The pigeon looked at the damaged Divine Spirit Shield, which had already mostly recovered. The shield rotated by itself, covering the pigeon's sides. The tail's attacks met fierce resistance from the Divine Spirit Shield. Compared to before, the shield's defense had increased a hundredfold. At this point, the pigeon wasn't concerned about the reason for the shield fragments' presence. The Divine Spirit Shield dodged the nine-headed serpent's tail attacks, resisting furiously. The shield seemed to possess its own consciousness, actively defending without the need for the pigeon to control it.
One second it was here, the next it was elsewhere, moving with incredible speed. The pigeon knew this was the spirit of the Divine Spirit Shield awakening. When the Divine Spirit Shield repaired to a certain extent, the artifact spirit within would awaken. The artifact spirit, along with the fragments, had split into multiple incomplete Divine Spirit Shields, each with different roles. When the fragment had entered the Divine Spirit Shield moments ago, the artifact spirit had regained consciousness. Although communication was still impossible, the pigeon felt relieved seeing this.
At least it would recover gradually. There were three more fragments, corresponding to the top, the center, and the tip of the shield. The pigeon didn't know where these three fragments had scattered after the last shattering. Logically, they should have been in the Divine Realm. How had they escaped the Divine Realm? The pigeon was curious. Seeing that its tail was useless against the pigeon, the nine-headed serpent decisively abandoned its attack, deeming it pointless. The serpent's heads slowly opened.
The leftmost head gathered intense heat. Lava flowed into its mouth, condensing into a fiery orb that contained the nine-headed serpent's flame power. The orb, manipulated by the serpent's fire and lava, was several times more powerful than its previous flames. With a *whoosh*, the orb was spat out, heading directly for the pigeon. Facing the fire orb, the pigeon moved the Divine Spirit Shield to its right arm. The right arm and the shield combined. The right arm swept horizontally, and the shield's surface collided with the fire orb, creating sparks. The pigeon increased its strength and flicked its right arm, sending the fire orb flying.
This was not the end. Following the nine-headed serpent's fire orb were countless ice cones, their tips sharp enough to pierce the pigeon. The pigeon grasped the shield and slammed it down. Countless shields appeared before it, forming a city wall, with the pigeon standing atop it. The ice cones struck the city wall without causing any ripple. The wall's defense was incredible. The nine-headed serpent's third attack came in the form of a raging tornado. The tornado spun forward and collided with the city wall. The wall shook a few times, and the tornado spun faster and faster. The pigeon's expression changed drastically. It drew its Divine Spirit Sword and sliced the tornado directly in half. In this exchange, the pigeon had decisively won.
Looking at the Divine Spirit Shield in its hand, the pigeon wondered if it had only recovered two abilities.
The pigeon sighed inwardly. The Divine Spirit Shield had recovered nearly seventy percent of its power. Of course, the core abilities were not yet restored, but some functions had awakened. The city wall and the connection with the right arm were abilities that came with the Divine Spirit Shield. The pigeon was intimately familiar with these two abilities; they were second nature even after just being restored. Seeing that the pigeon remained unharmed despite its onslaught, the nine-headed serpent opened its fourth head and emitted waves of sound. The sound waves spread out in circles. The pigeon covered its ears.
The sound waves caused surrounding rubble to fall and lava to surge. The pigeon sensed danger, realizing that if this continued, the lava would erupt, engulfing the entire city. The pigeon clenched the Divine Spirit Shield and the Divine Spirit Sword. The sword was inserted into the shield. Stroking the center of the Divine Spirit Shield, the pigeon felt a concave pit that seemed to be missing something. This did not hinder the pigeon's next move.
As the pigeon's hand swept across the center, the entire Divine Spirit Shield emitted a radiant glow. The pigeon pulled out the Divine Spirit Sword, now covered in light. The pigeon swung its arm, and the light formed a massive net, covering the area above the serpent's heads.
The surging lava was suppressed by the great net, slowly descending. The pigeon felt a pang of pain after unleashing this move, one of its trump cards. It could only be used once before the Divine Spirit Shield was fully repaired. It had been wasted here. If it weren't for needing the Lin family's help to find the Pure Heaven Lock, the pigeon wouldn't have used this move.
The pigeon's net covered the rock walls above, preventing even a single stone from falling despite the intense battle. With this concern removed, the pigeon directly charged at the nine-headed serpent, sword in hand.
Seeing the pigeon charge foolishly towards it, the nine-headed serpent writhed. Its massive body moved onto the ground, no longer staying in the lava. The pigeon stopped, realizing its mistake; the serpent's body was too vast, covering the surroundings. The pigeon had no room to maneuver.
"How many years has this guy existed? Definitely more than a few thousand."
The pigeon was certain that the nine-headed serpent was far older than nine thousand years. Its body was monstrously huge, making the pigeon appear minuscule. The nine heads of the serpent fixed their gaze on the pigeon, making its scalp tingle. Who knew its body was like this beneath the lava?
It had a full eight legs, each incredibly large. Seeing this, the pigeon felt that any one of its legs could crush it. This feeling was not an illusion. Seizing the moment of the pigeon's daze, the nine-headed serpent slowly raised a leg. The pigeon hastily dodged to the left. With a thunderous roar, the ground was stamped into a huge crater, swallowed by lava. The pigeon had no intention of fighting here; the space was too cramped, limiting its movement.
The pigeon pondered how to lure the nine-headed serpent into the Void to fight. In the Void, there was no concept of space; it was an infinitely large expanse. Fighting there would be far better than here, as this place was too stifling, with very little room to move. The entire space was occupied by the nine-headed serpent. It was impossible to fight like this.
