The giant snake was wounded by Qin Yan's strike, but it quickly opened its mouth again to launch a biting attack at him. The attack was swift, forcing Qin Yan to utilize the power of the sword to manipulate time and dodge the snake's strike.

At that moment, Qin Yan realized that the energy stored in the sword was running low. If the sword's energy ran out while he was in such close combat with the giant snake, his life would be in danger at any moment.

"No, I have to retreat for now," Qin Yan thought cautiously. He quickly flew away from the Hydra, positioning himself outside the snake's attack range. Upon inspecting the snake, Qin Yan noticed that the wound he had inflicted on the snake was rapidly healing; within ten seconds, the wound had completely closed.

"This serpent has the ability to heal its wounds. It looks like I must defeat it in one go, or it will be troublesome," Qin Yan pondered. However, a problem arose: the sword's energy was depleting rapidly, and recharging it was challenging. The massive wild boar that had previously provided energy for the sword was no longer available, and the current situation with the swift giant snake posed a significant threat.

"Regardless, I should replenish the sword's energy first," Qin Yan tightly gripped the sword's hilt, activating the energy absorption function and continuously striking the ground with the sword to recharge it.

Unfortunately, this method of recharging was inefficient. It would take several minutes to gather enough energy, which would only sustain a few seconds of time manipulation. Clearly, this amount of time was insufficient to defeat the giant snake.

"What are you doing over there?!" Yitian Chou's angry voice echoed from a distance. Qin Yan turned to see Yitian Chou glaring at him.

Yitian Chou had been engaging with four of the Hydra's heads to draw its attention. Despite keeping a distance to avoid the Hydra's attacks, he couldn't stray too far, or the Hydra would no longer focus on him. Under the relentless assault of the four heads, Yitian Chou was inevitably getting harmed by the venom and flames. Seeing Qin Yan seemingly idle in the distance, Yitian Chou grew frustrated.

Understanding Yitian Chou's frustration, Qin Yan shouted back, "I need some time to gather energy. Hold on for a moment."

"You better hurry," Zhenjun's voice chimed in from afar. "I sense the Hydra is getting impatient. If you don't act fast, it might stop attacking us, and we won't be able to distract it. That would be troublesome."

"I understand!" Qin Yan replied loudly, intensifying his sword strikes to absorb energy. Suddenly, Lin Shiqi's voice could be heard from behind, calling out, "Qin Yan, Qin Yan!"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Stop bothering me!" Qin Yan retorted, too focused on recharging the sword to pay attention to Lin Shiqi.

"Turn around and look, I have something good for you," Lin Shiqi called out from a distance.

"Frustrating, what is it?!" Qin Yan turned around irritably, only to see a one-meter lightning ball emitting a buzzing sound and a two-meter giant fireball slowly approaching him.

"Well done!" Qin Yan was pleasantly surprised. Although he didn't know when Lin Shiqi summoned these lightning and fireballs, their size indicated they could provide significant energy for the sword.

Qin Yan quickly flew towards the lightning ball, plunging the black sword into it to absorb the energy. In less than half a second, the sword had absorbed all the energy from the lightning ball. He then used the sword to absorb the power of the massive fireball, completely draining its energy in an instant.

"Almost there, these energies should last for around ten seconds," Qin Yan calculated in his mind. Evading the Hydra's attacks would take about three seconds, leaving him seven seconds to deliver three strikes. This should be enough to slay the giant snake.

Qin Yan flew towards the central giant snake once more. As he approached, the snake shrunk its body, bared its fangs, and swiftly lunged towards him.

Utilizing the power of the sword to manipulate time, Qin Yan dodged the snake's attack and then struck the snake's body with a powerful blow. The time-altered strike was more potent than a regular attack, leaving a meter-deep gash in the snake's body.

"It must be finished in one go..." Qin Yan didn't give the snake a chance to heal, delivering another precise strike with the sword at the same spot, cleaving the snake's body almost in half. With one more strike, he could sever the snake's body completely.

"I should save some energy just in case. I won't use the sword's power for the final strike," Qin Yan thought, halting the time manipulation and delivering the third strike at the snake's wound. With a sharp sound, the snake's body was cleanly cut in two.

Blood sprayed, and the snake's head, along with its massive body, plummeted from the air, crashing near Qin Yan.

Although the snake had the ability to heal, it couldn't regrow its head. After a brief convulsion, the decapitated snake's body lay still.

"Success, one snake down!" Qin Yan exclaimed as he looked at the fallen giant snake head and the headless body, feeling elated.

Suddenly, Zhenjun's cry echoed from afar, "Danger, get away from there!"

"What's going on?" Hearing the warning, Qin Yan turned around in confusion and surveyed the surroundings, feeling a chill run down his spine. The other eight heads of the Hydra were all facing him directly, their mouths and eyes locked on him.

Realizing that the heads had redirected their attention to him after one of their bodies was cut off, Qin Yan felt a strong sense of dread. Without further thought, he absorbed energy from the sword to manipulate time and swiftly flew away from the Hydra. Simultaneously, three massive columns of fire and two streams of murky venom narrowly missed him.

However, the danger was not over yet. Following the fire and venom attacks, the remaining three giant snakes of the Hydra opened their mouths wide and lunged towards Qin Yan.

With the sword's energy depleted, Qin Yan could no longer manipulate time or boost his speed. The three snakes' lightning-fast strikes surpassed his flying speed. Although he evaded the first two snakes, he couldn't dodge the third one, which clamped down on his body with a powerful bite.