Chapter 42: Snake Scales

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of metal colliding, accompanied by fleeting sparks in the chilling air, echoed repeatedly through the open space of the cavern.

[Whirling Slash]

An iron-gray, crescent-shaped sword light flashed through the whistling air and landed squarely on the dark iron-like scales.

"Ah... ouch, ouch, ouch."

Xianan felt a numb, jarring recoil travel up from the hilt of his sword, causing half of his body to lose sensation in an instant.

Immediately following it was an intensely sharp pain emanating from right beneath the splints and bandages on his right hand.

He sat on the ground for a good while, his clothes soaked through with sweat at the back, before he finally managed to recover his strength.

He leaned wearily against the stone wall, gazing at the massive, train-sized serpent body coiled in front of him.

Then, he glanced upward at the menacing snake head suspended above, its cold, emerald-green eyes still wide open and staring directly down at him.

He could not help but sigh.

"Was I really just being too wishful?"

Driven by wild and whimsical thoughts in his mind, Xianan had just carried out his grand loot-collection plan with great enthusiasm.

Though he did not know the exact species of this black snake, whether it was its scales or its gallbladder, bringing them back to town would most likely yield a handsome profit.

However, this gigantic serpent—whose size far exceeded anyone's imagination—seemed to possess a defensive capability comparable to the most advanced armored vehicles.

Hacking, chopping, prying, drilling...

Over the past few dozen minutes, Xianan had exhausted all his strength and tried countless methods.

In the end, even by pushing through his injuries and unleashing [Whirling Slash], he still made zero progress.

He even suspected that those cool and smooth black scales could easily withstand bullets and explosives from a technological world.

Under such circumstances, the dagger and longsword in Xianan's hands were as primitive and powerless as humanity facing the Trisomnians' "Droplet" in the sci-fi novels of his past life.

He had also tried climbing the serpent's body, hoping to reach the spot near the cavern ceiling where the giant snake was pinned by a stone spike—

The scale armor there must have been breached, and if he went up, he might be able to harvest a few fragments, or even just a few drops of blood.

That too ended in failure.

The scales looked angular and clearly layered, but the gaps between them were actually extremely tight, leaving no room for fingers to dig in and making it hard to find any leverage while climbing;

Furthermore, the edges of the scales were razor-sharp, and the slightest exertion would result in a bleeding wound on his hands.

Besides, with the giant snake suspended from the cavern ceiling, even if he did manage to climb up, falling from that height by accident would mean instant death, beyond the saving grace of any healing potion.

***

Supported by his still-sound left arm, Xianan leaned against the stone wall and slowly pushed himself up, his decapitation greatsword already sheathed.

Having perused the wealth of monster loot-collection methods listed in the [Adventurer's Manual], he was well aware of just how many precious treasures were contained within a serpent monster of this sheer size.

"So frustrating."

His expression turned somewhat complicated before he forcibly averted his gaze.

He must not stubbornly trap himself in a dead end.

No matter how much effort and thought he expended, if it wouldn't work, it wouldn't work; if he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it.

"I'll come back later, if I ever get the chance."

The most important thing right now was to find the exit to this wretched place.

Xianan let out a slow breath, calming his mind while trying to rouse his spirits once more.

He carefully scrutinized the open cavern in which he currently stood.

Unlike the deep, narrow tunnels he had traveled through before, the luminescent fungi on the cavern walls were unusually active, filling every corner of the space with their ghostly blue glow.

This allowed Xianan to observe carefully and clearly the details that should have remained hidden in the darkness.

"There are numerous friction and impact marks on both sides of the stone walls. These must have been left by the giant serpent during its lifetime."

"Judging by the snake's size, the passageway I used to get here earlier is far too small."

"Is there another exit, or some other reason?"

"The human skeletons that were scattered everywhere earlier are completely absent here..."

"Huh?"

Xianan's gaze suddenly paused.

His eyes drifted toward a certain corner deep within the cavern.

A patch of pale white caught his eye.

As he walked closer, he saw it was indeed a human skeleton slumped against the wall.

Unlike the fragmented bones he had encountered earlier, this skeleton, though completely stripped of flesh, was relatively well-preserved as a whole.

Lower legs, pelvis, rib cage, skull...

Even a few tattered fragments of dark blue cloth still clung to it, vaguely hinting at the style of a "robe" it once was.

Among all these, the most striking feature was right in the center of the skeleton's chest cavity: a pitch-black scale that had pierced inward through the spine, pinning it straight into the stone wall.

"This is?"

***

Xianan's eyes lit up, instantly feeling the pleasant surprise of "finding a new path through the dark and shady willows."

"Pardon the intrusion," he whispered softly to the skeleton before stepping directly forward.

He used both hands to pull the scale out from the stone wall.

He held it in the palm of his hand and examined it closely.

The scale itself was rhombus-shaped, about the length of a forearm, pitch-black and lustrous on the surface. It felt cool and smooth to the touch, combining hardness with a palpable sense of toughness.

Without a doubt, the rhombus-shaped scale now in Xianan's hand was the steel-tough serpent scale he had previously exhausted all his energy trying in vain to obtain.

Recalling the exaggerated defensive power that had failed to yield even a single scratch under his [Whirling Slash] with the decapitation sword,

ripples of excitement stirred within Xianan's heart.

Once he returned, perhaps he could find a blacksmith in River Valley Town and commission them to craft a piece of equipment using this scale as the primary material.

"It should be 'Rock Hammer'; I remember their shop offers custom tailoring services."

To fully leverage its defensive properties, fashioning it into heavy armor or a shield would be ideal.

However, its size might not be quite enough for armor, and if it were a shield, he might need to find a way to learn some relevant usage techniques.

Considering the sharpness of its edges, would a small weapon also be an option?

"I'll think about it after I get back."

Xianan shook his head.

He carefully buried the scale deep inside his backpack.

Then he suddenly found his own cautious demeanor a bit amusing.

If he ever encountered any real danger, given the defensive strength this scale had just demonstrated, it would probably remain completely unscathed even if his own ashes were scattered to the winds.

This unexpected windfall lifted his spirits.

Just as he was thinking of leaving, he suddenly noticed something else.

Lying beside the skeleton was an old, dusty wooden sword covered in the marks of time.

To be safe, Xianan held his breath and focused his gaze on the wooden sword.

Suddenly, unexpectedly,

a long stream of translucent information materialized before his eyes.