Chapter 990: Chapter 990: Snake Venom

The Snowfall Domain Freya condensed slowed the Nine-head Snake by a mere three seconds, but these three seconds were all it took for them to come out of there alive.

This area was incomparably dangerous, but as with all great risks, the chances of obtaining live vitality jades were high.

Still, it didn't seem that practical for a newly ascended warrior to bet his life so early on in the game. No one was really willing to risk his life here in the mine.

Majority of the Soul Sea Realm warriors opted to search for supreme life vitality crystals instead of risking their necks to find the life vitality jades at the bottom of the mine.

With the three-second buffer Freya had provided them, the two immediately jumped into the vertical hole Zen had opened, shooting themselves upwards and away from the beast.

However, the mighty Nine-head Snake wasn't just going to let them go so easily!

Hiss!

The snake's heads all stood up on alert as the beast launched its entire body up in the air.

However, as it blindly followed its supposed prey, the Nine-head Snake failed to take into account its size and the fact that the hole was only twenty to thirty feet wide. It smashed onto the entrance violently, but remained relentless in its pursuit.

Crack!

Realizing that it wouldn't be able to fit, the beast figured that maybe it would be better to use its formidable strength instead. The Nine-head Snake wasted no time and smashed its incredibly huge and strong body onto the hole, causing the collapse of the entire cave system. Despite the falling debris, however, its speed remained unimpeded.

As they rushed upward, Freya continually unleashed her icicles upon the enemy.

Freya's icicles were strong since they came from a Soul Sea Realm warrior. However, the snake's defenses were infinitely stronger and each attack did nothing to pierce through the thick scales that protected the beast's flesh.

Truth be told, the Nine-head Snake could be considered the weakest among all legendary beasts when it came to attack power. However, it had one unique trait that made it very difficult to deal with.

This ability was regeneration wherein even if one beheaded the snake, the severed extremity would simply heal and regenerate over time. Zen, who had obtained a Nine-head Dragon's blood vigor on Cloud Road, had emerged with a strengthened body and an increased recovery ability reminiscent of this beast's unique trait.

The only thing keeping both Zen and Freya alive right now was the weak attack and chase skills of the beast. Had it been any other level twelve beast, they would both be dead.

It might be the weakest, but the Nine-head Snake was still a legendary beast.

During the chase, the tiny head in the middle of the nine heads seemed to grow impatient. “Kill them! Kill them! Poisonous Blood!”

Hiss! Hiss!

The remarks of one head caused a frenzy with the others. All of the heads began to shriek, opening their mouths and letting blood-red lights condense within.

Freya couldn't help but pale at the hopelessness of the situation. They were being chased by a legendary beast with only a long and narrow space to move in. There was nowhere to dodge and nowhere to go but up.

Hiss!

Once condensed, the blood-red lights quickly burst and turned into nine bright-red blood pillars.

These blood pillars plunged their surroundings with a heady smell of metallic blood along with a certain, choking stench—most likely poison spat out by the Nine-head Snake.

“What should we do?” Freya murmured in disbelief. She continued flying upwards but, deep inside, she was seriously contemplating her survival rate in this place. Sure, Zen had come to help her, but she also believed that he was weaker than her. Therefore, she really did not expect that he would be of much help.

He was truly the last person she expected to save her, and this fact did not bring her any comfort considering the seriousness of their current situation.

While Freya ruminated on this dilemma, Zen's face was serenely calm. With a flip, he reached out and immediately grabbed Freya.

“What are you doing?” she exclaimed. She tried to wriggle away from his grasp, afraid that he was going to use her as a shield against the incoming blood pillars. ŔᴀNο𝔟Ê𝘴

The thought of being reduced to a scapegoat after they had come so far and achieved so much was unacceptable to Freya, who then resisted Zen's approach.

To her surprise, Zen did not fight her and instead let her pull him back to shield her from the danger that came at them. Freya had misunderstood. He was actually protecting her.

'So he just wanted to block the blood pillars for me?' she thought.

It was bizarre, to say the least. They had only just met. Though they had built a sort of trust with each other, it was still extremely fragile as of the moment.

That was why Freya did not put it past Zen to double-cross her. However, his show of bravery made her realize just how serious he was with this alliance of theirs, considering that he was willing to risk his life to save her from those blood pillars.

The shock was painted all over Freya's face.

“You!” she exclaimed.

Zen merely smiled, spreading out his arms as he blocked the oncoming poison blood pillars.

Hiss! Hiss!

The effect of the pillars were already very apparent in the way they reacted with the surrounding rock and quartz layers. The poison spat out by the Nine-head Snake seemed to be extremely corrosive, leaving nothing behind but creamy white foam and black smoke in its wake. This was the same with Zen's clothes, but the poison strangely had no effect on his body.

'Poison immunity?' she wondered. This was the moment that she realized just how much she underestimated him. One truly could not judge a book by its cover.

She also felt a bit ashamed about suspecting Zen of double-crossing her when it was the exact opposite of what he wanted to do.

Boom!

Though his poison-immune body was enough to deal with the blood pillars, there were still a few issues to be addressed. For one, the Nine-head snake had now expanded the tunnel to ten times larger. The beast's movements shook the ground violently as the chase continued.

Fortunately, the two were able to pass through the tunnel and leave the bottom of the mine. They couldn't afford the luxury to catch their breath as they tried to escape their pursuer.

The farther they went, the narrower the tunnel got. Even the Nine-head Snake had a bit of trouble with the stones it bumped into from time to time.

It was during this time that Freya knew she had to keep calm and keep it together. She nimbly dodged the beast's attacks and occasionally used her Snowfall Domain to try and slow down its speed. At times when she wouldn't be able to dodge, Zen took on the pillars for her.

It was with this constant running and teamwork that the two finally arrived in the middle of the mine.

The moment they arrived, the beast suddenly halted and the smallest head revealed an extremely hesitant expression. “If you dare barge in again, I will kill you!” the beast warned.

These were its last words before it turned away and retreated.

The Nine-head Snake's departure was a huge weight off their shoulders. Escaping with your life was probably the most adrenaline-rush inducing activity ever. However, they managed to harvest thirty-nine life vitality jades.

“This exploration shall come to an end here. We'll split these in half once we return,” Zen said indifferently.

Freya nodded in understanding. “Of course!” She felt at ease knowing that their distribution would be fair.

The two of them simultaneously flew to the top of the mine. Zen used this time to carefully size up a life vitality jade in his hand.

At first, one would think that the life vitality jade and the life vitality crystal were similar, but Zen knew that there was a difference between the two.

Life vitality crystals were a special sort of ore that contained the vitality between heaven and earth. Supreme life vitality crystals were the same, but contained a lot more energy at a purer state.

Life vitality jades, on the other hand, were like fruits that sprang from tree branches, condensed with the vitality between heaven and earth. They not only provided life vitality, but also had a multitude of other uses.

A supreme life vitality crystal could cost around 100 high-grade life vitality crystals, but a life vitality jade would be equal to 10, 000 supreme life vitality crystals. Such was the difference.

The life vitality jade in his hand was warm and smooth, and it emitted pure life vitality that any holder could absorb.

Unfortunately, this was no use for Zen, who relied on chaotic energy instead of life vitality.

As he thought about this, six to seven warriors appeared above them.

They were all at the Soul Sea Realm. “Hold it right there!” one of them called out.

“Eh? This one's a Life and Death Realm guy!” another one jeered.