"It seems that Yitian Chou can't defeat this monster bird. I'll go help him out." With this thought in mind, Qin Yan absorbed the energy stored in his sword to manipulate time, flying straight towards the giant horned eagle in the sky.

Yitian Chou, who was engaged in combat with the giant eagle, saw a lightning-fast shadow fly past him, followed by a sharp sound. The giant eagle's left wing and part of its body were cleanly severed, and a large amount of blood gushed from the eagle's severed wounds.

The giant eagle let out a mournful cry as half of its body plummeted straight down from the sky to the ground. It continued to struggle and flap on the ground, but due to the severity of its injuries, it eventually stopped struggling and lay motionless on the ground.

"So powerful!" Yitian Chou was shocked, thinking that he couldn't defeat the giant horned eagle even with all his strength, yet it was easily taken down by someone else. He turned his head and saw Qin Yan hovering in the nearby sky, holding the black sword.

"This is the power of the Sword of the Heavenly Emperor. With this sword, even the strongest monsters can be defeated!" Yitian Chou glanced at the sword in Qin Yan's hand, then looked down at the ground, where the giant boar also lay motionless, seemingly taken down by Qin Yan.

"Two down, I wonder how things are going with Zhenjun." Qin Yan breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the riverbank, where Zhenjun was swiftly flying around the Hydra, using a long spear to strike at the Hydra in mid-air.

However, the Hydra's body defense was extremely strong, and the spear could hardly harm it. Although Zhenjun couldn't harm the Hydra, the agile Hydra also couldn't harm the swift-moving Zhenjun.

Zhenjun continued to fly rapidly in the air, keeping a safe distance from the Hydra. Despite the Hydra's massive size, it couldn't match Zhenjun's speed and couldn't catch up to him. Its attacks couldn't reach Zhenjun, so it couldn't harm him.

A golden-red beam of light shot down from the sky, illuminating the previously dim world.

"What's going on?" Qin Yan looked up towards the sky and was stunned to see a red sun slowly rising from the horizon, appearing in the sky.

"How is this possible? Wasn't it just dark moments ago? How can the sun be rising?" Qin Yan was very puzzled. Zhenjun, who was locked in battle with the Hydra, also noticed something amiss. He quickly flew away from the Hydra and approached Qin Yan and Yitian Chou, looking uneasy as he said, "The situation is not good. That guy has already spotted us!"

Qin Yan asked, "That guy? Who is that guy?"

Zhenjun glanced at the Hydra in the distance, seeing the massive Hydra rapidly approaching their location, and said, "Let's not talk about that now. We need to take down this Hydra first, or things will get complicated. Qin Yan, Yitian Chou, I need both of you to assist me!"

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"Alright, but how do we deal with this monster?" Yitian Chou gazed at the enormous Hydra in the distance, feeling a sense of dread. Each body of the Hydra was nearly a hundred meters long, incredibly massive in size, resembling a small mountain. Its huge mouth could swallow an elephant whole. Even facing just one head of the Hydra would be extremely difficult, and now there were nine heads. The danger multiplied exponentially, and one wrong move could result in instant death.

Zhenjun pondered and said, "This monster is very powerful. If we engage it head-on, we are no match for it. We must find a way to divide and conquer it in order to have a chance at defeating it."

Qin Yan asked, "How should we do that?"

Zhenjun replied, "The sword in your hand, Qin Yan, is the most powerful. Only you have a chance to defeat it. Yitian Chou and I will distract and restrain it. You seize the opportunity to focus on one of its heads and launch an attack, trying to take down one of the large snakes."

"It seems like a feasible plan, let's go with it," Qin Yan agreed. Yitian Chou had witnessed the power of the sword earlier and naturally had no objections, so the plan was set.

Yitian Chou and Zhenjun flew towards the Hydra, approaching it from both sides. They flew around the Hydra in the air, with Yitian Chou summoning fireballs and Zhenjun using his long spear to strike at the Hydra from a distance, attempting to attract its attention.

The Hydra's attention was immediately captured by the two of them. The four heads on the left side of the Hydra aimed at Yitian Chou, while the four heads on the right side targeted Zhenjun, spewing flames, venom, and launching biting attacks at them. Yitian Chou and Zhenjun quickly flew away to evade the Hydra's attacks.

Due to the interconnected bodies of the Hydra and Yitian Chou and Zhenjun being positioned on opposite sides, the eight heads of the Hydra could only target them individually, unable to pursue them. The Hydra's intelligence seemed lacking, as it thrashed in place, attacking Yitian Chou and Zhenjun with bites and flames but unable to reach them due to their swift evasion.

At this moment, with eight heads of the Hydra attacking Yitian Chou and Zhenjun, only the central giant snake did not engage with the two.

"Alright, with only one head, we should have a chance to take it down," Qin Yan focused on the central giant snake and flew towards it with the black sword in hand. As Qin Yan approached, the giant snake opened its massive mouth and unleashed a stream of red flames towards him.

"This is a good opportunity for the sword to absorb some energy," Qin Yan did not dodge and activated the sword's energy absorption function, holding the sword vertically between himself and the giant snake to block its fiery attack. Upon contact, the sword rapidly absorbed the energy, diminishing the flames' intensity and reducing their impact on Qin Yan.

After spewing flames for a while, the giant snake realized its attack was ineffective and stopped, switching to spitting highly corrosive venom. Qin Yan quickly absorbed the stored energy in the sword, manipulated time, and evaded the venom attack.

"The energy of this sword depletes quickly. It's best not to rely on its power unless necessary," Qin Yan thought to himself. After dodging the snake's venom, he ceased manipulating time and flew straight towards the giant snake.

As the giant snake lunged towards him with its mouth wide open and sharp teeth bared, Qin Yan had to alter time once again to evade the attack. He then swung the sword fiercely, slashing a deep, meter-long gash on the snake's body.