PS: I didn't watch the gala; I'm working hard on the writing, hehehe. Loli's working hard too, right?
After successfully shedding his skin for the first time since transforming from a Spiritual Serpent into a Python, he had not only gained a tremendous boost in strength, but had grown significantly larger as well.
Su Qingqiu moved his body a little and was surprised to find the Dragon Bone space somewhat cramped.
Unbelievable.
The Dragon Bone space was four or five meters in diameter. Before, when he coiled up in here, it had felt spacious.
But now, even a casual movement made him feel constrained. The Evil Bones surrounding the Dragon Bone space creaked under the strain.
He was still nowhere near crushing them, but it was clear that not only had he grown much larger, his weight was also increasing at a visible rate.
Name: Su Qingqiu
Category: Guardian Python
Basic Physical Data: Body length 13.9 meters, body weight 5,700 jin
Spiritual Light: 9,200 strands
An outrageous increase!
His body had grown by nearly four meters, and his weight was already approaching three tons.
No wonder the Evil Bones creaked under the pressure.
His Spiritual Light was even more ridiculous. It was on the verge of reaching ten thousand strands, equivalent to ten thousand years of Daoism Cultivation and magical power for a member of the Human Race.
With such an immense amount of Spiritual Light stored inside him, even an ordinary Minor Rain Accumulation Technique was almost becoming a Summon Wind and Rain divine ability in his hands.
It had even made outsiders believe there really was a dragon in Dragon-Raising Temple.
At this moment, his whole body was golden yellow. A single flaming horn led into a broad, crimson Dragon Bone ridge that ran from his head all the way to his tail.
Seen from afar, he looked like a phoenix reborn from the flames.
Now, one lash of his tail would probably send Da Sha flying.
An aura of dominance, perceptible only to Spiritual Serpents, had even begun radiating from Su Qingqiu.
The Spiritual Pythons near the Dragon Bone Region were all suffering terribly. San Sha, in particular, remembered the terror of being thrashed by their boss, and tears welled up in their eyes.
After checking his surroundings and taking some time to adjust, Su Qingqiu began examining what he had obtained from the Hundred-Eyed Devil's divided soul.
A palm-sized snake scale, and a pitch-black eyeball marked with the number 25.
According to the memories he had acquired, this snake scale was a pass that opened the seal at the entrance to the second layer.
Yuanming had lent it to the Hundred-Eyed Devil's divided soul so it could temporarily enter the second layer and search for the Serpent Seed of Si. It had been made from the scales of a Spiritual Serpent from the second layer of the Snake Abyss.
Even Dragon-Raising Temple had very few of them in storage.
But now, it had fallen into Su Qingqiu's hands.
Still, it wasn't much use to him. Once his body had officially exceeded ten meters, Su Qingqiu had faintly sensed the first layer of the Snake Abyss rejecting and suppressing him.
The Spiritual Light remaining within the Dragon Bone was urging him to enter the second layer.
At the same time, the seal at the second-layer entrance, which he had once thought impossible to break through, now seemed terribly fragile—as if a light poke would be enough to pass through.
So, the pass was more or less useless to him.
He could give it to San Sha and the others instead.
"No need to rush. I should get things on the first layer in order before I leave. Besides... by my reckoning, the people from Dragon-Raising Temple should be here soon, shouldn't they?"
Su Qingqiu mused to himself.
He had already learned that Dragon-Raising Temple would soon send a group of new disciples into the first layer of the Snake Abyss to cultivate Spiritual Light.
They should be arriving within the next few days.
He wanted to see the cultivators from Dragon-Raising Temple because he had always been curious about cultivation in this world.
At his current stage, most of his methods relied on his own strength and bursts of Spiritual Light. Compared with the Human Race's complicated, bizarre spells, his techniques were crude and unrefined—hardly worth looking at.
It would be ideal if he could find anything useful among the human cultivators, especially the Dragon-Raising Temple cultivators who cultivated Spiritual Serpent Spiritual Light, and adapt it for his own use.
Of course, he didn't plan to meet the Dragon-Raising Temple cultivators himself. He was unusual, after all, so it was better to keep lying low.
With San Sha around, he could send them out while he hid deep in the Dragon Bone and watched from the shadows, making comparisons. What could be better?
Sure enough, Su Qingqiu didn't have to wait long for his plan to come to fruition.
After he'd spent a few dull days eating several grand meals with San Sha, who had learned nothing from past beatings and kept secretly hiding food, the latter grew resentful and nearly fell into depression...
The cultivators from Dragon-Raising Temple finally finished adjusting the entrance seal. A large group of cultivators and newcomers—several dozen people in all—arrived late.
At that moment
Lingli, the senior sister of the Ling Generation and the abbot Yuanhui's personal disciple, strode at the very front of the group.
By rights, Lingli had already developed Spiritual Patterns on her own and reached the peak of the eighth rank. She shouldn't have needed to enter the Snake Abyss.
But by now, everyone at Dragon-Raising Temple knew that she had once been the foremost member of the Ling Generation. After the Spiritual Serpent whose Spiritual Light she cultivated died, however, her cultivation had stagnated.
Worse, her Daoism Cultivation had also been dragged down by the serpent's death. At any moment, she risked dissolving into the Dao or even falling into evil.
There were many others like Lingli at Dragon-Raising Temple, all affected by Spiritual Serpent deaths in recent times.
Four or five core members of the Ling Generation alone had been affected.
At least three cultivators had reached the point where Spiritual Patterns formed on their own at the eighth rank.
With no other choice, Dragon-Raising Temple had to open the Snake Abyss ahead of schedule and send in some cultivators whose Spiritual Serpents had died. They would protect the newly admitted disciples as they entered the abyss and chose new Spiritual Serpents to cultivate.
For cultivators of the Ten Nations and Twelve Veins, cultivating with the help of spiritual treasures and their Spiritual Light did mean being at the mercy of those treasures' survival, which was a hassle.
But cultivation was faster, and they could also change their spiritual treasures along the way.
Otherwise, if they relied on their human bodies to absorb the Pure Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth as the foundation of the Great Dao, it could take a century to achieve anything.
Human lifespans were limited. It was far too slow!
"I won't go over the rules for entering the Snake Abyss. Even the newly admitted disciples should know them well enough."
Lingli's expression was calm. As she led the group down the passage, she spoke to them.
There weren't many rules for entering the Snake Abyss. There were only two.
First: Stay with the group leader, and never touch anything. Dragon Bones and Spiritual Serpents are exceptions.
Second: Once inside, never deliberately harm any Spiritual Serpent in the Snake Abyss.
The first rule was to keep people from being harmed by the Evil Remains. The second was a taboo of the Snake Abyss: as long as they didn't deliberately hurt a serpent, they would be fine.
"Enough about the rules. I'll explain how you should choose your Spiritual Serpent and its Spiritual Light in a moment."
Standing by the entrance seal, Lingli first brought her palms together and bowed to the eminent monk guarding it. Then she turned to the dozen or so people behind her and continued:
"Whether or not you've heard this before, I'll only say it once. Listen carefully. If you miss this opportunity and can't cultivate Spiritual Light, you'll have to wait another five years, until the Snake Abyss opens again."
"Life is short. I hope you won't ruin your own prospects."
After saying this, Lingli began her explanation.
In general, there were a few key points.
First: It had to be mutual.
Second: It was a one-way choice.
Third: Like repelled like, and opposites attracted.
Choosing a Spiritual Serpent and cultivating its Spiritual Light was just like going on a blind date. What a hassle.
Before you continue