The piercing sound burst over the city walls like a detonating bomb. Elder Nie Shen, visualizing the terrified faces of the Nie clan disciples, felt a spasm in his heart.

His voice dropped incredibly low, "Can you tell me why your Serpent Spirit Clan is targeting my Jiyang Nie Family so relentlessly? Is this about the Samsara Illusion Realm?" The Nie family held no grievance against the Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest, yet the Serpent Spirit Clan had suddenly descended upon them...

The Samsara Illusion Realm was the only conceivable reason Nie Shen could grasp. "The Samsara Illusion Realm?" The old man in the black robe let out a mocking laugh.

"That Illusion Realm might be decent, but for our Serpent Spirit Clan, it doesn't amount to a puff of smoke. Elder Nie Shen, don't blame the ruthlessness of my clan; blame that Nie Kong.

To actually kill seven of our Heavenly Spirit experts! Such a deep feud demands retribution!" By the time he finished speaking, the black-robed elder’s voice was sharp, filled with surging rage.

Previously, although Nie Kong had admitted to being the vicious beast who slew She Ming, the Serpent Spirit Clan had always assumed it was mere boasting. They believed the true killer of She Ming must have been an expert from Spirit Citadel, and that the five others—She Tong, She Ling, and the rest—killed on the eastern beach were slain by Dragon Island powerhouses.

However, when news of the Spirit God Hall’s defeat in the 'Forbidden Spirit Swamp' reached the Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest, the Serpent Lord and the remaining elders of the Serpent Spirit Clan began to suspect who the real murderers were. Back on Dragon Island, She Ya had covertly glimpsed the Phantom Eagle King several times.

Once She Ya’s description was cross-referenced with intelligence gathered by Serpent Spirits from Loutian City, the Serpent Lord and the others immediately concluded Nie Kong was the true culprit. That Nie Kong’s Spirit Flower could hold its own against the Spirit God Hall Master and the two descending High Gods for so long proved he definitely possessed the strength to eliminate several Serpent Spirit Clan experts.

She Ming, She Tong, She Ling, She Han, She Luo, She Ying, plus She Yong who perished in the Forbidden Spirit Swamp—that made seven. The Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest had only fourteen Heavenly Spirit experts in total; half of their strongest had been extinguished by Nie Kong’s hand.

How could the Serpent Spirit Clan, known for immediate and vengeful reprisal, possibly endure such an atrocity? Thus, on the very day they received confirmation, the Serpent Spirit Clan powerhouses silently departed the Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest, only to suddenly emerge today, unleashing tens of thousands of serpent servants to encircle Jiyang City.

If the Serpent Spirit Clan couldn't touch Nie Kong while he hid within the Spirit Residence, they would annihilate his family first! "Nie Kong?" Hearing the black-robed elder’s words, Nie Shen was utterly shocked.

The last time he met Nie Kong, he knew the youth possessed only a first-grade Cave Spirit cultivation and a Heavenly Spirit realm spiritual thought. He had no idea Nie Kong was capable of killing Heavenly Spirit experts.

Seven Heavenly Spirit experts from the Serpent Spirit Clan, all utterly annihilated by Nie Kong—such power placed him at the zenith of strength. Perhaps across the entire Heavenly Spirit Continent, few beyond a select handful of supreme experts could threaten him.

Perhaps only the Serpent Lord within the Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest could suppress Nie Kong, but how many years had the Serpent Lord lived, and how old was Nie Kong now? Although Nie Kong’s actions had invited disaster upon the entire Nie family, Nie Shen felt no resentment at this moment; instead, there was an ineffable sense of exhilaration.

Most importantly, things had reached this juncture; harboring resentment toward Nie Kong now served no purpose whatsoever. "Good!

Good! Well done!" Nie Shen let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh.

"I never imagined my Nie family could produce such a genius who slaughters Serpent Spirit experts as easily as butchering pigs and dogs before even reaching twenty-five years of age. You swagger here in Jiyang City today, slaughtering my Nie disciples, but mark my words—it will be my Nie family’s prodigal son who one day sets foot in the Myriad Serpent Immortal Nest and brings eternal ruin upon your Serpent Spirit Clan, ha ha ha..." His laughter echoed wildly, yet within Jiyang City, utter pandemonium reigned.

