Chapter 166: Spirit Card? Trash Card?

Time rolled back slightly—when Li En was dragged into the room, he casually tossed the Spirit Tome aside.

Li En did not instinctively draw a card in his confusion; in fact, he did nothing at all.

The spirit—or whatever it was, hardly even a spirit—arrived in a way unlike any other spirit.

"Huh? There's my karmic thread."

Some beings, even in death, do not mean total annihilation.

In the void, or at the end of the karmic chain, a colossal figure long deemed forever lost sensed its karmic thread being tugged.

So, it flicked its tail.

At another coordinate in time and space, Li En's Spirit Tome opened on its own.

It flipped rapidly, landing on a random spirit card.

Then, the random spirit card activated instantly!

The spirit card floated above the Tome, its image flickering endlessly.

Finally, as the image on the card began to manifest into a humanoid figure hovering midair, its pupils glowed with spiritual lightning—clearly an immensely powerful spiritual adept—

"If I might be summoned in the future, then being summoned early is only natural."

That's right—this spirit came on its own!

At the end of time and space, where nothing should exist, a void being casually spoke—and once again disrupted reality.

【Spirit Tome v2 detected a Spirit Relic】

【Random Summoning halted. Next spirit locked. Random draw changed to targeted acquisition.】

【Spirit locked target: %&#】

So, %&# arrived.

This being, too powerful and twisted, could not be recorded or even gazed upon by mortals; to prevent its return, the entire world had forgotten it. Yet everyone knew—if it wished to return, no one could stop it!

This time, merely because "itself" muttered "its own name," it decided to come back and take a look.

It slowly crawled out of the Tome—but not in the form of the little black snake that followed.

A grotesque, twisted, colossal shadow leaked slowly from the Tome, impossible to behold.

It filled the room, filled the street, filled the entire city, filled this underground world.

At this moment, even the Divine Maiden, even the hidden divine will of the city, sensed only a faint oppression—as if something had looked upon them.

When all around was itself, it laughed merrily—and learned of everything that had just occurred.

It slowly lowered its gaze, transcending spatial limits, and saw its own spirit card.

Above it: a twisted, boundless black shadow of the cosmos. Below: the garbled name "%&#."

It frowned. The Spirit Tome's inability to record its existence was only natural.

A messy drawing was acceptable, but a garbled name? That was going too far.

"Tch. Racial discrimination against us beasts again." It casually attributed its own absurd, unrecordable reality to racial bias.

Anyway, it wasn't my fault.

Under its gaze, the Spirit Tome was rewritten!

The image became a cute little black snake. Then, as it observed and described itself, its form gradually shrank—becoming nothing more than an ordinary-looking serpent.

The returned being had no interest in the two on the bed; it simply took the Tome and walked to the lobby.

Over these four days, it wandered the streets, visited the surface, explored the upper planes (Heaven Mountain), and wandered the deep abyss (demon homeland). It didn't want anyone to see it—and truly, few beings could.

It was dead—or rather, for the sake of the Thousand-Faced Dragon's existence and reincarnation, it had been forced to die.

But if it truly wished to return, who could stop it? After all—

"Me? I'm a snake. Just an ordinary snake."

As it spoke, it patted its Spirit Tome. The writhing little snake on the card finally stilled.

It shifted slightly, revealing its name.

【Snake】

Yes—that was it. "%&#" was Snake.

It was the origin of Li En's beastification, the origin of all Snake Magical Girls, the origin of the war between beasts and beastfolk—and arguably the historical origin of the modern beastfolk era.

"Uh… you're not the snake I know," Li En fell silent for a moment, thinking it must be a member of the Violet Rose clan.

Who knew the Thousand-Faced Dragon was this powerful—it could reincarnate entire beast tribes! Li En strained to think in that direction!

Please, please don't be that "Snake."

"Sssss."

The little black snake happily flicked its tongue, clearly amused by Li En's ostrich-like pretense of ignorance. It shook its head, and a phantom image appeared before Li En.

It was a memory—an ancient vision.

Beneath a towering tree, apes played and frolicked.

A small black snake slowly slithered down the trunk.

Its tail coiled around a bright red apple.

"Hungry? This lovely forbidden fruit is delicious. Will you trade your peaceful life for emotion and wisdom?"

The tempting serpent uttered a chilling declaration.

Most apes ignored it—but one pair seemed curious. They were—

【Beastification increased by 20%! Beastification underwent anomalous instability! High-risk source detected! Evade immediately! Evade!】

Li En jolted awake, slamming his eyes shut—but it was too late!

Unnoticed, his body was now covered in black scales, and black blood streamed from his pupils.

His entire form twisted utterly—half-man, half-dragon now became half-man, half-snake.

"Sorry, sorry. Didn't realize you were this weak. Let's try again."

The little black snake flicked its tail once more.

Instantly, Li En's beastification level dropped—the monstrous scaled form reverted to flesh and blood.

Li En stared at his own fleshy arm, utterly incredulous.

Theoretically, this was impossible! Beastification was irreversible!

Li En was completely stunned. Was this truly "Snake"? Was this the very being who birthed the current race?

That scene bore the unmistakable signature of Li Ensu's cruel humor. Was this, then, the true history of this world?

Was all of this—the current beastfolk civilization—merely the joke of this being?

"No, no—I'm a victim too. I'm just one ordinary member of the Thousand-Faced Dragon. I'm no different from Kuku or Su'er. I only learned I was you… right before I was killed."

Could he believe that? Li En gave a bitter smile. If this really was that lord, he had no reason to lie.

". o, I might lie just for fun. I came here specifically for amusement. If toys give up too easily, it's boring."

Fine. Li En retracted his "thoughts." Can't these spirits respect my privacy?

Snake glanced at him, then shook its head and sighed.

Too weak. Came too early. If I truly started playing, I'd kill him instantly—and that would be no fun at all.

For now, I'll just watch.

"Let me be clear—I won't teach you anything. I won't seek disciples. I won't even let others see me." Translation: you, spirit master, will spend your remaining ten-plus days doing absolutely nothing.

"Uh… what can you even do?" Li En was numb. Drawing a powerhouse should be good—but isn't this going too far? Am I just wasting my draw?

"It's for your own good. If I did anything, interfered with the world, the ripples would be a cataclysm for you and everyone around you. You're right to think this—congratulations. You drew a trash card. Yay, bad luck!"

Snake said smugly, enjoying Li En's twisted expression.

Li En took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. Compared to Kuku, this little snake was merely average in annoyingness.

It—merely by its identity—was absolutely not a trash card.

Even if it did nothing, it was his only path to the truth.

"You… are the truth of the Thousand-Faced Dragon?" This might be his chance to end everything.

Was the entire cycle of the Thousand-Faced Dragon's reincarnation orchestrated by this being? What was its purpose?

Dragons and snakes are sometimes indistinguishable. Could "Thousand-Faced Dragon" refer to "Snake"?

"No. You are the Thousand-Faced Dragon. I'm just a snake—a poor, forced, arranged beast. I'm a victim too. I'm no different from you."

Li En didn't believe a word. He thought for a moment, then rephrased.

"Are you the first Thousand-Faced Dragon? Are you the strongest?" This was the question Li En had long prepared—waiting for a spirit old enough to answer.

Hearing this, the little black snake laughed. It had waited a long time for this question.

But it only flicked its tail—and uttered an even more unbearable "truth."

"No. I'm not even among the earliest. As for strength—I don't even rank in the top ten."

(End of chapter)