Volcanic Age

The Seven-horned Serpent was sleeping, its belly full from a recent meal. However, it woke up when it detected an intruder in its territory. Something dared to not just invade its territory, but also interrupt its sleep! Enraged, it rose up.

Rocks crumbled like mud when it moved, and stalactites were reduced to dust. Each stalactite, large or small, left a mark on the Seven-horned Serpent's body before being crushed to pieces.

As the glossy dark green scales scraped against the ground, the poisonous creatures nearby all stiffened, shivering in fear at the sight of the predator in the Poisonblood Valley.

"It's huge!" Zhou Xuchuan exclaimed, standing close to the entrance of a cave near a rocky area.

This area looked significantly different from the Poisonblood Valley he was familiar with. Although he could see some dead tree roots, they had all crumbled apart, as if the Seven-horned Serpent had slid past them. In place of thick tall trees blocking out the sun were steep, rocky cliffs.

"But he's gonna be lunch[1]." Zhou Xuchuan said, his voice devoid of madness or fear as he unsheathed his sword, Frostedge.

"H-hieek!"

The cultivators of the Galaxy Manor freaked out at the sight of the Seven-horned Serpent.

"Whoa… So this… is the Seven-horned Serpent…"

Although he had heard about it before, seeing it in the flesh and feeling its pressure was no joke.

Hiss~

The Seven-horned Serpent's forked tongue flicked as it glared at the humans in front of it. Its yellow eyes, visible through diamond-shaped scales, were enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

"Collect yourselves!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, imbuing qi into his voice.

The gentle natured-qi hit the eardrums and consequently the brains of the cultivators of the Galaxy Manor.

"Ehem!"

He didn't imbue qi into his voice to attack. It was to prevent everyone from being paralyzed by the hiss of the Seven-horned Serpent. Although the Shaolin Temple's Lion Roar was more effective in situations like this, what he did was enough.

"Stick to the plan!" Zhou Xuchuan darted forward first.

When they entered the territory of the Seven-horned Serpent, they had briefly exchanged strategies on how to fight.

"Is he truly planning to act as the bait by himself? I'm not sure if he's being bold or reckless…"

Despite his surprise, Duan Hecheng still made his move. He directed the cultivators of the Galaxy Manor to kill the Seven-horned Serpent.

"Haaah!"

Before the Seven-horned Serpent completely left the cave, Zhou Xuchuan charged in and latched onto its tail before swinging his sword. Thanks to Frostedge, his sword qi had become more ferocious, and the qi drew a vertical line from the bottom to the top.

Pshhh!

A trail of blood followed the path of the sword. At first, there was just a trickle of blood, but immediately, fountains of blood started gushing out from the wound.

"He did it!" The cultivators of the Galaxy Manor cheered, their faces filled with hope.

That was too shallow.

However, Zhou Xuchuan's face looked grim. His aim was to cut the snake in two, and he had used a considerable amount of qi. Yet, the wound barely reached halfway.

His initial assumption that only the snake's horn was tough was proven wrong; its scales were also much harder than anticipated.

Hiss!

The Seven-horned Serpent twisted its body, using its massive tail to strike Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan threw himself forward and rolled on the ground—he executed Donkey's Roll, a dodging move hated by all cultivators of the Orthodox Faction.

Still, it was better to suffer in life than to die in pride. Feeling the Seven-horned Serpent's tail brush past his back was frightening.

"Stop running!"

Ignoring the dirt staining his Daoist robes, he charged forward again, his target, the Seven-horned Serpent.

Forget fleeing, Zhou Xuchuan leaped onto the serpent's body, immediately propelling toward its head. Qi released from the soles of his feet thrust him forward.

By the time the Seven-horned Serpent realized what was happening and attempted to dislodge him, Zhou Xuchuan had already reached its head, which was shaped like a volcanic crater.

"Huup!"

He inhaled deeply before striking down with his sword through the gap between the scales.

Khyaaaaahk!

The serpent let out a scream, not of anger, but of pain. Unable to endure the pain, the Seven-horned Serpent writhed in agony.

Bam! Bam!

As it thrashed against the walls, the cave trembled, and soon it came crumbling down. Stalactites crashed down, followed by the entire ceiling.

Hiss!

Feeling its life threatened, the serpent attempted to escape.

"Stop it!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. His words lacked any politeness due to the urgency of the situation.

"Got it!"

Duan Hecheng and the cultivators surrounded the entrance of the cave to prevent the Seven-horned Serpent from escaping.

"Stop!"

"You're not going anywhere!"

While the cave itself was big enough to contain the Seven-horned Serpent's large body, it wasn't that spacious. There was also the fact that the Seven-horned Serpent had just eaten, and it was bloated. It could barely escape the cave as is, but with the cave collapsing, even fitting its head through the entrance became a challenge.

Normally, it would have ignored the humans in front of it and left either way, but the debris collapsing from above prevented its escape.

"That's one!"

Zhou Xuchuan seized the opportunity to maneuver around on its head with the sword still lodged in it. He drew a circle around one of its horns, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

When he completed the circle, he pushed the sword deeper, using it as a lever.

Psh!

A horn the size of an average adult was pulled out with bits of flesh and scales attached to it.

Khieeeeehk!

The Seven-horned serpent let out a cry unlike anything they had heard before, causing the ears of everyone present to ring. Some of the cultivators even lost their balance.

