Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python

Before him stood a gigantic fruit tree about ten meters tall, its trunk so thick that even two people joining arms around it couldn't encircle it.

It towered in the very center of the Spirit Field, its canopy spreading like a cloud.

Unlike the other fruit trees, this Vermilion Fruit tree wasn't laden with Vermilion Fruits of all sizes.

Instead, its branches were sparsely covered with leaves.

Only one branch near the top bore a single, unusually round Vermilion Fruit, its entire surface a strange shade of purple.

Special patterns ran across the fruit, looking like thunder and lightning.

"."

Shen Mo stopped before the gigantic fruit tree, with no time to admire this superior Vermilion Fruit.

He had spotted a snake coiled around the tree's vines.

Like the others, it was ringed with silver and patterned in black and white.

But unlike the other Silver-Ringed Demon Snakes, this one had an enormous body, even larger than that of an ordinary python beast.

Beneath its exaggerated bulk, what made Shen Mo's heart tighten most was the fact that the demon snake had two heads!

One head was large, the other small.

The larger was the size of a millstone, while the smaller was only as big as a baby's palm.

Together, they looked bizarre.

"Silver-Ringed Demon Snakes usually travel in groups. These demon beasts have no special bloodline, and very few ever become high-order demon beasts.

They must shed their skin nine times before they can advance to the Second-Order Demon Beast level.

One unmistakable sign that they have reached the second order is that they grow a new head each time they advance!"

Memories surfaced in Shen Mo's mind of the knowledge Uncle Chen had taught him about identifying common demon beasts.

Two heads meant it was a Second-Order Silver-Soul Demon Snake, with strength equivalent to a human cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm!

"This Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Snake Demon doesn't seem to have fully advanced to the second order yet."

He calmly assessed, "Its second head has only just grown and hasn't matured. It seems to be right on the threshold of entering the second order."

Even so, it was absolutely beyond what he could handle right now!

"Damn the Zhao Family. With such a powerful demon beast here, why didn't they report it earlier?"

Shen Mo's heart lurched. Keeping a wary eye on the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python, he cautiously backed away.

Run!

He had no intention of fighting.

He only wanted to get away while the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python hadn't noticed him!

This demon python was nothing like the little snakes he'd slaughtered earlier as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

A demon beast close to the second order would take at least a cultivator at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm to kill.

He was only at the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm.

If he really faced it, he might not even withstand a single exchange!

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Shen Mo didn't want to draw the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python's attention.

But things didn't go as he'd hoped. Just as he was quietly retreating, the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python slowly opened its deathly maw.

It swiftly slithered down from the fruit tree, raised its tail, thick as a giant tree trunk, and suddenly slammed it down toward Shen Mo.

"Not good!"

Shen Mo's expression changed drastically. He stamped his foot and narrowly dodged the blow.

"Smack!"

Dust billowed where the tail struck, leaving a shocking crater in the Spirit Field.

If that blow had hit Shen Mo, it would have left him gravely wounded, if not killed him!

Whoosh!

The Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python gave Shen Mo no chance to catch his breath. It raised its tail again and swept it toward him.

"Bang!"

The enormous tail smashed into a Vermilion Fruit tree, snapping its trunk in half, then came straight at him.

"I can't dodge!"

The reflection of the tail grew larger in Shen Mo's pupils. Just as it was about to hit him, he crushed a talisman!

"Hum!"

Golden light blazed. A thick, earthy-yellow wave of spiritual power surged from the talisman, turning into a Bedrock Shield that took the blow for him.

"Good thing I bought a life-saving talisman earlier. Otherwise, I'd be done for!"

Seeing the talisman activate, Shen Mo felt a little less tense.

"Bang!"

The Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python swung its tail down again when its first strike failed.

Once again, the Bedrock Talisman blocked the blow.

However, after two violent attacks, the Bedrock Shield formed by the Bedrock Talisman had faded considerably.

Clearly, the talisman had its limits.

A few more attacks like that, and it would be smashed to pieces before its duration ran out.

"Earth-Escape Talisman. I need to get out of here!"

Shen Mo took another talisman from his Qiankun Pouch and crushed it on the spot!

"Whoosh!"

The instant the talisman broke, endless quicksand enveloped Shen Mo. He burrowed straight into the ground and disappeared.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

The Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python's gaze was cold as it searched the surroundings, but Shen Mo was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed to hesitate, then looked back at the purple Vermilion Fruit in the tree. In the end, it didn't pursue him.

Instead, it coiled around the gigantic fruit tree once more.

"A terrible loss!"

At the edge of the Spirit Field, Shen Mo stumbled out in a panic. Seeing that the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python showed no sign of pursuing him, he let out a small sigh of relief.

Then he began to mourn his two talismans.

"The Earth-Escape Talisman and the Bedrock Talisman cost me twenty Spirit Stones altogether. I'd barely had them in my hands, and now they're gone."

"And the corpses of those little demon snakes—I didn't even get a chance to collect them..."

A flicker of anger crossed his face. "Damn the Zhao Family! They lied about the demon beast's strength and nearly got me killed!"

If Shen Mo had known that a demon beast close to the second order lived in the Zhao Family's Spirit Field,

he would never have taken this task!

"Immortal Master."

"You're back! How did it go? Did you kill all the demon snakes?"

Shen Mo moved like lightning, rushing back to the Zhao Family's main hall.

The guards who had fled in the face of danger were all waiting outside the entrance.

The moment they saw him, they crowded around.

"Kill them all?" Shen Mo's face was as dark as water. He said nothing more.

"Immortal Master, did something happen?"

Nearby, Zhao Jiachang studied Shen Mo's expression. Noticing that something seemed wrong, he asked nervously.

"Let me ask you something." Shen Mo's gaze was icy as he spoke. "Why did your Zhao Family conceal the demon beast's strength?"

"Conceal it? What do you mean?"

Zhao Jiachang froze.

"Did you not know that there's more than a bunch of little demon snakes hiding in the Spirit Field? There's also a powerful demon beast close to the second order!"

"What? A powerful demon beast close to the second order?"

Zhao Jiachang was aghast. "How could that be? The Vermilion Fruits grown in my Zhao Family's Spirit Field are spiritual medicine, but they shouldn't attract high-order demon beasts."

It seemed he really hadn't known.

Seeing no sign of pretense in his expression, Shen Mo thought to himself.

"I still lack experience. Even if they didn't know about this, when I heard that hundreds of demon snakes had poured through like a tide, I should've guessed they must have been led by a chief."

Even so, the anger on his face barely abated. "Are you still going to play dumb?"

"Do you know that your concealment of the demon beast's strength nearly got me killed? And it cost me two expensive high-order talismans!"

Whether or not the Zhao Family had known about the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python, Shen Mo was now insisting that their concealment was to blame.

He'd taken a massive hit. He couldn't just let that go.