As he was stuck in the hurricane of cold icy death, Jin was gathering his chi and magic within his body, fusing them together so that he could output Maqi.
Oddly enough, the gathering of his Maqi has the side effect of warming himself up for this fight. He did not feel as cold as before and therefore was able to think rationally. (The cold doesn't bother him anyways~!)
He felt that despite knowing the Serpent and Genbu being one entity, it made Jin feel like he was fighting against two monstrosities. Although Jin was swirling around in that blasted hurricane of icy doom, the serpent did not hesitate to strike the Astral Panda Cultivator and it was quite accurate in its attack.
But Jin did block or evade the attack. Instead, he did the most predictable move in every anime and movie. By pushing himself through into the serpent's mouth. While as iconic as the move would be, he was also to evade the serpent's fangs which seemed to be coated with poison.
Jin was able to guess correctly when part of his winter jacket had been corroded upon contact with the poison. Thus, the Astral Panda Cultivator's idea to envelope his entire body with Maqi before sliding through the Serpent's throat was a decent decision.
Yet, the serpent was not stupid to allow the cultivator to do what he likes. (Probably slicing its innards and organs when he has the chance.) It instantly vibrates its entire body, causing the internal organs to secrete a certain lubricant which would prevent Jin from cutting it up.
"Too bad for you, my sword is right outside! I am not gonna cut you or anything so your liquid based defences would not stop me….or erm eat me!" Jin thought to himself as he felt the liquid was merely part one of the serpent's defences as its internal muscles were closing in. But the Maqi that Jin enveloped around him was not only used to protect him, it was a precursor of his spell. His self detontating explosion spell. (Obviously without hurting himself in the process.)
*Kaboom!*
The sound of the explosion caused the white tiger to look with interest. It too thought it was the end for Jin since he got eaten by the serpent. Unlike Jin, Byakko did know what Genbu's serpent was capable of and there was hardly any chance for Jin to get out alive if he did not prepare anything against it.
However, his initial thoughts were proven wrong when he heard the explosive sounds and smoke emanated from the Serpent's mouth. Eventually, even more explosions ensued and the Serpent had no way to counter it. The tiger chuckled for a moment and decided to help his fellow master a bit.
"Whether he can come out unscathed, that would be another issue," Byakko smirked as he summoned his very own Maqi and called out for a thunderbolt to strike the serpent. But even before the thunderbolt could hit its target, it suddenly dissipated mid air, as if the bonds of the electrons holding the bolt together had dispersed throughout the winter space.
That was when Byakko's smirk turned into an irritated expression.
"To think the White Tiger could still fall for this trick. It sure made my old cracking bones shivered with a little joy." Genbu giggled and Byakko eventually concluded that there was nothing he could do to aid his master.
"At least my master is stupid enough to perform the trick of going into the Serpent's body." Byakko yawned a little before he comfortably sat at the side of the old bench.
"Yes, that rash stupidity would help, but for how long?" Genbu's words echoed and Byakko sat at the side, ignoring the old man turtle as he watched its serpent struggle with the multiple explosions.
"I won't say he is the best master I have, but he is hardworking enough to get out of this situation you placed him… despite him being a lazy panda." Byakko had to add the last part to show so that Genbu would not think he went soft from being a prideful animal. While the thunderbolt had fizzled out, the White Tiger of the West could have broken Genbu's magical barrier if he had placed more Maqi into his spell, but it seems Genbu wanted Jin to clear this by himself as much as possible before the tiger could interfere. After all, as much as Byakko was able to break this magical barrier, Genbu could likewise do the same and strengthened the barrier even further. There was no use fighting in a petty match whether whose little tricks could triumph the other.
Though the above was merely inference based on Genbu's words, Byakko still chose to take the easy way out and let Jin settle it. Besides, it was quite a sight to see the Astral Panda Cultivator struggle so hard and it had been some time since the Tiger of the West saw old man Genbu's serpent struggle this much even though he knew it was merely a part of his powers.
The next few explosions got even louder just as Byakko stifled a yawn and finally saw the serpent drop to the side of the mountain. Another explosion was seen at the mouth of the serpent and Jin desperately crawled out of it, all drenched in the semi transparent liquid while gasping for air.
"Is this how all the snakes suffocate their prey when they bite them??!" Jin complained as he tried to get as far from the serpent as much as possible. He knew there was no time to rest if the serpent could have black out momentarily. At the same time, he tried to push himself to reach near a large rock as support and cover.
"Relax, the serpent is dead." Byakko's voice echoed from the top of the mountain. "For now that is… But I am not sure whether -"
At that moment, the serpent's tongue suddenly twitched and Jin was way too tired to react after casting that many spells. (Not to mention, the initial sentence Byakko spoke of, caused him to lower his guard.)
The mouth of the serpent instantly reacted and moved towards Jin at frightening speeds that Jin believed he had to restart the instance once more.
However, as clumsy as a panda could be in real life, Jin managed to slip from the rock that was behind his back and accidentally activated his astral double to counterattack the incoming serpent. Perhaps it was because he knew his life was in danger and the hopelessness he suffered got washed away from the unintentional slip, enabling him to activate an Astral Panda instead of his personal astral doppelganger.
The Panda itself was powerful enough to not only stop the Serpent's strike but held both upper and lower jaws of the snake before it forcefully closed them together. That impact caused the fangs in its upper jaws to pierce through its lower jaw, systematically bleeding itself to death once more.
"Guess…that was a lucky break for me. Thank goodness for the lubricant then…Ha ha ha…" Jin saw the entire scene up front and he could only count his blessings that his astral abilities could be this useful in a scene like this.
