Shang's heartrate sped up as he made the reckless decision to attack.

A beast in the General Stage.

He hadn't fought one before.

However, in comparison to all the other General Stage beasts Shang had met on his journey, this one felt like the weakest. Shang guessed that the other beasts had all been in the Middle or Late General Stage, while this one was most likely in the Initial General Stage.

Additionally, this was an ambush predator, and ambush predators generally weren't very good at direct combat. If their ambush failed, they would most likely flee.

And most important of all, the green bird had injured the Vanishing Snake.

Usually, Shang wouldn't try fighting against a General Beast because of his weak weapon. The body of a General Stage beast was very powerful, and Shang would have huge difficulties getting through their defenses.

But now, things were different. The Vanishing Snake had three huge gashes at the side of its body, and Shang could use these gashes to his advantage.

However, Shang couldn't be too careful in this fight.

If the Vanishing Snake were at the Peak Soldier Stage, Shang would only need to look out for its bite, but that wasn't the case with this one.

Beasts in the General Stage had true elemental powers, and Shang was certain that this snake also had one.

The Ice Spear Bear had been one of those beasts. Back then, Shang had learned that powerful beasts in the General Stage gave their offspring Mana Sources to awaken their elemental powers early.

This Vanishing Snake could probably do even crazier stuff than the Ice Spear Bear.

After mentally preparing himself, Shang shot forward.

The Vanishing Snake was still looking at the green bird that had just retreated, making this the perfect opportunity to strike for Shang.

Shang closed in, and the Vanishing Snake only noticed him after he had already reached striking distance.

Shang directly targeted the three gashes on its left side with a stab.

BANG!

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Out of nowhere, its tail suddenly struck forward with incredible speeds and hit Shang right in the chest.

Shang shot backward, but he had only received a couple of bruises. The snake had a stronger body, but it wasn't stronger to such a degree that Shang would be obliterated with one strike of its tail.

However, his attack had failed, and Shang had to plan his next attack.

After throwing Shang away, the Vanishing Snake looked at Shang, but it didn't hiss.

Shang didn't know much about snakes, but he knew a lot about beast behavior in general.

Hissing was a form of intimidation, and the snake didn't hiss.

What was the purpose of intimidation?

It was to make the enemy retreat.

So, if the snake didn't hiss, it meant that it didn't want Shang to retreat.

That could only mean that the Vanishing Snake saw Shang as its next meal, even though it had failed the ambush.

To it, Shang probably didn't feel that powerful. Because of that, in its mind, it could still kill Shang.

However, most of the snake's attention was still on the green bird. Shang felt incredibly weak to the snake, but the bird had injured it. Because of that, it always kept an eye out for the green bird.

CRRRK!

The Vanishing Snake extended its tail, and grey Mana gathered around it. In an instant, a long and thick clump of metal formed on its tail, completely encasing it.

While still keeping an eye on Shang, the Vanishing Snake put the base of its tail into its mouth. One had to remember that Vanishing Snakes had a full set of fangs instead of the two poison fangs that normal snakes had. Its teeth reminded one more of a wolf than a snake.

SHING!

Suddenly, the Vanishing Snake pulled the tail through its closed mouth. The metal that touched the inside of the Vanishing Snake's teeth became liquid and was swallowed by the Vanishing Snake, regenerating its Mana reserves.

However, the metal that touched just the edge of its teeth started to heat up as the teeth and the metal ground together.

Shang's eyes narrowed, but inside, he was shocked.

It was a bad job, but the snake still managed to shape the metal around its tail into the shape of a blade. Its tail definitely wasn't very sharp, but with its power, it didn't need that sharpness.

Earlier, Shang had received bruises by just being hit by the snake's tail. Now, even though the blade on its tail wasn't sharp, all its power would still be focused onto an edge or a tiny point.

Shang quickly realized that this was the snake's elemental power.

It had turned its back into a terrifying weapon.

This also made a lot of sense with its battle style. After all, if its ambush failed, its next course of action would be to flee, and this tail definitely helped in that. Predators would think twice about chasing something that continually pointed a long and sharp blade at them while running away. If they weren't careful, the snake could pull its body together like a spring and stab the beast chasing it.

The snake had accomplished all of this in just a single second. It had created the metal and the blade in basically an instant.

'This is troublesome,' Shang thought. 'This thing has two weapons that can strike very fast. On top of that, its weapons are far harder than my sword. I can't use my sword to block, or it will become useless. I can take out weaker beasts with only my hands, but I doubt that will be useful against this one.'

As Shang thought more about his opponent, his plan slowly changed.

'I could attempt to fight a stronger beast maybe under normal circumstances, but this one counters me due to its Affinity.'

'If I had a good weapon, I could attempt fighting it.'

Then, Shang got an idea. 'It will be risky, and it won't work forever, but it should give me a chance. After all, the snake's blade isn't like a human's weapon.'

At the moment, the snake had formed a coil with both its head and tail pointing upward. It was ready to strike with both of them if anything decided to come near.

Earlier, the green bird had had the advantage of a surprise attack, but now, the snake was ready. If the bird decided to charge at the snake again, the snake's tail would skewer it. Shang had already seen how fast the snake's tail was, and it definitely wasn't easy to avoid.

BANG!

Shang charged forward, and the snake quickly noticed his approach. It tensed its neck as it awaited his approach. Its tail was still pointing upward. Apparently, the snake kept its tail reserved for the bird that was still circling above them.

When Shang came into the snake's range, its head shot forward with all of its speed.

The strike of the snake was incredibly fast, and Shang definitely wasn't fast enough to evade or parry the strike.

However, Shang had never planned on evading.

Instead of striking, Shang kept his sword pointed upward in front of him. In comparison to normal times, Shang held his sword with both hands this time.