After the County Magistrate investigated the matter of the Guo household, he went to Yun'er's grave and saw the White Snake guarding it with his own eyes. Once he learned the full story, the County Magistrate admired the White Snake for slaughtering evil men to avenge a kindness, deeply moved that even the birds and beasts of the mountains possessed feelings.
Afterward, some bored yamen runners at the County Yamen sighed.
"The White Snake slaughtered an entire household in fury over a kindness. Who says the birds and beasts of the mountains are heartless?"
The matter of murder was muddled through just like that. Some people wanted the authorities to do something, only to be rebuffed. The County Yamen's meaning was simple: if you could do it, then go ahead. They could tell you where the White Snake was, so long as you dared to go. Thinking of how the head of some small rural clan had once led a group into the mountains to catch snakes and gotten a heap of people killed, talk of avenging Steward Guo quietly died away.
The White Snake had no interest in knowing what became of the matter. Once a person died, the lamp went out. She returned to the mountains in desolation and continued cultivating.
With Yun'er gone, she no longer had any desire to leave the mountains and take a look around. She obediently remained within her own territory, eating, sleeping, and cultivating. Coiled beneath a tree, she watched the winds and clouds. The ginkgo leaves turned golden, and fluttering golden leaves drifted onto the giant white snake, lending her an added touch of poetic charm. Cultivation was a lonely road, like this ancient ginkgo standing quietly as it watched all comings and goings.
For the White Snake, cultivation was a slow journey of accumulation. What mattered was persistence and never giving up. There were no secret manuals, no master, and no experience of any kind—only day after day of accumulation.
She had considered seeking Spirit Grass and medicinal herbs to eat in order to speed up her cultivation, but Spirit Grass and medicinal herbs were not so easily found. Even if she found some, Fierce Beasts would be guarding them nearby. Animal instinct made those Fierce Beasts regard Spirit Grass and medicinal herbs as treasures. To seize them would inevitably mean fighting, and in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the greatest taboo was injury. Injury meant a decline in strength, and a decline in strength meant death.
On ordinary days, the White Snake either coiled atop rocks or wrapped herself around ancient trees. She also went to the water pit halfway up the mountain to cultivate.
Occasionally, animals came before the White Snake. Most merely stared at the strange white snake, then hurried away, afraid that the giant snake would awaken and treat them as food.
Every day except rainy ones, she went for a swim in the deep pool, washing away the fishy scent from her body.
After fresh rain in the empty mountains, clear springs flowed over stones.
The White Snake discovered that she was gradually growing fond of rainy days and playing in water. This was already drifting farther and farther from what a snake ought to do. The benefit was that her scales became whiter and smoother, increasingly pleasing to the eye.
When one immersed oneself wholeheartedly in something, the passage of time seemed to go unnoticed.
More than ten years slipped away...
Upon a huge boulder at the Mountain Peak, a White Snake slowly writhed and crawled, using the sharp edges of the stone to scrape open the old skin around her head. Then she gradually shed herself from the old skin. The entire process lasted around fifteen minutes. After shedding, she rested for half a day. Her body had already reached eight meters in length—a size that could be called exceedingly rare.
Now, when she used Breath Control amid the clouds and mist atop the mountain, she could draw in mist from within two meters. Her progress had been tremendous.
There were countless birds and beasts that stepped onto the path of cultivation, but most were carnivorous Fierce Beasts or animals with strong survival abilities. Small herbivores, as well as plants and trees that gained Spiritual Intelligence, were exceedingly rare. There was no helping it: carnivorous animals or larger beasts possessed more vigorous Qi and Blood and stronger survival abilities, giving them greater chances of awakening Spiritual Intelligence. For those poor in combat ability, crossing that threshold required immense fortune. For flowers, grasses, and trees, cultivation was harder still.
Near the White Snake's territory was a low-level spirit creature that had awakened Spiritual Intelligence: a Grey Wolf. There might have been other spirit creatures elsewhere, but they were too far apart and had never come into contact.
The Grey Wolf was different from the White Snake. Wolves were highly aggressive by nature, cruel and cunning. After learning that a huge White Snake lived nearby, the wolf began provoking her again and again.
Beasts that had begun to understand cultivation possessed one ability that they basically learned without a teacher: devouring powerful prey to obtain bloody sustenance and strengthen themselves.
The White Snake was lazy. Most of the time, she obtained the wandering energy between heaven and earth through Breath Control. Using her sense of smell, she avoided the Grey Wolf, either climbing to the Mountain Peak or diving into the deep pool. After all, from the years she had spent as a human in her previous life, she still feared wolves greatly. She had intended to avoid the Grey Wolf until he shifted his target, but who would have thought he would take her for a soft persimmon?
