Chapter Forty-Three: The Little Fox Evolves

After setting up the Dragon-Skinning Formation, Li Yunfei mounted the little fox and dashed towards the depths of the Hundred Serpent Lair, using himself as bait to lure the serpents from their hiding places. The little fox’s speed proved invaluable; she kept just the right distance from the snake monsters, skillfully enticing them as she sprinted towards the cave entrance.

Hundreds of serpentine creatures hissed and surged after her in a frenzied pursuit. When they reached the formation, the little fox, with her long, slender limbs, leapt nimbly over it, while the snake monsters, oblivious, slithered straight into the trap.

As soon as the serpents entered the formation, the short, exposed blade tips sliced into their bellies, but thanks to the potent anesthetic, they felt nothing and continued writhing forward. The blade beneath their bodies grew longer the further they advanced. Though the anesthetic had been diluted many times and could not paralyze the snakes entirely, it was enough to numb their wounds instantly, leaving them unaware of their injuries.

The farther the serpents crawled, the heavier and slower they became. The tunnel near the entrance was soon drenched in blood. By the time the serpents burst from the cave, chasing Li Yunfei and the little fox, they collapsed and died not far from the exit.

Riding atop the little fox, Li Yunfei watched as the serpents died one by one after emerging from the cave, unable to suppress his admiration. Truly, clearing a dungeon was like waging a battle—it demanded brains, not brute force. With sound strategy, victory came effortlessly.

…

Several hours later, deep within a certain passage of the Hundred Serpent Lair, the final boss—the Serpent King—fell with a thunderous crash, its head as large as a millstone. It too perished under the Dragon-Skinning Formation, and Li Yunfei rose smoothly to level nineteen, with the little fox well past halfway to level eighteen.

The Serpent King, the ultimate boss of the lair, was none other than the “Fine-scaled Taipan,” reputedly the most venomous snake on the surface of the earth. In the global ranking of terrestrial venomous snakes, it held the undisputed top spot. Even among all sea snakes, only the Belcher’s sea snake surpassed it in toxicity. On Blue Earth Star, among all serpents, the Fine-scaled Taipan ranked second in venom.

A single bite delivered enough venom to instantly kill over a hundred adults. If it injected all its venom into one target, no living creature could survive—not even the honey badger, famed for its immunity to snake venom, nor the snakes themselves. Of course, this was only a hypothetical scenario; no snake would be foolish enough to bite itself and inject its own venom. If one did, it would poison itself to death, just as it would be idiotic for a person to lick a poisoned dagger.

Unsurprisingly, the Serpent King’s defeat yielded a generous drop: a full set of equipment, and a matching set of potent elixirs—all bearing the “Superior” prefix.

The weapons dropped by the Serpent King all bore the “Destruction” prefix: Destructive Eight-Pole Serpent Spear, Destructive Golden Serpent Sword, Destructive Venom Fang Blade. The armor was the “Ultra-Strong Serpent Scale Armor.”

The Fine-scaled Taipan’s venom was a compound toxin, possessing both neurotoxic and circulatory poison properties, with a one hundred percent mortality rate. Truly, to be touched by it was to die; any living creature of flesh and blood would be obliterated by this poison—no exceptions. Of course, this only applied to ordinary creatures on Blue Earth Star.

After selling all the standard equipment from the Hundred Serpent Lair to the system marketplace, Li Yunfei gained a total of 360,000 yuan. Not only had he recouped his previous loss of 100,000, he was only 20,000 short of recovering the cost of the two hundred butcher knives he had bought. However, to gain unlimited purchase rights to the Serpent King’s equipment, he had to spend another sum.

At present, Li Yunfei’s remaining funds stood at 250,817.5 yuan. Still, the deficit was only temporary. The next four level-appropriate dungeons would be all pure profit. Li Yunfei was confident that after clearing those four dungeons, his account would surpass two million yuan.

Clearing the Hundred Serpent Lair took up most of the day. Attempting another lair dungeon would have meant working until eight or nine at night, which was unnecessary. He decided to end early and spent the remaining time carefully searching the outskirts of the back mountain, discovering several more serpent lairs to save time for the coming days.

…

The next day, despite having experience, the process of setting up the formation, luring monsters, and exploring the lair took just as long as before. Thus, the level seventeen Hundred Serpent Lair still took him half a day to clear.

But when he felled the level seventeen Serpent King, the little fox finally reached level twenty.

Li Yunfei’s own advancement to level twenty brought little change, save that his cultivation in the Qi Refinement stage broke through to the “Enlightenment” realm. In this stage, he could imbue ordinary objects with spiritual properties, granting them unique effects, and could now craft simple magical artifacts.

Items such as the Coin Sword, Bagua Mirror, and Yin-Yang Compass were now within his ability to produce and empower, endowing them with special effects. Furthermore, he could now wield over twenty more types of talismans, greatly diversifying his arsenal.

The little fox’s evolution at level twenty, however, was dramatic. At the very moment she leveled up, flames blazed up around her, yet, just like that burning girl he had seen before, not a strand of her fur was harmed.

After just over ten seconds, the little fox flicked her tail, and all the flames seemed drawn irresistibly to the bushy appendage, finally vanishing without a trace.

Li Yunfei hurriedly opened the pet interface to check the little fox’s newly awakened second skill.

Foxfire Evolution: Evolves into a Flame-Tailed Fire Fox, capable of manipulating fire in battle. Innate skill: Enigmatic Foxfire.

“Wow, Honghong, you’re a magic vixen now!” Li Yunfei exclaimed excitedly after reading the new ability.

“Yiyi!” The little fox’s face lit up with joy, her expression as radiant as a Shiba Inu’s.

She spun around, opened her mouth, and spat out three crimson fireballs, each the size of a fist. The fireballs swelled in the air, growing to the size of basketballs in an instant. The three orbs circled her body before she fixed her gaze on the cave wall.

In a flash, the fireballs shot out, striking the stone with three explosive blasts. Three craters, each more than a meter in diameter, appeared side by side in the wall.

Li Yunfei gasped. The destructive power was almost on par with a 152mm howitzer.

But that wasn’t all—the little fox turned to the Serpent King’s corpse and opened her mouth again. This time, instead of fireballs, she unleashed a searing jet of flame, like a flamethrower. Within seconds, the scent of roasting meat filled the air, soon replaced by the smell of char.

In less than twenty seconds, a segment of the Serpent King’s body was reduced to charcoal.

Li Yunfei exclaimed in awe, “You’re incredible, Honghong! You could solo the Serpent King now without breaking a sweat!”

“Yiyi!” The little fox closed her mouth, the flames vanished, and her face beamed with pride as she nuzzled coyly into Li Yunfei’s arms.

At last, she could truly help her master in battle.