Louis gasped as he stared at the mist containing the shadow snakes.
According to legend, the most terrifying curse of the Five Poisons sect was cast on a group of venomous snakes of varying species, making them devour each other. The last snake alive would carry the venom of all the others, and for the remainder of its life, it would be fed venomous insects, spiders, and evil souls.
The snake had no special power at all, but once it died, its soul would spend eternity tracking down whatever victim it was set upon. It would never tire, never give up. Not until its victim had died a horrific and painful death from the snake's supercharged venom.
To summon such a snake required years of accumulated energy. Even the Fool would probably only be able to raise one in his lifetime, so he was giving up his most precious treasure to ensure Alex's demise.
"Go!" the Fool said, pointing at Alex. The crimson snake let out a brief hiss, and then it shot toward Alex, fangs bared.
Asher got to his feet, flapped his wings, and formed a golden sword of pure energy. He gritted his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, and then he waved the sword menacingly through the air.
Then the triune attacked with all their might.
Faced with a new onslaught, Alex maintained an indifferent expression and lightly stamped his foot. With a loud bang, a cloud of dust and mist exploded and turned into a dazzling purple light, which sped toward Reagan.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, the purple ray of light collided with Reagan's golden lightning.
There were no fancy moves. The two of them relied purely on the power of their light.
Bright golden lightning flickered all over Reagan's body, and he had never felt so powerful before. He was confident that he would smash Alex to pieces, and he even felt that he was close to supersonic speed, the peak of his physical body.
But Alex was even stronger.
Alex's light crashed into Reagan with the force of a small truck, causing numerous internal injuries and killing him instantly. The lightning simply winked out of existence.
Furious, Asher and the Fool rushed to attack, committed to avenging Reagan.
Alex's face remained expressionless. The purple light in his eyes intensified and then turned into a long silver beam that shot out with a whoosh. It destroyed the crimson snake shadow, and then it cut into the Fool, making him stagger backward.
The Fool seemed to have no injuries on the surface, but his soul had been split in half, and he aged at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the end, his legs trembled, and he was almost unable to stand.
Even worse, with his soul so damaged, he could no longer use spells.
Finally, facing the frenzied and almost crazed Asher, Alex parried the blows from the light sword. Then, when his chance came, he stretched out both hands, grabbed the white wings on Asher's back, and ripped them from his body.
Asher let out a piercing shriek as he fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, landing so hard that the earth trembled.
In the blink of an eye, Alex had killed one person, incapacitated another, and severely injured a third.
All the remaining fighters looked pale, and many were trembling with fear.
Alex was left standing alone, holding two white wings that were several feet long. He exuded power, like some kind of god of war.
Louis was shocked. He had known that Alex wasn't going to be a pushover, but he had never expected anything like this.
The Valley of the Buried Heart was silent, other than the sound of the spiritual spring flowing nearby.
Many of the fighters stood there, dumbstruck.
Reagan was dead, the Fool had a damaged soul, and Asher was seriously injured.
In just a few seconds, the situation in the valley had changed drastically. Ten minutes ago, twenty powerful warriors had arrived, confident of victory.
But now, ten of the most powerful fighters ever known had fallen, and among them was the triune. The best of the best.
How could the crowd not be shocked? How could they not be afraid?
Alex walked down an invisible staircase. Every step he took in the air was like a heavy hammer pounding on the heart of every person there.
He stepped onto the soil and casually threw Asher's wings to one side. Although they had been formed by the power of light, they had been refined by Asher over dozens of years. Now, even though they had been torn off, they still shone with a dim light.
If Asher could reclaim his wings, then he would be able to step up to fight Alex again.
Unfortunately, he was still half a step away, and right now, that half a step felt like a hundred miles.
Without his wings, Asher still had some power, but he was no longer as strong as before.
"Everything in the valley belongs to me," Alex said. "Does anyone have any objections?"
He held his hands behind his back and looked around at everyone.
His long hair was loose, his eyes were as dark as ink, and he was both handsome and vigorous. The black robe he was wearing had been torn and tattered in the previous exchange of blows. But now it had been magically repaired, and it was fluttering in the wind.
The crowd shuddered, and a man stepped forward and said, "We have no objections."
"If you have no objections, then scram," Alex said. "And don't come back here again."
He walked back to his original position and sat cross-legged in front of the divine spring of life. Only half an hour previously, he had been sitting in the same position, drawing a line in the sand.
Alex's enemies had paid a heavy price, but none of them had crossed that line. The line he had drawn was like a natural chasm, blocking everyone from the spring.
They took one last look at the dazzling tricolor flower that represented boundless energy, and then they sighed. No matter how greedy they were, none of them dared utter a single word in the face of Alex's unparalleled ferocity. Their regret was palpable. They had been so close; the flower was such a short distance away, but it might as well be on the other side of the world.
Asher struggled to his feet, gave Alex a fierce glance, and then stalked away without looking back. He knew that he probably wouldn't have the chance to take revenge on Alex in his lifetime, but there was nothing he could do about that.
With the tricolor flower, Alex would only keep growing stronger until he reached a stage that Asher could only dream of. Asher had lost his wings of light, and even if he managed to recover, he would never be able to match Alex's power.
Without waiting for everyone to leave, Louis rushed over and said, "Alex, you were too strong for them. News of this battle will shake the world! From today onward, you'll be the most powerful man in the world."
Alex had beaten all challengers, and once word got out about what had happened, everyone would be amazed.
Louis couldn't contain his excitement.
"Although they were strong, they are not the strongest I will have to face," Alex said quietly. But he didn't seem too concerned about what was still to come.