Qin Shilei felt a tremendous resistance as soon as he plunged into the sea, drastically slowing his speed.
The Eight-headed Serpent, not far away, showed no sign of deceleration; in fact, it seemed to be moving even faster.
The distance between them continued to widen.
Qin Shilei intensely yearned for the attribute he once possessed, "Sea King."
If the Sea King attribute were still with him, the seawater would not only cease to impede him but would also become a source of assistance.
Regrettably, at that time, he was incapable of extracting attributes.
He had no choice but to replace the Sea King attribute with a new one.
After swimming for over ten kilometers in pursuit of the creature, Qin Shilei completely lost its trail.
Just as he was about to emerge from the sea, feeling somewhat dejected, a powerful surge of water fluctuation emanated from behind him.
Qin Shilei swiftly turned and unleashed a powerful strike backward.
A colossal ice cone was cleaved in two by his sword.
The moment the ice cone was shattered, the surrounding seawater rapidly froze, encasing him in ice.
"Haha, you detestable human, daring to chase me into the sea! Do you not know this is my domain?" the Eight-headed Serpent roared maniacally.
It then swiftly began to coil around Qin Shilei.
Just as Qin Shilei shattered the ice around him, he was tightly ensnared.
Simultaneously, its remaining five heads lunged at him with ferocious bites.
Teleport!
Just as the serpent was about to bite him, Qin Shilei flickered, escaping its grasp.
Sky-Shattering Sword!
He once again employed his most potent technique.
However, before the colossal sword projection could fully form, the serpent vanished.
Qin Shilei dispelled the sword projection with a sigh of helplessness and swiftly swam upwards.
The Eight-headed Serpent reappeared, attempting to intercept Qin Shilei.
But Qin Shilei made no effort to engage it again, quickly breaching the sea's surface and soaring into the air.
Moments later, the Eight-headed Serpent's heads emerged from the sea hundreds of meters away.
The wounds where its three heads had been severed had stopped bleeding.
Its remaining five heads now glared at Qin Shilei with intense malice.
"Detestable human, this venerable being shall not rest until you are dead!"
"Hmph!" Qin Shilei scoffed. "When you speak of never resting until death, do you mean hiding in the sea like a turtle? If you have the guts, come out now and let me see if I can lop off your remaining heads."
"You wait, I shall come for you soon."
The Eight-headed Serpent cast a deep glance at Qin Shilei, then submerged into the sea, disappearing without a trace.
Shi Yongzhen flew over, a worried expression on his face. "That creature likely won't let this go. It might ambush our people at any time."
Qin Shilei glanced at Shi Yongzhen with displeasure. "Old Demon Shi, if you had been more effective just now, perhaps we would be enjoying snake soup by now."
"Cough, cough!"
Shi Yongzhen feigned a cough, speaking weakly. "This humble one is injured and thus unable to assist. I apologize."
Qin Shilei ignored Shi Yongzhen, who remained guarded, and inwardly initiated his tracking technique.
The departing Eight-headed Serpent was immediately sensed by him.
It was already tens of kilometers away, and it continued to speed eastward towards the Land of Amaterasu.
Qin Shilei mused that it would be wiser to pursue it once it emerged from the sea, engaging it on land being the superior strategy.
Shi Yongzhen, observing Qin Shilei's stillness, inquired, "King Qin An, shall we continue to wait here?"
"Let the bullets fly for a while!"
Qin Shilei smiled, offering no explanation of his intentions.
Shi Yongzhen looked at Qin Shilei, bewildered, and feeling concerned for his disciples, he decided to take his leave. "This humble one shall depart now, and I shall surely host a banquet to express my gratitude to King Qin An in the future."
Qin Shilei casually waved his hand. "Farewell!"
Meanwhile, Shi Yongzhen moved swiftly, flying rapidly towards the Land of Amaterasu.
However, after flying two to three hundred kilometers, he suddenly sensed intense combat fluctuations ahead.
"This is bad!"
A sense of foreboding washed over Shi Yongzhen, and he hastened his pace towards the source of the disturbance.
After another few dozen kilometers, he indeed found the Eight-headed Serpent engaged in a chaotic battle with Huangfu Feng and his companions.
Despite their superior numbers, Huangfu Feng's group was at a disadvantage.
The Eight-headed Serpent unleashed poisonous mist, fireballs, and ice cones from three of its massive heads, while the other two defended.
Its colossal body belied its lightning-fast speed.
Darting left and right, it swiftly surged into the crowd, its jaws clamping down on a hall master of the Demonic Sect.
The hall master struggled frantically but was inevitably bitten in half and then swallowed whole by the giant serpent.
Judging by the blood seeping from the mouths of the Eight-headed Serpent's multiple heads, it was likely not the first member of the Demonic Sect it had consumed.
"Sect Leader, let us scatter and flee. If we continue, we may all be annihilated," someone suggested in panic.
"Sect Leader, our Martial Uncle-Ancestor has arrived!" someone exclaimed with sudden joy, pointing into the distance.
Upon seeing Shi Yongzhen, the Eight-headed Serpent mistook it for Qin Shilei's pursuit and plunged back into the sea below with a splash.
"Go!"
Shi Yongzhen flew past the group, uttering a simple command to "Go," and continued flying forward without pausing.
The others had no choice but to silently follow their Martial Uncle-Ancestor towards Amaterasu.
Along the way, Huangfu Feng, his face grim, recounted the losses incurred during this expedition to his Martial Uncle-Ancestor.
In less than five minutes of combat, the Demonic Sect had lost seven experts at the Platinum realm.
"Martial Uncle-Ancestor, should we inform King Qin An about the Seven-Leaf Marrow Cleansing Fruit within the secret realm?" Huangfu Feng asked.
"Let us first return to the spatial secret realm and see if we can open it. We can discuss it then," Shi Yongzhen replied after a moment of contemplation.
At this moment, Qin Shilei had collected the three severed heads of the Eight-headed Serpent and, using his tracking technique, was following it from a distance.
He dared not get too close, lest he scare the creature back into the sea and prevent it from emerging.
Huangfu Feng's group returned to the vicinity of the spatial secret realm's exit.
Before they could find a way to open the spatial secret realm, the Eight-headed Serpent reappeared.
Everyone then fled in disarray.
"It's all your fault, you detestable human, for making me lose three heads! I will devour you all."
The Eight-headed Serpent fixed its gaze on Shi Yongzhen and lunged.
Before long, two more members of the Demonic Sect were devoured by the Eight-headed Serpent.
"Quick, use the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Talisman to notify King Qin An and tell him about the treasures within the spatial secret realm."
Shi Yongzhen, while fending off the Eight-headed Serpent, shouted anxiously.
Huangfu Feng, realizing that even with their combined strength and the presence of his Martial Uncle-Ancestor, they were still no match for the Eight-headed Serpent, reluctantly communicated with Qin Shilei via the sound transmission talisman.
In fact, Qin Shilei was already tens of kilometers away. Upon hearing that the spatial secret realm contained the Seven-Leaf Marrow Cleansing Fruit, he slightly slowed his pace.
By the time he arrived, the Demonic Sect had already lost another six experts at the Platinum realm.
"You all help to tie it down."
Qin Shilei shouted, then transformed into a mini-giant and rapidly approached the creature.
Sky-Shattering Sword!
The colossal sword projection reappeared.
The Eight-headed Serpent, terrified, quickly opened the spatial secret realm and plunged into it with a swoosh.
Qin Shilei halted his ultimate technique and, with a flicker of teleportation, appeared before the entrance to the spatial secret realm, leaping in right behind it.
However, the moment he jumped in, the spatial secret realm closed again.