The snake wasn't that big. Sure, it weighed a couple hundred kilograms, but Shang could pull that weight with relative ease. It was still annoying, and it definitely slowed him down, but Shang didn't need to constantly take breaks.

Luckily, the beast sacks were made to handle such weight and even more. They were way better than the shitty garbage bags on Earth.

When Shang put the corpse away, he decided to go to the north.

Why?

Because he had already met a General Stage beast.

Since Shang had always gone towards the northeast, he couldn't be close to the Wasteland, which meant that the General Stage beast didn't come from there. Obviously, it came from the Empress Cobra Zone.

So, instead of directly traveling towards the Empress Cobra Zone, Shang decided to go directly north, towards the border of the Empress Cobra Zone and the Ice Wyvern Zone. Different kinds of elemental Mana were mixing on the border, making the area less interesting to more powerful beasts. Powerful beasts preferred Mana that had their Affinity.

Shang had the corpse of a General Stage Vanishing Snake, but he doubted that this corpse would last him forever.

He obviously needed more Contribution Points, and since he was already here, he decided to continue hunting.

He wouldn't waste any time this night.

After Shang had traveled for five minutes, he noticed that the green eagle was no longer following him. Apparently, it had had its fill, and it was no longer interested in using Shang as bait for Vanishing Snakes.

Jumping from tree to tree became harder with the added weight, and Shang definitely made more noise than before, but he could still hunt.

Shang had the speed advantage over nearly every other beast, and when he saw one, he simply dropped the beast sack to charge after it.

Since night had finally arrived, Shang found way more Pest Cats.

In fact, Shang found one nearly every three minutes, which was crazy in his mind.

'No wonder they're called Pest Cats. They are literally everywhere!'

Of course, it was mainly thanks to Shang's Darkness Affinity that he was able to find all these Pest Cats. Pest Cats moved very stealthily in the night, and they were great at hiding.

However, since they all attracted Darkness Mana, Shang could find them rather easily.

As Shang continued going towards the north, he saw fewer and fewer Swamp Millipedes but more and more Pest Cats.

Shang was only going towards the north to avoid the General Stage beasts from the Empress Cobra Zone, but he didn't know that there would also be far fewer beasts from the Empress Cobra Zone in general.

But why?

Swamp Millipedes converted their surroundings into swamps, right? So, why would they enter the Wild Forest in the Storm Eagle Zone but avoid the border with the Ice Wyvern Zone?

The reason was the Ice Mana.

But wait, that also didn't make much sense. Ice was basically just another form of water, right? The Poison Affinity was made of the Darkness and Water Affinities. Why would the Poison Affinity beasts avoid that?

Because of conversion.

To destroy an element or Affinity, one didn't necessarily need the opposite element or Affinity.

If one drop of water touched a bigger sheet of ice, it would most likely turn to ice. If a small piece of ice were thrown into a bucket of water, it would most likely turn to water.

Because of that, the density of Water Mana at the border between the Empress Cobra Zone and the Ice Wyvern Zone was far lower.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ In comparison, the Wind Mana in the Storm Eagle Zone didn't really interact with the Water or Darkness Mana from the Empress Cobra Zone. These kinds of Mana could coexist without clashing.

Because of that, the Swamp Millipedes preferred the Storm Eagle Zone over the Ice Wyvern Zone.

Sadly, Shang didn't know that. In his trip towards the north, he also wanted to hunt Swamp Millipedes, but he would be doomed to not find another one for the remainder of the night.

But instead, Shang found a lot of Pest Cats. Every single one of them was still worth 20 Contribution Points, and Shang definitely wouldn't refuse that.

Shang had just harvested another two ears and went back to his beast sack when his instincts suddenly screamed at him.

CLINK!

Shang jumped to the side out of reflex, and he felt something strafe past his side, hitting part of his uniform.

At that moment, Shang's heart nearly stopped.

Just now, a Vanishing Snake had attacked him.

Shang had evaded with incredible speed and reflexes, but the snake had also been very quick. Because of that, its teeth had scratched Shang's uniform.

For an instant, Shang felt like his death had arrived.

But then, he quickly recovered, gritted his teeth, and attacked the Vanishing Snake.

SHING!

The snake was cleanly cut in half as Shang released all his terror, shock, and anger.

Shang's heartrate had shot through the roof as he felt that he had just dodged death by a hair.

'My uniform saved my life,' Shang thought in terror as cold sweat ran down his back.

The uniform of the academy could block a Mid Soldier Stage attack at the sides and a Peak Soldier Stage attack near the heart.

The Vanishing Snake had been at the Late Soldier Stage.

If it had managed to actually bite down on Shang or his uniform, the uniform wouldn't have provided much protection, but since Shang had managed to jump to the side, the snake's teeth had only barely scratched it. Because of that, his uniform had been able to block the attack.

Shang would already be dead if that incident had happened with the General Stage Vanishing Snake.

For a moment, Shang only tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

'I nearly died.'

'I nearly died!'

Shang gritted his teeth in frustration and anger.

At whom were the frustration and anger directed?

At himself, of course.

'I walked through the forest recklessly, only looking for Pest Cats and Swamp Millipedes. After killing the General Stage Vanishing Snake, I also didn't fear the normal Vanishing Snakes anymore. After all, why would I care about these weak Vanishing Snakes when I have already killed the big one?'

'I'm fucking stupid!'

'I'm a fucking idiot!'

'So what if I killed a much more powerful variant? One good attack from a Vanishing Snake, and I will still be a goner!'

'That I survived that attack just now is way luckier than me surviving the battle against the General Stage Vanishing Snake!'

'I'm literally only alive because of the protection the academy gave me, free of charge!'

'I never relied on the protection of my uniform, but I'm only alive thanks to that uniform now!'

'I've become careless.'

At the moment, Shang didn't even think about the 2,000 Contribution Points of this Vanishing Snake.

All his focus was on his surroundings and his frustration with himself.

'I can accept dying in a fight, but I can't accept dying in such a stupid way!'

'Shang! Pay attention! You are not the strongest! You can still die in here! Don't fucking forget that, you fucking idiot!' Shang mentally screamed at himself.

After urging his brain to remember to pay attention for some more seconds, Shang took a deep breath and sighed.

'I can't become careless now.'

After some more seconds of calming down, Shang shoved the Vanishing Snake into his beast sack and continued towards the north.