Was this massive siege by the Serpent Spirit Clan truly because Nie Kong had executed their Heavenly Spirit experts? "Silence!" The black-robed elder had utterly failed to anticipate Nie Shen making such pronouncements.

After a brief moment of stunned realization, he erupted in furious indignation. "Facing death, you dare to be so arrogant?

Do you truly believe that brat Nie Kong will live long? After we extinguish your Nie family, our Serpent Spirit Clan will capture Nie Kong and scatter his ashes to the wind!" As he spoke, the black-robed elder dissolved into a thick, dark mist, rolling toward Nie Shen.

"Hoo!" Nie Shen’s body instantly soared upwards. A colossal azure palm materialized abruptly in the sky above.

Then, the five fingers clenched shut, slamming down fiercely onto the mass of black mist. Wherever it passed, the surrounding space for hundreds of meters seemed to transform into an ocean expanse rippling with turquoise waves, the roaring sound deafening.

"Boom!" The massive azure fist pressed down onto the black mist. Ferocious power surged outward like crashing tidal waves, instantly vaporizing countless poisonous snakes into dust.

The black mist was driven straight into the earth by the blow. Yet, the very instant the mist sank, a streak of black light shot out.

In a flash, this black gleam traversed several dozen meters of space and struck Nie Shen squarely in the chest. "Bang!" With a loud impact, Nie Shen’s body was violently hurled back a hundred meters through the air.

The fist mark impressed upon the ground instantly vanished. The figure of the blue-robed elder burst out of the massive, sunken fist print, looking thoroughly flustered and exasperated.

A faint, shameful flush colored his face, clearly surprised that Nie Shen, who had only recently broken through to the Heavenly Spirit realm, could cause him such embarrassment. "Ha ha, Serpent Spirit Clan experts are nothing more than this!" Seeing this, Nie Shen raised a hand, wiped the thin smear of crimson blood from the corner of his mouth, and burst into loud laughter.

"Arrogant nonsense!" A cold snort suddenly echoed across heaven and earth. Immediately following, a thick crimson beam flashed into existence out of thin air, puncturing Nie Shen’s spine.

"Pfft!" Nie Shen’s body shuddered violently, and he spewed a great mouthful of blood, falling like a snapped kite. He plunged deep into the impression left by his own punch on the ground, stirring no further, his fate unknown.

"Great Elder!" On the city walls, Nie Qingsong, Nie Xingdong, and the surrounding Nie disciples were struck with horror. After overhearing the conversation between Nie Shen and the black-robed elder, they had already understood that the Nie family’s annihilation was inevitable.

Amidst their grief and despair, they had held onto the hope that Nie Shen might escape and avenge the entire family one day. Therefore, when they saw Nie Shen smash the black-robed elder into such a sorry state with one punch, their spirits were greatly lifted.

But unexpectedly, moments later, Nie Shen suffered an attack he could not withstand. Almost subconsciously, everyone looked up, and a wave of sheer terror seized them.

That red beam that appeared from nowhere turned out to be a section of a fiery-red serpent tail, several meters long. The serpent tail floated suspended a thousand meters high...

Immediately after, the fiery-red serpent body rapidly materialized, coiling around itself in layers from outside to inside. When that incomparably massive serpent head also revealed itself, the gazes of the onlookers became vacant.

The giant snake’s body was as thick as a cartwheel; coiled into one mass, it occupied nearly a hundred meters of space, appearing like a crimson cloud floating overhead. Its two gigantic eyes peered down upon Jiyang City from on high, the icy chill in its gaze chilling everyone to the bone.

"Serpent Lord!" At this moment, the four Heavenly Spirit experts stationed outside the four city walls bowed in salute. The four giant snakes also respectfully lowered their heads, while the dense masses of serpents on the ground prostrated themselves, their mouths emitting not a single sound, as if paying homage to their sovereign of supreme majesty...