After flying for several kilometers, Shang recovered by increasing the density of Mana in his path and burying his fingers into the surrounding Mana like he was sliding down a wall.
The skin and quite some muscle on Shang's back had been turned to snowflakes when he had passed through the storm of water and ice.
Luckily, he managed to block the primary attack by putting his Addum between him and his opponent.
Since his Addum was a fusion of his Saber and Colossal Sword States, it was also very good at defense.
Shang inspected his Addum, and he was glad that he had used so much money to upgrade his two swords to the Initial Sixth Realm.
There was one thick scar on the Addum's side, which was terrifying considering that a weapon of this level shouldn't receive any damage from opponents on its level.
An Initial Sixth Realm weapon was only considered as such when it could resist all attacks someone at the Initial Sixth Realm could unleash.
Yet, the Addum had still received some damage.
It wouldn't break anytime soon, but the scar clearly showed the sheer power of the attack.
Of course, such a powerful attack had also broken a two-digit number of bones in Shang's body, but he didn't really care about that. His weapon was of a bigger concern.
While Shang was preparing to attack the serpent again, the storm of ice and water in the distance suddenly changed.
Earlier, the storm of ice and water had been a sphere around the serpent, ensuring that Shang would always have to pass through it by creating or closing distance.
But now, the sphere was suddenly splitting apart and transforming.
The storm gathered in many different locations, increasing the latent power in these locations.
A moment later, the transformation was complete.
Shang took a deep breath when he saw the serpent.
Right now, the serpent gracefully flew in the air, four terrifying icy claws sprouting out of its body.
The spherical storm of ice and water had thinned and transformed into one long line, which danced around the serpent's body.
It was almost like the storm had become a graceful and long ribbon.
The power of the storm had intensified, and Shang knew that getting hit by it this time would be far more devastating than before.
'Sure enough, this is an extremely powerful beast for its level.'
The serpent's icy claws cracked and moved as they prepared for an attack.
WHOOOOM!
And then, the serpent suddenly shot forward, right at Shang!
Earlier, it had completely avoided Shang, but after realizing that it might lose in the long run if it kept creating distance, it decided to change its approach.
That move where it had thrown off its icy armor had cost it way too much of its Mana. At most, it could do that one more time.
That was why it suddenly decided to shoot at Shang.
'Serpents usually avoid close combat, but not this one, apparently.'
Shang used Comet again and also shot at the serpent.
Suddenly, one of the serpent's claws shot at Shang in a similar motion to earlier.
Shang realized that the serpent was using the same attack.
SHING!
Shang used Shock to avoid the attack. Earlier, he hadn't even been able to see it since it had been so insanely fast.
BOOOOOM!
One of the fingers on the serpent's claw exploded off, shooting forward at speeds that Shang couldn't follow.
However, this time, he had the time to actually feel the Mana in the surroundings, which allowed him to find out how the serpent had managed to create such a terrifying attack.
From what Shang could feel, he summarized that the bottom of the claw transformed into Water Mana, which was then transformed into Wind Mana.
The terrifying amount of Wind Mana was then compressed inside the claw, and when the serpent made a throwing motion, it pushed the claw forward.
At the same time, the Wind Mana would explode out.
Like that, the serpent was adding the power of a rapid expansion to its own physical power.
It had essentially created an air gun.
After comprehending the principle of the attack, Shang could now anticipate it with more precision.
SHING!
Shang had to use Shock again as the streamer of icy wind passed by his location.
Shang didn't want to take any chances with that terrifying ribbon.
A moment later, one of the icy claws was rushing at Shang.
BANG!
Shang suddenly stopped in the air like he had hit solid ground.
BOOOOM!
And then, he jumped up with all his power, the world below him vibrating with waves.
Shang had seen that the claw wasn't moving in the way it moved when using that terrifying attack, and he saw this as an opportunity.
He gathered a ton of Mana in his Addum again and struck.
CRACK!
The claw broke into the pieces, but not in the way that Shang had expected.
The claw broke into sharp icicles, which rained down on Shang. It was almost like Shang had punched a window.
The force of Shang's attack blasted the icicles in front of him into the distance, but the icicles around him shot down.
But then, they suddenly angled to the side, shooting right at Shang from all sides.
Shang gritted his teeth.
CRRRRR!
The sphere of fire returned again, destroying the icicles.
Shang's body had become gaunt and withered again, but it recovered in an instant.
'I only have 10% life energy remaining.'
Shang immediately threw himself at the serpent again after solidifying his surroundings.
At that moment, the ribbon of ice returned, and Shang had to throw himself to the side. He couldn't allow himself to touch that ribbon, or his body would freeze over.
Luckily, it had a lot of inertia due to its sheer power.
Sadly, Shang's charge was interrupted, giving the serpent another opportunity to attack him.
The Serpent regrew its destroyed claw and continued its attack.
This time, Shang saw one of the claws move forward from a distance, and he knew that the serpent would use its terrifying attack again.
Shang's grip on his sword tightened.
BANG!
The finger on the claw shot at Shang at insane speeds.
Shang's Addum was in front of him.
Shang moved the handle forward.
The two attacks hit.
DING!
Fire exploded.
The claw turned to water, but the water didn't shoot past Shang's sword.
And then, light exploded as Shang moved his sword forward.
The water shot at the serpent, but not at a critical location of its body, but at one of the claws.
Since the ice had been melted into water, it no longer had any offensive properties, and even if it hit the serpent, it wouldn't do anything.
But suddenly, something appeared between the water and the serpent's claw it was shooting toward.
It was the ribbon!
The water shot with rapid speeds through the ribbon, and when it came out of the other side, it had already transformed into huge icicles.
And then, it hit the claw.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire claw exploded.
'Sadly, the ribbon just barely made it in time. If it had arrived sooner, I could have hit its body.'
'But if I can't get rid of its body, forcing it to use up more of its Mana is the next best thing.'
One of the serpent's claws had been destroyed, and the water had also absorbed a lot of power from the ribbon.
But the fight wasn't over yet.
