The rooster-crested snake, having learned its lesson, encased the section of its body that whipped towards Qin Shilei in a thick flame shield.
First, its body met the Blood Soul Sword, which was immediately sent flying, and then it slammed into Qin Shilei's body.
Qin Shilei's body disintegrated like foam.
It turned out that the moment he was struck, he had already used instantaneous movement to escape. What the rooster-crested snake shattered was merely his illusion.
As the rooster-crested snake intended to pursue Qin Shilei, its movements suddenly froze.
It had once again been immobilized by Qin Shilei's phantom.
Seven Stars Fall from the Sky!
The phantom unleashed its strongest combat technique.
Even though the rooster-crested snake had now focused its protection on its remaining comb.
Under the phantom's most powerful attack, it was still instantly severed.
Only a second had passed when the phantom unleashed Seven Stars Fall from the Sky again.
A sword pierced into the rooster-crested snake's eye.
Including the sword energy, the nearly three-meter-long energy sword instantly plunged in more than halfway, already deeply embedded in the rooster-crested snake's skull. I'm reading now.
The phantom gave a forceful twist, churning the opponent's brain matter into a pulp.
"Hiss!"
At this very moment, the rooster-crested snake finally recovered from its stiffening, and its other head let out a miserable shriek.
The phantom, however, paid no heed and unleashed a third Seven Stars Fall from the Sky.
A sword slash ran fiercely down the snake's body.
Instantly, a sword mark half a meter deep and three to four meters long appeared on the rooster-crested snake.
Crimson blood sprayed towards the phantom like a waterfall.
Along with the blood came an enraged strike from the rooster-crested snake.
The phantom was instantly struck, its solidified form becoming significantly fainter.
A ball of white flame attached itself to the phantom's body, and in an instant, the flames surged, engulfing the phantom.
In less than ten seconds, all the energy on the phantom was burned away, and it vanished into the air.
The rooster-crested snake, having suffered heavy blows, was now thrashing and rolling in the canyon, shattering countless ice and rocks.
It was like the earth turning over, causing the ground to shake.
Qin Shilei watched the rooster-crested snake rampaging in the canyon and paused his thought of using instantaneous movement to enter.
The rooster-crested snake was now severely wounded and bleeding profusely. It would likely die on its own after some time, without any further intervention.
Qin Shilei didn't need to risk attacking it again.
After half an hour, the rooster-crested snake finally lay motionless on the ground.
"Isn't this stinking snake faking its death?"
Qin Shilei pondered and then took out his short bow, which he hadn't used in a long time.
Silver Dragon!
An arrow shimmering with silver light shot towards the rooster-crested snake.
Boom!
A wound the size of a rice bowl appeared on the rooster-crested snake's body.
The rooster-crested snake thrashed and rolled again.
"It really was faking its death," Qin Shilei muttered to himself.
Unfortunately, the rooster-crested snake's surviving head was already blind, unable to locate Qin Shilei. Therefore, such violent movements only accelerated its bleeding.
Qin Shilei stood at a distance, shooting arrow after arrow.
While each arrow inflicted little damage on the rooster-crested snake's massive body, the bleeding from each wound was enough for the snake to bear.
Another half hour later, the rooster-crested snake finally breathed its last.
A silver treasure chest materialized beside it.
Qin Shilei picked up the treasure chest, then dug out two crystal cores from the two snake heads, along with two energy orbs the size of footballs. Finally, he stored the entire body of the rooster-crested snake into his Qiankun Ring.
The ease with which he killed the two-headed rooster-crested snake this time was due to two factors: first, the opponent's strength had greatly diminished, and second, he had caught the rooster-crested snake off guard in the secret chamber.
If the rooster-crested snake had desperately emerged from the secret realm at that time, its sheer size alone would have given Qin Shilei a considerable headache.
If it had then unleashed a Meteor Fire Rain, Qin Shilei, unable to evade, might have been injured or even faced a life-or-death crisis.
But there are no "what ifs" in life; the rooster-crested snake had become Qin Shilei's spoils of war.
After packing up his loot, Qin Shilei turned and walked towards the ice house.
The moment he stepped into the ice house, an even colder aura assailed him.
"Huh!"
Qin Shilei's expression changed, and he immediately became alert.
Seated on a bed within the ice house was a person.
The person appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, dressed in a blue robe, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, as if cultivating internal energy.
"Esteemed elder, I have unintentionally trespassed here. If I have caused any offense, I beg for your forgiveness."
Qin Shilei clasped his hands in a bow.
This person's presence in the secret realm might mean he was the rooster-crested snake's master.
Someone who could own a Golden-tier rooster-crested snake as a pet must possess considerable strength.
If this person were to discover that Qin Shilei had killed his pet, a fierce battle would likely ensue.
As Qin Shilei prepared for combat, he received no response from the person before him.
"Something's wrong."
The more Qin Shilei looked, the more he felt something was amiss. He couldn't sense any life force emanating from the person.
Could this guy be dead?
He slowly approached the person and gently poked him with the Blood Soul Sword.
It felt like poking a frozen chunk of meat—hard and unyielding.
Qin Shilei reached out and touched the person's skin, a chilling sensation radiating from it.
This person was indeed thoroughly dead.
Only then did Qin Shilei relax and begin to examine the ice house.
There was a stone bed, a stone table, and a stone chair. Besides these, there were no other living essentials.
On the stone table lay an ice cicada and a piece of beast hide covered in tiny, dense script.
On one side of the stone table, carvings were etched, which were the last words of the ice house's occupant.
Qin Shilei could barely decipher the meaning of the script and thus gained a rough understanding of the situation here.
This was an Ice Secret Realm, and the master of the ice house was Xu Leyou, an elder of the Beast Taming Sect. The two-headed rooster-crested snake was his tamed pet.
Upon reaching the end of his life, he had sealed himself and his pet within this Ice Secret Realm.
Using a secret technique, he had put the two-headed rooster-crested snake into hibernation at the exit, leaving a trump card for his descendants to perish with their enemies.
The ice cicada on the table was also Xu Leyou's pet, and the beast hide recorded the Beast Taming Arts of the Beast Taming Sect.
Bound by sect rules, Xu Leyou had not passed down the Beast Taming Arts to his juniors but had instead left behind the Gu Poison Sacred Scripture, which he had obtained occasionally.
The more Qin Shilei read, the more something felt off.
There was a Beast Taming Sect on Blue Star? And in ancient times, there were powerful individuals who could tame Golden-tier exotic beasts as pets?
Why had he never heard of such things from An Qian or the others?
Qin Shilei had always believed that Blue Star's development was similar to Earth's, with comparable technological levels. Even if Blue Star had myths and legends, they were just stories and not to be taken seriously.
Now, the appearance of a powerful individual at least at the Golden tier was completely overturning his understanding.
Qin Shilei picked up the Beast Taming Arts from the table.
Beast Taming Arts: A non-attribute auxiliary cultivation technique. It can be cultivated to the Platinum tier at maximum. Upon successful cultivation, one can tame exotic beasts using this technique. As it is not a system-produced technique, it requires self-comprehension.