After the Two-Headed Golden Flame Snake recovered a portion of its strength, it began carefully surveying its surroundings. Its tongue flicked in and out, tasting the air as it searched for hidden threats. At the very least, it was a ten-thousand-year soul beast—its intelligence already awakened. Carelessness no longer existed in its instincts.
Hidden atop a small sand hill, I watched silently as the snake finished devouring its prey—a soul beast nearly seven meters long—and then began moving westward.
I miscalculated, I realized calmly.
My trap was laid to the north and east. If it continued west, the opportunity would be lost.
I needed to force its movement.
Suppressing my breath, I followed from behind, closing the distance without alerting it. When I reached the optimal range, I summoned my martial spirit.
Thousand Demon Sword.
Its form resembled the Thousand Demon Dagger from Scissor Seven, but longer—comparable in size to a masamune. The blade was riddled with over a hundred cracks, each capable of separating into an independent fragment. As my cultivation grew, so would the number of split blades.
Four soul rings flared to life around me—yellow, purple, purple, and black.
I activated my second soul ring, instantly amplifying my attack power by 150%. In the same breath, I struck.
The snake's flame-spewing head was in mid-motion when my blade descended.
The moment contact was made, I separated the blade and activated my fourth soul ring, switching positions with the fragment I had previously placed to the north.
The entire exchange lasted less than three seconds.
The snake reacted—but too late.
The head that controlled flames was nearly severed, hanging by torn flesh. It shrieked in agony, its body thrashing violently. The injured head went mad, attempting to launch a blind, indiscriminate attack in all directions.
Before it could—
The remaining head acted.
Golden light flared as it activated Steel-Piercing Golden Poison Fang and, without hesitation, devoured its own wounded head.
I observed the scene without emotional fluctuation.
The snake's aura stabilized once more. It lifted its remaining head and locked its gaze onto me, filled with naked killing intent.
It did not advance.
It senses something, I concluded.
I attacked again.
Activating my first soul ring, I swung my
Thousand Demon Sword.
A Golden Thunder Slash tore through the air—a two-meter-long arc of yellow-purple lightning that struck its head within two seconds.
The snake finally snapped.
Roaring furiously, it charged toward me.
I retreated steadily, launching repeated Golden Thunder Slashes to guide its movement. Its hissing grew frantic, rage overpowering caution.
Then—
It stepped into the trap.
A net of sharpened steel threads snapped shut, reinforced with mucus extracted from a ten-thousand-year sea soul beast. The substance was impossibly sticky—once entangled, escape was nearly impossible.
I stopped retreating.
The steel threads embedded themselves deeper into the snake's scales as it struggled, further aggravating its wounds. The more it fought, the tighter the net became.
I watched patiently, searching for weaknesses while constantly monitoring my surroundings. In the Star Dou Great Forest, a third party was always the greatest threat.
For over half an hour, I waited.
Whenever I detected an opening, I struck—methodically worsening its injuries without exhausting myself. Blood soaked into the sand as its movements slowed.
When I closed to within three meters, it remained motionless.
Its eyes tracked me.
I attacked without warning.
A Golden Thunder Slash struck its open mouth.
I immediately retreated.
The snake convulsed violently, attempting one last desperate counterattack—but the slash tore through its internal organs.
Returning to a position seven meters away, I began recovering my soul power. At the same time, I scattered foul-smelling substances around the battlefield—materials designed to repel other soul beasts by triggering instinctive disgust.
Another half hour passed.
I recovered roughly 75% of my soul power. The battle had consumed about 45% in total.
The snake was nearing the end.
Two minutes later, I summoned my Thousand Demon Sword once more and activated my third soul ring.
Four sword phantoms materialized behind me.
Without hesitation, they surged forward—one targeting the head, one the neck, one the midsection, and the last the tail.
Their effect was absolute.
The snake's body stiffened.
Then fell still.
Dark energy gathered above the corpse.
A black soul ring slowly rose from its body.