205: Chapter 205 Cerberus

Qin Ce opened his eyes, about to plan his next move.

Suddenly, a strong fluctuation came from the territory perception in his mind.

The attitudes of the surrounding territories toward him had all changed.

Qin Ce was stunned.

He closed his eyes to perceive again.

Previously, there were ten neighboring territories: two were hateful, two were covetous, three were friendly, and three were indifferent.

But now, while the neighboring territories were still those same ten, their attitudes were completely different—hateful had gone from two to five, covetous from two to three, friendly from three to one, and indifferent from three to two.

No, to be precise, two remained indifferent, but one's "indifference" was shifting toward "covetousness," and the boundary had become blurred.

Out of ten neighbors, eight were hostile toward him.

Qin Ce opened his eyes, a hint of doubt flashing through them.

Was it because his territory had grown larger, making the surrounding Vicious Beasts feel threatened?

It was possible.

But Qin Ce felt that things weren't that simple.

When he first inherited the valley, the territory was only the size of a few football fields, and most of the neighbors were "indifferent" or "friendly." After annexing the Green Fang's territory, the area doubled, and the surrounding attitudes began to change, but not significantly; combined, those that were hateful or covetous only numbered four or five.

Now that he had annexed the Tian Gu Leopard's territory, the area had expanded again, and the attitudes had completely collapsed—eight out of ten were hostile. This rate of change was too fast.

Just as Qin Ce was about to investigate the cause, another violent vibration came from the territory perception in his mind.

This time, it didn't come from the boundary line or the neighbors, but from the first territory he had annexed—the Green Fang territory.

A powerful pressure blatantly invaded his territory; there was no concealment, no probing, it just barged in openly as if walking into its own home. That pressure carried an extremely strong emotion—seizure.

Qin Ce's pupils constricted suddenly.

"Go!"

He rushed out of the cave, flipped onto Qingluan's back, and Tianlu jumped up to crouch in his arms.

With a shake of its wings, Qingluan turned into a streak of silver-green light, shooting toward the Green Fang territory.

Qingluan pushed its speed to the limit, the nine Wind Cores around its body spinning at full speed, the Wind Barrier deployed, and Phoenix Dance Nine Turns ready to be activated at any moment.

Qin Ce's Nine-Star Insight operated at full power, sensing the source and intensity of the pressure ahead.

Gold Rank!

It was very strong.

And it wasn't the kind of Gold Rank that was heavily injured, dying, or depleted of energy; it was in its Peak state—breath full, energy abundant, carrying an unquestionable, condescending sense of oppression.

Qin Ce's heart rate accelerated slightly. It wasn't fear, but excitement.

Qingluan was already mid-grade silver, and its Nine-fold Azure Sky had awakened the third Wind Core.

He had never truly faced off against a Gold Rank Vicious Beast in its Peak state.

Previously in the sky, he had been targeted by over a dozen Gold Rank attacks, but back then Qin Ce was fleeing and hadn't actually fought those Gold Ranks.

That didn't count.

Before, when he killed the Pterosaur, it relied on pure physical attacks and was outsmarted and killed by his Shadow Sight and Reverse Mantra, so that didn't count either.

Now, this Gold Rank Vicious Beast intruding into his territory was in its Peak state, leaving no room for tricks.

Qin Ce needed to know if he could actually fight.

Qingluan flew over the dried-up stream, skimmed over the low shrubs, and crossed the hill connecting the valley to the Green Fang territory.

Then, Qin Ce saw the intruder.

Green Fang territory, the top of the hill.

A massive figure stood there, overlooking the entire valley.

Its body was like that of an adult bull, but even sturdier and more hideous.

It had three heads, each a different color—dark red on the left, pitch black on the right, and grayish-purple in the middle.

Six eyes, each color glinting coldly in the mist. Three heads, six eyes, all staring at Qin Ce simultaneously.

The Three-Headed Hellhound.

A combat species among Gold Rank Vicious Beasts.

It wasn't the kind of beast that relied on size and brute force to crush enemies, but a species born for battle—three heads, three attributes, three attack methods, and when coordinated, their power wasn't just additive, but multiplicative.

The dark red head was Fire-type, capable of breathing flames hot enough to melt steel;

The pitch-black head was Dark-type, capable of releasing shadow impacts that corroded the Soul;

The grayish-purple head was Poison-type, capable of spraying a lethal toxic mist that could paralyze someone within seconds.

With three attributes and three types of attacks, it covered short, medium, and long ranges, as well as physical, energy, and toxin damage—it had almost no weaknesses.

Among Gold Rank Vicious Beasts, the Three-Headed Hellhound's combat power ranked near the top.

