After speaking, he leaped out, bare-chested, attacking toward Heavenly-Snake’s face.

But just as White Snake’s form began to move, Heavenly-Snake had already started evading in advance. His footsteps retreated backward, and he grabbed a rusty surgical knife from the tabletop.

White Snake’s attack unsurprisingly struck empty air. This heavy punch only grazed past the other party, and his back’s weak point was exposed at this moment.

Heavenly-Snake, holding the surgical knife, viciously stabbed down at an already festering eye on White Snake’s back. Black blood instantly sprayed out in all directions. White Snake also let out a muffled grunt and turned to jump backward.

White Snake paused, the expression on his face slightly pained, but he didn’t stop. This time he lowered his head to look at the ground, trying his best to hide his eyes, then charged forward once more.

But before he lowered his head, Heavenly-Snake had already perceived his thoughts. He retreated backward and once again jumped out of attack range. Then he reversed his knife and carved a deep, long gash from White Snake’s fist to his wrist.

The brief two exchanges had already left White Snake successively injured. This was a situation he had long anticipated—how could an ordinary person contend against “mind reading”?

Unless his own fist was fast enough that the other party couldn’t dodge in time, he would never be able to defeat him.

But if he could fortunately touch him once…

“That thought of yours is interesting,” Heavenly-Snake nodded. “You think that touching me, ‘Condolence’ will make me lose mobility for a short time, but would you be able to kill me even then?”

After hearing this, White Snake only covered his injured fist, remaining silent throughout.

“I haven’t even started using ‘immortal techniques’ yet, and you’re already about to die,” Heavenly-Snake shook his head and pointed at White Snake’s arm. “A blade cutting wound over ten centimeters long—you know what that means, right? If you don’t treat it quickly, your life has already entered a countdown.”

Upon hearing this, White Snake’s expression darkened, and he turned his head to look at Xiao Ran.

If there was anyone who could help him now, it could only be this pitiful woman, right?

Possessing a fate similar to his own, perhaps she could empathize.

Xiao Ran seemed not to have expected White Snake to speak to her. She paused slightly after hearing this, but then quickly revealed a smile.

This smile was more arrogant than any smile she had ever shown before, as if she no longer needed to use sweetness to disguise herself but only needed to follow her heart.

“Speaking to me like this… how dare you?”

Xiao Ran’s question made White Snake slightly stunned.

“You…” He stared at Xiao Ran for a few seconds, then asked, “What is your status?”

“I am… ‘Qiongqi,'” Xiao Ran grinned. “You, a mere ‘Ground-level,’ actually dare to directly question me… aren’t you afraid I’ll make you kneel with one slap right now?”

The doubts in White Snake’s heart seemed to multiply.

“‘Qiongqi’… what kind of status is that?” He said with furrowed brows. “I’ve been here for so long and have never heard of any ‘Qiongqi.'”

“That’s because your level isn’t high enough.”

Xiao Ran walked forward a step. Although she found this “Zodiac” covered in blood before her disgusting, she now had nothing to fear. She only smiled and said: “Listen well… I am a ‘Divine Beast’ personally appointed by Qinglong.”

“You say ‘Qiongqi’… is a ‘Divine Beast’?” White Snake paused. Books he had once read began to surface in his mind. “This is clearly the name of a famous ‘Fierce Beast’…”

“How arrogant. Low-grade goods like you… how could you possibly know who is a ‘Divine Beast’ and who is a ‘Fierce Beast’?” Xiao Ran walked forward with a face full of disdain and reached out her palm to slap White Snake’s face.

But this slap was like hitting an iron block, shocking Xiao Ran’s palm painfully.

White Snake only felt like someone had scratched an itch for him, and became even more confused by Xiao Ran’s actions before him.

This feeble strength… would be a “Divine Beast”?

“What’s going on…?” Xiao Ran looked at her hand somewhat incredulously. “Where is my strength…?”

“This stupid woman… where would I have time to find ‘Twin Flowers’ to copy a powerful body for you…?” Heavenly-Snake muttered with furrowed brows.

He felt that protecting this woman was even more difficult than protecting himself.

Once White Snake discovered that this woman was now both stupid and weak, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Heavenly-Snake didn’t give White Snake any time to think. He immediately launched an active attack, slashing toward White Snake’s chest with the surgical knife.

White Snake instinctively dodged to the right, but discovered that Heavenly-Snake seemed to have anticipated this. The blade turned with the momentum toward the direction he was dodging, once again leaving a deep gash on his chest.

Blood gradually spilled down, dyeing White Snake’s abdomen red. He didn’t reach out to cover the wound but only gradually became more serious.

An enemy like Heavenly-Snake couldn’t be hit and couldn’t be evaded. To take his life naturally required more schemes.

But this woman before him… claiming to be a “Divine Beast” personally appointed by Qinglong—this matter was worth scrutinizing.

Why hadn’t he thought of this just now…

Her back had four active eyes—this was a quantity that surpassed “Heaven-level.”

“A ‘Fierce Beast’ cub that hasn’t fully hatched yet…” White Snake laughed bitterly. “I’ve truly learned something incredible.”

“What you’re thinking now is very dangerous,” Heavenly-Snake said softly while rotating the surgical knife in his hand. “Once ‘Qiongqi’ dies, Qinglong will definitely take my life, so I’ll preserve her at any cost.”

“Heavenly-Snake, I’ve followed you for so long, and you’ve told me Xuanwu’s story countless times,” White Snake said, covering his chest. “This ‘Fierce Beast’… should only be missing ‘loss of rationality’ and ‘body copying.’ I can’t possibly let her go…”

Heavenly-Snake pondered for a moment and gave Xiao Ran a look: “I’ll hold him back. You leave quickly and report to Qinglong. Tell him ‘the masterpiece has been completed.'”

“What’s there to be afraid of?!” Xiao Ran said with a completely uncomprehending expression. “You’re ‘Heaven-level,’ he’s ‘Ground-level.’ You can’t possibly be unable to kill even him, right?”

Heavenly-Snake also became angry: “Stop adding to the chaos! Do you know what critical moment this is?”

“You’d better watch your words!” Xiao Ran said self-importantly. “Considering we’re on the same side now, I won’t stand by and watch this time. If you’re about to lose, I’ll help, but I’ll also truthfully report this to Qinglong.”

“You…”

Xiao Ran seemed not to have realized that all the current problems originated from her, which left Heavenly-Snake so angry for a moment that he didn’t know how to speak.

Even stranger was that just as Xiao Ran finished saying the three words “same side,” Heavenly-Snake’s vision instantly blurred.

Before he could react to what problem had occurred with his eyes, Earth-Snake had already taken advantage of the two people talking to lower his form. His figure explosively shot in front of Heavenly-Snake, startling a splash of blood.

A pale fist struck from a tricky angle. Heavenly-Snake was greatly alarmed and wanted to dodge to the side, but it was already completely impossible to evade.

This solid, heavy punch struck his cheek, and along with his glasses, surgical knife, and White Snake’s years of resentment, they all flew out together.