Two versus one

Chapter 55

A beautiful woman with a tall and slender figure stood upright in front of a handsome young man. A smirk is in her face shows that she is telling that the young man in front of her is like an ant which she could just casually step on. Shin Jiao just stood there looking directly in her eyes with a nonchalant expression on his face. The woman scrutinized him as she came closer a while ago, and had a hint of disdain in her face upon seeing his aura.

"A fascinating creature. I wonder how she ticks." Shin Jiao said in his heart.

Although he is showing a calm and a nonchalant expression on his face. But in his heart right now, he is feeling really excited. It is not every day that one can see a half-snake and a half-human beast woman, and very beautiful to boot. This is like a true fantasy setting which can only be seen in the movies, and now Shin Jiao is looking and talking at a half-beast woman which is clearly making him feel excited. Plus her beauty is comparable to that of Cherry Lao, and the curves of her body are almost as perfect as Qin Lou.

"Hisss… Who… are… you? Hisss…" the woman asked Shin Jiao with her cold reptilian-like tone.

"Hmm… My name is Shin Jiao. And what may the name of this beautiful lady be?" Shin Jiao replied in a gentleman's way and with a calm smile on his face.

Shin Jiao didn't hide his name as he didn't have any reason to. Since she is from the beast clan she would not have any opportunity interacting with him after this.

When the half-snake woman saw this her face suddenly had a touch of pink. Although she shows an imposing aura, she is still just a young woman in her 20's. Upon seeing Shin Jiao's calm demeanor and handsome face she can't help but feel a little tempted.

"I am… Ebeth the snake lord." She replied unconsciously.

Although she replied still Shin Jiao is still her enemy, so no matter how favorably she looks at him, he still has to die. Making her decision she turns around and slither back into the flower bud.

"Hisss… Although I like your temperament, still a mortal like you has no business here. You will be dealt with harshly for killing some of the guards in my dungeon." The woman said after she sits back on the flower bud.

Then without any warnings, tens of vines suddenly erupted from underground directly blocking Shin Jiao's path of retreat. A long thick greenish vine also came out of the bud extending to the air.

Swoosh!!!

That vine directly shot out towards Shin Jiao's head, it's clear that the purpose is to immediately kill Shin Jiao. Upon seeing that the handsome young man didn't move an inch, the woman displayed an evil smile on her beautiful face.

"I will turn you into a puppet and make you into my new toy. Hihihi…" She said to herself while laughing crazily deep in her heart.

She is like a child who just found a new and interesting toy. It is known that in her mansion lay hundreds of beings of every kind and species. It became part of her hobby to collect those he likes either living or non-living things. As long as she is interested in that creature, she would capture it and turn that creature into her puppet.

In the beast clan, she is one of the experts from a great and noble family that is feared by many not because of her cultivation level, but because of her sinister plots and machinations.

Since in the beast clan, not all of having the intelligence of a normal human many would easily fall for her simple but evil schemes.

And because of that, she was actually exiled and was banned from entering the land of Beastia. But since she still belongs to a noble family, her family gave her some guards and cultivation resources so that at least she could survive in the wild. This made Ebeth vow to one day return and claim the lives of those who had a hand in her being exiled.

Right now when she looks at Shin Jiao, she didn't think of doing her evil schemes on him as he is just a trifling mortal. So she just decided to immediately turn him into her puppet and discard him afterward.

As the long thick vine neared Shin Jiao's head, an artifact suddenly appears on his hand. This made Ebeth knits her brow in suspicion on how did a metal object suddenly materialized on Shin Jiao's hand. But she didn't have time to think when she discovers that Shin Jiao is not in his current position anymore. What the vine hit was an after image, and Shin Jiao is actually on the right now pointing the artifact in her direction.

A sudden foreboding feeling arose in her heart, as a half-snake she has one of those beast clan members with a danger sense that is really terrifying. She had relied on her senses ever since she entered this place which made her survive every nook and corner of this dangerous forest. So, it is almost second nature for her to be quick on things she deemed dangerous upon seeing them. Then without thinking she moved her head sideways evading those two almost invisible projectiles.

