as he blacked out.
Fortunately, even after suffering such a heavy mental blow, his spirit itself wasn't harmed; he was just temporarily unable to get up.
At the same time, Shao Wanqing—who had been shouted at by Xiao Lin—finally snapped back to her senses.
She fully unleashed the power befitting a Soul Emperor.
With just a simple martial soul possession, her strength was enough to throw the Tianshui team members out through the massive hole that had been pierced open.
Three!
Six!
After tossing out the Tianshui Academy students, Shao Wanqing hesitated as she prepared to throw out the last student—and Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin had saved them. She should have taken both the remaining student and Xiao Lin out together.
But Xiao Lin was unconscious now, and both his body and hands were tightly gripping the Coiling Dragon Staff, which was more than ten meters long.
That staff was far too heavy—just getting close to it made her feel tremendous pressure.
If it were only Xiao Lin, taking him out might have been manageable, but she simply couldn't pry his hands free.
Xiao Lin's grip was like it had been welded to the Coiling Dragon Staff—there was no way to loosen it.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want to save you."
After less than a second of consideration, Shao Wanqing made her final decision—to abandon Xiao Lin.
She would take herself and the student out first.
As for whether Xiao Lin could escape, she could only look for another solution after getting out.
However, just as Shao Wanqing was about to grab the last student and jump out through the giant opening—
A powerful mental force locked onto her.
The seventy-thousand-year Medusa Snake was far from stupid. After hearing Xiao Lin's shout, it had already realized there was more than one person inside its belly.
Sure enough, through the observation of its many smaller snake heads, it discovered Shao Wanqing throwing her students outward.
Throw them, then—just a bunch of petrified trash anyway.
The Medusa Snake didn't care in the slightest about those worthless beings escaping. It instead gathered its mental power, preparing another mental shock.
In the next second, Shao Wanqing suffered the same fate as Xiao Lin.
Only, compared to Xiao Lin, she felt as though her brain had turned into tofu smashed by a hammer.
In an instant, Shao Wanqing completely lost consciousness.
She didn't even manage to send out the last student.
Seeing the final result, countless small snakes on the Medusa Snake's head danced wildly, its massive body swaying triumphantly.
"Utterly foolish!"
Just when the Medusa Snake thought it had killed both Xiao Lin and Shao Wanqing—
Xiao Lin's voice echoed from within its abdomen.
It was unclear whether the word "foolish" was directed at the Medusa Snake or at Shao Wanqing.
Having already been hit once by the Medusa Snake's mental shock, how could Xiao Lin possibly fall for the same move a second time?
The moment Xiao Lin was attacked, his Coiling Dragon Staff had already been prepared.
When the Medusa Snake's powerful mental shock attempted to invade Xiao Lin's sea of consciousness, it was blocked outside by the immense power of the Coiling Dragon Staff.
Xiao Lin's blackout was merely because his own mental strength was not yet sufficient to completely repel the attack at the boundary of his consciousness space.
But even before losing consciousness, Xiao Lin had already made preparations.
The instant he resolved to exit his consciousness space, he planned to call upon the two Dragon Kings and Lei Lei for help.
The moment Xiao Lin blacked out, the two Dragon Kings and Lei Lei let out a dragon roar within his consciousness space—and Xiao Lin instantly regained awareness.
A mere Medusa Snake—its mental strength wasn't even stronger than Lei Lei's.
At that very moment, soul rings—one yellow, two purple, and one black—unfolded beneath Xiao Lin.
With the powerful enhancement from his soul rings, this time the strengthening wasn't limited to the Coiling Dragon Staff alone.
In order to defeat the Medusa Snake, Xiao Lin enhanced both his weapon and his body simultaneously—letting both bloom together.
In the next second, before the Medusa Snake's astonished gaze—
Shao Wanqing and the final girl were hurled out by Xiao Lin.
This time, the price had to go up, Xiao Lin silently noted.
"Roar!"
Seeing that Xiao Lin was unaffected by its mental shock, the Medusa Snake erupted in rage.
It had already used its full power in that last attack. If even that couldn't kill Xiao Lin, then it had no choice but to use its strongest technique.
That was—
The Medusa Snake's Gaze.
(End of Chapter)