[Treasured Venom Fang]

The rocks on the cliff wall came crashing down with a clang, and a group of players below hurriedly dodged. A few who didn’t grip tightly enough slipped halfway up and were knocked down by the falling stones.  

Slack Bro scrambled to take cover, narrowly avoiding the rocks with lingering fear, nearly tumbling down and getting swarmed.  

Looking up again, he noticed Zhou Sui had already reached the mountainside. It wasn’t clear at first, but now he could see that beneath the vines clinging to the cliff, there were plenty of hidden footholds along the inner edge of the rock wall. With a whip-like strike from the Golden Serpent King, those recessed footholds widened instantly, giving Zhou Sui stable spots to land on without relying on external aid.  

‘Good grief, you could play it like that?’

‘He is using the Golden Serpent King  to carve out footholds for himself!’

“That kid’s almost out of health! It’s our chance!” someone shouted.  

Slack Bro looked up—oh no, Zhou Sui was down to just 20% HP.  

But right at this moment, a green healing spell landed on Zhou Sui, instantly boosting his health back to 60%! Slack Bro suddenly realized, watching this guy pull aggro and climb the mountain so recklessly, he’d almost forgotten—Zhou Sui was from Qi Ling Village, a self-healing support class!  

Zhou Sui found a foothold—a protruding rock on the mountainside with a wide, flat surface. After landing, he started tossing powder at the Golden Serpent King .  

One of the Qi Ling Village’s skills: paralyzing the enemy.  

The moment Zhou Sui passed the Qi Ling Village trial, the previously inaccessible Divine Tree system unlocked for him. While being chased by the Golden Serpent King , he’d caught a brief glimpse of the branching paths it revealed. He saw three advanced skills.  

These advanced skills evolved from the Qi Ling Village’s three initial abilities: a more powerful healing spell, a scythe slash with increased attack power, and an enhanced powder toss with greater potency.  

Beyond these three advanced skills, smaller branches sprouted—like a tree extending infinitely.  

As long as Zhou Sui chose one of these branches, all his future skill development would take an entirely different direction.  

While Slack Bro was panicking, his usually quiet new teammate spoke up, delivering the longest sentence since they’d met: “Do you still have a lot of those fruits you’re carrying?”  

Slack Bro: “Of course I do! I specifically brought them to deal with the Golden Serpent King .”  

Zhou Sui narrowly dodged another attack from the Golden Serpent King : “Throw them at the snake. Don’t worry about me.”  

After giving those instructions, Zhou Sui ignored the smart recommendations from the Divine Tree system for the other two branches and took the three initial allocation points it provided—  

Dumping them all into the scythe slash.

Slack Bro instantly understood what Zhou Sui wanted him to do—this was about crowd control!  

Wild map bosses were resistant to many player skills. Unless your level completely overwhelmed it, most control effects would either barely work or be heavily diminished.  

On the StarNet, many top players had compiled lists of plants that could counter such bosses. The honey fruit, with its realgar scent that the Golden Serpent King despised, was one of the special plants that could restrict it at this stage. Slack Bro hadn’t come to camp this monster unprepared; he’d originally gathered these items to make sniping the boss easier for himself. He hadn’t expected that before he could fully use them, they’d end up benefiting this unfamiliar teammate instead.  

Zhou Sui noticed that Slack Bro’s aim was decent—there was no way he’d miss a target as big as the Golden Serpent King. When three honey fruits hit the Golden Serpent King in quick succession, its frenzied attacks slowed down. It even tried to avoid the areas stained with honey fruit juice, its massive snake body twisting and wriggling along the cliff wall.  

Slack Bro said, “Be careful! I’ll help you control the snake, but I won’t be able to stop the other players.”  

On a cliff like this, where player movement was already restricted, even with its mobility hampered, the enormous Golden Serpent King still had a much easier time than Zhou Sui.  

Zhou Sui wasn’t a tank. No matter how agile he was, a few consecutive hits would finish him off. Restricting the Golden Serpent King was a must. But by doing so, Slack Bro couldn’t guarantee he’d keep other players beyond a fifteen-meter range, meaning the guy up high was at risk of being attacked by others.  

Zhou Sui didn’t back down. The moment the Golden Serpent King’s movements were restricted, he sprang into action.  

