The giant serpent had already caught up behind Little Princess, opening its blood-red maw and spewing a torrent of flames, the blazing fire sweeping toward Little Princess.

Little Princess looked utterly terrified, letting out a piercing scream: “Ah…”

As the flames were about to reach Little Princess’s back, the Hou Yi bow suddenly emitted a faint golden light, blocking the fire outside and startling the giant serpent into an abrupt halt.

At the same time, a long howl echoed from afar, the sound rumbling like thunder, reverberating in the sky for a long time.

“Yu’er, don’t panic, your master is here.” The newcomer’s voice was so loud that the rocks around the volcano’s crater tumbled down the mountainside.

Ethan Brooks’s ears buzzed from the shock, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

Before long, a middle-aged man in loose robes appeared a hundred yards away.

“Waa… Old man, why did you only just get here? If you’d been any later, I would’ve been eaten by this stinking snake.” Little Princess cried out.

Ethan Brooks’s blood and energy surged from the shock, and combined with his earlier tension, he plopped down onto the ground.

“Such powerful sonic skill—could it be the deadly Canglong Howl? The little demon calls him ‘old man’; could he be some old guy who’s regained his youth?” He stared intently at the middle-aged man, and in the blink of an eye, the newcomer had already closed another fifty yards.

“Shrinking the earth to inches, a skill close to the Dao! This old guy is truly formidable; it seems his abilities are at least at the grandmaster level.” Ethan Brooks thought to himself in alarm.

In an instant, the middle-aged man was standing before Little Princess, while the giant serpent glared menacingly at the uninvited guest from not far away.

The middle-aged man seemed not to care about the giant serpent at all. He affectionately patted Little Princess’s head and laughed, “Haha, little girl, you’ve had your share of hardship, haven’t you?”

“Ugh, don’t hit my head.” Little Demon princess pushed the man’s hand aside, pouting, “Hmph, you old geezer, did you get here earlier and just hide in the shadows to watch me make a fool of myself?”

“If I’d gotten here earlier, would I have just stood by and watched you all get chased and bitten by that little snake?”

“Unbelievable!” Ethan Brooks was truly speechless at this master and disciple pair, who actually called that enormous creature a “little” snake.

“Hmph, who knows if you’re telling the truth or not.”

At this moment, the surviving guards, having skirted around the giant serpent, stumbled over.

The middle-aged man said in a deep voice, “Stay away from this volcano. Retreat as far as you can.”

Little Princess said no more, leading the heavily injured guards down the mountain. Of course, Ethan Brooks had already made his escape ahead of them—he had no desire to face that terrifying Little Demon.

“Hey, scoundrel, filthy thief, stop right there! If I catch you, I’ll skin you alive!” Little Princess shouted viciously.

Having suffered greatly during his days in captivity, Ethan Brooks retorted fiercely, “You stinky princess, keep dreaming! Sooner or later you’ll pay for this, I XXXXX you…”

The surviving guards wanted nothing more than to rush over and capture him, but being gravely wounded, they were powerless and could only shout and curse from afar. Little Princess had never suffered such humiliation before; she bit her silver teeth in fury, her body trembling. If she hadn’t exhausted all her strength, she would have caught up and killed Ethan Brooks a thousand times over.

With a few leaps, Ethan Brooks reached the foot of the mountain. Ignoring the angry shouts behind him, he dove into the depths of the nearby forest. He didn’t leave right away, wanting to see the fight between the newly arrived middle-aged man and the giant serpent, so he hid in a corner of the dense woods.

The Hou Yi bow, which had frightened the giant serpent, had already been taken away by Little Princess, but the serpent still didn’t attack her master. The giant serpent was already intelligent; it sensed the immense power hidden within the seemingly frail body before it, and it uneasily writhed its massive form.

Now, facing the giant serpent alone, Little Princess’s master’s aura changed in an instant. He seemed like a giant standing proudly between heaven and earth, his face showing no fear, only immense confidence.

The giant serpent was the king of all beasts in the area; for miles around, no animal dared set foot here. Yet in just half a day, its authority had been repeatedly challenged. Now, under the pressure of the middle-aged man’s powerful presence, it was completely enraged. Scorching waves of fire erupted, surging toward the man like a tidal wave.

The middle-aged man moved like lightning, leaving only an afterimage where he had stood, instantly shifting five yards to the side. Then he leapt high and struck the serpent’s old wound with his palm, causing a fresh torrent of blood to spurt from the gash.

Unable to bear the intense pain, the serpent’s upright body toppled to the ground, its blood-red eyes flashing with a chilling ferocity. A wild wind suddenly arose, and its massive tail swept horizontally at the man. On a battlefield, such a tail strike would truly “sweep away a thousand troops.” Amid thunderous crashes, rocks shot everywhere, dust filled the sky, and the serpent’s “sweeping strike” left a huge trench on the mountainside.

When the dust settled, the middle-aged man was already standing atop the volcano. The giant serpent reared up again, its massive head level with the crater, its ferocious maw lunging at the man.

The middle-aged man neither dodged nor flinched, advancing fearlessly. He thrust both fists forward, and a swath of white light appeared before them, as if something tangible collided with the serpent’s bloody mouth.

“Boom!”

A thunderous explosion shook the sky.