Chapter Forty: The Hundred Serpents’ Lair Dungeon

Page (1/3)

Li Yunfei was utterly unaware of the tremendous changes sweeping the world, for there was no signal in the mountains.

There was a faint signal near the hydroelectric station, but he would rise at five in the morning to draw talismans, and after two hours, head into the village to tackle dungeons.

He spent the entire day in the signal-less wilderness, so naturally, no one from the outside could reach him during working hours.

The Armory called him every day, but their attempts were always met with unreachable status.

As for Zhang Ziying, she knew well that there was no signal back at his hometown; having tried several times and failed to connect, she simply stopped calling.

She hadn’t expected Li Yunfei to leave his hometown at night and stay elsewhere.

Li Yunfei’s schedule was packed to the brim; he rarely touched his phone except to check the time.

In fact, the meager signal barely allowed for phone calls, but to surf the internet was torturous—webpages were nearly impossible to load.

Thus, Li Yunfei focused solely on improving himself, ignoring all else.

He understood clearly that as long as he was strong enough, he needn’t fear whatever transformations befell the world; he could face them with composure.

So, while the nationwide medical examination began, he was tackling dungeons of level sixteen to twenty.

“Attention, host: dungeon ‘Hundred Serpents Den’ detected, level sixteen to twenty. Please choose your dungeon level.”

Hundred Serpents Den—the name alone hinted this was no ordinary snake pit, but a special dungeon transformed by the system.

Different snakes have entirely distinct habitats; in a single den, it’s impossible for various species to coexist.

Snakes dwell in burrows, on ground, in trees, in freshwater, and in seawater.

Burrowing snakes are typically primitive, small, and non-venomous.

The other habitats, apart from pythons, are mostly home to venomous snakes.

Yet this was just an ordinary snake pit, and the system named it Hundred Serpents Den; one could imagine that all types of snakes might lurk within.

The reason for choosing snakes at this stage was clear.

Among the Five Venoms, these creatures were the most accessible dungeons; others, like weasels, hedgehogs, and minks, were exceedingly rare.

Within the Five Venoms, scorpions, centipedes, and spiders each possessed unique traits, boasting high agility and defense, with small bodies that made them tough adversaries.

Scorpions and centipedes had chitin shells and formidable defenses, with no obvious weaknesses.

The scorpion’s stinger, the centipede’s myriad legs, the spider’s web—all were troublesome in combat.

Toads, as amphibians, dwelled in fields, streams, and ponds—wet and muddy places.

For the shrunken Li Yunfei, such environments were akin to swamps.

The toad’s sticky, lightning-fast tongue was something Li Yunfei dreaded.

Page (2/3)

After much deliberation, only the snake pit seemed suitable.

At this moment, Li Yunfei stood at the outskirts of the mountain behind Qingyuan Village, amidst a thicket of brambles.

When the system prompt sounded, he searched carefully and found the snake pit within the brambles, its entrance about the size of a bowl.

He didn’t enter immediately; instead, he drew his dog-leg knife and cleared the brambles at the root, exposing the snake pit to open air.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t use knockout powder against snakes: first, snakes don’t eat dead things; without warmth, wild boar meat was invisible to them.

Second, snakes are cold-blooded and have no sweat glands, so knockout powder would be useless.

He hoped the paralyzing effect of the antlion’s mandibles would still work, or else this dungeon would be a tough grind.

“Select level sixteen for Hundred Serpents Den.”

“Dungeon level confirmed. Enter?”

“Enter.”

“Confirmed. Starting dungeon program.”

The snake pit swiftly expanded; the surrounding trees transformed into towering primeval giants, and the weeds grew into a dense, ancient forest.

Li Yunfei noticed that this time, he and the little fox weren’t shrunk as much as before.

Using the bramble stumps for comparison, his height was about nine centimeters, with the little fox’s shoulder height around ten.

They looked, at that moment, like two figurines.

As for the snake pit entrance before them, its diameter was roughly six meters.

“Honghong, fighting snakes isn’t like fighting rats. No cavalry this time, we’ll cooperate.”

“Yiyi!”

“Go!”

The little fox dashed to the entrance as usual, yelping loudly, drawing the monsters as always.

Moments later, she moved to the right side of the cave, crouched low, ready to spring into action.

Li Yunfei stood openly dozens of meters in front of the cave, acting as bait to attract fire.

While waiting for the snake monster to emerge, Li Yunfei took out four talismans and affixed them to his limbs.

On his arms, he placed Giant Strength Talismans, and on his legs, Flying General Talismans.

His strength and agility, already four or five times that of a normal person, were further amplified.

At this moment, with sheer physical power alone, he was confident he could kill a tiger or lion with a single punch.

Page (3/3)

His speed was enough to rival a cheetah, and with his legs, he could chase down a speeding car.

“Hisss…”

Soon, a massive serpent, as thick as Li Yunfei’s waist and over twenty meters long, emerged, its scales marked in alternating gold and black rings, flicking its tongue.

Above its head hovered the words: “Golden-Banded Snake, Level 16.”

This was a venomous golden-banded snake.

The average golden-banded snake measures one to one and a half meters; with his current height, Li Yunfei estimated he had been shrunk by a factor of twenty.

In other words, the snake monster had been enlarged twentyfold, so a meter-long snake appeared as a colossal beast over twenty meters in his eyes.

The golden-banded serpent glided along the ground, its head raised to Li Yunfei’s chest, its scales gleaming, the forked tongue flicking incessantly.

Li Yunfei quietly calculated the location of the snake’s “seven-inch” spot, roughly pinpointing the area.

Many people misunderstand the “seven-inch” term, thinking it’s simply seven inches from the head.

But snakes vary in size; some are not even seven inches long, so a literal interpretation is incorrect.

The “seven-inch” is actually the snake’s heart, located in its chest and abdomen; “strike the snake at seven inches” means striking the heart.

Without further hesitation, Li Yunfei raised his sickle, broke into a run, and charged toward the golden-banded serpent.

The giant snake, too, slithered rapidly toward him, mouth agape, its two venomous fangs gleaming like twin blades, radiating a chilling menace.

Crucially, these blades were coated with deadly venom.

Just then, the little fox, who had been lurking silently to the side, suddenly darted at the serpent.

As she neared its head, she leapt, aiming squarely for the back of its neck.

Just before landing, her sharp claws sprang open.

“Thud!”

The claws pierced the snake’s scales, driving deep into the flesh.

“Hiss!”

The golden-banded serpent recoiled in agony, its head snapping back instinctively.