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

The concept of being the mother of a Spirit Snake, and the Spirit Snake itself, triggered a series of blurry images in Xu Nian’s mind. These were likely memories of the original host. She recalled a time when she was pursued by a snake demon resembling a humanoid monster with eight heads. Ironically, she ended up devouring it. Although the memory was somewhat nauseating to recall, her cultivation speed skyrocketed like a rocket after that incident.

From the beginning of her cultivation with the Imperial Essence, to practicing ten hours a day for over sixty years, and then luckily experiencing a second Imperial Essence, she barely managed to evolve into a sixth-stage demon beast.

However, in the less than two years since she devoured the eight-headed snake demon, she had advanced to the fourteenth-rank. While she had encountered many fortuitous events, such rapid advancement would have been impossible without a fundamental change in her physique.

Observing Xu Nian’s somewhat understanding expression, Qing Cheng sighed, “The mothers of Spirit Snakes and the Spirit Snakes themselves were tools created hundreds of years ago by the old masters of the Qingxuan King Snake clan for the purpose of ascension. As the spiritual energy in the world became increasingly scarce, the number of demonic cultivators capable of ascending decreased, and competition for energy-rich territories intensified. The corpses of the defeated, retaining some spiritual energy, would be consumed by the victors…”

“Apart from external conflicts with other demons, there were frequent internal struggles within the Qingxuan King Snake clan. The rulers of the clan discovered a huge secret in these brutal battles.” Qing Cheng paused, as if to build suspense.

But Ji Yuebai interjected, “Consuming the flesh and blood of one’s kind can improve the cultivation physique and increase the amount of spiritual energy absorbed.”

Qing Cheng looked surprised, “How do you know this? It’s a closely guarded secret of the Qingxuan King Snake clan.”

Xu Nian turned to Ji Yuebai in astonishment. She was still trying to connect the dots from her fragmented memories and had only just begun to form a tentative understanding. How did Ji Yuebai guess it so quickly?

This was because of Qingyi from Qingshui County. He not only called Xu Nian ‘sister’ and tried to consume her but was instead devoured by her. After that, Xu Nian’s cultivation talents and spiritual energy storage saw a significant increase.

Ji Yuebai explained briefly, “I encountered a similar situation before. It’s just a guess based on that incident.”

Nodding, Qing Cheng continued, “Once the rulers of the Qing Xuan King Snake clan learned this secret, they conducted several experiments on their own kind and concluded that cannibalism within the same bloodline maximized spiritual energy absorption. The limit of this absorption was nine; any more would cause one to explode from the overwhelming power, and any less would not yield optimal results. As a result, the mother snake had to produce nine eggs, and one of them had to consume its eight siblings to undergo a complete transformation, becoming a forbidden snake of the clan, later renamed ‘Spirit Snake’ for a better image.”

“In human cultivator terms, it’s like acquiring Nine Turns Spirit Gathering Body, able to absorb minimal spiritual energy for a cultivation effect ten or even hundreds of times greater. This perfectly addressed the issue of insufficient spiritual energy in the realm. Although it involved sacrificing some offspring, the gains were substantial. It was during this period that our clan had over a dozen Spirit Snakes ascend.”

“Initially, the Elders’ Council hoped these ascended Spirit Snakes would project benefits to the clan from the higher realms. However, once they ascended, there was no further communication, and they never responded to the Council’s requests. This angered the Council, who had heavily invested resources to assist their ascension.”

“Since then, Spirit Snakes have been in a dire and tragic situation. Due to their flesh being rich in spiritual energy, aiding in transformation and improving combat ability for those who couldn’t fully transform, and serving as ‘supplements’ for Elders about to ascend, the Elders, most of whom had cultivated for centuries, no longer had siblings to consume to achieve the Nine Turns Spirit Gathering Body. So, they resorted to consuming matured Spirit Snakes to increase their chances of ascension. Although the effect was less potent than consuming a Spirit Snake directly, it was still far superior to various pills and potions.”

“The Elders’ Council massively bred and created Spirit Snakes, whose flesh and blood, when devoured, dramatically increased their strength. Over time, the Qingxuan King Snake clan gradually unified the entire demonic cultivator world. This caught the attention of human cultivators in the cultivation world, who were reluctant to let the demon race’s power surge further. Hence, the great war that erupted a hundred years ago.”

