Chapter 543: Joint Assault

While on the road, Su Che tentatively asked Hong Ju for advice on how to transform Chaos Energy. When he shattered the stone coffin, he was quite certain that Hong Ju must have used some method to alter Chaos Energy to a certain extent, enabling him to achieve his goals.
Why was it a tentative question?
Generally speaking, such extraordinary skills are not casually taught, even to close relatives and friends, let alone to strangers whom one has only known for a few hours. So Su Che thought he might as well ask casually—if it worked, great; if not, it didn’t matter.
To his surprise, Hong Ju without hesitation and generously shared this energy transformation technique with Su Che, explaining it in great detail, seemingly without holding back anything. It was like a caring elder brother—generous, kind, and never manipulative.
Su Che was deeply moved. Under such feelings, if Hong Ju still needed Chaos Energy, he would surely give as much as possible…
It wasn’t Su Che who wanted to learn Hong Ju’s energy transformation technique—it was Lao He.
During this time, Lao He had been studying the amethyst long sword he had obtained not long ago. He believed that if he could make good use of this sword, it would become a powerful weapon at Su Che’s disposal, enabling him to dominate in future battles and overcome strong opponents.
The amethyst long sword seemed to resist Chaos Energy, or rather, to fear it, refusing to allow it to penetrate its blade.
As the ruler of the Immortal Prison, even if Lao He couldn’t fully control the sword yet, he could sense an extremely powerful force within it. Once unleashed, it would be earth-shattering, astonishing even gods and demons.
Therefore, Lao He pondered that if he could transform Chaos Energy into a mutated energy similar to this force, he might be able to gain the sword’s acceptance and make it submit to Su Che.
He decided to give it a try. Since he had thought of it, he had to try it to find out the real answer. Moreover, within the Immortal Prison, with the help of the world’s rules, many things that seemed impossible could become possible and be perfectly realized.
So, while Su Che continued on his journey, Lao He was busy working on this.
The journey that followed was not smooth. After traveling for a long time, Su Che found no trace of the Survival Order in the special terrains he had identified. Perhaps it never existed in the first place, or someone else had gotten there first…

At two-thirds of this survival game, when nearly seventy hours were about to pass, Su Che, having passed through the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison, suddenly received a soul message from Lin Feng, one of Lianxu’s subordinates. Lin Feng had found a Survival Token, but obtaining it was extremely difficult, and he had unfortunately encountered competitors. Against competitors at the Mahayana stage, someone at the Lianxu stage like Lin Feng was clearly no match, even though their cultivation levels were sealed and their apparent combat strength seemed similar. In reality, however, there was a huge gap in their overall foundation and comprehensive strength—far from being rivals. Lin Feng’s message was: If the master could arrive at the location within half an hour, there might still be time to seize this Survival Token. “Judging from the soul connection on the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison, Lin Feng is only about six hundred li away from us. He can definitely make it in half an hour,” Old He said, sharing his assessment. Although Su Che’s speed was slow, it was still relatively fast—walking two hundred li in fifteen minutes was no problem, and with all his strength, he might even cover a thousand li in half an hour. “Regardless of whether it’s possible or not, we must go!” Su Che replied decisively, “Even if the Survival Token falls into the hands of other competitors, as long as we can intercept that person, we must take it back. Aside from that Snow Jade, the others are not a concern.” Let’s go! There’s nothing more to say. Guided by the soul connection, it took less than half an hour, around thirty minutes, for Su Che and the others to reach the location. It was a large waterfall in a canyon, with a very hidden cave concealed behind the sheer waterfall. At that moment, Lin Feng was waiting by the deep pool below the waterfall, clearly injured. “How serious are your injuries?” Su Che asked first. “It’s fine, master,” Lin Feng replied calmly. “It definitely won’t affect my ability to fight.” Time was pressing, and there was no time for further talk. Su Che nodded silently, signaling him to continue. “The cave behind the waterfall is the lair of a monstrous python. This giant python is extremely fierce, with highly resilient scales, and those at the late Yuan Ying stage can hardly harm it.”

