Chapter 163: Yellow, Blue, and Gold Banded Snake

Although these yellow and blue gummy bears seemed fairly well-equipped and numbered around thirty, their size and combat capability were truly negligible. Liu Zong did not even need to make a move; the shepherd bear alone dispatched every single one of them.

After slaughtering the gummy bears, the shepherd bear immediately seized the head of one and began to gnaw on it.

Meanwhile, Liu Zong stared up at the Caesar bear perched above. He had a feeling that this boss did not even deign to watch the battle below; the Caesar bear had not so much as raised its head while the shepherd bear was cutting down its minions.

Soon, another wave of red-and-green-matched gummy bears and a wave of purple-and-white-matched gummy bears emerged from the side doors. There were about thirty of them in each wave, and their combat effectiveness was equally pathetic.

Once these three waves of gummy bears had all been wiped out, the red Caesar bear slowly stood up and muttered something to Liu Zong.

Then, an astonishing sight unfolded before Liu Zong. The gummy bear that had disguised itself as a bee actually took flight, clutching a massive honey jar. The Caesar bear extended the scepter in its hand, stirred it within the jar, and scattered sticky honey across the open ground below.

The moment the honey touched the ground, Liu Zong saw the gummy bears in the spectator stands grow restless. Throwing all caution to the wind, the blue and yellow gummy bears leapt from the stands and scrambled frantically toward the honey.

Colliding, biting, and clawing at one another, these gummy bears quickly melted into blue and yellow sugary syrup. Blending with the honey, the syrup began to roll across the ground, tightly entangling the gummy bears that continued to tumble down from above. Eventually, the clump of gummy bears grew larger and larger, transforming into a massive, twenty-meter-long banded krait with a blue base and yellow rings.

Most of the banded krait's body was pieced together from gummy bears, its two eyes substituted with gummy bear heads. Fully formed, it reared its body upright and locked its gaze directly onto Liu Zong and his companions.

Liu Zong realized this was the boss's true strength, though he had no way of knowing how much honey remained in the jar or how many more such transformations could occur.

At that moment, Liu Zong raised his hand, and a longspear materialized in his grip. Simultaneously, the shepherd bear stepped to the forefront, while the armored knight and the red wind-up toy also drew their respective weapons.

With a gentle leap, Liu Zong landed atop the phantom image of a miniature wind-up train that materialized beneath his feet. He stood effortlessly upon the train's locomotive, as though perched upon the head and neck of a horned dragon.

This was a component of the battle techniques Liu Zong had studied. Originally, this secret martial art utilizing polearms required one to stand upon the head of a horned dragon, dancing up and down in tandem with the creature; no other mount would suffice.

However, this miniature train happened to be relatively long. Although it could not fly, it could mimic the coiling and turning movements of a serpent on the ground. Combined with the fact that Liu Zong had not yet fully mastered the entire set of secret techniques, this approach actually allowed him to unleash a considerable degree of combat power.

Standing atop the locomotive, Liu Zong pointed his longspear forward, and the steam train coiled and surged toward the banded krait.

Liu Zong's movements were swift, but his subordinates' actions were even faster. The shepherd bear had positioned itself directly in front of Liu Zong from the start. The moment Liu Zong gave the command to attack, the bear leaped directly onto the top of the banded krait's head, opened its jaws, and bit down hard.

Following that, the shepherd bear performed an action that left Liu Zong utterly speechless: it kept its jaws clamped onto the snake's head while continuously battering the creature's body with its shepherd's crook.

Ignoring Liu Zong, who was charging right toward it, the banded krait tried to twist its head around to bite the shepherd bear perched on top. Yet from that angle, there was no way it could reach the bear. It could only writhe back and forth, inadvertently exposing its belly.

Just then, Liu Zong rode the miniature train right up to the banded krait. Gathering sufficient force in the longspear he held, he thrust the weapon into the creature's body at an eccentric angle.

Only then did the banded krait realize that, aside from the pest on its head, it faced a multitude of enemies. It began to thrash and roll wildly on the spot.

It had to be said that this was an exceptionally smart choice. At the very least, during the violent rolling, the shepherd bear—which had kept its teeth sunk into the snake's head—was crushed several times before finally being shaken off and thrown aside.

By that time, however, Liu Zong had already retreated to the side aboard the miniature train. Most importantly, he was no longer holding his longspear.

Having fallen back to the corner of the Bear-Wrestling Arena, Liu Zong smiled faintly as he watched the banded krait roll slower and slower on the ground. His longspear had pierced straight through the creature, and as the snake thrashed about, the weapon had sliced back and forth through its body multiple times.

During the final roll, because the longspear became wedged against the ground, the wound on the banded krait was torn wider by a factor of one or two. Sugary syrup gushed out from within the creature's body, flowing along the drainage trenches on the ground and down into the subterranean depths.

Just because Liu Zong had ceased his attacks did not mean his undead minions had done the same. The longswords of the armored knight and the red wind-up toy descended upon the snake's head precisely at that moment.

The banded krait's mobility was no longer as brisk as before. When the two longswords fell, it lacked even the chance to dodge and took both blows squarely.

By this point, the shepherd bear had scrambled along the serpent's body back to the spot where Liu Zong had left the spear embedded. While yanking the weapon free and tossing it back to Liu Zong, the bear lunged back at the banded krait's wound and began to tear and bite savagely.

This time, the shepherd bear's bites were even more ferocious. Under the onslaught, the banded krait actually reared up into an upright posture once more, though Liu Zong could clearly tell this was a reaction born of sheer "pain."

Liu Zong could not quite fathom how a banded krait pieced together from gummy candy could not only look the part, but even replicate such expressions and postures down to the last detail.

Yet he did not let his thoughts distract him from finishing off the banded krait. How could he possibly let such a prime opportunity slip away? As the snake reared its body once more, the miniature train beneath Liu Zong's feet accelerated instantly, carrying him straight toward the creature's face.

Leveraging the momentum of this burst of speed, Liu Zong leaped into the air, holding his longspear high in his right hand, and drove it straight down into the banded krait's head.

This strike was not one of the secret martial arts techniques Liu Zong had learned, but rather an instinctive mode of attack. He invoked no breathing techniques or visualization methods this time; he simply trusted his gut that this was the way to strike.

To his surprise, the power behind this blow was not a whit inferior to any secret technique. With a single thrust, he pierced completely through the banded krait's head.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Liu Zong was struck by a realization. He felt he had grown far too reliant on those secret martial arts techniques, completely neglecting the fundamental polearm skills he had spent years practicing bit by bit.

If he continued down this path, he might indeed master this set of secret techniques and cut a bloody swath through his foes in the early stages. But what about later? Would he reach Level 3 only to have to start all over again and practice basic skills from scratch, just like Bai Qi?

Countless thoughts flashed through Liu Zong's mind the very instant the banded krait collapsed.