Chapter Twenty-Six: The Basin of Ten Thousand Serpents

Zhou Tian had never imagined that simply gaining a group of snakes he had previously dismissed as insignificant would allow him to defeat a pack of demonic hounds he once could only flee from. The outcome astonished him, and for the first time, he began to truly value those little snakes.

“If I rely only on my current strength to face these beasts alone, there’s always some risk, more or less. But now that these snakes can hunt down those demonic hounds, dealing with other monsters shouldn’t be a problem either. And these are still just ordinary snakes, unenhanced. If I were to strengthen them further, then with their power, I could even challenge a small beastman army.” Weighing the pros and cons of cultivating the snakes, Zhou Tian hesitated for a moment before decisively changing his original plan.

Though he had made up his mind, Zhou Tian showed no outward signs of new action. Once he had extracted the magical cores from the hounds, he directed the snake swarm to devour the carcasses completely.

Without further ado, Zhou Tian decided to clean out every magical core from the hound tribe’s cemetery. The magical cores were low grade and didn’t exchange for much spiritual energy, but the sheer quantity made up for it. In this forest, the hound tribe was the absolute ruler, unchallenged by any predator. They had been breeding here for generations, and even if it hadn’t been ten full generations, with nearly a hundred members each time, the magical cores Zhou Tian collected amounted to a considerable sum.

Discovering that looting monster cemeteries could yield so many cores tempted Zhou Tian deeply.

The truth was, Zhou Tian had always been a somewhat gentle soul. Even with the game system allowing him to level up by slaying monsters, he had never attacked anyone unprovoked. The experience points he’d gained so far were almost all from forced retaliation. Never having considered harming others proactively, he now faced the overwhelming allure of profit, and his resolve began to waver.

Should he do it?

Fine! Zhou Tian gave in to temptation. If before he had refrained from targeting otherworldly creatures due to earthly habits, now a small temptation was enough for him to make up his mind completely.

“This isn’t Earth anymore. If I don’t hunt these monsters, they’ll eventually come for me. This world is one where the strong prey upon the weak—if I don’t want to become someone else’s meal, I have to make them mine first. What’s there to hesitate about? This job will not only net me a wealth of spiritual energy but also level me up. If I do this a few more times, I’ll have enough energy to exchange for any treasure I want, and my strength will grow. Then, I won’t have to fear the beastmen anymore.” With this reasoning, Zhou Tian took a deep breath and issued a direct order to his snakes: “Go search the surroundings for other creatures. Hunt any monsters you can handle and bring back their magical cores. If you can’t defeat them, remember their location and report back to me.”

He nodded slightly; although the snakes’ intelligence was limited, after spending so much time with Zhou Tian, they had grown somewhat accustomed to his ways. They couldn’t instantly become smarter, but as long as his commands weren’t too complex, they could understand them.

Receiving the order, the snakes scattered without hesitation.

After finishing his business, Zhou Tian returned to the snake den and casually opened the system store, searching for useful items.

“Serpent Basin (Immortal Artifact) — Price: One hundred thousand spiritual energy. (Ability: Can breed ten thousand snakes. In battle, release the snakes from the basin to counter thousands of enemies.)”

Compared to the treasures that cost millions upfront, the price of one hundred thousand spiritual energy was almost cheap. As the Snake King, Zhou Tian could fully unleash the power of the Serpent Basin. The only issue was that buying it would drain all his spiritual energy reserves. It was definitely worth the price, but if he spent everything, he’d have no means to respond to emergencies should danger arise.

“How likely is it that I’ll run into trouble? There are no beastmen nearby, and the strongest hounds have already been dealt with. As long as I don’t do anything outrageous, I shouldn’t be so unlucky as to stumble into danger.” Comforting himself, Zhou Tian ultimately gritted his teeth and bought the immortal artifact.

When the Serpent Basin appeared before him, Zhou Tian couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat at its appearance.

In terms of grade, the basin wasn’t anything special among the system store’s items. Still, you’d think the game designers would put some effort into its look! Yet here it was—Zhou Tian knew it was an immortal artifact, but if he hadn’t, at first glance he’d have mistaken it for a plain old washbasin.

“Never mind, the appearance doesn’t matter. The most important thing for a magical treasure is its capabilities.” After comforting himself, Zhou Tian sent a strand of his soul into the Serpent Basin.

Opening his mouth slightly, the basin—now bonded to him—shrank a hundredfold and was absorbed into his belly.

“Immortal artifacts are indeed more troublesome than ordinary ones. A mortal item only needs a drop of blood to recognize its master; this requires a strand of soul to control, and constant nurturing with internal energy. If it weren’t so powerful, I really wouldn’t bother.” Muttering to himself, Zhou Tian continued nurturing the basin while probing its abilities through its faint artifact spirit.