Puchi! Puchi!

Because of her sharp senses, her life was spared, if she hesitated at that moment then her pretty head would have an added hole in it. She quickly looks at the two holes behind her and felt a sense of dread.

"You! You almost killed me!" Ebeth shouted as raging feeling surges from her heart.

But Shin Jiao didn't say anything while he knits his brows.

"This snake woman's intuition is terrifying. She actually can predict that I'm targeting her head. Maybe it's my killing intent since it's been a long time since I've assassinated someone I already almost forgotten how to hide my killing intent. Hmm… let's try again." Shin Jiao said to himself as he ponders on his actions.

Shin Jiao's held a lot of skills when it comes to taking a life in secret. But since it's been many years since he stopped being a spy. Although those skills are not lost, instead they became rusty and unrefined.

Shin Jiao didn't utter another word as he took out his short sword and immediately rushed towards Ebeth's position. He is not going to use his gun as his enemy is already aware of it and would be more vigilant. He would just be wasting his bullet if he pushes that kind of strategy.

"Go kill him for me my pet!" Ebeth shouted as multiple plant vines came out and darting towards the incoming Shin Jiao.

Swish!!! Swoosh!!!

The shadow-like figure of Shin Jiao jumped from side to side evading multiple vines with ease as he got near the huge flower bud. He moves like a fish in the sea and didn't put those vines into his eyes as for him they are actually moving really slow.

When he came near Ebeth he immediately creates a huge fireball and pushes it towards the huge flower bud, making the area in front of him scorching hot.

But before that fireball touch the huge flower bud a thick wall of vines appears and blocks the fireball. This made Ebeth heave a sigh of relief as she could not imagine what would happen if that fireball hit the flower bud she is sitting on.

Shin Jiao felt dejected after seeing the vines blocking him and the fireball in his hand, but instead of stopping he decided to continue pushing it forward.

KABOOM!!!

Hearing the explosion Ebeth's eyes went wide in fear and disbelief. Then before she could move a fiery blast threw her backward inside the huge bud hitting its walls. Because of the sturdiness of the petal and the hard impact, Ebeth spews a mouthful of blood. Anger filled her heart as she could not accept the situation, she actually didn't expect that Shin Jiao is a cultivator as she could not see his cultivation aura and because of that, she had truly underestimated him.

Actually what forces her to be thrown back was not the explosion but the sudden force of the push that Shin Jiao did. She just wasn't aware of it as she was distracted by the explosion and chaos coupled with the flying debris.

"You injure me! I Ebeth will KILL YOU!" she shouted as her eyes suddenly turn red and her body started to transform into a beast.

Then in a blink of an eye in front of Shin Jiao stood an 18-feet tall green snake with black and red band stripes in its body. This snake is the very poisonous and vicious snake which is called, the Fierce Viper Queen.

Shin Jiao actually saw this species of snake in Gubu's records. It says that the snake uses two ways to kill its prey, one is its poison which it seldom uses and the other is deceit which is its common weapon. This kind of snake would only use its poison if worst comes to worst, as it's poison is very precious as it is considered as the most powerful poison in this continent. Deceit, on the other hand, is very easy for the snake as it can emit another kind of poison from its body to cause extreme hallucinations to its victims.

Transforming into her true snake form actually cost a large amount of energy but with a limited time frame. But Ebeth had no choice because if she didn't, she would definitely die. She came to this conclusion after she was hit by that force of that explosion from the last time. Now in this form, she is equivalent to a peak stage infant soul realm cultivator making her more confident in her fighting prowess.

"Interesting… Very interesting." Shin Jiao said to himself as he scrutinized the giant snake in front of him with a tinge of curiosity.

"Hiss… Now… I'll make sure to chew your bones thoroughly… hiss…" Ebeth said in a cold snake-like tone.

But before she made her move, a small red pearl appears from her mouth and suddenly flew towards the huge flower bud behind her. When that small red pearl came near the bud, it actually moved and swallowed the red pearl. Then a burst of light shone and the bud was suddenly transformed into a huge plant forming a dragon's head with its razor-sharp teeth and red glowing eyes.

