Chapter 397 395-Foggy Essence Bead
At that moment, an entirely unexpected situation unfolded before Ethan.
The second Three-eyed Serpent, instead of attacking Ethan, charged towards the first serpent.
Opening its vast jaws, it bit towards its counterpart.
The other serpent retaliated fiercely, and the two serpents were suddenly locked in combat.
What was happening here?
Ethan was momentarily baffled by the scene unfolding before him.
Were they actually fighting each other?
He had initially thought the second Three-eyed Serpent had come to assist the first, meaning he would have to contend with both.
But now, they had turned on each other, a development Ethan had not anticipated at all.
Since the two serpents were now engaged in their own battle, there seemed no need for Ethan to intervene.
This greatly simplified things for him.
He had thought about simply walking away and leaving them to their fight.
After all, the situation had evolved into a feud between the two serpents and no longer concerned Ethan.
However, just as he was about to leave, Ethan paused, struck by a thought.
Observing the strengths of the two serpents, which appeared evenly matched, and considering the ferocity of their fight, it seemed likely that the encounter would end in a deadly stalemate, with both serpents grievously injured.
This could create a highly advantageous situation for Ethan.
He could adopt a strategy of watching the tigers fight from the mountain – letting the two serpents weaken each other first.
Then, like a fisherman reaping the benefits of the snipe and clam grappling, Ethan could step in at the opportune moment.
With this thought, Ethan halted his steps, retreating to a safer distance from the battling Three-eyed Serpents to watch the unfolding drama.
It was clear that these two serpents harbored deep animosity towards each other.
From the moment they faced off, it was evident they were archenemies, engaging in a fight to the death.
Ethan surmised that the two serpents must have had a longstanding feud, likely as neighbors with adjacent territories.
Their frequent skirmishes had probably built up a significant grudge, leading the second serpent to seize this opportunity to attack the first.
Both serpents were formidable in strength, and their attacks were relentless.
This was shaping up to be quite a spectacle.
Ethan watched intently for a long time as neither serpent showed any signs of yielding, their fighting spirits fiercely locked in combat.
Soon enough, both serpents sustained injuries.
Ethan could tell that, given the current situation, the battle between the two serpents was drawing near its conclusion.
As he had anticipated, it wasn't long before the first serpent, the one that had initially attacked Ethan, began to show signs of faltering.
Its movements were noticeably slower compared to before.
"Now," Ethan thought, "the outcome is decided."
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the latter serpent also seemed to realize its opponent was on the brink of defeat.
It seized this moment to launch a ferocious attack.
True to Ethan's predictions, the first serpent started to retreat repeatedly, clearly overpowered.
The second serpent, seizing its opportunity, clamped its jaws around the neck of its adversary.
Witnessing the decisive moment of the battle, where further struggle seemed futile, the serpent with its neck clamped suddenly opened its mouth, exhaling a cloud of black mist.
This mist, like a stream of smoke, shot directly at the head of the other Three-eyed Serpent, which was caught completely off guard and sprayed squarely in the face, immediately opening its mouth in agony.
Seizing this opportunity, the ensnared serpent quickly wriggled free and lunged at the other, reversing the tide of the battle.
No one could have anticipated this cunning move.
The serpent engulfed in the black mist writhed in pain on the ground, about to be bitten again, when Ethan, without a moment's hesitation, intervened.
Ethan's action was swift and decisive.
He delivered a punch directly to the head of the serpent.
This unexpected blow caught the serpent completely unprepared, and it took the full force of Ethan's punch.
Ethan had put all his strength into this punch, aiming precisely at the white spot on the top of the Three-eyed Serpent's head.
With a loud crack, the serpent's skull shattered under the impact.
The creature rolled in pain on the ground for a few moments before lying motionless.
The other Three-eyed Serpent, having somewhat recovered from the black mist's painful assault, though still injured, managed to move.
It glanced at Ethan and then turned to leave, presumably to find a place to heal its wounds.
