Chapter 42: Snake Scale

Clang!

A crisp sound akin to metal colliding echoed repeatedly within the wide-open space inside the cave, accompanied by a fleeting spark in the cold air.

Sweeping Slash!

The iron-grey, crescent-shaped sword light cut down through the whistling air in the blink of an eye, landing squarely upon those scales that resembled black iron.

“Ah… pain, pain, pain.”

Xia Nan only felt a numbing recoil force travel up from the hilt of his sword, causing half of his body to lose sensation for an instant. Right on its heels was an incredibly sharp, agonizing pain emerging from beneath the splint and bandage on his right arm.

He sat on the ground for quite a long time, his clothes completely soaked with sweat from his back, before he finally managed to catch his breath and ease through the wave of agony.

Leaning wearily against the stone wall, he gazed at the colossal, train-car-thick snake body before him. He then cast another glance upward at the hideous snake head overhead, which was still staring down at him unblinkingly with its cold, jade-green eyes.

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“As expected, was I being too idealistic?”

Driven by a sudden, whimsical idea in his mind, Xia Nan had just been dynamically carrying out his plan to collect trophies. Although he didn’t know the specific species of this black snake, whether it was its armor-like scales or its snake gall, bringing them back to town would, in all probability, yield a handsome profit.

However, this giant snake—so massive that it surpassed human imagination—seemed to possess a formidable defensive capability rivaling that of the most advanced armored vehicles.

Hacking, chopping, prying, drilling…

Over the past few decades of minutes, Xia Nan had exhausted his entire body’s strength and thought up countless methods. In the end, even after forcibly pushing past his injuries to unleash Sweeping Slash, there was still absolutely no progress.

He even suspected that those cool, finely textured black scales would easily withstand and defend against bullets and explosives from a technological world. Under these circumstances, the dagger and longsword in Xia Nan’s hands felt like humanity facing the “Droplet” of the Trisolarans from the sci-fi novels of his past life—primitive and utterly powerless.

He had also attempted to climb the long snake’s body to see if he could reach the top of the cave where the giant snake was pinned to the ceiling by the stone stalactite. The scales there had certainly broken through their defense; if he went up there, he might be able to scavenge a few fragments or even a few drops of blood.

That attempt likewise ended in failure.

Those scales appeared angular and distinctly flake-like, but in reality, the gaps between them were tightly aligned, making it impossible for fingers to penetrate or find purchase while climbing. Furthermore, the edges of the scales were sharp; applying even a bit of force would leave a bleeding gash on his hand.

Moreover, since the giant snake itself was suspended and pinned to the dome of the cavern, even if he did manage to climb up, falling from that height would result in instant death—a conclusion from which not even a healing potion could save him.

Propping himself up with his still-intact left arm, Xia Nan slowly rose with his back against the stone wall, his Beheading Longsword already returned to its scabbard.

Having witnessed a vast number of trophy collection methods for magical beasts recorded in the Adventurer’s Handbook, he knew all too well how many precious treasures were contained within a snake-type magical beast of this size.

“I’m just not willing to accept it.”

His expression appeared somewhat complex as he forcibly averted his gaze. He couldn’t afford to get bogged down in a dead end. No matter how much thought and effort he expended, what didn’t work simply didn’t work, and what couldn’t be done remained impossible.

“I’ll come back in the future, if there’s ever an opportunity.”

Right now, the most important task was still to find an exit out of this damn place.

Xia Nan let out a slow breath. While steadying his emotions, he re-energized his spirit and carefully surveyed the wide-open cave he currently occupied.

Unlike the deep, elongated tunnel from before, the glowing fungal colonies on the surrounding stone walls were exceptionally active here, allowing their ghostly blue light to flood every corner of the space. This enabled Xia Nan to inspect, with clarity, the details that should have otherwise been concealed by darkness.

“There are extensive signs of friction and impact on both sides of the stone walls. These must have been left behind by this giant snake when it was alive.”

“Given the size of this snake, the dimensions of the passage I came through earlier were entirely inadequate.”

“Is there another exit, or is there some other reason?”

“The human skeletal remains that were visible everywhere earlier, however, are completely absent here…”

“Hmm?”

Xia Nan’s gaze suddenly paused. His eyes swept toward a certain corner in the deeper parts of the cave.

A patch of pale white entered his vision.

Stepping closer to look, it was a human skeleton slouched against the wall. Unlike the fragmented, disjointed bones he had encountered previously, although this corpse had likewise been reduced to a skeletal frame, the overall preservation was relatively intact.

The calves, pelvis, thoracic ribs, skull… Even a few tattered remnants of dark green cloth still draped over its body, faintly hinting at the style of a “robe” it once wore.

Yet amidst all of this, the most eye-catching feature was a pitch-black scale right in the center of the skeleton’s chest cavity, piercing straight through the spine from the outside in and planting itself directly into the stone wall.

“This is?”

Xia Nan’s eyes lit up, and a sudden surge of pleasant surprise—like finding a path forward when all hope seemed lost—washed over him.

“Excuse the intrusion,” he whispered softly to the corpse before him, then stepped straight forward.

Using both hands, he yanked the scale out from the stone wall and held it in his palm to examine it closely.

The scale itself was diamond-shaped, roughly the length of a forearm, with a pitch-black and lustrous surface. It felt cool and smooth to the touch, and while it was incredibly hard, he could also feel the inherent resilience it possessed.

Without a doubt, the diamond-shaped scale currently in Xia Nan’s hand was precisely the steel-tough snake scale he had previously exhausted all his energy for yet failed to acquire.

Recalling the exaggerated defensive power that hadn’t left so much as a single scratch on its surface even when he unleashed Sweeping Slash with his Beheading Longsword, a faint ripple of excitement stirred within Xia Nan’s heart.

Once he returned, perhaps he could find a blacksmith in Riverbend Town to help craft a piece of equipment using this scale as the primary material.

“It should be ‘Rock Hammer,’ right? I remember their shop offers custom services.”

If he wanted to fully utilize its defensive properties, turning it into a piece of armor or a shield would be best. However, the size might not be sufficient, and if it were a shield, he might have to find a channel to learn some related usage techniques. Given the sharpness of its edges, a small weapon seemed to be an option as well.

“I’ll figure it out after I get back.”

Xia Nan shook his head, carefully stowing the scale deep within his backpack. He suddenly found his own over-cautious attitude a bit amusing. If he truly ran into trouble, given the defensive strength this scale had just displayed, his own body would probably be reduced to scattered ashes before anything could even happen to it.

The sudden, unexpected harvest caused his mood to rebound slightly. He had intended to leave just like that, but his attention was abruptly drawn to something else.

Beside the skeletal remains lay an old wooden sword, covered in dust and carrying the profound marks of time upon its surface.

Just to be safe, Xia Nan focused his mind and concentrated his gaze upon the wooden sword. Subsequent to that, entirely contrary to his expectations, a large string of translucent information materialized before his eyes.

(End of Chapter)