"Speak!"
While Jian Dan replied, her hands never stopped moving. Sword-light burst out in rapid arcs, sealing off the enemy's strikes so the black whips couldn't get close.
"This kind of thing has treasures hidden in its lair. Right now, the main body isn't here. You and the others hold this Black-Whip Electric Eel, I'll sneak into its nest and haul everything back."
Jian Dan's heart stirred. They'd come here not only to find Jian Jun but also to gather resources. Since an opportunity had shown itself, they couldn't afford to waste it. Still, she didn't give her word right away. Instead, she asked through divine sense,
"Can you really pull it off? This thing carries electricity, it's not easy to fight. If we can't hold it back and get wiped out, we'll be the ones paying the price."
"No problem. This Black-Whip Electric Eel's a fusion of plant and beast. From the root, cut it at the third joint and it'll lose all its strength. Don't waste them either, every piece is top-grade material for refining whip-shaped artifacts."
As they exchanged words, a third whip suddenly lashed out, joining the other two to attack Jian Dan and Jian Mao.
"How long will you need?" she pressed.
"Half an hour."
"Fine. Move now!"
Clenching her teeth, Jian Dan jumped to her senior brother's side and said,
"Senior Brother, my spirit pet says there's something valuable underground. We just need to hold for half an hour."
Jian Mao's sword didn't pause. The moment he heard her, he knew it had to be something priceless, otherwise she wouldn't bring it up at such a risky time.
"Alright, got it!"
Then he shouted,
"Hou San, take care of Jian Xu. Jian Chun, come over and pin down one of those whips!"
The moment he gave the order, Jian Chun charged with sword in hand, while Hou San hurried to pull the dazed Jian Xu out of the battlefield.
Rushing in, Jian Chun immediately understood Senior Brother Jian Mao's intention. He nodded and began slashing at the eel's third joint from the root upward. If one strike wasn't enough, he'd keep hacking until it broke.
The Black-Whip Electric Eel was originally just a guardian left to watch the nest. When it sensed intruders moving across its territory, it wanted to drag them back for a snack. That was why it had attacked after the group left the trading ground.
What it didn't expect was for these "bugs" to put up such resistance. Having failed to drag them down, it felt its pride trampled. The eel surged up from underground in a black mass, whips snapping as it struck at the three cultivators.
Everyone else tensed up the moment they saw that dark coil burst out of the ground. They tightened their grips on their swords, ready to jump in.
Jian Dan and Jian Mao both raised their guard, stepping nimbly to avoid the binding strikes.
Seeing this, the others couldn't stand by. Swords in hand, they rushed forward. Even if they didn't understand why Jian Mao and Jian Lu hadn't withdrawn when they had the chance, they still came to reinforce.
"One person to a whip! Aim at the third joint up from the root, strike hard! Hold it for half an hour, then we retreat. Watch each other and keep in sync!"
"Yes!"
Jian Jing, Jian Chun, Wu Siyuan, Kuang Dao, the Bai sisters, and disciples of the Purple Sky Sect all leapt from the forest, splitting up to lock down the enemy.
Meanwhile, Jian Xu finally shook off the numbness. His armor had absorbed most of the shock, otherwise he'd have blacked out completely. His quick reaction had saved him earlier, accelerating just as the eel lashed up, letting Jian Mao cut him free.
"Hou San, go check on Senior Brother and the others."
"Senior, you're not fully recovered yet. I don't dare stray too far. Right now they're fighting that Black-Whip Electric Eel. This thing's the hardest beast in the whole burial ground."
Hou San explained anxiously, his eyes darting toward the forest where the others had charged. He was itching to join, but Jian Mao's order weighed on him. If he disobeyed, the squad might think he was shirking. And resources were always divided based on effort.
"Let's go help!" Jian Xu stood up, rolling his shoulders and legs, regaining control of his body.
"This…" Hou San hesitated. He'd never seen anyone recover so quickly after being bound by an eel. After a long pause, he blurted,
"Don't force it. If you're not fully healed, you'll just drag us down." Jian Xu smiled faintly, eyes curving. He knew Hou San's concern was genuine.
"My armor blocked most of it. I'm fine now. Come on!"
"Oh? Alright then!"
Seeing Jian Xu already sprinting ahead with sword in hand, Hou San gripped his long spear and followed close behind.
Their arrival eased the pressure, but killing the eel outright was another matter. For now, they were just holding the line.
"Liu Chuan, are you done yet? We can't hold much longer!"
Jian Dan gritted her teeth, her sword flashing to knock aside a whip that almost coiled around her waist. She spun, evading another aimed at her ankle, then slammed a fist into a third whip inches from her wrist.
She was keeping three whips at bay by herself. Jian Mao was locked with two more, while the rest spread out one-on-one. Everyone fought carefully, not daring to let themselves get caught after what had happened to Jian Xu.
But time was dragging. The Bai sisters were faltering, their strength in poison techniques not in head-on combat. Only their natural bond as blood sisters let them cooperate well enough to keep two whips distracted.
Then disaster struck. One whip lashed at Bai Shuang. She dodged, but it looped under her and shot toward Bai Xia. Exhausted and a step too slow, Bai Xia was about to be bound when a sword suddenly cut in from the side, severing the whip's head clean off.
The pressure vanished instantly.
"Thank you, Brother Xu!" Bai Xia quickly shouted her thanks, then snapped her focus back to defense, wielding her staff with every ounce of energy.
With Jian Xu and Hou San joining in, the team could finally breathe a little easier. Still, the danger never lessened.
"Woman, I've got it! Retreat!" Liu Chuan's voice rang out. To Jian Dan, it was pure salvation, and he'd even finished a quarter-hour earlier than expected.
"Retreat!"
Jian Mao had been keeping one eye on his junior the whole time. The instant he heard her, he knew the haul was secured. He flared his sword, scattering the whips binding him, then used their recoil to leap back.
The others moved immediately. Jian Lu's command snapped them into action, everyone covering each other as they fell back, step by step.
In the retreat, they'd shifted more than a li toward the rocky wastes, no longer in line with where they'd first entered.
"Back the same way! Hou San, lead!"
Jian Mao grabbed Hou San and hurled him ahead. Hou San hit the ground running, spear dragging behind to carve deep lines into the dirt as markers.
The retreat enraged the Black-Whip Electric Eel. Whips flailed wildly, electricity crackling in a storm. It was determined to drag these "bugs" down.
Jian Dan's eyes flashed cold. She pushed a thread of Xianyuan energy into the Mò Xī Jiàn and shouted,
"Primordial Chaos, open!"
The sword blazed gray. A razor-thin arc of light split from the blade, striking directly at the eel's root. Not a shred of force was wasted.
Gray sword-light and violet lightning tangled together, clashing, canceling each other out in a violent storm of sparks.