Chapter Forty-Two: Inspiration from Tomb-Raiding Novels—The Dragon-Skin Stripping Formation

Because the Hundred Serpent Pit was teeming with a wide variety of snakes, the equipment and items dropped in this instance were equally diverse. Aside from the Stifling Eight-Foot Snake Spear dropped by the Silver-Banded Snake, there was also the "Stifling Golden Serpent Sword" from the Golden-Banded Snake.

The Silver-Banded and Golden-Banded Snakes were close relatives, both carrying neurotoxic venom. However, the venom of the Silver-Banded Snake was far more potent than that of its golden counterpart. There was an old saying among the people: "Better provoke gold than silver; provoke silver, and you court death," attesting to the greater lethality of the Silver-Banded Snake.

The Golden Serpent Sword, contrary to the depictions found in martial arts novels, was not curved and serpentine throughout. Instead, it was straight, measuring three feet three inches in length, about two fingers wide, with a subtle golden hue throughout. The hilt was shaped like a serpent's body, adorned with scale patterns, and the guard depicted a serpent's mouth agape, the blade extending from between its jaws. The scabbard's material was unknown, but it was sheathed in golden snakeskin, making the whole sword appear exquisitely ornate.

In terms of offensive power, the Stifling Golden Serpent Sword lagged behind the Stifling Eight-Foot Snake Spear, but far surpassed the Corrosive Ant-Leg Blade, which was now ready to be retired.

Besides these two weapons, another notable drop was the "Hemorrhagic Venom Fang Saber," which came from the Five-Step Snake. This saber was three feet six inches in length, about three fingers wide near the hilt, narrowing toward the tip with a pronounced curve, the tip itself razor-sharp. Its overall design mimicked a venomous serpent's twin fangs, and it delivered fierce blood-circulating poison damage.

The Five-Step Snake, a species of viper known scientifically as Deinagkistrodon acutus, was infamous for its virulence. Those bitten would suffer uncontrollable bleeding, unstaunchable by compression or bandaging, leading to widespread hemorrhage and swift death. Its name came from the claim that a victim could walk no more than five paces before collapsing—a testament to the fearsome potency of its venom, even if somewhat exaggerated.

Survival stories following a Five-Step Snake bite were rare. In regions where these vipers thrived, almost all bitten perished, while those bitten by cobras often survived. The venom of the Fang Saber differed from that of the Snake Spear and Golden Serpent Sword—if anything, it was even more ferocious.

There were just these three weapons in the Hundred Serpent Pit's arsenal. After cataloging them, Li Yunfei turned his attention to the armor.

The instance's armor drops did not consist of single pieces but a complete set, dropped by the "Black Tiger Snake." It was a suit of scale armor.

Exquisite Serpent Scale Armor: comprising a helmet, pauldrons, cuirass, bracers, gloves, greaves, and snakeskin boots—a total of seven components.

This armor was entirely jet-black, fashioned from 1,825 scale-shaped plates. The helmet was of the full-face variety, revealing only the eyes, and the whole set weighed sixty-eight catties.

Whereas the Ant Armor was a hard, plate-type set, the Serpent Scale Armor was clearly of the scale type. Even setting aside material quality, scale armor was a cut above plate armor; even among identical materials, scale armor afforded superior protection.

Plate armor, being a rigid, unified shell, did not provide any rebound upon impact. If penetrated, it could only offer resistance at the breach itself. In contrast, scale armor, composed of individually linked plates in layered fashion, produced a rebound force in the opposite direction after impact. Thus, apart from direct resistance at the broken segment, the rebound effect of the scale provided an additional layer of defense.

The hardness of the serpent scales already surpassed that of the ant armor, and they possessed a resilience the ant armor lacked, making their protective power vastly superior. Henceforth, the Ant Armor and Ant-Leg Blade, like outdated tools, were cast aside.

Beyond equipment, the loot included a fair number of potions:

Hundred Serpent Pill: Enhances resistance to poisons, delays aging, detoxifies all poisons. With sufficient doses, one becomes immune to all toxins and remains youthful eternally.

