'Damn it!' Nie Hailong's heart filled with ruthlessness.
It seemed his only choice was to initiate the plan ahead of schedule! If he could just break through to the third-stage, he might still have a chance to escape!
He glanced at the Mother Snake beside him and cursed her for being useless under his breath.
Then, Nie Hailong suddenly opened his bloody maw and bit off half of the Mother Snake’s body in one go!
The remaining half of the Mother Snake's body fell to the ground, writhing in agony. The calm lake water began to ripple and boil as a surge of blood qi rose from the lake bottom, continuously flooding into Nie Hailong's body.
Nie Hailong stared fixedly at the skeleton and the Plague Rat, a maniacal grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
He didn't believe in any nonsense like familial bonds or nurturing offspring; they were merely blood and flesh consumables meant to help him break through.
As the blood qi surged, the energy within Nie Hailong’s body skyrocketed. In an instant, it surpassed 10,000 units of flesh energy, reaching the third-stage.
"So what if you're evil spirits? So what if you're the third-stage? Today, every last one of you pieces of trash is going to die!"
The massive influx of blood qi to his brain gradually eroded his sanity, while his sudden spike in power filled him with an overwhelming sense of confidence.
"Noisy!"
Chen Zhou frowned, feeling a pang of regret. The Mother Snake's flesh energy had been quite high, and this snake had just devoured it like that. What a waste of resources!
Chen Zhou grabbed the Plague Rat by the scruff of its neck and gave it a light toss, throwing the rat toward Nie Hailong like a baseball. "Go, Pikachu!"
"!!!"
"I'll fuck your ancestors!"
The moment the Plague Rat was tossed, it let out an incredulous shriek, yet it showed no sign of panic.
Its peanut-sized body quickly adjusted its position in mid-air, transforming into a streak of dark green light. Its grayish-black fur stood on end, and its blood-red eyes were filled with ferocity.
Nie Hailong was still immersed in the ecstasy of breaking through to the third-stage. Before his wild laughter could even fade, he felt a bone-chilling pain in the center of his brow.
A blood hole, two fingers wide, pierced straight through the giant snake's skull. Fresh blood mixed with brain matter began to ooze out.
"How... how is this possible..."
Before it could even finish a complete sentence, its massive body crashed heavily onto the lake's surface, splashing water several feet high. All signs of life were gone.
After landing, the Plague Rat squatted to the side and desperately began grooming its blood-stained fur, spitting out bits of meat as it went.
"Fuck your ancestors! Ptui! This stinks 'Lord Rat' to death!"
Chen Zhou remained where he stood, controlling the skeleton to step forward and pick up the heavily injured Shitou and Hong Ling, one in each arm.
He took out two pills and stuffed one into the mouth of the unconscious Shitou.
As the pill entered his stomach, Shitou's pale complexion gradually regained some color, and his breathing became more stable.
Hong Ling, who still retained a bit of consciousness, took the pill with trembling fingers.
Through her blurred vision, she once again saw the hazy figure in white, but a sudden wave of bitterness washed over her heart.
She thought she was calm enough, mature enough, but seeing the god actually descend from Shitou's wooden tablet still made her feel an uncontrollable surge of jealousy.
She thought she had done well enough.
She believed that since she was talented and hardworking, she could be entrusted with important tasks to ease the god's burdens. Since a divine messenger had even been sent to follow her, she must be favored.
For a time, she had even taken pride in being the only one who could truly see the god.
But it wasn't true. Shitou was the one who was truly favored all along; he even possessed an item that could summon the god’s physical presence.
Hong Ling looked down at the unconscious Shitou, her eyes reddening slightly. It turned out that true favoritism required no reason at all.
Seeing her staring at Shitou, Chen Zhou couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
As expected of childhood friends, their bond really is strong.
Chen Zhou reached out and gently patted the top of Hong Ling’s head, his tone carrying a hint of comfort. "Don't worry, everything is fine."
The cold sensation on her head instantly calmed Hong Ling’s heart.
