In this moment, the sheer sense of shock left Dalun Li frozen in place, the light emanating from his body stagnating along with him.
“What on earth is this!”
The awe of facing such a colossal object struck Dalun Li to his core.
How could such a massive creature exist? And why would such a gargantuan being appear in his dungeon just as he expanded it?
Even as a mere skeleton, it gave Dalun Li an instinctive feeling of being utterly powerless to oppose it.
Dalun Li had never seen a life form above the angelic grade, but this snake had definitely been at a level beyond that during its lifetime.
This pressure, stemming from a superior level of existence and power, was something Dalun Li had only felt once before—from that evil god, the Dark Starry Sky.
“As I thought, I’m still too weak.”
“Hiding away until the 100th floor before heading out is definitely the right choice. I absolutely cannot underestimate this world.”
Dalun Li’s resolve hardened within his heart.
He seemed to have looked down on humanity a bit too much. Currently, he was only on the edge of the Northern Territory of a single human kingdom; the truly powerful beings of this world were still far beyond his reach.
After composing himself, the terror in Dalun Li’s heart began to give way to a surge of excitement.
It seemed he had struck gold with this discovery!
He attempted to remove a piece of the giant snake's bone, but its hardness far exceeded his expectations.
Logically, no matter how strong a creature was in life, a skeleton that had been dead for an unknown amount of time should have decayed.
However, the hardness of this giant snake skeleton was extraordinary.
Dalun Li drew his Wellmouth Greatsword and, with a great deal of effort, managed to knock off a bone fragment roughly the size of a human chest.
Compared to the entirety of the giant snake skeleton, it wasn't even a drop in the bucket.
“The mana contained within isn't strong. Is it just pure material strength?”
Sensing the mana within the bone before him, Dalun Li made his judgment.
This giant snake had been dead for countless years. Its flesh had completely vanished, and its life energy and mana had followed suit.
As a result, the skeleton didn't contain much mana, but it did hold another, higher level of power.
“Use it for monster creation?”
Dalun Li looked at the giant snake skeleton. Its size was already comparable to a large mineral vein.
Using these snake bones to create monsters would provide an inexhaustible supply.
But destroying the integrity of the skeleton like that felt like a waste.
This entire massive skeleton should have other uses.
For instance, he could study the giant snake's power and learn the knowledge of its strength from the bones to create entirely new types of monsters.
Dalun Li’s consciousness spread along the length of the bones.
The entire skeleton was buried under the rotting swamp. The mud surrounding the bones appeared extremely viscous.
At the same time, it contained staggering toxicity and the power of decay, colored a dark red and brown.
Dalun Li dug out a clump of toxic mud. As he felt the extraordinary power of decay and poison within, he thought while feeling a rush of excitement.
His original guess was that the giant snake had died in this swamp, and its flesh had eventually rotted away into the mud over time.
Now, it seemed that might not be the case.
The entire environment of the rotting toxic swamp on this floor was very likely caused by this giant snake.
The giant snake had died here, and its flesh had rotted and decayed over time.
It had merged into the swamp, turning the entire area into a rotting, acidic, toxic marsh.
The acidity in the torrential rain across the entire floor was also an effect caused by the giant snake's rotting flesh.
In other words, the entire floor had become such a wasteland of decay because of the death and decomposition of this giant snake.
The life level of this giant snake might have reached a point where its mere corpse could alter the environment of an entire region.
Even without actively using its power, its mere presence caused the world to change because of it.
Dalun Li took out a sample of the black-brown toxic mud.
This clump was just ordinary toxic mud found throughout the floor's swamp.
He compared it to the dark red toxic mud that was in direct contact with the giant snake skeleton.
He discovered that the power of decay within them indeed shared the same source.
However, the decay power within the dark red mud was far stronger than that of the ordinary mud.
It could already be considered a special material.
His guess was likely not far from the truth.
Dalun Li tossed the ordinary mud back into the swamp and held the dark red mud from the snake bones before him.
While he was reluctant to use the snake bones themselves, this toxic mud might be useful for creating cute monsters or handy tools.
He needed to give this mud a name.
“Rotting Flesh Soil.”
Since the rotting swamp of the entire floor was created by the decay of this giant snake's flesh, calling the mud clinging to the bones Rotting Flesh Soil seemed fitting.
This Rotting Flesh Soil clung to the entire skeleton, and its total volume was no less than that of the bones themselves. No matter how much he used, he wouldn't have to worry about running out.
It could already be viewed as a mineral vein of Rotting Flesh Soil.
As for how to utilize the entire skeleton...
“Perhaps I can revive its power and use it in combination with summoning magic.”
Dalun Li only had a vague idea. After all, given the value and danger of such a giant snake skeleton, he couldn't afford to be reckless.
Otherwise, if he ended up creating another Dark Starry Sky for himself, he’d have nowhere to go to cry about it.
“How did such a powerful existence die?”
“Was it a natural death, or was it killed by something?”
If something could kill this giant snake, how powerful would that being be?
Dalun Li decided to inspect the skeleton to see if there were any fatal wounds on the giant snake.
Just inspecting the massive skeleton took a significant amount of time. After a thorough check, Dalun Li found no traces of damage.
All the bones were perfectly intact.
“A natural death?”
If it wasn't a natural death, then it meant this terrifyingly powerful giant snake had been killed instantly, without any chance to resist or sustain a single wound.
Dalun Li had already received enough shocks today, so he didn't want to dwell on the latter possibility. He would just treat it as a natural death.
During the inspection, Dalun Li specifically checked the giant snake's massive skull and the interior of its chest cavity.
The flesh inside the skull had already rotted into Rotting Flesh Soil, leaving nothing behind.
However, there were two snake fangs in its mouth as large as giant pillars. Even though only the bones remained, those two venomous fangs gave off an impact that felt as if they could tear anything apart.
And within the giant snake's chest, Dalun Li discovered a clump of viscous sludge amidst the Rotting Flesh Soil.
The sludge was soaked in the Rotting Flesh Soil and was unrecognizable.
It was simply pulsating with a rhythmic beat.
Dalun Li made a bold guess, feeling that this clump of viscous sludge was very likely the giant snake's heart.
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