The massive, grayish-brown body of the sand worm lay sprawled across the sand. Barton was originally supposed to lead the squad in processing the carcass, but Elon had temporarily stopped him. The reason was simple: the druid knew just how precious a sand worm was and needed to oversee the process personally.
“This thing is a treasure from head to toe.”
Elon crouched by its head, pressing both hands against the shattered carapace around its mouthparts. He closed his eyes, seemingly sensing something.
After a moment, he opened his eyes, stood up, and called out to everyone, “Come over here. Let me tell you what parts of this big guy are valuable.”
Hearing this, the guards and sand scalers immediately gathered around.
Elon paced over to the sand worm's head and pointed to the ring of barbed teeth arranged in a circle. Each tooth was as long as an adult's forearm and slightly curved.
“The sand worm's teeth. These things are extremely hard. Look, their inner structure is a crisscrossed fibrous pattern, unlike metal. This kind of structure makes them highly resistant to shattering under impact.”
As Elon spoke, he gestured for Ksaz to step forward and try it. Ksaz swung his two-handed axe, lightly tapping the side of one of the teeth. The collision of the axe blade and the tooth surface actually produced a shower of sparks, leaving only a faint white mark on the tooth.
“See that?”
Elon nodded with a satisfied expression, swept his gaze over the dumbfounded onlookers, and continued, “If these are ground into spearheads or arrowheads, they'll perform better than most ironware. Plus, they're lightweight, which makes them especially suitable for a race like the sand scalers who are used to traveling long distances.”
“Therefore, Ksaz, you'll handle this batch of teeth. It should be enough to make a weapon for each of you and your clansmen.”
Ksaz's three eyelids snapped open simultaneously, a look of joy washing over his face as he nodded vigorously. “Thank you, Master Druid.”
Then Elon turned to the sand worm's back, which was covered in plates of grayish-brown, armor-like carapace. Each plate was as thick as a palm, with a smooth and dense surface.
“This entire suit of plate armor should be completely stripped off. It can be used as a new wall material for the chicken coops. The sand worm's carapace has excellent thermal insulation properties. A rammed-earth wall needs to be over a dozen centimeters thick to achieve the same effect, but with this, you only need to stack two or three layers.”
“Because of its dense texture, the sand worm can travel through sand layers at high speeds, relying entirely on the microstructure of its carapace's surface to reduce frictional drag.”
“In other words, even under the scorching midday sun, the temperature of these shells rises extremely slowly. Using them as insulation for the inner walls of chicken coops is practically a luxury.”
The guards burst into a fit of laughter, and someone couldn't help but chime in, “The chickens here at Silver Sand Lake live more comfortably than the commoners in the Imperial Capital.”
Elon ignored the teasing and continued walking down the beast's length.
At the joints of the sand worm's belly, a viscous, translucent liquid was slowly seeping out from the gaps in the carapace, pooling into a small puddle on the sand and emitting a faint, pungent odor.
Elon fished out a clay jar from his waist, carefully scraped some of the liquid into it, held it up to his eyes, and shook it. “This is the sand worm's digestive fluid. You might think it's just acid, but after being processed with alchemy, it can be used to soften metals and break down certain ores.”
“The water conservancy projects currently being built in the Imperial Capital use a solvent with similar ingredients to clear pipes, though those are refined from other substances and are far less pure.”
He put away the clay jar, looked up, and scanned the crowd. “There's quite a lot of this stuff. We'll fill a few large jars later and have Isha take them with her next time she visits. Whether we sell them for money or trade them for supplies, it'll be good.”
After saying that, he turned to the other side. About two meters behind the sand worm's head, there was a piece of carapace with a slightly different shape. It was thinner than the surrounding ones, light gray in color, and faint, fine granular bumps could be seen on its surface.
Elon reached out and lightly tapped that piece of carapace, which produced a duller sound than the surrounding plate armor. “This is the sand worm's vibration-sensing organ. It grows behind the head and is used to sense vibrations on the surface and within the soil layers. Every time the sand worm travels through the sand, it relies on this to determine its direction.”
He carefully pried off the entire piece of carapace and flipped it over. The back was densely packed with tiny chambers and translucent membranes, resembling a honeycomb. Elon's movements became noticeably more cautious. “Once this is removed, we can find an alchemist to process it slightly to turn it into a sensing device.”
“If we place it underground around the camp, we'll be able to detect any creature digging or moving quickly nearby in advance. It's definitely a good item.”
Shane had been standing aside in silence. Only after Elon finished dealing with this part did he speak up. “What's inside that intestine? I think I saw something.”
Elon was taken aback. He turned to look at the thickest section of the sand worm's abdomen. The “intestine” Shane referred to was likely its mid-to-posterior digestive tract, which was wider than the front section, pressed tight against the inner wall of the abdomen, and wrapped in a thick membrane.
Elon gestured for Ksaz and several of the stronger guards to step forward. Working together, they used bone spears to pry open the side wall of that tract. A warm, earthy, and fishy draft rushed at them, causing everyone to instinctively take half a step back.
Ksaz peered inside, reached in, and scooped out a handful. When he pulled his hand back, several irregularly shaped, dark brown crystals lay in his palm. They varied in size, with the largest being about the size of a walnut. Their surfaces were covered in fine golden veins, reflecting a warm luster under the sunlight.
Elon leaned in to take a look, his brow raising in slight surprise. “Earth element crystals. And they are of exceptionally high quality.”
“Sand worms feed on sand and soil. Over years of accumulation and grinding in their digestive tracts, these crystals eventually form at the end of their intestines.”
“The earth element content is extremely high. Grinding these into powder and mixing them into the sand can directly increase soil fertility.”
“This is much easier than using a Living Soil Pouch. No need to wait—it takes effect immediately.”
Shane's eyes lit up for a brief moment as he silently noted this use. Just as Elon was about to continue moving down, Shane spoke up once more. “Wait. Those crystals you just mentioned are all inside the intestine, right?”
“That's correct.”
“What about the intestinal wall itself?”
Elon was taken aback, turning back to re-examine the pried-open tract.
He reached in and felt around the inner wall, his movements very light, as if searching for something. After a moment, his fingers stopped at a certain spot, clearly sensing an unusual texture.
“Inside... there seems to be something attached to the inner wall.”
As he spoke, he carefully traced a circle around that area, then cut open the translucent membrane, revealing the substance inside.
A soft, light-brown, plant-like tissue grew flush against the intestinal wall. It was cylindrical, about an arm's length, and as thick as a thumb. Its surface was covered in fine, scale-like protrusions. Its color had darkened due to dehydration, but its basic shape was remarkably well-preserved.
Elon was stunned, clearly not recognizing the object. He carefully removed the mass of tissue, turning it over in his palm to examine it, his brow deeply furrowed. “This should be some kind of plant residue swallowed by the sand worm. It has attached itself and grown inside the intestine for some time.”
Shane stepped forward and took the tissue from Elon's hand. His fingertips felt the fine, scale-like ridges on its surface, and then he brought the object to his nose to sniff it. An herbal scent mixed with an earthy, fishy odor wafted into his nasal cavity.
Instantly, he knew what it was.
Cistanche!
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