Lin Feng pointed to a certain spot on the cliff of the waterfall and explained in detail, “I was the first to discover this place. After fighting that giant python, I realized I wasn’t its match, so I planned to lure it out with a trick and then enter to get that Survival Token. But at the most critical moment, another powerful being at the Mahayana stage found this place and attacked me from behind, injuring me. With no other choice, I had to retreat temporarily and immediately send a distress signal to my master…”
Su Che nodded gently and asked, “So, that powerful being at the Mahayana stage has been inside the cave for almost half an hour?”
“Yes.”
Lin Feng nodded and said, “That giant python is extremely tough. For me, without using a trick, it would be impossible to kill it; for that being at the Mahayana stage, it’s also not easy to deal with. I estimate it won’t be killed in less than half an hour.”
After all, Lin Feng was also at the Lianxu stage, with nearly three thousand years of experience, so he did have some ability to predict such things.
“Is there only one entrance and exit to this cave?” Su Che asked again.
“As far as I can tell, there is only one,” Lin Feng replied with a nod.
“Good.”
Su Che smiled faintly. “We don’t need to go in. We can wait here for him to come out, and then…”
There was no need to say more—the rest was obvious to everyone.
The two flying beasts floated up unsteadily and soared above the waterfall, ready to dive down at any moment to launch a surprise attack on whoever emerged from the cave.
Su Che first retracted Xiao Hei into his body and hid with Hong Ju behind a large rock, leaving only Lin Feng standing in place to draw the attention of that being at the Mahayana stage.
To be honest, given Hong Ju’s massive size, it wasn’t easy to find a rock big enough to cover his figure. The rock in front of them wasn’t even as tall as him.
However, Hong Ju wasn’t just a brute who swung a stick; he also possessed some strange powers. At that moment, he transformed, using a spell similar to shapeshifting to merge with that rock, turning into an even larger rock.
“An extremely clever deception!”
Su Che thought that even if his spiritual sense hadn’t failed, it would be hard to see through such a transformation.
After lying in wait for a while, they heard a loud explosion—the sound was so intense it drowned out the roar of the waterfall itself. Then, they saw an incredibly huge python rushing out from behind the waterfall, surrounded by splashing water.

This giant python also possesses the ability to fly. Its thickest part is as wide as ten feet, allowing it to easily swallow an elephant. Its scales are dark with a metallic sheen, giving it an appearance of exceptional defensive strength.

Normally, a python of this size should have transformed into a dragon by now, but it still retains its snake form, without horns or claws. Perhaps it belongs to a different kind of beast, quite distinct from ordinary mythical creatures.

What sets it apart most from regular pythons is a circle of deep red, tentacle-like whiskers at the back of its head. Hundreds of whiskers as thick as arms flutter around, making it look extremely ferocious and terrifying.

Yet at this moment, it was in a pitiful state, covered in mangled wounds, as if it had been brutally tortured—almost as if it had been slashed countless times.

Su Che knew clearly that it wasn’t the Great Perfection-stage warrior who injured it who was mentally twisted and enjoyed torturing opponents. Instead, it was because this giant python had too strong a defense, making it difficult to inflict enough damage with a few attacks, so they had to wear it down bit by bit.

“Sss…”

As soon as the giant python appeared, driven by its animal instincts, it immediately noticed the crocodile-dragon and the strange bird hovering above it. It let out a harsh, strange hiss that didn’t sound threatening at all but rather like a cry for help.

Although these exotic beasts often fought over territory, they were still highly intelligent creatures. Sometimes, they would seek help from each other like this.

The crocodile-dragon and the strange bird hovering in midair nodded at it simultaneously without making any sound. The clever giant python seemed to immediately understand their intention: to launch a surprise attack on the human cultivator who injured it!

The way animals communicate can sometimes be quite simple, even smarter than that of humans.

Whoosh!

The vertically falling waterfall suddenly turned into a giant, crystal-clear ice sculpture. A figure emerged from behind—it was the Great Perfection-stage warrior.

Restricted by the rules, he couldn’t fly out; he could only climb down step by step along the cliff face, freezing the entire waterfall into an ice sculpture. It was likely just a casual act done out of excitement after successfully obtaining the survival order.

“Kid, you still haven’t left? Are you staying here to die?”

This Mahayana-stage powerhouse appeared as a burly middle-aged man. Due to his impaired consciousness, he failed to notice the crocodile dragon and strange bird hovering silently above him; his attention was solely drawn to Lin Feng and the giant python in front of the waterfall pool. The words he spoke were clearly directed at Lin Feng, as in his eyes, that giant python was already severely injured and no longer a threat.

“I still want to fight for my survival order,” Lin Feng replied firmly, immediately sending out a fierce martial energy attack that crossed dozens of feet in an instant, reaching the Mahayana-stage man’s face.

“You’re no match; you’re far too weak,” the middle-aged man laughed heartily and waved his hand casually, dissipating the martial energy attack. Though his posture seemed casual, he didn’t realize that Lin Feng’s attack was merely meant to draw his attention.

As he stepped down from the cliff and landed on solid ground, the long-planned joint ambush suddenly erupted…