His enhanced scythe slash skill had significantly increased in power. Taking advantage of the snake turning aside, he landed several consecutive strikes on its body. The Golden Serpent King wasn’t a boss that relied solely on tail whips, though. As a newbie server boss, its skills weren’t complex, but they packed a punch.  

Restricted by the honey fruit and unable to whip effectively, the Golden Serpent King opened its massive jaws and spat out venom!  

Serpent venom—a wide-area attack skill, and a ranged one at that!  

“It’s spitting venom!”  

“Holy crap, this poison is way stronger than when it’s not enraged!”  

Zhou Sui’s health plummeted to 20%, and Slack Bro’s heart clenched. “Heal yourself! Bro, your health’s on a rollercoaster!”  

At this moment, Zhou Sui suddenly leapt with all his might.

All the players watched as he used the height difference to leap right onto the snake’s head!  

The venom’s power might be immense, but it was a frontal skill. By getting behind the snake, he could avoid its attack entirely. The Golden Serpent King, coiled around the mountainside, became Zhou Sui’s next foothold. The snake’s body was a bit slippery underfoot, and Zhou Sui stumbled slightly, but he quickly stabbed his scythe into it to steady himself, then followed up with several more slashes.  

“You can do that too?” Slack Bro was stunned.  

It wasn’t just agility—after stabilizing himself on the Golden Serpent King, the figure up high swung his scythe horizontally along his arm, stirring a faint gust of wind, and struck fiercely at the snake’s scales. Compared to the Golden Serpent King, his thin frame seemed a little frail. But when Slack Bro looked up from below, the game’s visuals were so vivid that he could see each slash carve a long, deep gash into the snake’s flesh.  

So… so fierce!  

The Golden Serpent King was already restrained by the honey fruit, and now it was up against an opponent even more agile than itself.  

At this moment, some players entered attack range and, without hesitation, unleashed their skills toward Zhou Sui. Using the snake’s wide body, Zhou Sui shifted his position. The Golden Serpent King attacked based on aggro, but when Zhou Sui’s scythe lodged into its scales and he yanked it out through the torn flesh, it felt to everyone watching like the player up high was dragging the Golden Serpent King outward.  

The players’ skills missed Zhou Sui entirely and ended up hitting the Golden Serpent King instead.  

The Golden Serpent King’s health dropped to 12% in an instant!  

The captain of the elite squad felt his head explode: “I told you not to hit the snake!!”  

But how could they control it? A 15-meter range was already hard to aim at, and with the guy running around on the snake’s body, it was nearly impossible to avoid hitting it!  

A few players struggled to keep up—‘If you’re so good, you try it!’

Slack Bro watched the guy up there pulling off those moves, then glanced at his tightrope-walking health bar. He had to admit, this guy’s playstyle was insanely bold. Who’d dare jump onto a snake’s body to fight a monster on a cliff wall? One tiny slip-up, and he’d either get locked down and killed by the players below or fall off the mountain and be done for.  

Yet somehow, Zhou Sui pulled it off—and he still hadn’t lost aggro.

How is this guy anything like a reckless brute? He is definitely a top-tier player—maybe even a professional!  

At this moment, the Golden Serpent King thrashed too violently and lost its grip on the cliffside, tumbling downward.  

Zhou Sui stomped down on it, grabbed a dangling vine, and stabbed his scythe into the rock wall, suspending himself midair.  

“Great opportunity! Attack it!” the squad captain shouted.  

But before the other players could react, the snake crashed down, flattening several of them in the process.  

More and more players were gathering in the forest. Seeing this, Slack Bro had a sudden flash of inspiration and quickly switched channels to yell, “Hurry up! The boss’s aggro is locked! Killing the snake grants an achievement! It only has 12% HP left—don’t miss out!”  

The newly arrived players had no coordination. The moment they saw the Golden Serpent King fall, they all launched their attacks at it.  

The elite squad’s captain nearly spat blood in frustration. They had just managed to stop the reckless skill spamming, only to turn around and see waves of unstoppable attacks raining down on the boss.  

If no one shouts, it might be fine. But now that the announcement is out, what player would pass up an achievement from a special event?

During the time it took for the Golden Serpent King to fall, it had been force-fed attacks from every direction. By the time it lunged toward the cliff again, its HP had already dropped to 2%! The signs of berserk mode were even more apparent—it lashed out wildly with its tail, striking nearby players indiscriminately without regard for aggro.  

