What's wrong with a snake that just wants to cultivate and transform?

The cold sword that had been pressed at Xu Nian’s vital spot was finally lowered, and the crisis was averted.

Xu Nian let out a sigh of relief, her entire body slumping to the ground.

By the time she came to her senses, the formidable figure had departed without a trace.

Rolling around in the grass, Xu Nian celebrated her narrow escape from death. Seizing the opportunity while White Tiger and Mighty Eagle were still unaware of Ji Yuebai’s departure, she hurriedly dived back into the spiritual spring, immersing herself in further cultivation.

When Xu Nian opened her eyes again, nearly half a month had passed. She had completely assimilated the Imperial Essence she had absorbed earlier, and the spiritual spring’s spiritual energy was now entirely depleted. It would take years, at least three to five, for the spiritual spring to gather such energy again. Ironically, the energy meant for White Tiger and Mighty Eagle’s preparation for the Imperial Essence had been entirely consumed by her.

Anticipating a fierce battle upon her descent from the mountain, Xu Nian felt a pressing need for more spiritual energy to achieve her transformation. Xiao Cang Mountain no longer harbored sufficient energy for her needs, compelling her to seek a place with more abundant spiritual reserves.

Descending the mountain with the same caution she had ascended, Xu Nian remained hidden to avoid attacks from White Tiger and Mighty Eagle. However, the mountain’s unusual silence was unsettling.

Halfway down, she detected a pungent mix of blood and rotting flesh. Stealthily, she moved downward to investigate the source of this ominous scent.

Then, a massive white corpse with a gaping bloody hole appeared before her, causing Xu Nian’s pupils to dilate in shock.

It was White Tiger, and he was dead.

Xu Nian circled the corpse, contemplating. White Tiger had been the strongest on Xiao Cang Mountain. Who could have killed him? Studying the dried-up blood holes, an image of a particular weapon clicked in her mind.

It was a sword, a radiantly shimmering sword, exuding a bone-chilling frostiness.

The more Xu Nian examined the wounds, the more she became convinced they matched the characteristics of that particular sword. The width and depth of the wounds indicated a single, powerful strike.

A shiver ran down Xu Nian’s non-existent spine. She was grateful for her foresight and adaptability. Had she not acted wisely and with good judgment, her fate might have been the same as White Tiger’s.

While lamenting White Tiger’s demise, Xu Nian skillfully gathered materials from his body, saving them in a storage bag she had found on the corpse of a human cultivator. Although not large, this bag was much more convenient than carrying items herself.

Further down the road, she encountered many more corpses of demon beasts, most killed with a single sword thrust, while others seemed to have died merely from a brush with the sword’s energy.

When she found the body of Mighty Eagle, she was unfazed, having grown accustomed to such grisly scenes. Mighty Eagle’s corpse hung from an ancient tree, and climbing up to it required some effort from Xu Nian.

Just like the others, Mighty Eagle had succumbed to a single, deadly sword strike.

Despite their frequent scuffles over prey and cultivation resources, and her fear of being hunted by Mighty Eagle, seeing his lifeless body stirred a pang of melancholic empathy in Xu Nian. Nonetheless, she diligently collected his claws, feathers, and other materials.

This encounter also solidified Xu Nian’s understanding of human cultivators’ view towards demon beasts. She resolved that if she encountered human cultivators in the future, she would take a detour and absolutely must not be discovered before her transformation.

Five years later.

Xu Nian never imagined that the perfect cultivation spot she’d painstakingly found, full of abundant spiritual energy, would ultimately reveal itself as a secret realm.

Over the years, she went from desperately transforming at first, to realizing that this place was a heavenly sanctuary with no natural enemies and abundant food and spiritual energy. Consequently, she started to slack off a bit, not being as proactive about her cultivation.

But what she absolutely didn’t see coming was that today, right above the cozy nest she’d made for herself, a massive crack suddenly appeared. And from it, a whole bunch of human cultivators jumped out, staring her down.

Clearly, Xu Nian gave these cultivators quite the scare. Some were so startled they froze on the spot, while others immediately regained their composure, grabbing their weapons and ferociously attacking her.

Due to that damn oath she took years ago, Xu Nian experiences heart-wrenching pain whenever she attacks a human, leaving her writhing on the ground in agony. Even though she was powerful enough to easily defeat these novices, she didn’t dare fight back. Instead, she coiled her tail like a spring and catapulted herself away in a flash.

However, these novice cultivators, seeing Xu Nian opting to flee instead of fight, became even more excited. Some hopped on their swords, others used swift wind talismans, all chasing in the direction Xu Nian was making her escape.

During her frantic escape, Xu Nian was hit several times on her tail and body. The sparks that flew singed a patch of her emerald tail black, causing a searing pain so intense it made her want to bite someone.

But she dared only think about it.

Over the past five years, to prevent a repeat of that fateful night, she had developed the ability to speak. She considered trying to communicate with these “novices.”

Thinking quickly, Xu Nian turned and threatened, “Chase me further, and I’ll bite you all to death!”