Chapter 679 437: Return (2)

A towering rage burned in its sixteen vertical pupils. The grating of its scales produced a piercing sound.

"No matter who you are, I will make you regret everything you've done..."

"Is that so? I'm quite curious. How exactly do you plan on making me regret it?"

A voice suddenly cut off its roar.

All eight serpent heads froze simultaneously, slowly turning toward the source of the voice.

The shadows in a corner stirred.

Then, a Young Man holding a Black Banner emerged from them.

His plain, ordinary face showed no emotion, but his indifferent, Crimson serpent pupils were chilling.

The moment their gazes met, Yamatai's body trembled.

At the same time, a shudder originating from the depths of its soul washed over it.

Yamatai felt its very soul and body tremble, an uncontrollable urge to submit to the person before it welling up.

'This... How is this possible?!'

It struggled frantically.

But it found its body shackled by invisible chains, unable to summon even a trace of Yin Energy, let alone attack the person before it.

The Young Man—Hu Qi—watched this scene quietly, his expression calm.

This was not due to some other reason.

Instead, it came from the Taiyu Serpent Bloodline carried by Hu Qi's true self.

Even though this was just a Clone.

The essence of his soul was the same.

It naturally contained a wisp of the Taiyu Serpent's true essence.

One must understand that the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent was already a Snake of Destruction capable of devouring stars.

It was worthy of being called the ancestor of all serpents.

And as its perfect, advanced form, the Taiyu Serpent's power was self-evident.

Although this Yamatai had the body of a Yin Beast, its essence was that of a monstrous eight-headed serpent, placing it within the serpent category.

Now, under the pressure of a wisp of aura intentionally released by Hu Qi, this King Level Yin Beast was trembling like a puppy.

Hu Qi said no more and lightly pointed a finger.

A stream of pale golden flame shot through the air and landed on the monstrous eight-headed serpent.

In an instant.

The moment it made contact, the wisp of Crimson Sun Flame Fire erupted. The cold Yin Energy on Yamatai's body seemed to become the perfect fuel.

In the blink of an eye, it completely engulfed Yamatai.

In just a moment.

The King Level Yin Beast screamed as it was reduced to ash in the flames.

With Yamatai's demise,

the terrifying Yin Energy accumulated in the cave was ignited by the Crimson Sun Flame Fire. In just a few moments,

it too completely dissipated.

A bit of light returned to the once pitch-black environment.

"Ding! Detected Intern Reader has killed the [Shadow of the End] world's only King Level Yin Beast, the Eight-headed Serpent.

Hidden Task: Terminus, complete.

Reward: one S-Level Book Ticket, 5,000 contribution points, and one Eight-headed Spirit!"

Seeing this,

Hu Qi's gaze flickered.

This was within his expectations.

After all, it was the big boss of this world. Killing it was bound to come with a reward.

However, in terms of strength alone,

this Eight-headed Serpent's power was already comparable to the Refining God stage.

An ordinary Intern Reader would have absolutely no Ability to kill it.

Thus, the rewards were exceptionally generous.

'It's about time. I should end this boring game.'

Glancing around, Hu Qi shook the Black Banner in his hand.

He took a step forward.

And his figure vanished on the spot.

At the same time, his entire being entered a different space.

Before him were countless densely packed points of light, all of varying sizes and colors.

This was this world's Mind Realm.

Those points of light represented the minds of all living beings within it.

The Ability of the Damaged Black Banner was to command Spirituality. Controlling the Mind Realm was a simple matter for it.

He could use the Mind Realm as a medium to appear anywhere in this world.

Of course, the prerequisite was that there had to be living beings at the destination.

This was also why Hu Qi was able to find the hidden Yin Beasts and appear here.

All the creatures of this world held no secrets from him.

If he wished, he could kill these Intern Readers at any time.

Thinking of this,

he waved the Black Banner in his hand.

A dozen or so points of light appeared before him.

An image surfaced within each point of light.

They showed both men and women. These were the remaining Intern Readers.

They were hiding in various corners of the world.

Under normal circumstances, finding them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But to the Black Banner, which could control the Mind Realm, these people were as obvious as torches in the night.

As Hu Qi's will descended,

wisps of black energy surged from the Black Banner, transforming into several tendrils that coiled around the dozen or so points of light.

...

In a dimly lit basement, supplies and food were piled high to one side.

A man with a sinister face huddled in a corner, the cold light of a computer screen illuminating his tense features.

His eyes were glued to the screen, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

"This damned mission... That thing is a monster! How could anyone possibly kill it?!"

He cursed under his breath, his voice a mixture of fear and resentment.

The screen was playing footage of Hu Qi easily slaughtering his enemies when surrounded.

And of Hu Qi surviving a nuclear explosion.

This video had already been edited and remixed by countless content creators, set to rousing music, and had gone viral on a certain short-video platform, with likes approaching a hundred million.

'Good thing I was smart enough not to get myself killed...'

He licked the corner of his mouth.

'As long as I hide here, no matter how strong he is, he'll never be able to find me...'

'Anyway, the mission has no time limit and no penalty for failure. Maybe if I just hold out for thirty days, I can get out of here even without completing it...'

He comforted himself, picking up a metal spoon and stirring the coffee in his cup.

The scalding liquid swirled, and the rising steam blurred his vision.