Ethan watched it go without any attempt to stop it.
After all, he harbored no grudge against this serpent.
It was the other one that had attacked him, and now that it was dealt with, the surviving serpent was of no concern to him.
Now that the Three-eyed Serpent that had attacked Ethan was dead, he approached its corpse, a question rising in his mind.
What exactly was that black mist the serpent exhaled in its dying moments?
Although it was his first encounter with such a thing, Ethan was somewhat familiar with Three-eyed Serpents and knew that exhaling poisonous gas wasn't typical for them.
What then was that substance?
Driven by curiosity, Ethan moved closer to the head of the serpent's corpse and examined it carefully.
At that moment, he noticed a slight bulge in the serpent's mouth, as if something was concealed within.
Hastily, he pried open the mouth of the dead serpent and discovered a small black bead inside.
The bead was not large, entirely black, with a cold, shimmering surface and surrounded by a layer of black mist.
It was evidently no ordinary object, which excited Ethan.
He hadn't expected such an unexpected find.
While Ethan was unsure what the object was, any discovery was better than none, especially if it turned out to be a valuable treasure.
With that thought, Ethan quickly reached out and grabbed the bead.
[Foggy Essence Bead]
[Attribute: Potent Poison]
[Description: Possesses strong toxicity and can unleash poisonous attacks]
Seeing the attributes of the bead, Ethan was greatly astonished.
The black smoke that the Three-eyed Serpent had emitted was likely an attack launched by this Foggy Essence Bead.
The serpent that was attacked survived by chance, perhaps because of its large size and the limited area affected by the attack, sparing its life instead of succumbing on the spot.
Had a person or a smaller creature been targeted by this black mist, it would almost certainly have been fatal.
Ethan felt like he had stumbled upon a treasure with this black bead – a rare and valuable find.
He recalled that the attacked Three-eyed Serpent, though it had managed to escape, showed extensive decay at the site where the black mist had struck its head, clearly a result of the poisonous attack.
This indicated that the Foggy Essence Bead's poisonous attack was incredibly potent.
Possessing this bead added a layer of security for Ethan.
At the very least, in critical situations, this bead could be a lifesaving asset.
For Ethan, it was an immensely useful tool.
With these thoughts, Ethan pocketed the Foggy Essence Bead and continued on his journey without looking back.
He had heard that the habitat of the Three-eyed Serpents was on the edge of Shadow Forest and Venomous Serpent Swamp.
The Three-eyed Serpents in the Shadow Forest resided near Venomous Serpent Swamp, which meant that Ethan's current location was very close to the swamp.
Now, Ethan was about to traverse the Shadow Forest and reach the Venomous Serpent Swamp.
This brought him closer to his destination, moving him further along in his quest.
Buoyed by this thought, Ethan was filled with excitement.
He no longer cared to rest and quickened his pace, continuing onward.
After a while, he noticed the trees around him becoming sparser, and his view increasingly open.
The ground beneath his feet also grew more damp.
Ethan realized that he was now at the edge of the Shadow Forest.
It wouldn't be much longer before he would emerge from it.
Just as he was gearing up to make one final push to leave the Shadow Forest, he suddenly heard a commotion not far away.
Numerous birds, as if startled by something, took flight from a specific location.
What could this be?
Witnessing this, Ethan knew that something must have frightened these birds.
Given that every creature in the Shadow Forest was formidable, this incident heightened his alertness.
Ethan glanced in the direction where the birds had taken flight.
It was not far ahead of him, and he would have to pass through that area to continue his journey.
It seemed Ethan needed to be extra cautious at this point.
However, Ethan was very confident in his abilities and did not shrink back due to the potential danger ahead.
This confidence, born of skill, bolstered his courage.
With his current strength, Ethan felt capable of handling whatever the Shadow Forest might throw at him, even if it was something he had never encountered before.
At the very least, self-preservation was certainly within his capability.
Therefore, Ethan decided to forge ahead and investigate the situation.
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