"Hehe, got your horn!" Zhou Xuchuan smirked and tossed the severed horn aside.

The Seven-horned Serpent's yellow eyes saw its horn rolling on the ground. This was the first time it had seen its own horn.

Hiss!

Having lost a part of its body, the Seven-horned Serpent's fury reached new heights. It snarled as if it had lost its most prized possession, emitting killing intent that could make other ferocious creatures in the Poisonblood Valley tremble in fear.

Gasp!

Some of the cultivators from the Galaxy Manor were overwhelmed and paralyzed. Sensing the opportunity, the serpent widened its jaws.

"Foul creature! Who do you think you're targeting?!"

Duan Hecheng remained unfazed by the surging killing intent and executed his sword art, the Sunshooting Sword Art. His attack was lightning fast, living up to its reputation as a sword art known for its speed.

Psh!

Duan Hecheng's sword pierced the underside of the Seven-horned Serpent's tongue.

Khyeeeeeeek!

The serpent let out another howl of pain and lifted its head. With a swift motion, Duan Hecheng withdrew his sword, preventing himself from being dragged upward, and gracefully landed on the ground with a flip.

The Seven-horned Serpent thrashed its head violently, but Zhou Xuchuan managed to stay atop without falling off. He even pulled out his sword and inched closer to the serpent's eye.

"Well then, here goes the eye!" he exclaimed, driving his sword into the serpent's eye.

Pshh!

Khyaaaaaaaaahk!

"Shut up, I've had enough of your screams!"

He frowned and pierced the eye again.

"How long are you going to stay holed up in that cave? Get some sunlight and touch some grass!" he said, depriving one of its eyes of its ability to see light.

"What are you all doing? Don't keep watching!" he shouted, dangling on his sword.

"Ah!"

Duan Hecheng regained his composure and gathered his qi.

Huh…?

As he checked on the others, Zhou Xuchuan noticed something inside the cave while dangling on the Seven-horned Serpent.

I want to check what that is… but unfortunately, now's not the right time.

He smacked his lips, but had to put it aside for now.

"Let's go!"

Duan Hecheng rushed to the serpent first, followed by the cultivators of the Galaxy Manor. Due to the collapsed cave, the serpent's movement was limited, making it relatively easy to attack, as long as they avoided its thrashing head.

Psh, psh!

Sixteen swords were driven into the Seven-horned Serpent's body. Everyone had attacked through the gaps of the scales with their sword qi. Even if the serpent had a horn that couldn't be cut without the help of augmented qi, there was no point if it allowed attacks to land on its body.

It may have been difficult if the serpent left the cave and could move around freely, but with more than half of its body being trapped under debris, they could face it without much difficulty.

"Now give me your core and horns!"

Stab, slash, dodge, stab, slash, dodge… it was monotonous, but each movement was crucial. If he didn't dodge properly, he would die. If his sword got stuck in its body, he would be crushed to death. If his sword broke while slashing, he would have no other choice but to suck on his thumb from a distance.

With Zhou Xuchuan and Duan Hecheng as their main attackers, the seventeen of them kept attacking the Seven-horned Serpent. After a while, the serpent rampaging like a raging bull seemed to be exhausted, and they could visibly tell that it had become slower.

"Watch out! It's poison!"

Khieeeehk!

It was natural for a poisonous creature to produce poison, but it had been a few decades since the Seven-horned Serpent spat out poison. It was partly because it had formed an internal core with the poison it absorbed, but it was mostly because it didn't need to.

However, that pride meant nothing in the face of death, and it opened its mouth wide to spit out poison. Blackish blue liquid coated the rocky areas.

Tsss!

The ground bubbled like lava, emitting white smoke.

"Oh no!"

A cultivator of the Galaxy Manor dropped his sword in surprise. The sword disappeared after falling into the swamp of poison.

"Fall back!" Duan Hecheng ordered.

He had lost one man's worth of fighting power. The man who just lost his sword was sent to the back to monitor the surroundings.

"How tenacious!" Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue, driving his sword downward, this time targeting the serpent's head rather than its eye.

Hiss…

The Seven-horned Serpent showed signs of exhaustion. It had lost too much blood, and the spark of life in its eye was dimming.

It had lost an eye, a horn, and was half-buried under rocks. It was also bleeding from its head. It was a miracle that it was still alive, much less moving. It was not a spiritual beast without reason.

"Checkmate!"

Zhou Xuchuan charged forward, sword in hand. He ran to the tip of its nose and fell onto its tongue.

"Wh-what in the…"

"Has he finally gone crazy?"

Everyone else freaked out at his actions. He entered the creature's mouth!

"I'm not crazy, so keep on attacking!" Zhou Xuchuan yelled, swinging his sword.

Slash!

The forked tongue was cut in half. The severed part blocked the Seven-horned Serpent's throat.

Zhou Xuchuan was splattered with bits of poison, causing his clothes to dissolve, but his body remained unaffected, thanks to his poison resistance and the qi shielding him..

Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom!

Then, he swung his sword imbued with qi, causing a storm inside the serpent's mouth. The coiled tongue was torn to pieces in the storm, but the attack didn't stop there. It went beyond the throat and dug deep into the body.

Khyaaaaaahk…

The Seven-horned Serpent's head sagged, its scream filled with fear in the face of death.

1. A Bear Grylls reference. He says this just before smashing a puff adder and eating it. ☜

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