When the roaring green tornado and the giant purple hand vanished, Sara, who had been hovering in the air, disappeared as well. She suddenly reappeared behind the Soaring Sea Serpent, easily slipping past the turmoil created by the colliding energies like a shadow moving through the storm.
With a swift motion, she slashed forward with her intricate longsword. An eerie purple light flashed around the sword's tip.
"Waning Moon Slash!"
Clank, Clank!
Several crescent-shaped purple slashes connected the body of the Soaring Sea Serpent, creating a loud sound in midair. However, the only result was a few white scars on the Serpent's tough blue scales, which also disappeared after a short few moments, as if they had never been there.
While Sara was busy delivering the slashes, Soaring Sea Serpent turned its colossal head and released a green ball of energy from its mouth, which grew into several sharp blades aiming at her front.
At the same time, Soaring Sea Serpent swung its tail like a whip, with wind blades spiraling alongside it at an incredible speed towards her back.
Facing attack on both sides, she knit her eyebrows together and formed a strange black seal on her empty hand. The seal grew larger, colliding with the green-colored ball and its blades.
"Yin Shattering Seal!"
Her expression turned serious facing the tail attack. A purple-colored shield about two meters long and wide, sprang up behind her with a faint hum.
Crack!
But the enormous tail directly crushed the purple shield, splitting it into numerous purple light fragments that scattered with the wind. The physical attacks from the serpent were very formidable.
Soaring Sea Serpent released a loud roar when it broke through the shield and released another ferocious attack using its sharp claws, moving with great speed despite its large body size.
Facing the relentless attacks from the serpent, Sara could only dodge since it was foolish to take on the serpent's attack considering its abnormal strength.
Soaring Sea Serpent continuously assaulted Sara with quick physical attacks, while Sara retreated further and further. It appeared as though she was at a disadvantage, but in actuality, she wasn't the slightest bit injured.
"The Soaring Sea Serpent being in its natural environment has the support of water and wind elements while Sara's abilities are related to the Yin energies which are naturally weakened in the day. So, the beast is trying to quickly finish the battle before sunset." Pure Yang Lord mumbled as he watched the battle going on in the sky.
Yet, the fight between the human and the beast continued the whole day from noon to dusk. Pure Yang Lord's sharp eyes noticed something peculiar—the Serpent's movements were growing slightly slower with each attack while Sara remained unaffected despite fighting for such a long time.
'System, why is the Soaring Sea Serpent getting slower?"
[It's because it was poisoned.]
'Poisoned? When did that happen?' he continued the question.
[The tip of Sara's sword was laced with poison. It was transferred to the beast's skin when Sara slashed the beast with her initial attack. As the fight continued, the poison finally seeped into the beast's body. Also, the yin energy of her attacks further aggravated the poison slowly from the inside.]
'You mean the poison remained stuck to the beast's skin and seeped inside its body after finding an opening later.'
[Yes. The poison has a sentient quality.]
A chill ran down his spine. He was terrified to learn about the sentient poison which could be controlled from far waiting to find an opening to enter the body. His wariness towards the princess increased a lot.
Watching the sun beginning to set, the Soaring Sea Serpent, which had been tirelessly throwing attacks, suddenly stopped. Its eyes carried a glint of intolerance and a bit of anxiety as it finally noticed the problem inside its body.
"Human, you're testing my patience!" A low roar of the Soaring Sea Serpent echoed through the surroundings.
"As long as you hand over the bead-shaped treasure, I'll leave immediately," Sara replied calmly. Despite the long and grueling battle, Sara remained as graceful as ever.
The Serpent's eyes narrowed with rage. "Since you are so unreasonable, die!"
The Soaring Sea Serpent released a loud roar and the blue and green light appeared on its scale, increasing in intensity, brighter than the light of the setting sun.
The surrounding wind and moisture started congregating around the beast in a cylindrical structure to form a vortex. The wind turned into razor-sharp blades, coated with a thin layer of water, adding a freezing effect. It created a roaring sound like a tempest in full fury.
But Sara remained unmoved. Her purple wings flapped and the dark, cold power of Yin energy started gathering around her. A dark mist then spread out from her body creating an eerie and shadowy field.
"Abyssal Veil"
The mist spread quickly. As the tempest attack approached, the mist pulsed with a faint, dark light that absorbed the wind and water energy, dissipating the vortex and nullifying its effects.
The Soaring Sea Serpent was also caught within the expanding Abyssal Veil and slowly its energy was drained by the cold and dark mist.
Pure Yang Lord shuddered, feeling an unknown fear when he looked at this attack as if it were his own natural nemesis.
'System, why did her strength suddenly soar so suddenly?'
[She's fully unleashed the power of the Pure Ying Physique resulting in a massive surge in strength.]
'Is her Pure Yin Physique stronger than a Pure Yang Physique?' he asked, with a tinge of jealousy.
[Both of these physiques at the same grade should be equally strong.]
'Grades?'
[There are nine grades among both Pure Yin and Pure Yang physique. Princess Sara and this body before you entered, both have the fifth-grade physique.]
He was astonished at this new information.
'Can one evolve one's Pure Yang Physique?' he asked with anticipation.
[Yes.]
His attention was drawn to Sara who delivered the final blow. Purple light appeared on her sword as she stabbed the Soaring Sea Serpent's underbelly, piercing its reverse scale—a scale that revealed its golden hue after her strike.
"So, this serpent had already developed its reverse scale and somehow disguised it like his other scales." Pure Yang Lord mumbled, amazed at the cunningness of the beast as well as the viciousness and expertise of Sara. Despite her young age, she dealt with the legendary beast with brutal precision.
With a casual wave of her hand, a purple light revealed itself, from inside the Serpent's body and vanished in her hands.
He looked at the giant corpse of the legendary beast and sighed, "Birds die for food while humans die for wealth."
She slowly cut the body of the Soaring Sea Serpent and found the bead-shaped treasure. She waved her hand and the remaining corpse disappeared.
'System, you saw her strength, right? Now, do you want to change the mission?' he said mentally.
[No need. She completely released her Pure Yin Physique's power beyond her current capacity so she will experience a period of extreme weakness as a side-effect. You can use your remaining Martial Emperor-level soul strength to enslave her using this seal.]
An extremely intricate seal appeared in his mind—so complex, even with his previous life's cultivation knowledge, he couldn't discern the intricacies of this seal.
'Why do I feel like you're trying to rob me of my last trump card?' he mused, with doubts in his mind.
[Hostage is free to disobey the mission and face the punishment.]
His righteous nature surged, igniting a sense of moral duty. He decided to tell her the truth about the system and let her decide the next course of action.
Sara approached him with graceful movements and presented the bead-shaped treasure just before his eyes, before suddenly retracting it, leaving him bewildered.
Puzzled by her action, he looked into her eyes.
She smiled like a blooming orchid. "I have saved you from drowning before. I can also resolve the poison in your body. And I'll even give you this treasure that you've been lusting for. But…"
Her voice trailed off with a long pause and declared, "You are not allowed to commit suicide anymore because your life doesn't belong to yourself anymore. It belongs to me."
"What?" Pure Yang Lord was caught off guard by her sentence.
"I will help you soar to great heights in cultivation and even support you in getting a beauty with decent cultivation talent as your wife," she winked and said in a soft and soothing tone. "A drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring. To repay the favor, from today onwards, you'll serve me with your life, and if necessary, you'll sacrifice it for me."
His jaws nearly dropped to the ground hearing her words, turning his world upside down.