Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor

Given the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's obedient cooperation, Leian did not make things difficult for it. After learning the information he needed, he changed direction and flew north.

Before long, Leian stopped above a silent, gloomy valley.

Looking down, he saw a lake several hundred meters across below him. Its waters were dark and bottomless, while a thin layer of gray mist hung over the surface, swirling and winding about, giving off a faint sense of deathly stillness.

"Is this where the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor lives?"

Leian's expression turned grave. This gray mist was so strange that the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor was likely no simple creature. He could not help becoming more vigilant.

According to the Thunder-Winged White Tiger, Saint Realm magical beasts, like human Saint Realm experts, varied in strength.

Among the dozen or so Saint Realm magical beasts it knew, its own strength ranked only in the lower-middle range. This Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, however, ranked among the strongest, surpassed only by the overlord of the southwestern Youquan Mountain Range—the Tyrannosaurus Demos!

Leian knew only too well how powerful Demos was. Since this Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor was second only to Demos, Leian did not believe it had failed to notice him.

Strangely, it had yet to reveal itself. This completely contradicted the habits of Saint Realm magical beasts and was truly rather odd.

After pondering for a moment, Leian called out directly, "Come out, Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor!"

Bang—

The instant his words fell, the lake surface exploded with a thunderous roar. Amid the spray of water, nine savage emerald-green serpent heads burst from the lake and lined up in midair.

At that moment, eighteen scarlet eyes fixed on Leian at once.

"Human, state your purpose!"

This Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor truly possessed considerable intelligence. Rather than directly ordering Leian to leave as the Thunder-Winged White Tiger had, it instead asked about his purpose.

Leian's gaze swept over the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's millstone-thick body, and his expression gradually turned solemn. After some thought, he said,

"My name is Leian. I heard that Your Excellency is extremely powerful. My hands have been itching for a fight, so I came to spar with you."

Upon hearing this, the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's nine heads suddenly swayed. Icy killing intent appeared in its scarlet eyes, and one of the heads abruptly thrust forward, threatening him emotionlessly.

"If you fight me, are you prepared to die?"

Leian raised a brow, finding it increasingly strange. They said serpent magical beasts were the most violent, yet although the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor made no attempt to conceal its killing intent, it was clearly restraining itself. From its words, it seemed almost unwilling to fight.

However, Leian had come specifically to battle, so he could only inwardly apologize.

As the thought passed through his mind, he flipped his right hand and drew his longsword. Laughing loudly, he said, "It won't be so easy to kill me. Come on!"

With that, his figure flashed, and he charged toward the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor first.

At the sight, fury finally ignited in the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's scarlet eyes. Accompanied by a hiss, the calm lake immediately churned with wind and waves. A whirlpool of water as thick as a bucket suddenly surged upward, then transformed into a water dragon that twisted toward Leian to tear him apart.

This water column was none other than water-element magic—Water Tornado!

Water Tornado had no distinction in rank; its power depended entirely on the caster's strength. Given the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's power, its Water Tornado was naturally extraordinary. Even a Saint Realm expert would likely have his bones ground to pieces if caught within it.

Facing the water dragon rushing in to shred him apart, Leian's figure flickered. Moving at a speed far beyond that of a Saint Realm expert, he easily circled around it.

"One Water Tornado isn't enough to stop me."

Leian's laughter rang through the valley. At the same time, a figure shot toward the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor like lightning.

The instant he neared the serpent heads, Leian decisively thrust out the longsword in his hand.

Ssshh—

The blade, radiating black light, swiftly tore through the air. Just as it was about to pierce through one of the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's heads, an ice shield suddenly condensed out of thin air and blocked its path.

At the sight, Leian could not help but curl his lips. Trying to stop his Destruction strike with nothing but an ice shield was simply wishful thinking.

Then, with a soft pfft, the black-glowing sword passed through the shield as though piercing solidified grease, driving onward with unstoppable force and stabbing into the enormous, savage serpent head behind it.

Bang!

With a dull blast, flesh and blood exploded where the sword tip struck. A bloody hole the size of a wooden basin appeared in the serpent head.

