Chapter 20: The White Snake Seems to Have Noticed Something

“Wu wu wu~ wu wu wu~”

Feng Xue awoke from cultivation, not because his divine art had reached completion or from extreme hunger, but because of the sobbing sound beside his ear.

Unable to calm his mind, Feng Xue sighed, turned his head, walked to the window, and picked up the ring.

“What are you crying about? What’s wrong now?”

“I’m not clean anymore! Wu wu wu wu~~~~~~!”

“What the hell?” Feng Xue, startled by the white snake’s sudden outburst, immediately glanced out the window—and only then realized his room was the highest floor of the inn.

“No one can urinate from a window upstairs? Birds? But would a wild creature even care about this?”

Feng Xue couldn’t understand the white snake’s thinking, but upon hearing this, the snake cried even harder—

“It’s all your fault! All your fault! Who trains like you?! While drawing lunar essence, I accidentally absorbed your primal qi! Wu wu wu! Now it’s ruined! My Taiyin body! Wu wu wu…”

The white snake’s emotional turmoil was evident from the pile of exclamation marks, but the novice Feng Xue simply didn’t understand what was going on, and could only reply dryly:

“Just spit it out if you swallowed the wrong thing.”

“It’s already mixed together! How do you spit it out?!” The white snake actually laughed at this, her sobs cutting off abruptly as she gave up entirely: “I’m not a demon race—I can only cultivate by drawing Taiyin lunar essence. Since becoming a demon, I’ve absorbed nothing but Taiyin lunar essence, so I’m a Taiyin body, with the highest absorption and cultivation efficiency. Now that your primal qi is mixed in, my demonic qi turns into Shaoyin qi, halving my ability to draw Taiyin lunar essence, and shifting my optimal cultivation time from night to dusk—when the lunar essence hasn’t even descended yet. Unless I find a scripture to cultivate twilight aura, or simply use human essence to cultivate, no matter how I train, I’ll get less than a quarter of the results. Even if I die and reincarnate as a demon immortal, I’ll still be worse than others. Wu wu wu, my whole life is ruined because of this! No, it was ruined the moment I met you! I never should’ve seen you in the first place! If I hadn’t seen you, I wouldn’t have wanted to beg for a tongue-seal. If I hadn’t begged for a tongue-seal, I wouldn’t have…”

I’m not of the demon race—I can only cultivate by absorbing Yin Moonlight. Since becoming a demon, I’ve only ever drawn in Yin Moonlight, so I’m a Yin Body, with the highest absorption and cultivation efficiency. Now that your Qi has mixed into mine, my demonic aura has turned into Lesser Yin Qi, cutting my Yin Moonlight absorption in half, and the optimal cultivation time has shifted from night to dusk—when the moon hasn’t even risen yet. Unless I find a technique to cultivate Dusk Qi or directly consume human essence, no matter how I cultivate, I’ll achieve less than a quarter of my previous results. Even if I die and reincarnate as a demon immortal, I’ll still be inferior to others. Waaah—I’m ruined for life! No, I was ruined the moment I met you! I never should’ve seen you in the first place, and after seeing you, I never should’ve asked for a tongue-seal. If I hadn’t asked for a tongue-seal, I wouldn’t have…

“Then just remove your cultivation.”

“Huh?!” The white snake’s crying stopped dead. She gasped in terror: “H-how could that be so easy?! If I disperse my demonic qi, I’ll die! I’ll really die! Don’t do anything reckless! Don’t!”

Hearing her terrified cries, Feng Xue laughed. He’d long wanted an opportunity to test this trick—not to torment the snake, but simply to prove he had such power. Empty words wouldn’t convince a snake. He hadn’t acted before because there was no occasion, and doing it randomly might have created enmity. But now, removing her cultivation was helping her cultivate—how could he miss this chance?

So Feng Xue placed the ring on the table, pointed a finger, and barked: “You look like an animal!”

Hearing the little white snake’s terrified cry, Feng Xue laughed. He’d long wanted an opportunity to test this technique—not to torment her, but simply to make her know he had such power. Empty words alone wouldn’t make a snake believe him.

A flash of white light, and a flood of yin-cold energy spilled out, instantly dispersing the primal qi that had filled the room from Feng Xue’s self-exhaustion. If the two ghosts previously cheated of their essence had seen this, they’d likely have immediately ascended to red-eyed malevolent spirits—whether from absorbing primal qi, yin energy, or simply from the waste of vital energy… no one could say for sure.

Feng Xue didn’t care either way. He simply waited quietly as the mist cleared, then saw the white snake, limp and flattened against the table—

“Wu wu wu! I cultivated for forty years! Forty years! You ruined it! Wu wu wu…”

“Still able to speak? But lifespan… let me calculate—holy shit? Still over eighty years left? Oh! I get it. Only the cultivation and its attached lifespan and traits were stripped. Passive abilities granted by the tongue-seal—like refining the lingual bone and speaking human speech—are still intact.” Feng Xue nodded thoughtfully, then pointed again: “You look like a person!”

