Chapter 8: This Immortal Sounds a Bit Weak

“Phew, so refreshing!”

Feeling the winter sun warm his skin, Feng Xue adjusted the position and angle of his solar-powered charger, thoroughly at ease as he continued on his way. He had to admit, the ghost girl’s service was exhausting—and with memory suppression, that one night had completely purged all the pressure and resentment he’d accumulated since his transmigration.

Watching Feng Xue like this, the white snake finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up:

“How did you even do that?”

“What do you mean, ‘how’?” Feng Xue, delighted to have someone to talk to after the white snake had been silent since turning into a ring, casually replied while scanning the ground beside the ruined temple for traces of a path.

“Those two evil ghosts! They successfully possessed you, yet you didn’t even lose a drop of yang energy, let alone your primordial yang. Your blood and qi are normal, you didn’t set up any altar—so are you some ancient great demon? But that doesn’t make sense! If you were a demon, the mouth seal shouldn’t have worked at all… Wait, now I get it—you could turn into a ring! This isn’t a mouth seal at all, it’s demonic magic!”

“Whoa!” Feng Xue’s eyes lit up as he listened to the white snake’s increasingly excited muttering. Hadn’t he risked offending demons just to get a personal cultivation guide?

Judging by this, the white snake clearly knew a lot.

“Blood and qi, ritual altars… Is this the human cultivator system in this world? I wonder if this little snake has any detailed cultivation techniques.”

A strong sense of joy rose in Feng Xue’s heart, but he immediately suppressed it.

Though the mouth seal test had indeed achieved multiple goals—testing his golden finger and the seal system, and delivering a warning—it had also created enemies. Now, even if she knew something, she probably wouldn’t tell him. And even if she did, he wouldn’t dare practice it.

After all, cultivation techniques—if even a single character is wrong, or if there’s the slightest misunderstanding in interpretation, the consequences are catastrophic.

Fortunately, the past half-month of counting down the days since his transmigration had greatly strengthened his mindset. After a moment, he calmed his restlessness and desire, and said:

“I’m not a demon. I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Liar!” The white snake didn’t believe a word of Feng Xue’s sincere words:

An ordinary person couldn't possibly survive being haunted by two evil ghosts all night!

“They were just too greedy. If they’d only wanted a sip, they might’ve succeeded. But they went straight for killing me from the start.”

The white snake didn’t believe this nonsensical answer at all, but she didn’t argue back. Seeing her silent, Feng Xue turned the question around:

“Alright, I answered your question. Now, shouldn’t you answer mine?”

“My life’s in your hands—why waste words? Just ask what you want!” The white snake spoke bluntly, though she didn’t even realize her tone mirrored exactly the defiance Feng Xue had shown when she’d grabbed his collar yesterday.

Feng Xue didn’t think much of it. He continued checking the ground before the ruined temple, speaking slowly:

“Where did you hear about evil ghosts, ritual altars, blood and qi? From elders? Ancient scrolls? Or is it inherited memory?”

“I’m not from the demon race. I heard this from other demons.” The white snake saw no need to hide this, but Feng Xue caught another key word—

“Demon race.”

“So this world has a complete cultivation system. The demon race must be those born as demons, and the white snake is probably one who awakened her spirit later in life.”

He quickly analyzed this in his mind, then shifted his gaze. He didn’t press further about the origin of demon cultivation techniques. First, he didn’t even know if he could use them. Second, such fundamental knowledge—she’d never give it up willingly.

They were still in the early stage of communication. Better not ask sensitive questions yet.

He fell silent, continuing to pick at the weeds on the ground. Logically, before this temple fell into ruin, there must have been a path running past it.

In his previous world, many young people born in cities might not understand what a country dirt path was—not a crumbling cement road, nor a gravel path, but one formed entirely by constant foot traffic.

Such paths, if left unused, would quickly be swallowed by weeds. But no matter what, ground compacted by long-term trampling was always less hospitable to weeds than loose soil. As long as the time hadn’t been too long, traces would still be visible.

This world didn’t seem to defy common sense. Soon, he spotted a faint path hidden among the weeds.

“Hey, do you know how this path became overgrown?”

Feng Xue expected the demon snake to reply, “First, don’t call me ‘hey,’” but she didn’t seem to care at all, responding naturally:

“It used to be the road villagers from the north took to the county market. Then the village disappeared, so fewer people came. Later, those two evil ghosts showed up, killed more people, and now no one comes at all.”

“North… so south is the county?” Feng Xue checked his compass, skipping the obvious question about why the village vanished, and asked the more fundamental one:

“How do you know about humans?”

“That temple used to be the Fox Immortal Temple. A fox immortal lived there and told stories about the human world to demons in the nearby mountains… She even taught the method of mouth seals.”

The white snake’s tone carried a hint of nostalgia. Feng Xue’s ears perked up at the word “immortal,” but seeing the temple now occupied by evil ghosts, he frowned:

“Did those two evil ghosts drive away the fox immortal?”

“Impossible!” The white snake’s voice shot up like a startled cat, shouting loudly:

“Fox Immortal Grandma is a great demon who cultivated into an immortal! Those two newly turned evil ghosts couldn’t possibly match her! Years ago, humans invited her away to become a protective spirit and live in comfort—that’s why the two evil ghosts took over.”

“Protective spirit… Out-Ma spirit? That’s a lowly rank!” Feng Xue thought to himself, but he was intrigued by the phrase “great demon cultivated into immortal,” so he asked:

“Since the demons in these mountains owe her favors, didn’t anyone come to drive out the evil ghosts?”

Hearing this, the white snake’s voice lost its earlier volume. She replied calmly: “Demons who achieved cultivation long ago went to live in comfort among humans. The mountains are full of those who haven’t even taken form. The evil ghosts can’t harm us, and we can’t harm them. The temple itself has no divine power—who’d bother?”

“So evil ghosts and minor demons can’t harm each other? Those two ghosts only seem to have abilities like inducing sleep or dreams—they can’t affect reality. So demons are immune to ghostly illusions? Come to think of it, the white snake’s phrasing when mentioning evil ghosts is odd. It’s not a general term for ‘ghosts,’ is it? More like a cultivation realm, similar to Foundation Establishment or Golden Core?”

(End of Chapter)