11: Chapter 11 Crystal Cores Are Delicious

The blue poison mist, carrying corrosive power, instantly poured into the wound. Perhaps the giant snake was resistant to its own venom, as it didn't feel the mist's intrusion at all.

Instead, Su Mo immediately felt a sharp, corrosive pain radiating from the soles of his feet, and he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

The giant snake's poison mist seemed inexhaustible, continuously spewing into the wound. Su Mo soon felt the intense pain gradually spread from the soles of his feet to the base of his thighs.

"I can't wait any longer. If I wait any more, my little brother will be gone for good!"

"I have to kill it quickly!"

After eating a lot of snake meat inside the giant snake, his injuries were mostly healed, and his body had regained its strength.

"To kill a snake, you hit the seven-inch mark; I need to find where its heart is quickly."

With the poison mist pressing in from behind, Su Mo gritted his teeth and used all his strength to climb upward.

The inside of this giant snake was as slippery as if it were coated in oil. Every step Su Mo climbed forward, he had to tear off a mouthful of snake meat; he could only steady himself by planting his limbs in the wounds to prevent being pushed back into the poison mist by the constantly writhing muscles.

The Blue-Ringed Giant Snake endured the waves of sharp pain from within, and feeling Su Mo getting closer and closer to its heart, it suddenly grew desperate.

The dazzling blue light on its body turned into an intense white light, and the speed at which it spewed poison mist also surged.

"Motherf*cker..."

The speed of the poison mist behind him increased sharply, enveloping more than half of Su Mo's body. It felt as if thousands of red-hot steel needles were piercing him, and the intense pain caused the veins on his forehead to bulge.

He could no longer feel his legs. In his desperation, he stopped biting the snake meat and simply used all his strength to dig his sharp claws into the flesh, significantly increasing his crawling speed.

If someone were standing outside, they would clearly see a bulge in the giant snake's body that moved forward a large distance with every blink of an eye.

The giant snake's interior suddenly contracted violently, its muscles writhing constantly in an attempt to push Su Mo back into the poison mist.

Su Mo fiercely stabbed his claws—which had already been reduced to white bone—into the fleshy wall, remaining motionless no matter how much the snake's body convulsed.

"Found you!"

Thanks to the brightness of the blue light, he could see a bright mass of blue light pulsating rapidly through a semi-transparent membrane, accompanied by the sound of a rhythmic heartbeat.

The poison mist had already spread to his chest, but Su Mo could no longer feel any pain; he only felt his vision starting to blur.

He knew this was the final salvation of adrenaline. He bit the tip of his tongue hard, and his consciousness instantly cleared.

The muscles on his arms had been corroded, so he could only use his teeth to fiercely tear open the membrane and bite into the snake heart, which was as large as a human head.

"Hiss—"

The giant snake instantly went rigid. The poison mist it was spewing stopped abruptly as it let out an unwilling roar, its body losing the strength to support itself and crashing down.

Su Mo had already lost consciousness, instinctively sucking the cool, sweet blood... After an unknown amount of time, a shrill deer cry echoed through the dark forest.

Su Mo's eyelids flickered slightly, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with darkness.

After a moment of daze, he belatedly remembered that he was still inside the body of the Blue-Ringed Giant Snake.

He tore through the cold flesh with his sharp teeth, and a bright blue light accompanied by an excited sound quickly approached.

Su Mo didn't need to look to know who was coming.

"Hearts Eye, you finally decided to show up! You almost got to eat at my funeral feast, you know."

Su Mo grabbed the antler that Hearts Eye extended and slowly pulled his entire body out of the opening in the snake's body.

By the blue light from the antlers, he discovered that the muscles and skin that had been corroded away had grown back, and the new skin was as tender as a peeled egg.

However, the originally lustrous red fur on his body had disappeared, leaving only the hair on his head, making him look quite peculiar.

"If the fur is gone, then it's gone. It'll grow back anyway, as long as my little brother is still here."

Then, his eyes lit up as he looked at the dozens of meters of thick snake body before him, and saliva couldn't help but leak from the corner of his mouth.

"Hehehe~ What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now is the time for me to enjoy my spoils of war."

"I wonder how much progress I'll gain after eating this."

He waved away Hearts Eye, who was constantly rubbing its head against his chest, and the entire fox pounced onto the giant snake and began to feast greedily.

The meat of the Blue-Ringed Giant Snake was indeed firmer than the small snake meat he had eaten before; it had a springy texture in his mouth and, accompanied by the taste of the snake blood, was very fresh and sweet.

“Crack!”

As he was eating, he suddenly felt something hard against his teeth.

He took it out to look and saw a thumb-sized blue crystal with a faint halo swirling inside.

"This should be the giant snake's Crystal Core, right? Why didn't the ones I killed before have one? Does it only appear after reaching Rank 2?"

He held the blue Crystal Core up to Hearts Eye's face.

"Hearts Eye, do you have one of these in your body?"

"Yo~"

"You have one too?! Then you should also be Rank 2, but why are you so weak?"

Hearing this, Hearts Eye immediately became displeased, turned its head away, and huffed.

"Yo~"

"Alright, alright, I won't talk about you anymore. Don't be angry."

"Do you want to eat this thing?"

Hearts Eye immediately turned its head back, looking longingly at the blue Crystal Core.

"Yo yo~"

Looking at its expression, Su Mo knew this thing was edible and probably very nutritious.

He casually tossed the Crystal Core into his mouth and chewed hard.

"Hmm, it's sweet, a bit like a fruit-flavored hard candy."

Hearts Eye was stunned upon seeing this and immediately nudged his chest excitedly. Su Mo quickly dodged.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I'll just taste it for you this time; I'll give you the next one."

"Yo~"

"Fine, I'll let you drink your fill of white porridge too."

After achieving its goal, it finally stopped and leisurely walked to the side to lie down.

Su Mo continued to eat. As the heat flow strengthened his body, his eating speed became faster and faster.

About fifteen minutes later, Su Mo patted his stomach in satisfaction. All that remained of the giant snake's massive body were the two Snake Fangs in Su Mo's hands, which emitted a cold, eerie light.

The Snake Fangs were about as long as an adult's arm and were hollow inside; he could faintly see blue liquid sloshing around.

Su Mo had specifically kept this pair of venomous fangs, thinking they might come in handy sometime.

Tucking the Snake Fangs into his Snake-skin Shorts, he looked at his current five-meter-tall body. He could reach the lower leaves just by stretching out his hand, and a single arm swing carried two tons of force; he could hear a clear whooshing sound with a casual wave of his hand.

"Hehehe~ If I were in the modern world now, I'd at least be considered a little Superman."

Thinking of his excitement, he couldn't help but grin and opened his Status Panel to take a look.

【Host: Su Mo】

【Race: Red Fox】

【Rank: Rank 2 (2260/10000)】

【Skill: Infinite White Porridge (Never Expires)】

【Talent: Savage Growth】

Not only had he reached Rank 2, but his progress had also increased by over 1,500 points. That blue Crystal Core was the key; it had accounted for at least half of the progress increase.

"Right! The thing the Blue-Ringed Giant Snake was guarding is still there. I have to get there quickly, or I'll lose big if someone else reaps the rewards!"