A flash of white light released a flood of cold Yin energy, instantly dispersing the Qi that had filled the room from Feng Xue’s self-exhaustion. If those two previously cheated ghosts could see this now, they’d likely ascend straight to Red-Eyed Malevolent Ghosts—whether from absorbing Qi, Yin energy, or simply wasting life energy… no one could say for sure.

Feng Xue didn’t care either way. He simply waited quietly as the transformation mist cleared, then saw the limp little white snake slumped against the desk—

The white snake lay slumped on the table, staring at Feng Xue with a gaze so desolate it bordered on venomous. Somehow, it felt slightly lewd—Feng Xue found himself struggling to hold back…

“Still able to speak? But lifespan… let me calculate—holy shit? Over eighty years left? Oh! I get it. Only the lifespan and traits granted by cultivation were stripped away. The passive abilities granted by the tongue-seal—like refining the tongue-bone and speaking human speech—remain intact.” Feng Xue nodded thoughtfully, then pointed again—

“I’m not playing. You said your demonic qi was contaminated, so I removed it. So what if you lost forty years of cultivation? Rebuild it!”

The white snake lay there, utterly defeated, voice weak: “It’s not that simple! I originally relied on… hey? Huh? Huh? Huh?!”

Mid-sentence, the white snake suddenly gasped, eyes wide, face filled with disbelief—

“Heavens! How is this possible? This… this…”

Mid-sentence, her beautiful face crumpled. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at Feng Xue meekly: “Uh… your primal qi hasn’t fully dispersed yet…”

“Oh~” Feng Xue let out a melodious sigh, amused. The white snake wanted to bury her face in the floor, but demons understood the law of the strong far better than humans. She immediately scrambled up, approaching him with a pleading expression: “Um… could you remove it again?”

“That’ll mean insulting you,” Feng Xue raised an eyebrow, wearing a look of saintly innocence. The white snake gritted her teeth but forced a sweet smile: “It’s fine! Just two insults! I’m a snake anyway! Insult me, go ahead!”

“And after that?” Feng Xue raised an eyebrow, smugly echoing the tone of “Madam, you wouldn’t want…” The white snake clenched her teeth: “I’ll obey you—except for that… uh… ‘assisting your cultivation.’ You can do anything else!”

“Still got a mouth on you,” Feng Xue thought strangely. Isn’t she just supposed to be his cultivation dictionary? Why resist so much, like he was killing her?

He recalled the fox immortal grandmother mentioned earlier. Perhaps this was connected—maybe the fox immortal taught her something absolutely forbidden to reveal.

He let it go. After all, she hadn’t refused to answer before. If she refuses later, he won’t press.

He pointed his finger again: “You look like an animal!”

“Oh~” Feng Xue let out a melodious, amused sigh. The little white snake wanted to bury her face in the floor, but demons clearly understood the law of the strong better than humans. She immediately scrambled up the table and slithered eagerly toward Feng Xue—

“You look like a person!”

“That would mean cursing you!” Feng Xue raised an eyebrow, wearing the face of a good man. The little white snake gritted her teeth but forced a pleading smile—

One mist hadn’t cleared before another rose. The white snake immediately tried to resume cultivation, but Feng Xue grabbed her: “What are you doing? Addicted already? Wait until the primal qi disperses before training!”

“Oh…” The white snake obediently shrank into the corner by the window, but couldn’t resist sneaking a breath outside.

“Wow! It’s true! My talent’s improved again! Now one night’s cultivation might equal months of past effort? If so, I’ll regain my cultivation in under half a year! No wonder everyone wants a tongue-seal—it’s amazing!”

As the white snake mused inwardly, she suddenly heard Feng Xue’s voice behind her:

“Your presence unsettles me. You look like a ring!”

Thinking this over, he let it go. After all, she’d never refused to answer before; if she ever refuses again, he’d simply not press her.

(End of chapter)

"You look like an animal!"

"Bang!"

"You look like a person!"

"Bang!"

Before the first wisp of smoke had faded, another rose—and the white snake immediately tried to resume cultivation, but Feng Xue pinned it down—

"What are you doing? Addicted already? Wait till the Qi disperses before you train again!"

"Oh..." The white snake obediently shrank into the corner by the window, but couldn't resist sneaking a breath through the windowpane.

"Wow! So it’s true! My quality has improved again! With just one night’s cultivation, I might match what used to take months of grueling practice? If this keeps up, I’ll recover my cultivation in less than half a year! No wonder everyone wants a sealed mouth—this is incredible!"

As the white snake was muttering to itself, it suddenly heard Feng Xue's voice behind it—

"You're making it impossible for me to focus. You look like a ring!"

"Bang!"

(End of Chapter)