Adelia and the gargoyle clashed in the middle. Their collision made sparks fly. Instead of using a weapon, Adelia fought with her bare hands. The gargoyle raised both its front legs to crush her, but Adelia grabbed its legs and overpowered the gargoyle. Even without cultivation power, Adelia was able to match the gargoyle's raw strength. The gargoyle tried to take a bite of Adelia's head, yet it couldn't reach her.

"ARGGHH!" Adelia roared as she pushed back the gargoyle. Every bit of muscle in Adelia's body bulged up. Purple veins appeared on her skin as her pupils became slit vertically. Eventually, she pushed the gargoyle against the wall. While the gargoyle was struggling, Adelia kicked it in the leg. The gargoyle roared. She kicked it in the leg in the same spot again and again until cracks appeared in its leg made of jade. Regardless of what it was made of, the gargoyle roared in pain just like any other beast would.

The gargoyle stumbled down as it matched Adelia's height. As soon as it met Adelia's gaze, the gargoyle became crazed with pain and rage. It violently tried to munch her head with its big mouth. Adelia moved her head left and right, avoiding the gargoyle's mouth by mere inches. They were at a stalemate for a few moments until Adelia lifted the gargoyle by its leg and smashed it on the ground. It happened so quickly. Her raw strength was beyond any typical Body Strengthening stage cultivators. The gargoyle didn't expect such strength and movement from her. The ground cracked by the collision. Without giving the gargoyle any time to retaliate, Adelia sent it flying with a kick, just like how it kicked her earlier.

She cracked her neck. The gargoyle struggled to get back to its feet. The crack in its leg grew wider when it stood up. Adelia locked her gaze with the golden key around its neck. As though the gargoyle realized her intention, it looked at the key for a moment. Adelia once again dashed at the gargoyle as it flapped its jade wings to leap into the air. Hovering in mid-air, the gargoyle opened its mouth. Several jade spikes shot out of its mouth. Adelia managed to roll out, evading the rain of spikes.

"You got some tricks huh," Adelia snickered. With a single jump, she leaped into the air. In mid-air, she punched the gargoyle right in the face. When he first met the gargoyle's jade face, it sounded like an explosion went off. The gargoyle went crashing down. Before it could get back to its feet, Adelia shot toward the gargoyle. She landed on the gargoyle's head.

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"GRRHH!" The gargoyle roared. However, Adelia grabbed its jade wings and ripped them off with brute strength. She sat on top of the gargoyle, locking its head using her arms. She squeezed the gargoyle's neck as hard as she could. Cracks slowly formed around the gargoyle's neck. It tried to stand, only to fail. Adelia kept pushing it down and squeezing its neck. The cracks grew wider and wider until jade pieces crumbled down from its body.

The gargoyle's feet squirmed as the glow in its eyes slowly faded away. A while later, more and more jade pieces crumbled down. Soon, its head bobbed without life. Finally, Adelia roared as she ripped off the gargoyle's neck from its shoulder. As soon as she destroyed the gargoyle's neck, its entire body turned into nothing but jade dust. Only the golden key remained intact. Adelia breathed heavily on the ground. She slowly grabbed the key.

"One out, four more to go," Adelia said.

Adelia picked herself up. With the key in her hand, she made her way to the chest in the center. The chest trembled slightly when she put the key inside the lock. Afterward, dark smoke escaped from the chest before floating toward another statue. It was a nine feet cobra with wings on top. Adelia quickly took out a healing potion and emptied it down her throat. Just like before, the stone statue trembled as pieces of stone crumbled down.

Soon, a purple-skinned snake came to life from the statute. Its emerald green eyes glimmered with killing intent. The snake slithered around the hall instead of attacking Adelia. The blue flames from the brazier illuminated the diamond scales on the snake. The snake almost matched Adelia's true form. It hissed at Adelia yet kept its distance from her. The snake seemed like it was studying Adelia. Since she was not in a hurry, she waited for the snake to make its first move. Moreover, Adelia tried to find the key on the snake's body. To her surprise, she saw a glimmer inside the snake's mouth when it hissed at her.