GROWWLLL!!!

"Holy crap! Another dragon… Again! Why do these beasts love to show off." Shin Jiao curses under his breath.

But before his heart panicked he frowned as he noticed that the aura of the plant dragon is low, it is only a level 5 beast. This made Shin Jiao calm his heart as he knows that with his physique he can defeat these two easily. But then before he could rejoice he noticed that there was a fog coming out from the vines which are scattered all over the place.

Shin Jiao held his breath as he knows what would happen if he inhaled this mist accidentally. But then his face paled when he heard what Ebeth said next.

"Hiss… It's no use holding your breath… Even if you are a nascent realm cultivator… or a level 6 beast… you won't be able to resist my mist of phantasm... Hihi…" she said as a murderous aura suddenly rises from her and without warning she moved to strike Shin Jiao.

Shin Jiao evaded that attack, as he didn't want to risk it. Even though he has a nascent realm physique there is still a chance that he might get injured as the body of Ebeth is covered in spiritual Qi with black and green aura. Then simultaneously the plant dragon also threw its thick vines and bombarded Shin Jiao with its multiple vine attacks. The ground shook as it suffers the brunt of the strong impact from the attacks of these two colossal beasts.

"Crap! I can feel my body getting weaker. But why are they not affected by this mist." Shin Jiao thought as he feels his body getting heavy.

But before he could think again something happened that made his raging heart calm down.

"Hiss! Is this all you can do rat! A coward who would just run! I think you're not a real man… hiss… coward…" Ebeth said as she starts to feel frustrated because she is unable to hit Shin Jiao no matter how many times she attacks.

"Why isn't he getting weaker, by now the poison in the mist should have worked already. This is the most potent new poison that I have made even level 7 beast could slightly feel its effect. How could he not?... And only I have the antidote for this." Ebeth thought as she slowly circles Shin Jiao.

"Hiss… Hiss… I'm running out of patience, this should end now!" She shouted as she opens her mouth and a freezing aura began to accumulate inside her mouth.

Shin Jiao clearly saw that as she congeal the spiritual energy in the surrounding absorbing the yin Qi in the area. She would compress the cold Qi tighter and then absorb more cold Qi. She continues this process over and over until she suddenly stopped. Shin Jiao counted 10 compressions before a fist-size freezing ice ball was formed. It's like Shin Jiao was hit with a flash of insight as he realized something.

Looking at Shin Jiao a pleasant reaction can be seen in Ebeth's large snake eyes, she can see that he became really sluggish now.

PENG! PENG!

Shin Jiao was suddenly hit by two large vines from the plant dragon hurtling his body like a rag doll towards a wall. And with a bang, Shin Jiao's body formed a large hole in the wall and imbedding him inside it.

Then Ebeth released the ice orb she created as it quickly flew inside the hole as crackling sound can be heard. Then thick solid ice started to cover the wall and its surroundings freezing everything within 5 meters. Feeling her victory Ebeth smiled and then she suddenly spews out blood.

"I think my transformation time is up. I didn't expect that this puny human could pose a great threat to me. But none the less, he is still dead now. Alas... Hopefully, his body won't break when I thaw this ice. Hihihi…" Ebeth thought.

Meanwhile, while Shin Jiao and Ebeth were fighting, the guard leader on the side is hiding in a corner and had watched the battle which made his scalp tingle. He could not believe what he just witnessed the prowess of his master and the godly speed of her opponent who almost toyed with his master as that person just ran everywhere.

He also noticed that the person that his master is fighting is not too focused. It's like he views his master as his sparring partner.

Then all of a sudden, he saw the mist coming out and filling the whole room. So he quickly took a small black pill from his pouch and eat it.

He then saw his master conjure a freezing ice spell and threw it inside a hole where the enemy crashed. After that, he felt relaxed and happy for his master's victory.

"If I tell this to others they would really die in envy. It is seldom for us lower beings to see this kind of battles." The guard leader thought as he smiles.

But then his ugly smiling face suddenly turns into a frown.