"Aoo—"

Having suffered such a severe wound, the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's other eight heads let out pained hisses in unison, while the head that had been struck visibly wilted.

Judging by its condition, it would not recover anytime soon.

One of nine heads had been crippled. Without question, Leian had thoroughly enraged the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor.

In an instant, three of its heads violently swung forward, their gaping maws aimed directly at Leian as thick clouds of gray mist spewed forth.

The moment the gray mist appeared, Leian sensed a trace of danger from it. Startled, he rapidly retreated.

This gray mist felt exactly like the mist that had covered the lake earlier, except the aura of death within it was dozens of times stronger.

"So it really is the Death Rule!"

He had already suspected as much, but now that he had seen the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor personally spew out the gray mist, Leian no longer had any doubts.

Before coming here, he had truly never expected this Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor to be a rare dual-element Saint Realm magical beast that wielded both water and death.

Just as Leian was stunned, the mass of gray mist rapidly spread outward. In the blink of an eye, it had filled the entire valley.

Caught off guard, Leian inhaled a wisp of the mist, and his mind immediately became muddled.

"Soul Attack!"

Horrified, he hurriedly circulated his Destruction Battle Qi to purge the gray mist from his body.

Just then, countless frosts suddenly descended. The temperature within several miles plummeted, and before long, a thick layer of ice had formed over the lake.

At the same time, a layer of ice crystals covered Leian's body. Having barely regained clarity, he immediately felt a terrifying chill pierce through his flesh and seep toward his sea of consciousness.

"Absolute Zero!"

Feeling the bone-piercing cold within his body, Leian instantly recognized its origin. It was the forbidden water-element magic—Absolute Zero!

Absolute Zero was tremendously powerful. Once cast, its terrifying low temperature alone could instantly freeze an opponent into shattered ice fragments. Even the soul could be frozen and broken apart.

Without hesitation, Leian activated his beast transformation. Purple-black dragon scales instantly covered his entire body, resisting the chill outside.

At the same time, his Destruction Battle Qi surged wildly. A mass of pitch-black radiance spread from within, rapidly destroying the cold air.

On the other side, seeing Leian covered in frost, a hint of delight flashed through the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's cold eyes. Its remaining eight heads suddenly lunged at Leian.

As a magical beast specializing in the Laws of Water, the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor had absolute confidence in its trump card, Absolute Zero.

Ever since it had comprehended this forbidden magic, not a single opponent had survived after fully enduring Absolute Zero.

Just as Leian was about to die beneath the serpent heads, he moved at the critical moment. In his beast-transformed state, he was even faster. With a flash of Black Light, his figure appeared at the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor's side.

The Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor had never expected Leian to recover so quickly under Absolute Zero. Caught completely off guard, it was immediately struck by Leian's sword across one of its heads.

Black sword light flashed, and a half-meter-long gash appeared on the nearest serpent head. The wound was deep enough to reveal bone, and foul-smelling blood sprayed out like a fountain.

Another serpent head wilted!

Just as Leian was considering whether he should subdue this rare Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Stop!"

As the voice sounded, a figure draped in a black robe slowly rose from beneath the lake's surface, ascending until he was level with Leian.

Without question, this was a Saint Realm expert!

The other man was completely shrouded in a black robe from head to toe, so Leian could not see his face at all. Only when he raised his head to look over did his gaunt, skeleton-like head enter Leian's sight.

The instant he saw this person, Leian's heart shook violently, and he blurted out instinctively,

"Undead Saint Archmage!"

I probably caught COVID. Why probably? Because I live with my older brother, and he took a nucleic acid test two days ago. He tested positive.

Let me talk about how I feel right now. The symptoms aren't too severe. I have a slight fever, and my head, throat, and body—especially my lower back—all hurt. I also have mild diarrhea. I haven't taken any medicine, and I don't have any medicine either.

Of course, something even more unlucky happened. This afternoon, while rummaging through a drawer, an old key ring accidentally jammed into the gap beneath my fingernail, about half a centimeter deep. Damn, it hurt like hell.