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Adelia slowly stepped toward her katana. Unlike the gargoyle's stone-like skin, the snake's skin seemed soft and vulnerable to her blade. The snake stopped moving. Instead, it turned its head toward the katana. The snake hissed as it realized Adelia's intention. Finally, it slowly moved toward Adelia. When it was just a few meters away, the snake suddenly swung its tail. Adelia quickly managed to jump in the air, avoiding the tail. She dashed at the katana before landing back on the ground. The snake surprised Adelia by spitting a purple glob at Adelia. She swayed her body to the side in the air, barely evading the glob. When it flew past her face, Adelia smelled a nauseating stench. There was no doubt in her mind that this glob was poison.

The ground sizzled like deep frying. The glob of poison was powerful enough to roast the ground itself. Adelia could only imagine what would happen if the poisonous glob landed on her skin. The snake continued to shoot out purple globs as Adelia finally grabbed the katana. One of the globs landed right where the katana was a moment ago. She wasn't sure the katana could survive the poison. As a Naga, Adelia was able to gauge how poisonous the glob was. According to her, this purple glob was several times more potent than the poison in her poison gland.

Adelia dashed out of the poison glob's trajectory. For a few moments, she zig-zagged through the hall, evading the globs. She waited for the snake to stop shooting. When it did, Adelia dashed at the snake. The snake's giant body slowed its movements. Adelia's human form made her nimble and agile. As a result, she cut the snake before it could move away. As she hoped, the snake's skin wasn't as tough as the gargoyle's. Her katana cut the snake deep. Purplish blood spurted out of its body. Even its blood was poisonous. She quickly swung her katana, yanking the blood off her blade.

The snake hissed. She used the arch energy to leap into the air. Since it was a snake, Adelia targeted its eyes. If it couldn't see her, she would be at an advantage. To the snake's surprise, Adelia raised her hand as two golden beams shot out of her hands. The snake was caught off guard. It did not expect Adelia to use a spell. Thanks to the device around her wrist, she cast a spell. The two beams penetrated the snake's eyes.

"GRRHHHHH!" the snake roared in agony. Its scream almost tore Adelia's eardrums. The snake's body violently twitched. Adelia pressed her advantage by boosting her speed with Arch energy. She flew around the snake, cutting the snake repeatedly. Unfortunately, the snake was too thick to cut its head with a single cut. Hence, she had to cut around her neck again and again, one small cut at a time. Suddenly, the snake began to shoot a poisonous cloud. The purple cloud of poison enveloped the hall. For a moment, Adelia's throat burnt as her vision turned blurry. She just took a whiff, and the poison already affected her body. But being the mother of the Dark Lord's fiance came with a few perks. One of them was a special mask and antidote for poisons.

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She quickly put the mask on her face before she lost consciousness. Then, she immediately drank the silver potion. Gradually, her vision cleared up.

Just to be safe, Adelia drank a healing potion. She was almost tempted to use the berserker pill Gaya gave her. But she chose not to. The snake was strong but not strong enough to give Adelia a headache. The snake would have been a bloody paste if she could use her cultivation.

Furthermore, Adelia was a battle junky, just like Gaya. The stronger the opponent was, the more excited she would feel. Simply put, Adelia wanted the battle to last long. Battles calmed her mind and soul in her own twisted, strange way.

She patiently waited for the snake to stop spewing poisonous clouds. Surprisingly, it took almost five minutes. Only then did the purple poison in the air clear. The snake's movements slowed down. Adelia knew the snake was exhausted. Coupled with the cuts in its body and the blind eyes, the snake was on its way to greet the death. She just had to speed up the process. Once again, Adelia dashed at the snake. Considering the snake was blinded by her, it had no idea that Adelia was on her way to end its life.

Because it was a snake, Adelia felt a bit of pity for it. Hence, she just leaped into the air and stabbed the snake right between the eyes. The snake stopped its twitching all of a sudden. The snake let out a groan before collapsing down. Just like the gargoyle, the snake's body turned into a pile of dust after it died. The golden key glimmered within the ash. She picked up the key from the ground.

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"Three to go," said Adelia. She took a deep breath as she went to put the sky in the lock. But before she could do that, Adelia drank a healing potion. For a few moments, she just took deep breaths. Because she knew that another statue would come to life when she use the key in the lock. Therefore, she wanted to take a few moments to rest her body.

Each of the three remaining statues looked terrifying. Anyone would have been worried but not Adelia. She looked excited to face three more beasts.