Self-Assessment of Strength: Black-Green Serpent

In the jungle.

Tang Zheng trudged eastward, one step deep and the next shallow. Perhaps because he was still in the outermost area, he had traveled for quite some time without encountering any beasts—not even magical beasts.

Buzz—

The faint sound of a pair of wings flapping rose from a tree branch in the forest.

It was a strange insect about the length of a thumb. It was emerald green and resembled a caterpillar, yet had a pair of thin wings.

The winged caterpillar slid off an emerald leaf and slowly descended toward Tang Zheng below.

Yet just as it reached the air above Tang Zheng's head!

The Iron Sword traced an arc through the air, cutting the winged caterpillar in half and sending it tumbling to the ground.

"Gained 1 experience point."

A faint fishy smell spread through the air.

Is it poisonous?

Tang Zheng cast it a casual glance. Without slowing his steps in the slightest, he continued forward.

What a pity!

He had not mastered any detection-type magic. Otherwise, he would not have needed to rely on his own judgment.

At present, Tang Zheng's three attributes—HP, Physical Attack, and Agility—had all reached 73 points.

HP could be set aside for now.

Not long ago, he had conducted an experiment. With 73 points of Physical Attack, he only needed three swings of the Iron Sword with all his strength to chop down a tree as thick as a person's embrace.

With his fists, however—

A full-force punch against a tree stump could leave a fistprint sunk halfway into the trunk.

As for "Agility," the data was not as precise. Tang Zheng only knew that his five senses had improved considerably.

Previously, when his "Agility" was 63 points and he encountered the Thief man who should have been above Level 8, that speed—which seemed incredibly fast to ordinary people—felt fairly normal to Tang Zheng, even somewhat slow.

The "Rock" team was the group of Adventurers Tang Zheng had interacted with most deeply, and its strongest member was the captain, Dosari.

Now, Tang Zheng felt that he should be somewhat stronger than Dosari.

Besides—

He had mastered not only Martial Arts, but also skills and magic.

In a head-on confrontation, Tang Zheng had no certainty of victory. But if he launched a sneak attack, he had some confidence that he could wipe out the "Rock" team, though he would certainly be injured in the process.

Having gone from a weakling to someone whose strength could rival that of a "Silver Rank" Adventurer team, Tang Zheng could not help but marvel at the terrifying nature of the Talent "Player."

Two hundred years ago, the captain of the "Player" team, leader of the Thirteen Heroes, had continually grown stronger in a short period of time, arousing the Platinum Dragon Lord's wariness.

Keep moving forward!

The truly troublesome things in the forest were not the conspicuous magical beasts and wild beasts, but the colorful insects, most of which contained deadly poison.

With Tang Zheng's Agility, he was not afraid of sudden attacks from these insects. Dealing with them was simply troublesome, though, and the experience he gained was always only a single digit.

They seriously slowed his progress.

Crack!

Tang Zheng stepped on a branch lying on the ground, snapping it with a crisp sound.

In the outer forest, which was filled with the calls of various insects and the rustling of wind-blown leaves, the sound was not particularly noticeable. Yet Tang Zheng stopped walking.

"You're finally a decent prey. This is your territory, isn't it?" Tang Zheng turned his head and looked to his left.

There!

At the place where the sturdy branches and leaves of several large trees converged, a creature covered in pure black scales with faint green spots lay motionless among the leaves.

Fortunately, it was daytime.

Although the creature was hidden among the branches and leaves, its unusually slender outline could still be seen. If it had been nighttime, Tang Zheng probably would not have noticed it at all.

Earlier—

Tang Zheng had already faintly sensed something unusual. Although this place belonged to the outer reaches of the Great Forest of Tob, the number of wild beasts he had encountered along the way had been unusually low.

There was only one likely explanation for such a situation!

This place belonged to the territory of some powerful wild beast or magical beast.

It seemed he had guessed correctly.

Tang Zheng swept his eyes over the black figure hidden among the leaves. Its body was at least a meter long.

What exactly is this thing?

Tang Zheng narrowed his eyes and held the Iron Sword across his chest.

Rustle! Rustle!

The leaves rubbed against one another, making a sound like wind blowing through them.

The hidden creature had clearly realized that it had been discovered. Facing the human who had trespassed into its territory, it flicked a red, forked tongue out of its mouth.

The next moment!

The black-and-green figure burst from the dense foliage like a spring, opened its enormous maw, and pounced toward Tang Zheng below.

Its black-and-green scales gleamed with a chilling luster beneath the mottled sunlight, possessing a metallic texture!

Tang Zheng finally determined what kind of creature it was.

A snake!

And not just any snake—a Giant Snake more than six meters long, with a body as thick as two adult human thighs.

The Black-Green Serpent launched itself forward. Its foul-smelling maw opened toward Tang Zheng's head and bit down viciously.

Tang Zheng swung the Iron Sword rapidly, hacking with all his strength at the Black-Green Serpent's head.

Bang!

The blade slammed into the Black-Green Serpent's open mouth, producing a dull impact. Sparks even flew where the black scales met the Iron Sword.

So hard!

Tang Zheng's eyes narrowed.

"Hiss!"

The Black-Green Serpent let out a pained hiss. Its more-than-six-meter body twisted, and its thick tail whipped over from behind.

The tail lashed through the air, producing a rapid buzzing sound.

Seeing this—

Tang Zheng held down the Black-Green Serpent's head with the Iron Sword in his right hand as it tried to bite him. With his left hand, he reached into the air and took another Iron Sword from the Item Box, then slashed toward the direction of the whipping tail.

Bang!

Another dull collision rang out.

The astonishing force made Tang Zheng stagger one step backward. His left shoulder shifted back, but he successfully blocked the Black-Green Serpent's tail strike.

"Hiss!"

Apart from the middle section of its body standing on the ground, the entire front half and the tail of its lower body pressed against Tang Zheng, twisting continuously.

It seemed to want to coil Tang Zheng into its body and kill the prey before it with the Strangulation maneuver snakes excelled at!

But relying on his Agility advantage, Tang Zheng gripped the sword with both hands. While blocking the attacks from the Black-Green Serpent's head and tail, he steadily retreated.

"The scales are very hard. Combined with the slippery nature of its body, it'll be difficult to damage it through sheer force."

Tang Zheng swung the Iron Sword continuously, occasionally striking the creature's body, but the results were negligible.

Its hardness alone would have been manageable. However, the slippery body dispersed a considerable portion of the force whenever Tang Zheng's attacks landed.

He had originally thought this was merely a large wild snake. Now, it seemed that it was a magical beast!

In the New World, wild beasts and magical beasts were easy enough to distinguish. As long as a creature possessed some unusual ability, it could be classified as a magical beast.

Seeing that the human before it seemed unable to penetrate its scales, the Black-Green Serpent's dark yellow eyes lost some of their caution.

It gradually abandoned some of its defensive movements, and its attacks became even more Berserk.

Boom!

The Black-Green Serpent's thick, swinging tail was blocked by Tang Zheng's Iron Sword once again. Compared with before, the force behind it had grown even greater.

"That's about enough."

Tang Zheng's expression did not change. He had already mostly figured out the Black-Green Serpent's attacking patterns.

With his speed, escaping from the Black-Green Serpent would not be difficult.

However, this was an excellent experience package!

Bang!

Tang Zheng stomped heavily on the ground and leaped rapidly backward, putting on an appearance of wanting to flee.