Chapter 158: Blood Basin Giant Python
At night, several people gathered around the campfire for dinner, with roasted deer meat on wooden boards and mushroom vegetable soup in wooden bowls, which was particularly delicious.
The deer meat sprinkled with spices and salt, with its sizzling hot, oily texture entering the mouth, was a true enjoyment, leaving everyone quite satisfied.
The mushroom vegetable soup was quite good at cutting through the greasiness, and sipping some while eating also moistened the throat, feeling exceptionally comfortable.
After enjoying the delicious dinner, Captain Bad Apple began summarizing the day’s gains and situation.
“Overall, today went very smoothly, especially with Tiya’s addition, our reconnaissance of the enemy has reached a reassuring level.”
“We hunted one deer, three gray rabbits, two poisonous snakes, and three black crows in total.”
“Among them, the fur and deer antler of that strange-antlered deer are worth about 12 gold coins, the fur of the three gray rabbits totals 80 silver coins, and the poison fangs, snake gallbladders, and snake scales of the two poisonous snakes can be sold to the apothecary for about 3 gold coins each, so 6 gold coins for both.”
“The feathers of the three black crows can be used as alchemy material, worth about 1 gold coin and 20 silver.”
“Adding it all up, it’s about 20 gold coins.” After speaking, he whistled cheerfully.
Next was taking inventory and checking supplies; since everyone had not experienced any intense battles today, the supplies were still in good condition.
Then they checked and recorded the status of their fate being eroded; traversing the black and white world made this erosion almost inevitable, so everyone closed their eyes to carefully sense it, and only after a good while did they report the data.
“I’m at about 1.8%.” Karl, as a wizard, had keen mental power and quickly analyzed his own state.
“I’m at 2.1%.” Bad Apple also quickly opened his eyes.
“I’m probably around 2%.” Yarn roughly estimated; he wasn’t good at this.
Bona looked up at this moment, somewhat embarrassed, “I still can’t analyze how much I’ve been eroded, but it feels like it’s definitely below 5%.”
Although she couldn’t see it herself, Xilutiya could see the other girl’s current state, which was actually at 2.7%, the deepest among the group.
As for Xilutiya herself, she analyzed carefully for a long time but found no traces of erosion.
“I can’t analyze it either; I don’t feel any erosion.” The maiden answered this way.
“This is your first time adventuring in such a black and white world, with no experience for reference or comparison, so it’s indeed hard to detect subtle changes.” Karl thought for a moment and offered simple comfort.
Generally speaking, the stronger the mental power, the better one can detect such subtle changes, and gardener is not a profession known for mental power.
“Here, this is for you.” The captain took out a delicate metal sphere from the bag and tossed it to Xilutiya.
“Input your nature power into the sphere; if the color changes, it means you’ve reached 5%.”
“Okay, I’ll try.” Xilutiya tried inputting her own power, and then the sphere emitted a faint white light.
“This means it’s still below 5%, quite safe.” Karl explained.
“If it reaches 5%, it shows faint yellow light; 10% is orange-yellow, 15% is orange, 20% is orange-red, 25% is deep red, and 30% is purple-red.”
“Teams generally carry one for constant checking, because some students, especially first order newcomers, can’t detect their own state at all, and relying on experience feels too unreliable, but this thing isn’t cheap—one costs at least 20 gold coins, uniformly made by the association’s alchemists.”
The captain recorded each member’s status, then assigned the night watch duties.
“Night watch requires at least two people rotating, but considering sufficient rest, three people rotating is more appropriate so everyone can sleep better.”
“Same as usual: me, Yarn, and Karl rotating; Tiya, you and Bona don’t need to today.” The captain arranged directly.
Actually, they weren’t comfortable having a newcomer on night watch; sticking to the old pattern was better.
And so, as an adventure newcomer, Xilutiya lay on a mat not far from the campfire with Bona, covered with a thin blanket, preparing to sleep.
However, Xilutiya still couldn’t fall asleep easily, probably not tired yet; she lay on the mat, listening to the faint crackling of burning firewood, as well as the footsteps and movements of the night watch members, and only after a good while did she fall lightly asleep.
In the early morning, the cold mist had not yet dispersed.
Xilutiya woke to the sounds of her companions’ activities.
At this moment, Yarn was still sleeping, Bona had already started making breakfast, Karl stood to one side letting the ghost cat scout the surroundings, and Captain Bad Apple was packing up the sleeping mats.
“Awake, Tiya?” Bona sat by the fire and waved to the maiden.
“Wasn’t cold last night? Come over for some hot water.” There was a small metal pot by the campfire, boiling water.
“Slept well.” It was indeed a bit colder here than in the valley, perhaps because autumn had arrived.
Soon, Bona cooked vegetable and meat chunk porridge, then heated the carried flatbreads and distributed them to everyone.
Taking advantage of the warmth, everyone ate and felt much better, then helped pack up the remaining things and bundled them again.
“Let’s go.” Yarn shouldered the things and called to everyone.
Most of the team’s luggage was carried by him, a small portion by Bona and Karl, while the captain needed to maintain quick reaction ability and carried little luggage.
The only small bag Xilutiya was carrying now contained her emergency food, potions, candles, distress signal arrows, towel, and nothing else.
Everyone continued traversing the deep forest, advancing according to the route on the map.
They passed through several colorful areas, crossed long black and white zones, then entered nodes along the way; the morning’s journey was relatively smooth, with few gains.
