Power coursed through Luo Zhen, a raw, electric current of pure energy. He had devoured the Ghost-Headed Tiger's century-worth of accumulated power, and the feeling was intoxicating.
"Status report," he thought, the words directed at the silent partner in his mind.
"Five hundred and eighty thousand experience points, Host," the System replied, its voice crisp and clear in his consciousness.
For a hundred years, the Ghost-Headed Tiger had ruled Ghost Fiend Mountain, a tyrant hoarding spirit stones and rare herbs. For a beast of its simple nature, the treasure was largely symbolic. For Luo Zhen, it was rocket fuel.
"A suggestion, Host," the System interjected. "Spend five hundred thousand points and unlock the entire world map. Trust me. You're in for a surprise."
Luo Zhen recoiled at the thought. "Five hundred thousand? All at once? I've never burned through that much power in my life." He hesitated, his serpent tongue flicking through the air. "Still… to see everything at a glance—every human kingdom, every rival beast faction… it would be a permanent solution to the unknown."
He made his choice. Do it.
The moment the points were spent, his internal map exploded with light. For a few heart-stopping seconds, everything was a blinding white. Then, the light receded, and the world came into focus.
Luo Zhen's jaw would have dropped if he'd had one.
"I'm on an… island?"
The landmass he'd thought was the entire world was just a speck labeled 'Silver Flood Dragon Island.' It was massive, to be sure—tens of thousands of miles across—but it was surrounded by an endless expanse of ocean. An island. A glorified rock in the sea.
His perspective was shattered. He zoomed out, his mind reeling. A handful of smaller islands dotted the waters nearby. And beyond them, looming like a titan, was a continent so vast it stole his breath: the Savage Continent.
A cold hiss escaped him. This whole time, he'd been a big fish in a tiny, isolated pond. And what lay beyond the Savage Continent? More continents? More oceans?
The scale of it was terrifying. It took him a full ten seconds to wrestle his shock into submission.
"This was your surprise?" he asked the System, a note of bitter irony in his thoughts.
"Now you see the true scope of things," it replied. "But don't lose heart. You can devour and evolve. With my help, the pinnacle of this world is still within your reach."
A spark of defiance ignited in Luo Zhen. You're right. I'm not just some common snake.
His ambition returned, sharper than before. "But no matter how big the world is, it's a problem for another day. Right now, I need to master what's in front of me."
He focused back on the map, his attention zeroed in on Silver Flood Dragon Island. Details flooded his mind. The island was named for a clan of Silver Flood Dragons that patrolled the surrounding waters—the same kind of beast whose corpse he'd found sealed at the bottom of Blackwater Lake.
Three human kingdoms shared the island: Lu, Wu, and his own, Eastern Yue. Lu was the strongest, Eastern Yue the weakest. A sprawling desert consumed the entire western half of the island, a vast and desolate no-man ''' ''s-land.
As he absorbed the new intelligence, the world kept turning. And in the capital of Eastern Yue, the consequences of his last battle were just beginning to unfold.
In a hidden chamber of the royal palace, the air was thick with the scent of blood and incense. The white-robed elder of the Li family—the man who had escaped Ghost Fiend Mountain with his life, but little else—lay broken on a silk bed. A ragged cough shook his frame, and he spat a clot of dark blood onto a nearby cloth.
The room was crowded with somber figures. King Li Cheng stood beside the bed, but he was outnumbered by the core experts of the Li family, the true power in the kingdom.
"If I had known that serpent was so powerful," the old man rasped, his voice filled with regret, "I would never have provoked it. We failed to take the mountain, and now… Fifth Brother is dead." His voice cracked. "He had just reached the Sky Profound Realm. I led him to his death."
Silence hung heavy in the room.
Finally, a younger family member stepped forward. "Patriarch, what's done is done. We know you acted for the good of the family. The question is, what now? Will that creature come for us? I've heard snakes hold grudges like no other."
A murmur of fear went through the crowd. "If it comes to the capital, we can't stop it!"
"Enough!" The patriarch coughed again, silencing them all. As the family's only Sky Profound martial artist, his authority was absolute. "That demon is beyond our power to handle alone. To defeat it, we need help."
"We have two allies," another elder noted. "The Kingdom of Wu and the Kingdom of Lu. Which do we petition?"
The patriarch let out a weary sigh. "Our only real choice is Wu."
King Li Cheng, his nephew, looked confused. "But Second Uncle, Lu is far stronger! They have a Nascent Soul master watching over them. Wu's best are merely at the Core Formation Realm."