At last, the White Snake, her bloody and combative instincts stirred, decided to kill the detestable Grey Wolf!
After some preparations, the Grey Wolf indeed came again, drooling as he provoked her. In his eyes, the White Snake was prime meat; eating her would strengthen him and make him even more powerful. He paid no attention to the site of their final battle.
The two beasts faced each other. The Grey Wolf, built like a small calf, hunched his back, bent low, and growled. The White Snake hissed.
"Hiss~!"
She opened her mouth, revealing sharp venomous fangs as she gave a warning hiss, but the Grey Wolf had no intention of retreating.
There was no nonsense, no superfluous movement, and no so-called probing. The instant the two Fierce Beasts clashed, they fought to the death...
Within scenery as picturesque as an immortal realm, the two beasts battled with their lives on the line!
The White Snake deliberately exposed an opening, using her own body as bait to lure the Grey Wolf close. The instant his jaws bit into her, her own jaws accurately sank into his back and injected venom. The needle-sharp Wolf Hair Brush pierced her mouth until blood flowed freely. Her body was bitten, Snake Scales shattered, and blood streamed down. Stimulated by the blood, the Grey Wolf fought even more desperately, while the White Snake's wild nature was likewise roused as she began to coil around him...
The wolf knew he absolutely could not be wrapped up by the snake. Relying on his agility, he broke free from the snake's killing move.
The Grey Wolf, who had many years of experience fighting between life and death, knew that even if he bit the White Snake, he would only tear away scales and flesh. But if he was wrapped up by the snake, he would certainly die. The snake could afford to lose; the wolf could not. He did not dare let himself be coiled around.
The Grey Wolf was destined to fail. The venomous fangs had long since injected poison into his flesh and blood. If he fled now, he might still rely on his vitality to neutralize the White Snake's not particularly potent venom. But driven mad by the scent of blood, how could he choose to flee?
The White Snake accurately seized upon the Grey Wolf's slight mistake and swiftly coiled around his neck. Then, at the fastest speed possible, she wrapped her entire body around her opponent!
Her ability to entangle the agile Grey Wolf depended on the advantage of the terrain. One side of the battleground was a cliff face, the other a deep pool, leaving little room for agility to be brought into play.
The Grey Wolf that had become a spirit was no lame Old Wolf. Every struggle of his claws scraped away Snake Scales and tore open wounds...
One wolf and one snake fought madly with their lives. Spraying snake blood stained the scales red, turning her into a blood snake...
Today, the White Snake swore she would kill the Grey Wolf even at the cost of her life!
With a violent flex of her body, she dragged the Grey Wolf into the deep pool. The two giant beasts threw up enormous splashes as they fell into the water. The Grey Wolf knew he was finished...
Snakes were excellent swimmers. After entering the water, the White Snake controlled her opponent and rapidly sank downward, utterly ignoring the red blood dispersing through the water. The third rule of the Law of Survival: regardless of whether an enemy was strong or weak, one must exert every ounce of strength when attacking, cruel and bloodthirsty!
Within the clear pool water, the two beasts sank to the bottom, stirring up sand and stones.
The White Snake coiled tightly around him, refusing to loosen her grip. The Grey Wolf struggled like a madman, his movements growing weaker and weaker. His wolf eyes remained fixed upon the water's surface as the sight gradually blurred, until darkness swallowed him.
Only after the Grey Wolf's body temperature dropped did the White Snake loosen her coils. Wriggling her utterly exhausted body, she dragged the wolf's corpse up to the surface.
The fight had seemed brief, but it had actually lasted more than half an hour. Having lost too much blood through her wounds, she was exhausted and urgently needed to consume flesh and blood. She did not even go ashore, merely opened her mouth upon the water and bit the Grey Wolf's throat. She had intended to swallow him, but her injuries were too severe. If she forced him down, he might burst open the wounds on her body. Dying because her belly swelled and burst would be far too unjust.
Fortunately, human wisdom came into play. She pierced the artery in his throat with her venomous fangs and opened her mouth to drink blood. Blood was the finest bloody sustenance within a Fierce Beast's body.
Perhaps because the Grey Wolf had become a spirit, his blood had yet to coagulate even after so long. Large amounts of pure wolf blood entered her stomach.
Before long, the White Snake felt a burning heat in her abdomen. Combined with her severe injuries, it caused her to lose consciousness. Her huge snake body drifted downstream with the current...
Before you continue