Qin Ce's Nine-Star Insight locked onto it immediately, information flooding into his mind like a tide.

[Vicious Beast]: Three-Headed Hellhound

[Rank]: mid-grade gold

[Potential]: Gold Peak

[Attributes]: Fire, Dark, Poison

[Talent]: Hell-type Undead Regeneration (Gold Rank)

[Skills]: Flame Dash, Rashomon Disaster, Underworld Mist...

[Status]: Peak. Abundant energy, high Battle Intent.

[Status Description]: While patrolling its territory, this Three-Headed Hellhound discovered that the neighboring human territory was expanding exceptionally fast. Upon investigation, it confirmed that the territory owner is only a Silver Rank human with two Silver/black iron rank Pet Beasts. It has judged him to be an "Easy Target" and decided to seize the territory.

[Weakness]: An injury to the neck will sever the connection between the three heads, causing them to attack each other.

[Evolution Opportunity]: Omitted.

Qin Ce's gaze turned cold as he looked at the words "Easy Target."

Ever since reaching Silver Rank, he had been looking for an Opportunity to face a true Gold Rank Vicious Beast head-on to see just how big the gap between him and the Gold Rank was.

Qingluan was already mid-grade silver and had awakened the third level of Nine-fold Azure Sky. He had already verified the three combination skills of the Wind Cores—Wind Barrier, Phoenix Dance Nine Turns, and Wind Prison—in actual combat, and the results far exceeded his expectations.

But could he defeat a Gold Rank?

He needed a real, straightforward, head-on battle without any trickery to find out.

Now, the Opportunity had come.

The Three-Headed Hellhound gave Qin Ce no time to prepare.

The moment it saw Qin Ce, its three heads opened their mouths simultaneously, releasing three attacks at once.

The dark red head spat out a blast of scorching flames, the high temperature instantly evaporating the mist in the air as the pillar of fire shot straight for Qingluan's face;

The pitch-black head fired a silent shadow impact that lunged toward Qin Ce like a black venomous snake hugging the ground;

The grayish-purple head exhaled a thick cloud of purple poison mist that spread extremely fast, enveloping dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

Three attacks, three attributes, from three directions, coordinated perfectly with no openings.

Qin Ce did not panic. "Two Wind Cores, Wind Barrier."

Qingluan's wings vibrated slightly, and two Wind Cores floated out from around its body, hovering twenty meters in front of Qingluan, one on the left and one on the right.

Both Wind Cores activated simultaneously, their wind directions opposing each other, forming a high-speed counter-flow wind wall about twenty meters wide between the two cores.

The flames hit the wind wall and were shredded, deflected, and bounced away, turning into countless tiny sparks that splashed in all directions;

The shadow impact hit the wind wall and was crushed by the opposing wind currents, black energy fragments scattering in the air like a black snow;

The poison mist hit the wind wall and was blown apart by the high-speed airflow, the purple mist being diluted, dispersed, and vanished.

The three Gold Rank attacks were all blocked by the Wind Barrier composed of two Wind Cores.

The corners of Qin Ce's mouth curled up slightly.

The strength of the Wind Barrier was even higher than he had anticipated.

Because the operating principle involved conversion, even Gold Rank attacks were neutralized.

All three heads of the Three-Headed Hellhound froze for a moment.

Six eyes stared at that silver-white wind wall, a flash of confusion passing through them.

It didn't understand how a Silver Rank human could possibly block its attacks.

But it didn't hesitate; the three heads opened their mouths again, and the second round of attacks was faster, more violent, and denser than the first.

Qin Ce did not continue to take the hits head-on.

"Tianlu, come back." Tianlu leapt up from his arms, turned into a streak of purple-gold light, and merged into the tattoo on his back.

Qin Ce took a deep breath, bent his knees slightly, and then kicked off hard—he jumped up.

Qingluan's wings flapped as it soared into the sky, sweeping under Qin Ce's feet the moment he jumped and catching him steadily.

Qin Ce landed on Qingluan's back and flew directly into the sky, looking down at the Three-Headed Hellhound below, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

An Easy Target? Then I'll show you just how hard this Easy Target is.

Qin Ce rode on Qingluan's back, looking down from above at the Three-Headed Hellhound.

Three heads, six eyes, and three different colored pupils all stared at him—fire burned in the dark red eyes, shadows surged in the pitch-black eyes, and poison mist permeated the grayish-purple eyes.

Qin Ce gripped his combat saber, the corners of his mouth curling into a slight arc.

He wasn't in a hurry to attack, instead letting Qingluan hover in the center of the combat space formed by the Wind Cores. Looking down at the massive creature below, he made a provocative gesture: "So, you also think I'm an Easy Target?" His voice wasn't loud, but in the mist-shrouded wilderness, every word was crystal clear.

