Chapter Forty-One: The Shape-Shifting Three-Headed Hellhound

Yitian sped through the mountains like a meteor streaking across the sky. Behind him, the Silver-Blood Ancient Beast pursued relentlessly, its massive claws crashing down around him again and again, each time narrowly evaded by Yitian's swift maneuvers.

Driven mad by its wounds, the beast's enormous body razed hills, streams, and valleys alike, carving a colossal path through the wilderness as if splitting the land in two. Yitian leapt dozens of yards ahead; his Dragon Roar Bow was drawn taut, and the Twelfth Wave Secret Art erupted once more.

A thunderous roar split the air—a single arrow tore through the void, aiming straight for the beast's other eye. Yet, as the arrow was about to pierce its right eye, a scaled arm rose to block its path. The arrow struck with a resounding crack, ripping through the armored scales and lodging deep within the beast's arm, the shaft protruding as blood spurted in crimson jets.

The Silver-Blood Ancient Beast only grew more frenzied. Yet, for the moment, it could not overcome Yitian. Arrow after arrow flew from Yitian’s bow, each breaking through the beast’s hide and leaving bloody holes behind. But even so, the arrows inflicted little real harm; the beast seemed hardly affected.

Eventually, Yitian exhausted all his Demon-Breaking Arrows. When he switched to arrows forged from pure iron, they shattered against the beast’s scales, spraying sparks and leaving only white spots or cracks on its armor, not a single arrow penetrating. The gap between the pure iron arrows and the Demon-Breaking Arrows was clear—his attacks were growing weaker.

After continuously unleashing the Twelfth Wave Secret Art, Yitian’s true energy was more than half depleted. The Silver-Blood Ancient Beast, meanwhile, remained unstoppable, showing no hint of weakness. Yitian could not help but marvel at the beast’s formidable defenses. Even with the power of the Twelfth Wave, which could erupt with tens of thousands of pounds of force, combined with his own physical strength and the full draw of the Dragon Roar Bow, his arrows still could not pierce the beast’s body and deliver a fatal blow. Especially its head—so impenetrable that even the Demon-Breaking Arrows could not threaten it, only embedding halfway at best.

The pure yang energy within Yitian’s dantian was nearly exhausted. He was forced to rely entirely on the Feather Flight Technique, draining his energy with every moment, barely managing to widen the distance between himself and the beast. Unless he could escape before his energy ran dry, he knew he would eventually be caught.

Thus, Yitian deliberately chose to traverse cliffs and steep ridges, places where the beast’s huge body struggled to move, slowing it considerably. Soon, the gap between him and the Silver-Blood Ancient Beast widened, fueling the beast’s rage.

It roared to the heavens. In the next instant, its maw opened wide and a streak of silver light shot forth like a bolt of lightning, tearing through space toward Yitian.

Danger! In that critical moment, all the hair on Yitian's body stood on end, enveloped by the shadow of imminent death. He knew without hesitation that if he had no other means, the next moment would be his last.

Unable to dodge while running at full speed, Yitian faced certain destruction. At the brink of life and death, the iron ring on his hand suddenly sprang forth, transforming into a pitch-black, ten-yard-tall, three-headed demon hound. The leftmost head opened wide and swallowed the silver light in a single gulp, as if it were a tasty morsel.

All this occurred in an instant. Yet, the three-headed demon hound, exuding a terrifying aura like the gates of hell, lasted only a fleeting moment before vanishing, leaving behind a lump of mud that shimmered with silvery starlight.

Yitian’s figure paused mid-run, then he turned, collected the Star Mud, and fled like the wind, soon disappearing from the beast’s sight.

The Silver-Blood Ancient Beast, for the first time, forgot to continue its pursuit. From the demon hound, it had sensed a terrifying presence that chilled it to the bone, leaving it unable to muster even a hint of resistance—only boundless fear. This feeling was unprecedented; not even the royal-blooded beasts it had encountered before inspired such dread.

Over eighty miles away, at the foot of a mountain, Yitian appeared, his true energy nearly spent. He quickly carved out a cave beneath the peak and rolled a massive stone to seal the entrance, leaving cracks for ventilation. From his storage bag, he took out a primordial stone to restore his energy. Hours passed, and finally, Yitian’s true energy returned to its peak.

Instead of immediately leaving to rejoin the other members of the Reincarnation Squad, he took out the Star Mud. Having just evolved, the Star Mud had expended nearly all its energy transforming into the three-headed demon hound, reverting to its original state.

When Yitian’s consciousness descended into the Star Mud clone, he discovered a vision in his mind: a colossal three-headed demon hound, tens of thousands of yards tall, shrouding the sky, transformed into a giant star floating among the cosmos. Alongside it were Yitian’s own figure, plants, trees, insects, birds, and beasts, each turned into a star—the imprints of everything the Star Mud had ever touched.

Whenever his intent touched any of these imprints, the Star Mud could transform into that object. Yet, all of this required energy.

It was Yitian’s first sight of Little Black’s evolved form: pitch-black, shrouded in dark mist, radiating an aura of hellish might. The three terrifying heads each dominated a direction, like a demon god, exuding supreme majesty and noble bloodline.

The Star Mud was truly wondrous. Each time he witnessed its transformations, Yitian was awed, captivated by the marvels of creation. The imprint of the demon hound was acquired when the Star Mud clone consumed Little Black’s egg, seizing its genes. From then on, whenever Yitian’s consciousness controlled the Star Mud clone, he could transform it into the three-headed demon hound.

Faced with the beast's deadly strike, Yitian had switched his consciousness to the Star Mud clone, transforming it into the demon hound and absorbing the silver light, replenishing some of his energy. However, the transformation drained the Star Mud's energy so utterly that its hard-earned evolution was undone, and the demon hound formed was extremely diminutive—barely a millionth of its true self.

Not long after, Yitian left the cave, determined his bearings, and headed out of the mountains. Driven deep into the Fulong Mountains by the Silver-Blood Ancient Beast, he had travelled thousands of miles, surrounded everywhere by fierce creatures. Fortunately, he encountered no intermediate-grade beasts. Low-grade beasts posed little threat to Yitian; so long as they lacked royal bloodlines, he feared them not. Of course, low-grade beasts with royal bloodlines were one in ten thousand—exceptionally rare—in fact, within the Fulong Mountains' vast expanse, such beasts were precious beyond measure.

Half a day later, Yitian crossed over a thousand miles and finally emerged from the Fulong Mountains.