Spirit Serpent Pill: Greatly increases bone flexibility and bodily suppleness. With enough pills, one's bones become as resilient as a serpent's, rendering fractures a thing of the past.

Serpent Gallbladder Pill: Dispels wind and dampness, clears heat, improves vision, detoxifies, and treats pediatric pneumonia, whooping cough, bronchitis, coughing with phlegm, convulsions due to fever, and acute rheumatic arthritis.

Outside the cave, Li Yunfei slew some fifty or sixty snakes of various kinds, obtaining: one Stifling Eight-Foot Snake Spear, one Stifling Golden Serpent Sword, two Hemorrhagic Venom Fang Sabers, two sets of Exquisite Serpent Scale Armor; three bottles of Hundred Serpent Pills (five per bottle), four bottles of Spirit Serpent Pills (six per bottle), seven bottles of Serpent Gallbladder Pills (ten per bottle), and over 1,580 coins.

The Stifling Eight-Foot Snake Spear could be sold to the marketplace for forty-two thousand, but cost one hundred thousand to buy back. Li Yunfei sold it, then repurchased it, suffering a loss of fifty-eight thousand, but from that point onward it became available for unlimited purchase. Paying fifty-eight thousand for such a right seemed worthwhile to him. After all, with two more drops, he could recoup the loss.

The Stifling Golden Serpent Sword fetched twenty-eight thousand but cost seventy thousand to buy back, a loss of forty-two thousand. The Hemorrhagic Venom Fang Saber sold for thirty-six thousand and was priced at ninety-two thousand to repurchase, but since he had two, he refrained from buying it back and thus avoided a loss. The Exquisite Serpent Scale Armor sold at thirty-three thousand, bought back for eighty-eight thousand; again, with two sets, he saw no need to repurchase. Altogether, Li Yunfei spent about one hundred thousand to acquire several unlimited-purchase rights and was perfectly content.

And this was only the loot from the level-sixteen Hundred Serpent Pit; there were four more instances to come! The profits ahead would be enormous. Besides, he hadn't even finished clearing this one, and he could easily afford the expense.

By now, all the serpent monsters near the pit's entrance had been lured out and eliminated; only those deeper within remained. No longer needing to slay them one by one, he could now rely on cunning.

He recalled from a tomb-raiding novel a formation designed specifically to deal with giant snakes, known as the "Dragon-Flaying Array." The idea took root in his mind.

Previously, he had hesitated to enter the cave and set up traps for fear of a sudden snake assault. But now that the area around the entrance was cleared, he had no such worries.

Li Yunfei spent two hundred eighty thousand to purchase two hundred machetes from the system inventory. Using machetes for the formation would be far deadlier than the bamboo skewers described in the novel.

After acquiring the machetes, Li Yunfei, astride his little fox, found a small puddle nearby. He drew out the Paralyzing Ant-Lion Sickle, plunged its blade into the water, and infused it with spiritual power to activate its built-in paralyzing toxin.

Within moments, the entire puddle became a pool of anesthetic—the most crucial element of the Dragon-Flaying Array. Though the water now possessed anesthetic properties, its potency was much reduced compared to the original sickle, having been diluted many times over. At best, it would numb wounds and dull pain.

He soaked all two hundred machetes in this anesthetic water, then, together with his little fox, marched into the Hundred Serpent Pit. He did not venture far, stopping ten or so meters from the entrance to set up his array.

Li Yunfei planted the two hundred anesthetic-soaked machetes in rows in the earth, blades facing inward and tips pointed upward. The innermost row had only an inch of blade exposed; the next, two inches; the third, three; the fourth, four, and so on. He arranged the two hundred machetes in eight rows, twenty-five per row, so that by the last row, eight inches (about twenty-six centimeters) of blade protruded above ground.

The giant serpents within ranged from fifty to sixty centimeters thick; a twenty-six-centimeter blade would be more than enough to cut them open and sever their innards.