The Three-Headed Hellhound's six eyes all narrowed at once.

It didn't understand human language, but it understood the contempt in that tone.

The grayish-purple poison head in the middle was stunned for a moment, then slowly opened its mouth, revealing a mouth full of yellowish teeth.

That wasn't anger, but mockery, as if saying: A Silver Rank little bird dares to clamor in front of me?

The dark red fire head on the left snorted out a blast of scorching air, two wisps of black smoke rising from its nostrils. Its eyes narrowed into slits, and what burned in its pupils was no longer just fire, but the explosive rage of being provoked.

The pitch-black dark head on the right was the quietest; it didn't snort or bare its teeth, but just stared coldly at Qin Ce like a venomous snake waiting to strike.

Then, the middle head moved.

The grayish-purple head leaned back slightly, a ball of dark purple light glowing deep in its throat.

That light grew brighter and denser, like a toxic tumor compressed to its limit, throbbing frantically in its throat.

The next moment.

Boom!

A massive fireball one meter in diameter erupted from the mouth of the middle head.

It wasn't a poison attack, but a fire attack.

Qin Ce's pupils constricted slightly.

The three heads of the Three-Headed Hellhound could cooperate—the poison head had released a fire attack, which meant its three heads could share energy, augment each other, and unleash Composite Attacks that exceeded a single attribute.

This fireball wasn't just fire; its surface was covered in a thin layer of purple mist, which was poison energy attached to the fire's surface, constantly spreading outward as the fireball flew.

The high temperature of the flames evaporated the poison mist into a finer toxic smoke that drifted with the wind, making its coverage area several times larger than a simple fireball.

The fireball flew head-on, its speed so fast it pulled a scorching trail through the air.

Qin Ce didn't have Qingluan dodge.

He wanted to test just how large the gap was between Qingluan's frontal attack and a Gold Rank. "Qingluan, Wind Blade."

Qingluan's wings flapped, and a man-sized silver-white Wind Blade condensed, compressed, and shot out from its wingtips. The Wind Blade wasn't large, but it was condensed to the extreme, its edges glinting with a piercing silver light. It cut a straight path through the mist and accurately collided with the fireball.

Boom—!

The moment the Wind Blade hit the fireball, a burst of blinding silver light and dark red flames exploded.

Qin Ce's pupils constricted suddenly—the Wind Blade shattered like glass hitting a hammer, exploding from the center and turning into countless tiny silver fragments that flew in all directions.

Meanwhile, the fireball only had a shallow gash cut into its surface; its overall structure remained intact, and its speed didn't slow down in the slightest.

The fireball passed through the fragments of the Wind Blade and continued to blast toward Qin Ce and Qingluan.

"Dodge!"

Qingluan's wings flapped violently, its silver-green figure making a sharp turn in the air, narrowly brushing past the edge of the fireball.

The fireball flew past Qingluan's tail feathers, the scorching heat singeing a few silver-green feathers. Qingluan let out a cry of pain, its body wavering for a moment before quickly stabilizing.

Qin Ce's expression darkened. He had anticipated a gap between Qingluan and the Gold Rank, but he hadn't expected it to be this large.

Under the tenfold energy condensation of the Breath Condensation talent, Qingluan's single Wind Blade was already far more powerful than those of the same Rank, easily taking down Silver Peak Vicious Beasts with one hit.

But in front of a Gold Rank fireball, this Wind Blade couldn't even manage to hinder it—this wasn't a question of quantity, but of quality.

Before Qin Ce could think further, the Three-Headed Hellhound's second attack had already arrived.

This time it wasn't the middle head, but the pitch-black head on the right—Dark-type.

There was no fire, no roar, and no scorching heat wave, only a silent, pitch-black shadow impact that lunged toward Qingluan like a venomous snake. It was faster than the fireball and followed a more cunning trajectory.

Qingluan turned sharply in the air, its nine Wind Cores operating at full speed. With Phoenix Dance Nine Turns activated, its form flickered continuously between the Wind Cores.

But the shadow impact was too fast. It grazed Qingluan's belly—and while it didn't hit directly, the aftershock of the dark energy swept across Qin Ce's Combat Suit.

Sizzle—

A soft sound rang out.

The spot on the Combat Suit touched by the dark energy was instantly corroded into a fist-sized hole, as if splashed with strong acid. The edges of the hole were charred black and still emitting faint wisps of black smoke.

A feeling of weakness and dizziness spread from the corroded area, seeping through the skin into the muscles, blood, and nerves.

Qin Ce's vision began to blur, his ears started ringing, and his limbs felt weak. His brain felt like it had been filled with mush, making even thinking difficult.

...