“Holy shit, the guy hanging up there is insane!”  

“This level of play—he’s gotta be a pro, right?”  

“Of course he’s a pro! Didn’t you see the system announcement? He’s the only one listed—he soloed the entire Golden Serpent King’s nest!”  

Anyone who could clear the Serpent Cave solo was no pushover. Now that there were others handling crowd control for him, all he needed to do was finish off the boss.

“Stop hitting the monster—it’s fully enraged now!”  

Fully enraged meant a single move could be enough to kill Zhou Sui up there.  

What they needed to do was seize aggro and take down the Golden Serpent King the moment Zhou Sui died!  

The players below couldn’t attack the snake anymore due to the range limit. As the snake climbed higher, its health had dropped to 0.5%. The elite squad captain breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes locked on Zhou Sui. He’d observed carefully—no matter how skilled that guy is, it’s nearly impossible to fully dodge the Golden Serpent King’s attacks midair.

One enraged strike would be enough to kill him up there.  

But it didn’t happen. The figure in the air grabbed a vine, and the instant the Golden Serpent King spat its venom, he kicked off a rock, spinning back to land on the snake’s head again. His scythe lodged into the edge of the Golden Serpent King’s mouth.  

The Golden Serpent King immediately gave chase. As it twisted to attack, Zhou Sui’s scythe redirected its movement. Part of the sprayed venom hit the cliff wall, while the rest shot outward in a massive burst.  

The players below: “?”  

“!!!”  

In an instant, the crowd of players camping below, hoping to snatch the kill, saw dark green venom cascade down like a waterfall. The most eager ones at the front were drenched into critical health, and even Slack Bro, who’d poked his head out of curiosity, got splashed with snake blood, nearly dying on the spot!  

Meanwhile, Zhou Sui up high yanked his scythe free and unleashed a flurry of consecutive slashes on the Serpent King.  

At 0.5% HP, it couldn’t hold up—the Golden Serpent King’s health hit zero!  

[Announcement] Players Cycle of Eternity and Slack Bro fearlessly subdued the enraged Golden Serpent King, resolving a special event and earning the reward [Golden Serpent King · Secret Stash]!  

A new reward landed in his inventory. Zhou Sui swung down to a foothold using a vine. He didn’t check the reward right away; instead, he opened his combat log.  

The Golden Serpent King was level 25. Fighting a higher-level monster, he’d estimated it would take five full-powered strikes to shave off 0.5% of its health, but he’d done it in just three.  

The final blow had triggered a critical hit, thanks to the [Serpent · Fear] trait he’d earned from the Serpent Cave trial, which gave him an attack bonus against the Golden Serpent King.  

And that wasn’t all—his experience bar had skyrocketed by a full chunk. When he’d emerged from the snake lair, he was only level 22. The experience from a single Golden Serpent King wild monster had shot him straight to level 23, and it even upgraded his level 1 [Serpent · Fear] to level 2.  

[Serpent · Fear (Level 2)]

A level-up triggered by killing a high-level snake-type monster?  

Zhou Sui was about to examine the skill description in detail when his hand accidentally brushed against a pop-up option, opening it by mistake.

[Announcement] Player Cycle of Eternity opened the [Golden Serpent King · Secret Stash], and with a flash of golden light, discovered the [Treasured Venom Fang] inside—a token of love between the Golden Serpent King and the Serpent Cave King. Bound by life and death, never to part in this lifetime, it triggered a hidden past, unlocking the server-wide side quest [Qi Ling Village · Serpent Cave Chronicles]!  

[World] Meimei Sleeps: ?  

[World] Money Matters Most: ???  

[World] Fly Bro Is the Handsomest: Am I supposed to care about a love story between two snakes?  

[World] Walking Down the Street Without Getting Hit: What the heck is this venom fang drop? This is the reward for an enraged boss?  

For a moment, after the two announcements popped up, the world chat and the players waiting below the cliff fell silent. There was no other reason—when they clicked on the system announcement’s description of the [Treasured Venom Fang], the lengthy text brought nothing but a deathly stillness:  

[Treasured Venom Fang: The Golden Serpent King’s most toxic fang, incredibly hard and steeped in deadly poison.]  

The fang was half an arm’s length long. The moment Zhou Sui picked it up, it caught him off guard and poisoned him, draining half his health bar.  

Slack Bro shouted, “Put it back! Quick, put it back!”