Gathering all its strength, the pigeon condensed it in its palms. It struck its palms together in a stance and unleashed an energy beam, shooting directly at the serpent's body. The serpent's body turned silver, colliding with the beam. The pigeon continued its assault without pause. The surrounding space faintly fractured. After a few seconds of stalemate, the entire space collapsed, and a pitch-black expanse enveloped the two figures. The pigeon and the nine-headed serpent entered the Void.
Chen Tian, worlds away, frowned deeply, then shook his head, "Perhaps it was just a feeling."
Chen Tian was traveling with others towards a village. He learned from these cultivators that this land was called the Illusory Fate Continent. The destinies of its inhabitants were not self-determined. Powerful Four Gods controlled the fates of all beings. Chen Tian had arrived in the territory ruled by one of the Four Gods: the Beast God.
The Beast God, as one of the Four Gods, ruled this region. The world was divided into five territories. Within the Beast God's territory, humans were transformed into half-human, half-beast creatures, their combat abilities stripped away, and their lower bodies replaced with those of deceased wild beasts.
Humans were weak before the gods. The remaining people were those who had survived by a thread. Other humans had long since perished under the Beast God's leadership. This region was dominated by beasts.
Humans here were merely slaves. Upon arrival, Chen Tian looked at the village before him. The village was dilapidated; not even a single roof was intact. Was this a place for humans to live?
"This place was originally a city. A few years ago, it was destroyed by the Beast God, becoming like this. However, the Beast God spared our lives and allowed us to remain here."
"Village Chief, how can you still be so respectful of that Beast God? He is the one who brought us to this state."
A young man said indignantly. The village chief smiled kindly, "Otherwise, what? Do you think present-day humans can defeat the Beast God?"
"As long as the Beast God exists and remains in this territory, it is his domain. On this continent, fate is controlled by powerful beings. This is the rule set by the Heavenly Dao."
"If you kill the Beast God, you can transform me into anything you wish, and I will have no complaints."
"This..."
The village chief's words silenced the young man. The truth was undeniable.
Chen Tian found no fault with the village chief's words. Powerful cultivators possessed everything; this could not be refuted. The world of cultivators and warriors was meant to be this way.
Chen Tian felt a headache coming on; this mission was proving difficult.
Currently, only information about the Beast God was known. The Beast God's exact location and strength still needed to be explored gradually.
"I'd like to ask, where do I need to go to obtain information?"
"Chen Tian, you're not thinking of leaving, are you? This is the last refuge for humans. Other regions are filled with demonic beasts. If you are discovered, the Beast God will send his subordinates to capture you and transform you. In the Beast God's domain, complete humans cannot exist."
"Is that so? Don't worry, I'll be fine. So, Village Chief, where do I go for information?"
The Village Chief pointed southeast, "That is a city where demonic beasts reside. The cities there are inhabited by transformed demonic beasts with consciousness. You can go to one of those cities for information."
"Thank you, we shall meet again!"
Chen Tian's figure vanished like a streak of light, disappearing from everyone's sight. With information in hand, Chen Tian had no reason to stay. He still had a mission to complete.
The mission was to kill the Beast God, not just any of the Four Gods. This mission offered a huge reward, and Chen Tian did not want to refuse it.
As Chen Tian left, the young man worriedly asked, "Village Chief, are you sure he'll be alright?"
"He will be the one to subvert the entire world. There is no need to worry."
At this moment, the Village Chief seemed like a different person, as if he had known Chen Tian would arrive in this world.
Seeing the Village Chief speak this way, the young man did not dare to retort. The entire village and the people in it gradually vanished, transforming into starlight that drifted into the sky. All of this was incredibly bizarre.
In the Void, the pigeon, feeling weakened, had forcibly dragged the nine-headed serpent into the Void. The serpent, sensing the unfamiliar surroundings and unsure of the pigeon's intentions, was momentarily stunned. The pigeon landed several punches on it, causing it to cry out in pain. Its slow reaction and failure to activate its defenses made these blows impactful.
The pigeon observed that this nine-headed serpent lacked combat experience. Its previous fighting style could be described as "following its whims" at best, or "fighting blindly" at worst. It didn't even know about the Void, and it seemed its inherited memories had not fully awakened.
A glint appeared in the pigeon's eyes. There was still a chance. If the nine-headed serpent had not fully awakened, it might still win.
The pigeon forcibly broke through the suppressing power. Its full strength surged, and the Heavenly Dao in the Void could no longer suppress it. The pigeon could freely break through the suppression.
With its power fully unleashed, the pigeon, Divine Spirit Sword and Divine Spirit Shield in hand, charged at the nine-headed serpent. There was only one way to kill the serpent: sever all nine of its heads.
Each head of the nine-headed serpent represented a life.
It had nine lives in total. As the pigeon attacked, the serpent's eyes all focused on the pigeon. The pigeon noticed its speed had slowed down by a hundredfold.
Could this be a speed-slowing ability? Why hadn't it been used before?
A tail swept down. The pigeon tried to react but found that even raising its arm to bring up the shield had slowed down. How could it fight like this?
A loud sound echoed, and the pigeon was sent flying.
Facing the nine-headed serpent, the pigeon recognized its abilities: flame cold flow, whirlwind, speed reduction, body enhancement. Five abilities had appeared. There were four more heads, each with four abilities. The pigeon needed to find the head corresponding to each ability to kill it. These abilities were incredibly troublesome.
Another point intrigued the pigeon: if it possessed the ability to slow down speed, why hadn't it used it before? Could there be a restriction?
The pigeon seemed to have an epiphany, thinking carefully. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed, "As long as it's not stared at by all its eyes simultaneously, its speed won't be reduced. So that's how it is."
Knowing the principle, the pigeon would no longer fall for the trick. It directly covered its eyes.