“After the war, Spirit Snakes, as a resource, were nearly exhausted. The Qingxuan King Snake clan, severely weakened, retreated to the secret realms of the Eastern Sea. Meanwhile, the scarcity of spiritual energy became increasingly severe. This scarcity wasn’t just among lower-level demonic beasts but reached a level where those close to ascension couldn’t gather enough spiritual energy to ascend. Over the past century, neither humans nor demons have seen the rise of a powerful being capable of ascension, which is quite telling.”

Xu Nian looked back at Ji Yuebai, seeking confirmation of Qing Cheng’s words.

Ji Yuebai confirmed, “She’s right.”

Qing Cheng continued, “Afterward, for some unknown reason, the Qingxuan King Snake clan struggled to breed the same high-quality Nine Turn Spiritual Snakes as before the war, mostly producing inferior Three-Turn or Five-Turn ones. Their efficacy as a supplement was minimal, but the Elders’ Council, having tasted the benefits before, didn’t give up. They still hoped to create new Nine Turn Spiritual Snakes by increasing the number of mothers. Thus, most adult female snakes in the clan, once they reached a certain rank, were forced to become breeders. But what mother would want to see her children kill each other and then be used as supplements?”

Xu Nian was stunned, never imagining that such a cruel truth lay behind the seemingly glorious Qingxuan King Snake clan.

She glanced at Qing Cheng, then at Qing Jin beside her, hesitant to ask her question.

Seeing her hesitation, Qing Cheng sighed again, “I know what you’re going to ask. Qing Jin and I aren’t really sisters. We are both failures from the process of creating Spirit Snakes, forced to consume our siblings. Then we were shunned and despised by the normal members of our clan. So we stuck together, and over the years, I’ve come to see Qing Jin as my real family.”

Qing Jin, who had been silent until now, softly added, “And in my heart, you are the best sister I could have.”

Xu Nian’s heart was a mix of emotions. She had initially asked the question, but now she didn’t know what to say.

A silence fell among them.

Fortunately, they soon reached the bottom of the abyss. It was utterly dark there, rendering Xu Nian’s proud thermal sensing abilities useless. A chilling wind howled past, making her feel a cold shiver down her spine. Out of nervousness and fear, she grabbed Ji Yuebai’s hand.

Ji Yuebai’s palm was warm and dry, and the slight calluses brought a sense of familiar security. Sensing Xu Nian’s fear, she gripped her fingers tightly, trying to comfort her.

Qing Cheng took out a night pearl to light the way. The abyss was too dark, and even she struggled to find her way. Fortunately, Qing Jin seemed very familiar with the area and quickly led them to an ancient, barely recognizable teleportation formation.

Xu Nian peered at it in the dim light of the night pearl. Calling it a teleportation formation seemed generous; it looked more like a haphazard arrangement of stones. She doubted its effectiveness, especially given its state of disrepair.

But Qing Cheng calmly took out spiritual stones from her storage bag and placed them into the formation. As she did, inscriptions in a script Xu Nian couldn’t understand began to appear on the stones, emitting a faint blue light.

Only then did Qing Cheng’s serious expression relax slightly.

Xu Nian understood then that Qing Cheng had shared her concerns.

At the same time, a massive sound, accompanied by a powerful aura of intimidation, came from above, resonating down into the abyss: “Clan Leader, where are you heading in the middle of the night?”

Qing Cheng’s face changed dramatically, and she urged urgently, “Quick, throw in the spirit stones, the old geezers from the Elder Council are coming after us. If they catch us, they will never let us go.”

Xu Nian was just as surprised, not anticipating their spontaneous plan to be discovered so quickly. In the emergency, she hurriedly took out her bag of spirit stones and poured them into the ancient teleportation formation. Ji Yuebai, standing beside her, took out many high-quality spirit stones and stuffed them into the formation. The rich spiritual energy they emitted made Xu Nian both envious and concerned for the cost.

But there was no time to worry about that now. Looking up through her thermal sensing ability, she already saw a dense mass of snake shadows descending the path they had taken, moving much faster than expected.

Just as the giant snakes of the Qingxuan King Snake clan were about to reach them, the ancient transmission formation finally emitted a dazzling light, enveloping them and cutting off the hissing sounds of the approaching serpents.

