64: Yin Jia

The demon snake looked exceptionally beautiful in the sunlight. When the light hit it at a certain angle, its blue-green skin emitted rainbow-like colors. It flicked its forked tongue, writhing back and forth, looking at everyone in front of it as if they were merely nuisances.

The Villagers did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately began attacking the monster. Using their movement techniques, they quickly arrived beside the giant snake in the sea, stabbing at it with claws and spears.

However, to their surprise, the giant snake suffered almost no damage. The monster's body had many small wounds and scratches, but none were sufficient to cause serious injury.

The snake slammed its body into the Villagers, sending them flying backward.

Ning reached out his hand toward the Villagers flying past him, using Telepathy to stop them from flying further back.

"Urgh..." Capturing so many people with telekinetic force, given the significant difference in weight, drained both his physical stamina and mental energy.

Ning was covered in sweat, his brows furrowed tightly. He had wanted to test the snake's strength and see why it was so formidable, but just the first layer had already left him astonished.

The snake was now at the fifth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.

"Damn it, the same disparity again. In fact, it might be even more intense than last time," he thought.

He sent a massive Air Cutter toward the snake, containing at least twenty million energy, but in the end, it still couldn't compare to the ordinary attacks of the Villagers. That strike just now would have certainly killed several creatures on the neighboring island, but to this demon snake, it was nothing.

He released another Air Cutter containing one hundred million energy, carving a deep gash into the snake's body, but it was only slightly larger than the damage caused by the Villagers' spears.

"I don't want this to be true, but it turns out... even hundreds of millions of energy isn't much compared to ordinary cultivators," he thought.

He took out a spear from his interdimensional storage. The spear was blood-red throughout and made of a substance called Blood Iron, which was often used to craft divine artifacts. According to the system's introduction, although this spear was not a divine artifact, it possessed the strength and durability of a low-grade spirit weapon.

This was Ning's first time seeing it, and he finally rushed toward the monster to launch an attack.

He executed his Double-Step movement technique and instantly rushed in front of the monster. Upon reaching the monster, he unleashed a full-powered strike, piercing into the snake's body.

He barely touched the snake's skin. Observing it up close, he discovered that the snake's body was covered in scales, like pieces of armor cobbled together; ordinary attacks seemed difficult to pierce through them.

But there was something else there. He couldn't see it clearly, but that rainbow-like radiance did not come from the snake's skin, but from a layer on top of the skin. It was a very thin layer that looked like mist, covering the snake's skin.

"What is that?" he wondered. Suddenly, a tail struck him from the side. He could only raise his arm to block the attack, only to be flung back to the beach.

Crack.

He heard the sound of something shattering.

"Aaargh!" he screamed. He looked down and discovered that his right arm was broken, dangling from below the elbow.

"Inikaka, are you okay—oh no, your arm!" Hyesi ran toward him. The others did the same.

Even after training for so many months, he still couldn't compare to those Villagers who had trained since childhood.

"Go and fight, I'm fine," he urged everyone to leave. Only Hyesi remained behind to ensure he was truly okay.

Ning hurriedly spent ten million energy to repair his arm and said, "I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."

Ning looked back at the snake, still somewhat curious about that thin layer of mist. He decided to disregard his mental energy and began to stare at the snake with full concentration.

When he finished reading the first layer of information and saw the next layer, he felt a bit nervous; it was its name, Yin Demon Snake.

Afterward, he focused his attention, attempting to skip the second layer of information. Although his head ached, he expended a lot of effort and succeeded.

When he saw the final piece of information, he was shocked.

The final piece of information, which was the demon snake's skill, contained only one skill, called Yin Armor.

"System, provide me with the information on Yin Armor right now," he said.

He selected ten million's worth of intermediate knowledge about Yin Armor and quickly understood what it was. The demon was using a technique to absorb Yin from its surroundings and itself, forming a barrier around its body.

The barrier formed a layer of flexible armor around its body, blocking the vast majority of the damage caused by the Villagers.

If he could strip away the armor on the snake's body, he should be able to deal enough damage to it. The only thing to do now was to figure out a way to peel off the armor.

Ning had two.

"Hyesi, come with me," he said, calling out to Hyesi. Hyesi had been preparing to return to the fight after seeing that Ning was okay. Holding his slightly aching head, Ning walked toward another area of the beach.

There was sand everywhere; he needed rocks.

Finally, he managed to find some. He picked up a rock of suitable size and handed it to Hyesi. Hyesi looked at the rock in his hand, feeling somewhat confused for a moment, and asked, "What should I do with this rock?" Ning smiled faintly and said, "I have an idea."