Chapter 298: Seizing the Sword and Pill

With Lin Dong’s mental strength at the third level, it wasn’t difficult for him to hold his breath for two or three hours. After waiting patiently underwater for nearly an hour, Yun Lan finally waved her hand.
Lin Dong’s spirit lifted, and he followed Yun Lan toward the direction of the golden light.
Before long, the Golden Armored Snake came into sight. Compared to over an hour earlier, it was now much weaker. Its massive body trembled as it moved at a sluggish pace, as if in a daze, unable to muster any strength. Its scales were also damaged in many places, with blood seeping out and quickly diluted by the water.
There were also far fewer warriors surrounding it. Lin Dong roughly estimated that out of nearly a thousand, only about six or seven hundred remained, many of them injured.
Just as Lin Dong was about to step forward, Yun Lan grabbed him. She shook her head slowly, pointed gently at a raised scale on the middle part of the Golden Armored Snake, then moved her finger to the golden sword in Cheng Bao’s hand, pointed at herself, and made a few gestures with her arms.
Lin Dong nodded, indicating he understood.
The two waited outside for a while longer when suddenly, a loud hiss rang out. Immediately afterward, the Golden Armored Snake twisted violently, with a speed and intensity even greater than during its peak. Nothing could stop it as it moved; even those warriors who had once been strong enough to withstand its attacks were sent flying one after another.
This situation made the surrounding warriors fight even harder.
Everyone knew this was the Golden Armored Snake’s last stand.
As expected, its fierce resistance didn’t last long. It soon slowed down, and its massive body gradually went limp.
Hiss…
Finally, the continuous stream of red saliva stopped, and the snake’s floating body slowly sank toward the bottom of the pond.
With a loud crash, the moment the snake hit the ground, chaos erupted across the entire pond bottom. Everyone rushed at the snake’s body simultaneously.
In the next instant, Yun Lan shot forward like a sword, adding further chaos to the already turbulent pond bottom.
At the same time, Lin Dong also rushed forward, his gaze fixed on the direction Yun Lan had pointed earlier.
Their arrival didn’t cause much reaction, as everyone’s attention was still on the Golden Armored Snake. Countless weapons targeted its body; every scale and piece of flesh seemed invaluable to them.
At the midpoint of the snake, Cheng Bao raised his golden sword and slashed down fiercely. With each strike, he cut off a piece of the snake’s body, storing it in his storage space. This was hundreds or even thousands of times more effective than others’ attacks that only left bloody wounds.

The golden sword was raised once again. Cheng Bao felt a slight numbness in his hand as it went empty. His wide eyes suddenly contracted. The golden sword was gone. Turning his head abruptly, he saw a graceful figure beside him. And beside that figure, his own golden sword appeared and disappeared intermittently. With a few bubbles rising, Cheng Bao remembered he was underwater. He kicked his feet in the air, but before he could escape, he was shocked to find that the golden sword had already been thrown out, spinning through the water currents, heading straight toward the golden-armored snake amidst countless swords and blades. With a sharp sound, Lin Dong grabbed the golden sword, took a deep breath, stuck out his index finger, bit down hard, and then wiped it across the blade’s surface—immediately, a burst of golden light erupted. Cheng Bao’s heart sank; he was all too familiar with this scene. The golden sword had found its master. In just an instant, the mark he had left on the sword had been erased. This showed just how powerful this person was. At the moment the golden light flashed, Lin Dong’s gaze sharpened. Four or five warriors who were desperately slashing at the snake’s body seemed to be hit by an invisible wall and flew backward together. Gritting his teeth, Lin Dong raised the golden sword high above his head, gripped the hilt tightly, and swung down abruptly. A violent gust of wind cut through the water currents, creating two massive waves that rushed to either side, sending those four or five warriors who hadn’t yet stabilized themselves flying away. With a hissing sound, the hard scales comparable to spiritual artifacts were broken by the wind, and the snake’s body instantly split into two. A flesh ball about fifty centimeters in diameter, with a pale golden color, rolled out and slowly rose. Vaguely, golden liquid could be seen swirling inside it. This sight sent everyone into frenzy. The inner core had been found. Without hesitation, Lin Dong kicked his legs, pressed his right hand on top of the flesh ball, and under countless envious gazes, the flesh ball disappeared. Bubbles kept rising. Whether it was the snake’s head or tail, everyone’s top priority was to find the golden-armored snake’s inner core. Seeing it taken away would surely not leave them indifferent. Almost immediately, most of them rushed toward Lin Dong. Lin Dong kicked his legs repeatedly, propelling himself rapidly toward the water’s surface. Below, Yun Lan’s Blue Chen Sword, emitting a blue glow, moved continuously around the snake’s neck, quickly stripping off a thin layer of snake skin before flying into her hands. Then, she swung her left hand downward with force. Boom! A huge wave erupted below, and Yun Lan’s body rushed after Lin Dong at high speed, overtaking everyone in an instant and arriving in front of him. She grabbed Lin Dong’s shoulders, and the two of them soared into the sky like cannonballs.

