Chapter 126 - 102: Giant Tree and Black Pool; The Blood-tooth Python Appears Again; Extraordinary Artifact Successfully Forged
But he held onto Chen Chong's hand for dear life the entire time, squeezing it with all his might...
'I have to watch my step and keep an eye on Xu Jun at the same time. This is a real pain!'
"How come you weren't afraid of heights when you were leaning over the seventh-floor balcony?"
"That's because there was a railing! There isn't one here!"
Chen Chong was speechless. 'I knew I should've brought Wang Biao,' he thought to himself.
"Forget it. Let's just hurry and grab the stuff. The way you're slowing us down, forget getting back before dark. We'll be lucky to make it back before the daily settlement."
The two of them quickened their pace toward the Stone Claw Eagle's nest...
The summit of the barren mountain was just as it was before, covered in the white bones of various creatures, with the eagle's nest constructed from wood at its very center.
Chen Chong walked over to the Snake Bone Remains...
He had been in a hurry last time and hadn't gotten a good look. Now, on closer inspection, he could see the snake bone must have been here for quite some time; it was showing clear signs of age.
The bone was heavily weathered and had completely lost its luster from exposure to the wind and sun.
'Most of the Extraordinary Power it once contained has likely vanished. Even if it's not all gone, there can't be much left.'
The pair of fangs, however, were still a horrifying shade of crimson.
Compared to the Blood-tooth Python's enormous body, the two fangs weren't particularly long—only about half a meter.
"Brother Chong, is this that Blood-tooth Python you mentioned? It looks huge! But it's probably only half the size of the one we saw last time, right?"
"Yeah. This one was probably around ten meters long. The Blood-tooth Python by the river was at least twenty meters."
As he spoke, Chen Chong began to strike the two fangs with his Fire Axe.
Perhaps due to being weathered for so long, the connection between the fangs and the skull was extremely fragile.
A single light tap was enough to knock it free.
"Alright. One fang fits perfectly in each of our packs."
Most of the fangs' length fit into their packs, with only the tips sticking out.
'As for the rest of the Blood-tooth Python's skeleton, it's almost completely weathered away. There's probably no value left in it, and besides, we couldn't carry it back anyway.'
Chen Chong took another look around the summit, but after finding no other remains of Extraordinary Creatures, he decided it was time to leave.
But just as he was about to head down the mountain, inspiration struck. He remembered the Stone Claw Eagle eggs he had smashed earlier...
'Parts from Extraordinary Creatures can be used to make Extraordinary Artifacts... so could the eggshells work too?'
...
The sky had grown pitch-black.
After coming down from the barren mountain, Chen Chong and Xu Jun ran without stopping, finally making it back to the school shortly after nightfall.
Back at the apartment, Wang Biao, Jia Wen, and the blond, Zhang Meng, were still on the balcony making salt.
Next to them were three or four buckets of coarse salt, which looked to weigh at least fifty or sixty pounds.
"Sir, you're back?"
"My Lord. Sir. I've already made dinner; we just have to heat it up now that you're back."
Wang Biao and Jia Wen both rose to their feet.
Xu Jun mumbled a reply and flopped onto the sofa. He was completely exhausted.
The Tiger Striped Dog and the Lion-headed Goose ran over and began to affectionately nuzzle Chen Chong's leg.
Just as he was about to put down his pack and sit down to rest, the Tiger Striped Dog grabbed his clothes with its teeth and began pulling him toward the room, as if it wanted him to go inside.
"Hm?"
Puzzled, Chen Chong went into the room.
But after looking around, he found nothing.
"You're being mischievous, Hu Zi. Come on, let's go eat."
However, the normally obedient Tiger Striped Dog didn't get up. It just sat there beside the Extraordinary Weapon Forging Furnace and pawed at the ground.
At first, Chen Chong frowned.
But as his gaze focused, he saw what looked like something lying on the floor.
When he walked over, he could finally see it clearly: a ring, glowing with a black and blue light, had appeared on the floor in front of the Forging Furnace at some point.
As he picked it up, a stream of information surged into his mind, just like with a Card.
Chen Chong's pupils contracted...
'Is this the Extraordinary Artifact forged from the Unihorn Catfish's horn?'
'The forging was successful already?'
...