Through his Omniscient Mirror, Chu Li saw four black snakes about the size of a thumb flapping their wings and charged towards the Spirit Cranes Peak.

　　While they were still a few miles away, Chu Li could already sense a strong malicious and murderous intent from them. Clearly, they were aiming for the Spirit Cranes Peak.

　　The heads of the four thumb-sized black snakes were triangular in shape. Their eyes could hardly be seen as their huge mouths seemed to stretch across their entire heads, giving them a hideous and repulsive appearance that could send shivers down one’s spine.

　　Their bodies were covered in fine scales that gave off the luster of jade, as though light was flowing within them. Their wings were longer than their bodies, making them look like bats instead.

　　Their wings flapped continuously at a speed as fast as lightning and within two breaths’ time, they had traveled over the distance of six miles and were already coming close, charging through the air at the two Spirit Cranes.

　　With a loud cry, the two little cranes quickly raised their bodies and stretched out their claws to seize the snakes.

　　The four flying snakes swooped down and dodged the claws in a quick-witted manner before circling up to attack the lower abdomens of the cranes at an incredible speed.

　　The agility of the flying snakes was not inferior to the white cranes, so with two flying snakes fighting each crane, the snakes instantly gained the upper hand. Although the movements of the Spirit Cranes were lighting fast, the flying snakes had the advantage of being more agile due to their small size.

　　Chu Li knitted his eyebrows together, realizing that the two Spirit Cranes would certainly get the worst of it if the situation went on like this.

　　He turned to Xiao Shi and said, “I’ll send you back first. It’s too dangerous here.”

　　Xiao Shi nodded. “Be careful.”

　　“It’s okay.” Chu Li grabbed Xiao Shi’s wrist and they both vanished from the Spirit Cranes Peak immediately. In the next instant, they had returned to Qing Yun Town. Then, he went back to the Spirit Cranes Peak again by himself.

　　Upon returning, he found that one of the flying snakes bit into the Spirit Crane’s leg. It refused to let go no matter how the Spirit Crane scratched at it and tried to cut it in half with its claws.

　　Since it was extremely tough, the Spirit Crane could not harm it and it continued biting into the crane. The snake’s teeth were highly venomous and Chu Li could tell that it was releasing its venom into the Spirit Crane’s leg.

　　Chu Li whistled.

　　The two cranes suddenly dove down and charged at Chu Li.

　　Chu Li drew his Modesty Sword and as the Heavenly Demonic Orb fell to his precordium, an immense surge of force spread all over his body immediately. The light reflection on his sword blade converged into a star-like glint as it stabbed at the Spirit Cranes that were rushing over in his direction.

　　The sword top pierced at the flying snake that was biting onto the Spirit Crane’s leg, hitting it directly on its seven-inch spot ¹ .

　　“Sss!” A shrill hiss could be heard as the flying snake suddenly recoiled and fell from the crane’s leg. Although Chu Li had managed to hit its seven-inch spot, the blade could not be pierced through it and had only left a white mark on the spot.

　　The Spirit Crane flapped its wings and used its claws to hold it in place. While it twisted about and struggled to free itself, the crane pecked it lightly with its long beak and pierced through the seven-inch spot.

　　The three other flying snakes tried their best to reach this Spirit Crane but were ward off by the other Spirit Crane, which forbade them from going any closer. They could only watch helplessly as the Spirit Crane pecked at that flying snake’s seven-inch spot, rendering it motionless in an instant.

　　Then, the three other flying snakes suddenly turned around and threw themselves at Chu Li.

　　Chu Li disappeared in a flash, causing them to miss their shot.

　　He appeared behind the two Spirit Cranes to shield himself.

　　He knew that with his abilities, he was only capable of assisting the Spirit Cranes. His Modesty Sword was completely useless against them since it could not even pierce through their softest seven-inch spot.

　　The snakes protected their seven-inch spots carefully. If it were not because it had lowered its guard while fighting the Spirit Crane just now, he would not have been able to hit it so easily.

　　“Sss…” They stretched out their long tongues and emitted a sharp hissing sound. Then, two of the flying snakes charged at the two Spirit Cranes while the other one turned around and threw itself at Chu Li.

　　This was exactly what Chu Li had wished for since the cranes would no longer be placed in a disadvantageous situation as they were each dealing with one flying snake now.

　　He remained standing in his place and thrust his sword forward.

　　The light reflection on the blade converged into a cold glint as the blade stabbed at its mouth.

　　“Ding…” As its forked tongue emerged suddenly and struck the Modesty Sword at lighting speed, the sound of metal colliding rang loud and clear.

　　Chu Li’s long sword nearly fell out of his hands but thanks to his Heavenly Demon Body state, he had the strength to hold onto it. Then, as another attack came, he twisted his body and swung his sword at it with greater force.

　　He did not expect such a small-sized flying snake to possess such great force. Spirit Beasts were indeed not what ordinary people could imagine.