Whoa…
The disciples from various sects surrounding the cold pond saw two figures emerging from the water.
“Someone’s coming out!”
“It must be the Golden Armored Snake—it’s been killed!”
“Surround them! They came out so early; they must have seized something valuable first.”
Instantly, the disciples became agitated. Under the command of their sect elders, they all grabbed weapons and watched the two closely.
The moment they broke the surface, Yun Lan stepped lightly, causing ripples to spread outward from the water. Unexpectedly, instead of heading toward the shore, the two continued rising into the air.
Below, several more figures rushed out. As the two climbed higher, these figures didn’t chase after them but flew toward the shore, shouting in the direction of their own sects: “Wait for them to land and intercept them! The Golden Armored Snake’s inner core is in their hands!”
Chaos ensued. The sect elders had been hesitating whether to dive in to seize the Golden Armored Snake or intercept the two, but now there was no need to decide.
The greatest value of the Golden Armored Snake lay with these two, so it was necessary to intercept them.
Seeing the excited crowd waiting for them to descend, Lin Dong smiled calmly. He raised his right arm, and a bench fell downward. Then, under his control, it shot upward abruptly.
Yun Lan stepped lightly, landing right on the bench. The two’s already slowing descent accelerated again.
“That’s bad—they’re trying to escape from above the valley!”
Seeing this, everyone finally realized what was happening. Under the guidance of the sect elders, half of them rushed toward the valley walls and flew upward quickly.
“Is everything fine?” Lin Dong asked.
Yun Lan shook her head and said calmly, “Don’t worry. They can’t catch up!”
Lin Dong nodded. Another bench was lowered, allowing them to rise further, with Yun Lan using it to gain altitude.
As they continued upward, their speed surpassed that of the disciples flying upward. With their head start, they quickly left the others behind.
Glancing down at the figures chasing them on the valley walls and spotting Cheng Bao, Lin Dong shouted, “If you want that sword, act as a shield for me!”
The sturdy figure flying swiftly stopped abruptly. Cheng Bao turned his head sharply toward Lin Dong, his eyes blazing with anger.
Lin Dong smiled calmly, waved the bench in his hand, then tossed it aside, letting it plunge straight into the water and create a wave.
“Remember, don’t let me find pursuers behind you. Otherwise, I won’t have time to wait for you.”

Cheng Bao’s eyes turned fierce. Just as he was about to speak, he realized Lin Dong no longer paid any attention to him. Gritting his teeth, Cheng Bao opened his right palm, and a gleaming great sword appeared instantly. He then threw it at the person pursuing at the fastest speed.

Above, having nearly reached the top of the valley, Yun Lan stopped using the momentum, grabbed Lin Dong, and gently landed on the surface of the bench flying upward.

“It’s my turn!”

Lin Dong smiled leisurely as his spiritual energy surged, sending the bench flying toward the top of the valley wall. About ten meters later, Yun Lan tapped her toes again, propelling them both forward at incredible speed—far faster than Lin Dong could control the bench with them on it.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, before anyone could reach the valley top, Yun Lan took Lin Dong and fled swiftly. By the time the first pursuer jumped over the valley wall, they had already disappeared.

Back on the main road, things were slightly different from when they arrived. There were still many carriages blocking the road, but far fewer than before. Apparently, everyone had already learned that there was no treasure buried in the cold pond, but rather a giant spiritual snake hidden there.

Aside from a few bold onlookers, most people were worried that they might suffer harm instead of finding gold and treasures, so they had already left by carriage.

Seeing Liu Hua and Wu Guang jump out of their carriages to ask questions, Lin Dong threw two large gold ingots at them and said with a smile, “This is compensation for you two. Let’s set off for Mountain Leaf City now.”

The two were stunned. Seeing Lin Dong and Yun Lan already inside the carriage, they glanced at the gold ingots in their hands without asking anything. Smiling broadly, they stuffed the ingots into their clothes and quickly climbed into the carriage, using whips to guide it through the crowd.

Once there were no more obstacles ahead, they whipped the reins, and the carriage accelerated.

Taking a bench from the mobile counter, Lin Dong broke off two corners of one end of the bench. He then lifted the carriage curtain, raised his right arm, and the bench flew out with a slight whistling sound, landing steadily in the grass beside the road. The two broken corners pointed straight at the road, like arrows indicating the way.

Done, Lin Dong pulled his head back inside. He took out his huge inner core and placed it in the carriage. Below, there was also a piece of pale golden snake skin about one meter long.

“What’s this?” Lin Dong wondered.

“It’s the snake skin from seven inches along the Golden Armored Snake’s body,” Yun Lan explained. “Normally, the seven-inch section is the most vital part of a snake. But this Golden Armored Snake is different. The hardest part to pierce anywhere on its body is right at this seven-inch section. Even high-grade spiritual weapons would need considerable effort to break through it.”

Lin Dong couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “If it’s so difficult, how did you cut it off? I don’t even remember seeing you do it.”

Yun Lan said leisurely, “Cutting it from seven inches away naturally makes it faster.”
This explanation made Lin Dong feel a bit ashamed; he hadn’t thought of such a simple method.