The only thing left was the lingering intimidating voice, “Spirit Snake, you can’t escape.”

With a whirl, Xu Nian and her group were teleported to the northernmost part of the Eastern Sea Secret Realm, leaving the gloomy gorge and feeling the air become much fresher.

The northern transmission formation, undamaged by the fierce winds, looked much more intact.

Qing Cheng visibly relaxed and pointed towards the deep blue sea by the cliff, “Across this Easternmost Sea lies the continent where the human cultivators reside.”

Hope flickered in Qing Jin’s eyes. They had planned their escape for a long time, delayed only by their inability to fully transform. They were on the brink of becoming the next batch of Spirit Snake mothers, but fortunately, they met Xu Nian, the perfect Nine Turns Spirit Snake.

Xu Nian was also delighted. She pulled Ji Yuebai’s hand and sneakily glanced at her, thinking that from now on, it wouldn’t just be her unilaterally imprisoning Ji Yuebai, but them living together as a couple.

Unexpectedly, Ji Yuebai did not return her gaze but instead released her hand. She quickly drew her long sword and positioned herself defensively in front of Xu Nian, her voice colder and more serious than ever, “Be careful, we are surrounded.”

As her words fell, dozens of figures suddenly appeared from all directions. Unlike the lackeys who chased them in the abyss, the terrifying pressure of the fifteenth-rank emanating from these figures indicated they were indeed the old members of the Elders’ Council.

The overwhelming pressure made Qing Cheng tremble uncontrollably, her face turning pale, “No, impossible, how did they know about this place?”

Answering her was the familiar Elder Qing Lu, who scoffed, “Fool, that abyss is also under our Qingxuan King Snake clan’s control. How could we, the rulers, not know about the existence of an ancient teleportation formation within it? It’s been our secret weapon for hundreds of years.”

Qing Cheng’s expression grew even more embarrassed, realizing they had known about this all along and had even laid an ambush here.

Xu Nian quickly scanned the area: two, four, six… there were twelve Elders in total pursuing them, a significant force. Facing such overwhelming numbers, and with their average strength only at the fourteenth-rank, breaking through seemed nearly impossible. Realizing this, she began to quickly channel her spiritual power to summon her giant snake servants.

Suddenly, a streak of blue light, too fast for her to dodge, aimed straight at Xu Nian’s face. As she instinctively tried to retreat, a flash of white light and the crisp sound of a sword clashing against scales filled the air.

It was Ji Yuebai, shielding her, her sword swiftly intercepting the attack.

Simultaneously, hundreds of fourteenth-ranked green snake servants emerged from the ground around Xu Nian, lunging towards the twelve Elders in a fierce attack.

Ever since signing a contract with the Manhuang serpent Qing Yan, the level of snake servants she could summon had significantly increased. However, they were still limited to her own level of cultivation, presenting little advantage against the Elders, who were a rank higher than herself. The snakes were more a distraction than a formidable force.

Xu Nian attempted to connect with Qing Yan using her spiritual sense, but there was no reply to her summons. Since its last appearance, Qing Yan had not shown itself, indicating that its recent exertion had likely depleted its energy significantly, and it was currently in a deep sleep.

Xu Nian continued summoning her fourteenth-rank green snake servants, but they were quickly annihilated by the Elders.

The Elder who had first attacked, Qing San, launched another deadly move, breaking through the circle of snake servants and charging towards Xu Nian.

“Where is that Manhuang serpent that backed you up the other day? Why don’t you call it out now?” he taunted.

Xu Nian awkwardly shrank back, thinking to herself, “I already called for it, but it won’t come out.”

The timing of this failure was embarrassingly inconvenient.

However, Ji Yuebai took action at this moment, her sword sweeping out with a burst of icy energy, forming a majestic ice dragon with a chilling killing intent, striking directly at the vital point of Elder Qing San, who had spoken.

The audacity of a mere thirteenth-rank servant daring to challenge him was met with disdain by Elder Qing San. He prepared to extinguish the incoming ice dragon sword energy with a single move. But as he extended his hand towards the attack, he suddenly froze, realizing the impending danger. Hastily channeling his spiritual power, he immediately retreated, narrowly avoiding the fierce ice dragon sword energy.

He had a premonition that if he had confronted the attack head-on, the sword energy would have penetrated his tough scales and injured him.