In the afternoon, after arriving at a node, they rested briefly, then the captain took the map and discussed with the others.
“Now we have two choices: one is to go north, where there’s a canyon with exceptionally dense grass and trees, basically traversing a sea of grass where you can’t see a few meters ahead—some danger, but also a chance to find special fruits.”
“The other is the eastern path along the mountain wall, with good visibility, possibly encountering strange rock bugs, but lower danger level.”
After hearing his description, everyone considered separately.
『1, Choose canyon, unknown danger+3, gains+3』
『2, Choose mountain wall, danger+1』
This was the data that appeared in Xilutiya’s mind after comprehensive consideration.
Soon, they voted: except for Yarn choosing the mountain wall, the others all chose the canyon.
“Yarn is always cautious, so I’m not surprised, but how come Karl changed this time too?” Bona asked curiously.
“I’m not always ignoring gains; this time we added a member, Tiya is very good at reconnaissance, so danger won’t be that high, but the gains are substantial.” He shook his head, analyzing calmly.
“More importantly, the reason I came here is to find ‘Ash Evil Fruit’; if we don’t find it, we might have to go back and forth several times, and the accumulated danger from that wouldn’t be less, plus it’d waste more time.”
“Exactly, time cost is also a big cost.” The captain twirled the pen in his hand, noted this choice in his diary, then led everyone north.
Walking through the thick shaded woods, crossing several hills, they gradually reached the depths of a damp valley.
At first, the grass only reached their ankles, but as they advanced, it gradually reached their waists, then chests; the shortest in the team, Bona, soon lost sight of the distance.
The grass blades carried dew, brushing against their bodies, bringing a wet chill, and occasionally tiny black bugs burrowed into their clothes, making everyone uncomfortable.
“I’m starting to regret this.” Bad Apple shook his head, feeling that taking the canyon path wasn’t a good idea.
“Um, use rope to hold onto me; I’m afraid I’ll get lost and you won’t even know.” Bona, walking at the back, felt some unease.
“The danger level is still okay.” Karl waved his hand, and invisible ghosts shuttled through the grass, scouting the surroundings for him.
“Tiya, can you see the distant situation clearly?” The captain turned back to inquire of the black-haired maiden.
Hearing this, Xilutiya looked around and nodded.
“I can roughly see clearly for now; besides grass and plants, there are only some ordinary snakes and bugs, nothing special.” She said this, but looking at the increasingly tall grass ahead, she also felt troubled.
After walking about another kilometer, the surrounding grass was taller than their height, completely submerging the team; logically, grass structure couldn’t support such height without bending or developing thick corn-like stems to hold it up.
But the weeds here were indeed strange; perhaps due to the secret realm’s unique environment and the influence of twisted nature, such plants were born.
As they walked, the group’s speed slowed more and more, and Xilutiya’s perception range shrank to just over 200 meters.
Just as everyone saw the path was over halfway and felt a bit hopeful, Xilutiya stopped; she turned her head somewhat suspiciously toward one side, where amid the rustling of grass leaves, there was a faint sound of some strange creature moving—quite weak, and no one else in the team could detect it except her.
Seeing Xilutiya stop, the others were puzzled, but Captain Bad Apple suddenly thought of something.
“Prepare for battle immediately; Bona, come to the middle.”
“Yes.” Hearing this, everyone dropped their luggage and went on alert.
Gray-white powder sprinkled from Karl’s hand, then under his control, formed illusory shapes and rushed toward the direction Xilutiya was staring.
Soon, a fierce lash burst from the sea of grass, sending large patches of grass blades flying and breaking; the dark red figure was timely blocked by Yarn raising his shield, emitting a deafening thud.
Only then did everyone see the opponent clearly from the fallen grass.
A gigantic python was raising its blood-colored head high, looking down at them; its midsection was slightly thick, as if it had swallowed many live creatures, the raised head about 5-6 meters high, and its scarlet snake tail slithered through the grassland—the lash that nearly sent Yarn flying earlier was from it.
This snake probably weighed several tons; Xilutiya looked surprised, then light swirled in her eyes as she analyzed its status.
Race: Blood Plate Python（Advancement）
Status: Healthy（Bloodthirsty）
Talent:
Devour【Excellent Grade】: Can devour prey larger than its body and gradually digest it, absorbing the opponent’s power.
Fate Card: 【Blood-Colored Giant Python】（Second Order·Blood Law）
‘After devouring numerous prey, the Blood Plate Python finally advanced, becoming a stronger and more dangerous existence’
–
Effect: 【Python Body Lv.5】, Innate talent from its bloodline, granting powerful constriction ability to easily strangle elephants or rhinos, even bending and deforming steel.
–
Effect: 【Blood-Draining Fangs Lv.4】, No interest in useless venom; uses sharp fangs to directly extract the opponent’s blood, depriving them of resistance.
Ability Card:
【Blood Devouring Technique Lv.5】（Blood Law）: Can digest devoured flesh, scales, bones, converting them into one’s own ‘Blood Law’ nature power.
【Red Scale Hide Lv.3】（Blood Law）: Tough thick hide, hard for guns or swords to pierce, heat-resistant.
【Snake Pupil Gaze Lv.3】（Blood Law）: Your eyes instill fear in many weak creatures, freezing them in your gaze; can gaze-attack opponents, making their blood tremble and movements stiff.