　　“Ding, ding, ding, ding…” The forked tongue kept striking at the blade of the sword.

　　Chu Li unleashed the full power of his swordsmanship, swinging his sword in response to the snake’s movements and increasing his force with each swing, but regardless of the force he used, he could not stop the continuous attacks from the snake’s tongue.

　　Meanwhile, the two cranes and two snakes had also fallen into a deadlock, unable to determine the outcome of their fight anytime soon.

　　Suddenly, one of the snakes sank its teeth into the Spirit Crane it was fighting.

　　The Spirit Crane flew into the air. Chu Li disappeared in a flash and reappeared under the Spirit Crane, stabbing his sword tip at the snake’s seven-inch spot.

　　“Sss!” The flying snake coiled up and fell to the ground again.

　　The two other flying snakes rushed over to rescue their comrade.

　　Chu Li and the other Spirit Crane quickly blocked their path, stalling them for a moment and within that short period of time, the Spirit Crane had already used its claws to press down on the coiled snake before killing it with a peck.

　　Chu Li disappeared immediately, and when the two other flying snakes tried to seek revenge but could not find him, they turned around and flew away in an attempt to escape the unfavorable situation.

　　The two Spirit Cranes gave a loud cry as a signal to pursue them.

　　In a flash, Chu Li appeared in midair and threw two flying blades at the two flying snakes.

　　The flying snakes did not bother to dodge his attack and went on flying. It was only when the flying blades were about to hit them that they realized he had been aiming for their seven-inch spots.

　　Here, the magical effect of the Manifestation of Nature Restoration could be clearly perceived. Chu Li’s quick mind had been working a few times faster than usual and after this period of observation and analysis, he had managed to predict the trajectory of the flying snakes and threw his flying blades in the corresponding directions to hit their respective seven-inch spots.

　　Thus, the two flying snakes had no choice but to twist their bodies to dodge the flying blades.

　　“Tsh, tsh!” Two more flying blades were shot out and were coming at their seven-inch spots again.

　　The snakes evaded the attack once more.

　　At that moment, the two Spirit Cranes had already flown over and together were trying to grab hold of one of the flying snakes.

　　The other flying snake saw this and quickly threw itself at one of the Spirit Cranes in an attempt to help its comrade but the Spirit Crane paid no heed to it even as the snake bit into its leg.

　　“Tsh!” Chu Li appeared underneath the Spirit Crane instantly and swung his sword at lightning speed. His sword tip reflected a cold flash of light and stabbed at the flying snake that was biting into the Spirit Crane’s leg.

　　Upon being hit on its seven-inch spot, the flying snake curled into a coil and dropped to the ground.

　　The Spirit Crane swooped down and pressed on it with its claws. Then, as it used its long beak to peck at it, another snake was killed off. As for the remaining one, it soon died after being attacked from both sides by the two cranes and Chu Li.

　　The two Spirit Cranes each took two flying snakes in their claws — with one snake in each claw — as they flew back to the Spirit Cranes Peak.

　　After placing the four flying snakes on a huge, flat boulder, the two cranes each pulled out a tiny snake gallbladder and threw it to Chu Li before eating one themselves.

　　Chu Li saw this and did not hesitate to swallow the two warm snake gallbladders.

　　A moment later, a wildfire spread throughout his body.

　　He withdrew the Heavenly Demonic Orb and positioned it back above his precordium as his body endured the shocking sensation from the two snake gallbladders.

　　He felt as if he had been immersed in an ocean of fire and was going to be burned to ashes by the scorching flame that was searing him inside out, from his internal organs to every hair on his skin. At once, the Omniscient Mirror cut off his physical sensations.

　　Very soon, a bout of extreme cold attacked him and he felt as though he had been plunged into incalculable depths of coldness to the point where his freezing body was starting to hurt.

　　The Omniscient Mirror cut off his physical sensations again.

　　Around fifteen minutes later, his sensations returned and his entire body felt numb yet itchy as if his body was being bitten by tens of thousands of ants all over.

　　He stood in his spot while his body trembled. It felt like every single muscle in his body was trembling separately; not connected to one another.

　　The Omniscient Mirror enabled him to remain calm and suppress all these sensations while observing his own body.

　　The energy released from the snake gallbladders flowed continuously and changed his body. His muscles became tighter and tougher while his bones grew denser and stronger. Even his meridians experienced some subtle changes as they became more expansive and tenacious.

　　Although the Omniscient Mirror had made him extremely calm, he could still feel a hint of joy.

　　Now that his meridians had reached this state, he would be able to cultivate an unbelievably refined inner energy to suppress Fang Qingyang as long as he improved on his Cloud Slashing Power!

　　As he arrived at this thought, he became filled with vigor and the scorching pain all over his body seemed to have dissipated, replaced by an inexplicable bliss.

　　What kind of flying snakes were they? Their gallbladders were only the size of the nail of a little finger and yet they contained such formidable power. If he had eaten a few more of those snake gallbladders, how would he have turned out?