The old man gave him a pitying look. "And do you think a god bothers himself with the squabbles of insects? To a Nascent Soul master, a Sky Profound serpent is nothing. Lu wouldn't even grant us an audience. Our only hope is Wu. Their Core Formation experts are strong enough to crush this serpent, but not so powerful that they see us as beneath their notice."
A wave of relief and excitement washed over the room.
"One Core Formation expert from Wu could annihilate that beast with ease!" someone exclaimed.
"Exactly," the patriarch said, nodding. "Now go. Figure out what price we must pay to secure their aid. I need to rest."
With deep bows, the family members departed. Soon after, a grand caravan of over a hundred carriages, each laden with priceless treasures, rolled out of the palace gates, its destination set for the Kingdom of Wu.
The Uninvited Guest
Ghost Fiend Mountain was alive with energy. At Luo Zhen's summons, the chieftains of every demonic beast clan in Eastern Yue had gathered for his 'Mountain-Paying Respect Assembly.' It was a power play, plain and simple. He had killed their former master, but they hadn't seen it. Now, they would see his power for themselves.
They stood assembled on the mountain's peak, an unruly crowd of monstrous beings. When all had arrived, Luo Zhen let his aura flare.
A crushing wave of demonic pressure slammed down on the assembly, forcing the chieftains to their knees.
"Sky Profound Realm!" one of them gasped in awe. "He's as powerful as the Ghost-Headed Tiger was!"
"We pledge our loyalty to the Golden Snake Mountain Master!" another roared, and the cry was taken up by the rest.
Luo Zhen nodded, satisfied. But just as he was about to speak, the System's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Host, inbound. A human martial artist, early Core Formation Realm. And he's moving fast."
Luo Zhen froze. "His objective?"
"He's radiating killing intent. He's already halfway up the mountain."
Luo Zhen slithered to the edge of the peak and peered down. A streak of white was ascending the mountain at an impossible speed. A few seconds later, the figure vaulted over the cliff edge and landed silently in their midst.
The demonic chieftains bristled. "Who are you?!" "A human dares trespass here?"
The man was in his forties, with long hair and a yellow sword strapped to his back. He looked around, a smirk playing on his lips as he sized up the demonic host.
"Name: Wu Ye," the System supplied. "Affiliation: Wu Kingdom Royal Family. Weapon: Foundation Stone Sword, a magical artifact. Be careful, Host."
"Well, well," Wu Ye said, his voice dripping with condescension. "Look at all you beasts, playing at being civilized. I see a few of you have even managed to reach the Earth Profound Realm. Impressive, for vermin."
One of the chieftains, a bull demon, snorted. "We are here to attend our new master's assembly. You are the one who is trespassing!"
"An assembly?" Wu Ye threw his head back and laughed, a loud, mocking sound. "You filthy things are mimicking our human traditions now? That's hilarious."
A pig demon, incensed, bellowed, "Insolent human, die!" It opened its maw and unleashed a pillar of fire thick as a tree trunk.
Wu Ye didn't even flinch. He casually raised a single finger and tapped the air. The raging inferno vanished as if it had never existed.
A stunned silence fell over the beasts.
Luo Zhen's voice cut through the tension, cold and deadly. "You're a long way from the Kingdom of Wu. State your purpose."
Wu Ye's eyes snapped to him, a flicker of surprise in their depths. "Oh? You know who I am. I've been watching you. The only one here at the Sky Profound Realm. You must be the serpent who gave the Li family so much trouble."
"They sent you," Luo Zhen stated. It wasn't a question.
"They did," Wu Ye confirmed, his smirk turning into a predator's grin. "They paid a king's ransom for your head."
A wave of derisive laughter erupted from the demonic chieftains.
"Is this human mad?"
"He thinks he can kill Lord Golden Snake?"
"Even the Ghost-Headed Tiger fell to our master! What chance does this fool have?"
"He snuffed out one little fire, and now he thinks he's a god!"
The jeers and taunts filled the air. Wu Ye simply listened, his smile growing wider.
"You think I'm courting death?" he finally asked, his voice suddenly dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You think I'm overestimating myself?"
He let the question hang in the air for a moment.
"Then open your worthless eyes and see the truth."
He roared, and an invisible force exploded from his body. The air grew heavy, thick with an unseen pressure that crushed the laughter in the demons' throats and buckled their knees. It was a power so far beyond Luo Zhen's own that it felt like a physical mountain pressing down on them.