She looked up at the majestic god in white, and the bitterness in her heart gradually dissipated.
She decided to work even harder. Even if Shitou was the god's first believer and his most favored child, she would become the most useful one.
The Plague Rat cursed all the way back, its self-aggrandizing 'Lord Rat' references off the charts, until Chen Zhou stuffed a piece of spicy-flavored jerky into its mouth. Its cursing immediately turned into satisfied grunts.
This was a new flavor Widow Li had developed over the past few days. It tasted much better than the usual meat preserved only with salt, and it had received unanimous praise from the villagers in the territory.
With Nie Hailong dead, the few remaining small snake demons didn't dare move and were easily harvested by the skeleton.
Chen Zhou turned his gaze to the bottom of the lake. The previously boiling water had returned to a state of calm.
But as an evil spirit, Chen Zhou was naturally sensitive to flesh energy. He could clearly perceive faint traces of blood qi remaining at the bottom of the lake, mixed with the spiritual energy fluctuations of an active array.
"The Nine-Clan Blood-Binding Array," the Plague Rat scoffed. "Sacrificing blood relatives to squeeze out energy. It's an old, pathetic array that only an idiot like Nie Hailong would treat like a treasure."
"Go and dismantle it," Chen Zhou ordered.
"You're ordering 'Lord Rat' around again?" The Plague Rat's fur bristled instantly, but when it heard Chen Zhou add, "When we get back, I'll treat you to golden garlic braised snake, hibiscus steamed snake slices, and salt-and-pepper crispy snake ribs," it immediately beamed with joy.
"Then you're not allowed to lie to this rat!"
Before its voice had even finished echoing, the Plague Rat transformed into a gray shadow and darted into the depths of the lake, afraid Chen Zhou would change his mind.
A moment later, the lake water vibrated violently, and hundreds of snake demon corpses floated to the surface.
Some were already shriveled, some still had faint breaths left, and a few were even alive, though their flesh energy was extremely thin, having been over-extracted.
Among them was a mutant white snake, as white as jade with eyes gleaming with a faint pink luster, looking exceptionally prominent among the mass of black snakes.
The white snake's vitality was remarkably resilient; although it was too weak to even lift its head, its body remained intact.
'Nie Hailong hatched so many eggs, and he actually managed to hatch a Shiny Pokémon? A rare albino variant.'
As soon as the white snake was freed, it spun once on the water's surface and transformed into a young girl with white hair and pink eyes.
The girl wore a plain white dress, her skin nearly translucent in its whiteness. Her face was pale as she knelt on the water, her voice trembling slightly.
"This small demon, Nie Chaoxi, thanks the Immortal Master for his life-saving grace."
She didn't dare look up, nor did she dare beg for mercy.
While trapped at the bottom of the lake, she had heard the slaughter on the shore, Nie Hailong’s death, and the Plague Rat’s ferocity clearly. She was at their mercy and had no choice.
Chen Zhou looked at her, a look of surprise in his eyes.
This was his first time seeing a demon beast transform into human form.
Furthermore, this white snake not only had a human form, but the demon qi on her body was so faint it was almost non-existent. There wasn't a hint of bloodthirsty aura; instead, she emanated a spiritual energy characteristic of human cultivators.
"Even a bad tree can bear good fruit?" The Plague Rat also scurried over, its eyes lighting up as it stared at the white snake, drool almost leaking out.
"This is a spirit beast! It doesn't rely on devouring flesh and blood but cultivates using spiritual energy alone. A spirit beast can transform at the second-stage. Its meat is a great tonic, just like the flesh of a human cultivator!"
Hearing this, the white snake felt a wave of despair. Her body trembled even more violently, yet she continued to kneel stiffly on the spot, not daring to move an inch.
Chen Zhou pondered for a moment and decided to take this Shiny Pokémon back to see if she could work for him.
If she did well, he’d keep her; if not, slaughtering her for meat wouldn't be a loss either!
Rate on N.U.
