The Nine-Headed Demon Serpent suddenly lost one of its heads. The remaining eight heads stared fixedly at the Purgatory Demon, their amber eyes blazing with fury. But in the very next instant, the severed head regrew, and all nine great maws opened wide, unleashing fierce beams of gray light.
Even after being hit by a third-tier forbidden skill, its combat power hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Everything the gray beams touched turned to gray stone.
However, with nine beams firing simultaneously, and Shi Feng still unable to control the Purgatory Demon with the same precision as his own body, he accidentally caught one of the gray beams.
Instantly, the Purgatory Demon lost over 500,000 hit points, and a Petrification debuff appeared on its body—losing over 200,000 hit points every two seconds, with movement speed reduced by 60%, lasting for 30 seconds.
"This Petrification skill is way too strong!" Shi Feng cursed the moment he saw the debuff and immediately cast Life Blossom from the Ring of Water on the Purgatory Demon.
In a Petrified state, never mind the ongoing HP loss—if the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent caught up, the Purgatory Demon wouldn't last thirty seconds.
With Life Blossom active, the Purgatory Demon's hit points began recovering at a terrifying rate.
It restored 60% of its health per second. With the Purgatory Demon's total of 13 million HP, even if the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent was powerful, it couldn't one-shot it. For the next forty seconds, the Purgatory Demon was essentially immortal.
Shi Feng then used the Purgatory Demon to lure the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent away from the massive stone gate.
Once the serpent was forty yards away with its attention fully on the Purgatory Demon, Shi Feng immediately activated Wind Walk and sprinted toward the gate at full speed.
Second by second ticked by. The massive gate drew closer and closer, and Shi Feng's heart pounded in his chest.
If the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent discovered him, it was game over. With the Purgatory Demon, he could at best avoid being killed—actually stopping the serpent was completely impossible.
The charge to the gate took Shi Feng over six seconds, and by then the Purgatory Demon had lured the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent a full hundred yards away, desperately tying it down.
The Purgatory Demon was nothing but a toy before the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent—smashed into the ground over and over, hundreds of thousands of damage numbers popping above its head, completely unable to fight back.
Shi Feng thrust the Elemental Core into the stone socket on the gate.
Instantly, the magic array on the Core and the one carved into the socket merged, glowing with a faint golden light. The entire gate then lit up with golden divine script, and the chains binding it began shattering one by one.
"Hurry!"
"Hurry!"
Shi Feng watched the chains on the gate start to break, his anxiety spiking.
There were over twenty chains in total, and only one shattered per second. Opening the gate completely would take at least twenty-plus seconds.
As the chains snapped one after another, the faint divine might radiating from the gate grew stronger and stronger.
"Not good!"
Shi Feng's expression darkened. He turned his head toward the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent, which was toying with the Purgatory Demon. The surging divine might was something even he could sense—let alone the guardian beast itself.
Sure enough, the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent noticed the growing divine power and glanced toward the gate. It flicked its massive tail, sending the Purgatory Demon flying, then spun around and charged straight at Shi Feng.
The gate still had ten chains remaining. At the serpent's speed, it wouldn't need nearly that much time to reach Shi Feng and finish him off.
Shi Feng had no choice. He immediately ordered the Cursed Demon to use its third-tier skill,
Spirit Blade wasn't merely a magic attack—it could also plunge the target into a Confused state, lasting for fifteen seconds. That should buy him enough time.
This time the Nine-Headed Demon Serpent was too anxious about the gate being opened to bother deflecting the Spirit Blade. It took over 300,000 damage head-on, its enormous body grinding to a halt with a shriek, its gaze turning dazed and unfocused.
"That's good." Shi Feng let out a sigh of relief.