“Spatial Movement.”

“Venomous Fangs.”

Locke summoned his Twin-headed White Jade Snake that had not appeared for a long time and patted its head.

After rubbing itself against Locke’s hand intimately, the Twin-headed Snake suddenly disappeared. Upon reappearing, it was already on the neck of a man in black who was shouting loudly.

Its sharp venomous fangs had pierced through an artery, and the venom was injected into his body through the fangs.

The intense pain spread throughout his body. Although he wanted to screen, the numbing effects of the venom had prevented him from doing so.

Suddenly, the man collapsed onto the ground.

All his senses were still intact, and as a matter of fact, his senses had even been enhanced.

The moment his body fell to the ground, the feeling of the coarse sand breaking through his skin and piercing into his flesh could be clearly felt.

The smell of the soil mixed with an inexplicable stench rushed into his nostrils.

The man in black could even tell that a small piece of feces had just entered his mouth.

However, he did not possess the strength needed to spit it out.

Aside from his eyeballs, he could not move any other part of his body.

This was the effect of the Twin-headed Snake’s venom.

It would apply a paralyzing effect on the victims body, and at the same time, it would also stimulate their nerves and senses.

Under such circumstances, even an ordinary whipping would become unbearable torture.

If Locke wanted to get information from the man in black, all he needed to do was stab the man with a fine needle.

His senses that were amplified by the venom would magnify the pain by thousands of times.

As the first Battle Beast that Locke had obtained, the Twin-headed Snake was truly a unique existence.

Locke was long aware of the hidden evolution path for his Twin-headed Snake. However, he had to put off its evolution due to various circumstances.

However, the appearance of the mysterious old man and Hathaway’s injury had greatly motivated Locke.

Locke had never thirsted for power as much as he did now.

In order to obtain something, one had to lose something first.

As his Twin-headed Snake flickered about the crowd, a ruthless glint flashed in Locke’s eyes.

“Blood sacrifice. Evolution.”

The moment the final man in black fell, a blood-red light wrapped around the Twin-headed Snake’s body.

Following a shrill cry, Locke’s Fire and Wind Elemental that were kept in the System Space morphed into pure energy and wrapped around the Twin-headed Snake to form a double-elemental cocoon of wind and flames.

A tear slid across Locke’s cheek and fell onto the ground.

The two elementals had been with Locke for a long time, and they had both assisted him greatly in the past.

They had saved him many times from the clutches of his enemies.

However, in order to complete his Twin-headed Snake’s evolution, Locke had no other choice but to sacrifice them.

Not only was the Divine Dragon powerful in combat, it could also fly.

In order to reach Cloud City as soon as possible, the Divine Light Dragon’s power was indispensable.

As such, he had no other choice but to sacrifice his wind and fire elementals.

Hiss!

A hiss rang out, and a huge figure appeared before Locke.

Damp, chaotic, evil, violent…

An aura that contained various negative energies, and was capable of driving someone insane, had surged on the spot.

The one that emitted the aura was a huge snake that was as big as a small mountain.

A pair of crimson eyes that looked like blood lanterns appeared in the air, and a forked tongue was spat out from the snake’s gaping maw.

The falcons protecting the carriage fell onto the ground with a plop.

They instinctively fell to the ground and pretended to play dead after smelling the snake’s scent.

The guards watching over the carriage exclaimed in terror, and they immediately dropped their weapons in fear.

A stinky, burnt yellow liquid flowed down their pants.

The guards, who had been through hundreds of battles and had been chased by a group of men in black for three days and three nights, had soiled their pants.

Hiss!

Another roar rang out, and a second pair of crimson eyes appeared.

Then, a third pair, a fourth pair..

A total of nine pairs of eyes and nine gigantic snake heads appeared in mid-air.

Each snake head was half the size of a carriage, and its half-meter-long fangs shone with a cold glint in the air.

The stench that was emitted from its mouths made sizzling sounds in the air.

There was no need to experiment with it. Just by looking at the scorched grass on the ground, Locke could tell how intense its venom was.

The guards protecting the carriage had already given up resisting. They crumpled onto the ground, scared to the point of fainting.

“Stop fooling around, come back!”

Locke waved his hand lightly. With a sway of its body, the Nine-headed Snake then turned into a ray of light and returned to Locke’s System Space.

However, it was like a giant trying to squeeze itself into a small cottage.

Locke’s muscles bulged, and blood vessels burst out.

His body swelled up like a balloon filled with air.

The sudden force from the Nine-headed Snake’s entry had caused his blood vessels to burst, and blood mist sprayed out from all the pores in his body.

If it were any other person, they would have already started to cry. However, Locke only gritted his teeth and remained stationary..

After a long time, the blood splattered all over his body and already hardened into scabs.

His strength gradually returned, and like a feline, his strength hid itself in every nook and cranny of his body.

Locke moved slightly, and with a crack, the scabs across his body broke, and upon his recovery, Locke had grown taller by one-third.

‘Stage 4, so this is the power of Stage 4!’

Locke clenched his fists and made a crisp cracking sound.

A white mist, mixed with the fragrance of the vegetation, wafted towards Locke direction. At the same time, a crisp voice that sounded like an oriole1 rang out.

“My name is Angela.”

“Thank you for saving us.”

“Is this your companion? She’s poisoned and has a high fever. She seems to be in a rather dangerous condition.”

“Move her into my carriage. I can help you take care of her as a form of repayment.”

A tall blonde beauty with a pair of slender legs appeared in front of Locke.

Angela was 17 years old this year. She was the Holy Maiden of Cloud City’s Illumination Society and her specialty was in healing.

Her excursion this time was for a secret mission, however, she had never expected her intel to be leaked, and that she would be hunted down.

The experts that had accompanied her were all dead, and just as she was about to give up hope, she had encountered Locke.

“Thank you!”

Locke did not stand on ceremony. He carefully carried Hathaway and gently placed her in the carriage.

Although the carriage looked ordinary on the outside, it was very exquisite on the inside.

There was a soft bed made of velvet within the carriage, and the fragrance of roses wafted in the air.

Locke had only taken a quick glance before retreating. After all, It was impolite to peek at a lady’s quarters.

“You’re welcome. I should be the one thanking you.”

“I’m Angela. What’s your name?”

After providing some simple treatment to Hathaway. Angela then extended her hand and introduced herself to Locke once more.

“Locke.”

Locke gently squeezed Angela’s hands and released it.

Although Angela was ten times prettier than Hathaway, he was in no mood to flirt with her.

1 A type of bird