Chapter 1074 - 514: Snake Eye of Knowledge
"That’s certainly your delusion."
Herbert sneered to himself and said confidently, "Even without this reason, I can take another bite!"
Look at you saying that, as if if I asked Valentina now, she wouldn’t give it to me.
Hehe, if she doesn’t let me eat, then I won’t let her eat either!
I want to see who will be more anxious when that time comes.
Herbert considers himself not to be a greedy person, and if he can’t eat, it’s fine, he won’t feel much discomfort.
But Valentina, hehe, she’s truly a big glutton.
"However, doing this also carries risks. Be careful of her losing control and taking action by force after all."
When he thought of this, Herbert suddenly noticed something wrong. Why was time passing so "slowly"?
No.
It’s not that the flow of time has slowed down, it’s that my thinking speed has become faster!
He suddenly realized that the thoughts in his mind seemed to have become even quicker than before.
Ophidia’s epic-level Monster Girl blood had unknowingly started to take effect!
Upon knowing Ophidia’s current "race," Herbert secretly investigated, trying to find out what exactly she was.
And after inquiring with the two old antiques, Lukalia and Luhier, he surprisingly learned some secrets.
In their words, even in the mythical era, this was an extremely rare race.
The Snake of Knowledge, also known as the "Hidden Serpent," "Snake of Knowledge."
In ancient legends, the Snake of Knowledge is not a naturally born mystical entity, but a creation of Ancient Gods or forbidden magic.
Legend has it that they were born in the ruins of the "Primordial Library"—a holy land that recorded all knowledge in the world, which collapsed due to a divine war.
Fragments of knowledge seeped into reality, combined with magical energy, transforming into this cursed and revered creature.
Their very existence is a contradiction.
They are both guardians of knowledge and prisoners of knowledge.
Every Snake of Knowledge has a vast amount of hidden knowledge sealed within them, but this knowledge often comes at a tremendous cost.
Knowing these secret pieces of knowledge may lead to madness or attract the attention of divine entities.
The Snakes of Knowledge are special neutral creatures, treating all alignments equally.
Anyone can initiate a "knowledge exchange" with the Snakes of Knowledge.
The seeker must first pose a specific question to the serpent. If the Snake of Knowledge knows the answer, the exchange has already begun.
They won’t directly answer but will gaze at the seeker, extracting what they consider "equivalent" knowledge from their memory and soul as the price.
Moreover, compared to these forbidden dangers, hunting a Snake of Knowledge and acquiring its abundant knowledge can yield greater rewards.
Not to mention the materials of the Snake of Knowledge itself; the knowledge they contain is highly tempting.
Furthermore, there are special items present that even divine spirits covet—an imperfect Divine Format.
Once, there was a being on the brink of failing its divine ascension due to insufficient Divine Format, who accidentally completed the last missing piece after killing an epic-level Snake of Knowledge and successfully ascended to godhood.
Although this being soon perished at the hands of other divine entities due to arrogance after ascending, their success case indeed made countless people covetous.
This resulted in a frantic campaign against the Snakes of Knowledge, dramatically reducing the already scarce numbers of the race.
Fortunately, the Snakes of Knowledge themselves are extremely powerful mystical entities, possessing legendary-level strength upon birth, occupying a top ecological niche akin to special species of Giant Dragons.
Afterward, as they absorb more knowledge, their power continues to grow.
Still, they suffered heavy casualties under the onslaught from mortals and the gods, with the entire race quickly becoming endangered.
The legendary-level snakes were wiped out, with eight or nine out of ten epic-level snakes also perishing. The only Saint-level Snake of Knowledge conceals itself, and it’s unknown whether the gods killed it or if it’s hidden somewhere.
Since then, the world has almost no purebred Snakes of Knowledge left.
It is worth mentioning that not everyone harbors hostility towards the Snakes of Knowledge.
The "Doom Cult" composed of numerous Death God followers regards the Snakes of Knowledge as divine messengers, offering sacrifices in exchange for wisdom.
After sensing it for a moment, Herbert fully understood what kind of ability Ophidia had given him.
Worthy of the name "Wisdom."
The Snakes of Knowledge have an intuitive, near-prescient insight, capable of "visualizing" this world in their unique way.
Powerful mages prefer to make contracts with the Snakes of Knowledge.
Mages let the Snake of Knowledge reside within them, paying with their soul and life, providing knowledge over time in exchange for wisdom and strength.
That ability was known as "Snake Eye of Knowledge," granting superhuman intuition and analytical skills.
The essence of this power lies in converting one’s physiological state, energy reserves, and external combat variables into visualized data through stored "mathematical modeling knowledge."
It allows mages to greatly advance their research, easily solving various issues that have plagued them.
And this plays an even bigger role not just in daily life or research, but also in combat.
Of course, the power of the "Snake Eye of Knowledge" also has corresponding side effects.