Snake God

Dugu Yan bent down, gently coiled the Bamboo Green Snake around her wrist, and picked it up.

Xiao Qing was very well-behaved too, flicking out its tongue without the slightest sign of struggle.

It was as if a child who had left home had finally found its mother.

That obedient little look instantly tugged at Dugu Yan's heart.

She lightly tapped Xiao Qing on the head and said:

"Little one, did you escape from a pet shop?"

"Which one?"

Dugu Yan immediately decided to buy it and take it home as a pet, but Xiao Qing naturally couldn't answer her.

With no other choice, Dugu Yan could only enjoy the thrill of getting a pet for free.

She tucked Xiao Qing into the landscape in front of her chest. Seeing the way the tigress acted, Ye Lingling could only roll her eyes.

At the same time, she quietly put some distance between herself and Dugu Yan.

She still couldn't accept being so close to a creature like a snake.

Having found a pet she liked, Dugu Yan couldn't be bothered to argue with her best friend.

"Let's go. We don't need to keep shopping today."

Ye Lingling naturally had no objections. She was more than happy to get away from the Snake Pet Shop as soon as possible.

After parting in front of the academy, Dugu Yan returned to her dormitory.

She took a few tiny tadpoles from the fish tank beside her, then reached into her collar and pulled out the Bamboo Green Snake.

"You're green all over, so I'll call you Xiao Qing!"

"Come on, Xiao Qing. Have something to eat!"

Using tweezers, she held a frog in front of Xiao Qing. Xiao Qing flicked out its tongue, then opened its mouth as wide as it could and swallowed the frog in one bite.

Watching it wolf down its meal, Dugu Yan smiled fondly.

"Slow down. Don't choke!"

Xiao Qing gulped down the frog in no time, and the outline of it immediately appeared in its belly.

Dugu Yan was used to seeing pet snakes eat, so she wasn't surprised.

Snakes needed a long time to digest after eating. Dugu Yan set Xiao Qing on the bedside table and left it alone.

Then she sat cross-legged on her bed and began to cultivate.

Dugu Yan was so focused on her cultivation that she didn't notice Xiao Qing quietly climbing onto her shoulder after it had finished digesting.

Only when a needle-like pain appeared at the top of her head and the soles of her feet did Dugu Yan furrow her brow slightly and come out of her cultivation.

"That's strange. Why is this pain back again?"

Dugu Yan still didn't know that this was a sign of poison entering her body, and that her father had died from the hereditary poison of their family's Martial Soul.

Dugu Bo hadn't told his granddaughter the truth too soon, because he didn't want her to live in fear of death.

So Dugu Yan assumed it was just a sign that she had overdone her cultivation.

Feeling a chill against her neck, Dugu Yan immediately turned her head to look at her shoulder.

She met the Bamboo Green Snake's gaze. At just the right moment, Xiao Qing flicked its tongue against Dugu Yan's cheek.

"Haha, don't do that! It tickles!"

Dugu Yan had no guard up around Xiao Qing at all. When it attacked her the next second, she didn't react in time.

By the time she felt a sting in her neck, she was completely stunned.

"Ah! Xiao Qing, what are you doing?"

"Why did you suddenly bite me?"

Xiao Qing stared straight at Dugu Yan, its snake eyes perfectly calm.

While Dugu Yan was still dazed, a cool female voice echoed in her mind.

"Girl, you're kind. You shouldn't die from the poison in your own body."

"Would you be interested in inheriting the Snake God's legacy?"

Those two highly surprising sentences left Dugu Yan dumbfounded.

"D-die from poison?"

"And there's a Snake God?"

"Xiao Qing, are you talking?"

The Bamboo Green Snake shook its head, as if pondering the meaning of the name Xiao Qing.

"Xiao Qing? Call me whatever you like."

"Now tell me, girl. Do you want to inherit the Snake God's legacy?"

"What is a Snake God?"

"And how could I die from poison? My Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphor Snake, one of the best poison-type Martial Souls."

Her challenge brought a soft laugh to Dugu Yan's mind.

"You're too naive."

"Every so often, you feel a needle-like pain in the top of your head and the soles of your feet. Sometimes you also suffer mild spasms all over. Isn't that right?"

"Y-yes. Why does that happen?"

Dugu Yan was startled. Xiao Qing had described her symptoms perfectly.

"Not only that. On rainy days, you feel an itchy, numb sensation around your ribs, don't you?"

"These are signs of poison entering your body."

"And the poison comes from your family's hereditary Martial Soul."

"If I'm not mistaken, someone in your family has already died from the poison turning on them."

At those words, Dugu Yan froze as if struck by lightning.

Xiao Qing's words immediately brought her parents to mind. They, too, had disappeared without a trace.

Whenever she asked her grandfather what had happened, he refused to say a word.

Now it seemed certain that her father had died from the poison turning on him. No wonder her grandfather had been so despondent.

"Th-then what should I do?"

Dugu Yan was in the prime of her youth. She didn't want to die from the poison in her own body, and panic engulfed her.

"Inherit the position of Snake God, and everything will be resolved."

"Our meeting is fate, and it's your good fortune."

"Since the great war in the Divine Realm, the Snake God has been dead for too long. So long that the divine power left in my body is only enough to select an heir."

The great war in the Divine Realm, the Snake God's death, the selection of an heir—the string of secret revelations left Dugu Yan speechless.

But at least she understood what had happened.

"The inheritance...the position of Snake God. Will it be dangerous?"

At that, Xiao Qing's tone turned contemptuous.

"What do you think?"

"Should I just turn you into a god on the spot?"

"Since I'm choosing an heir, naturally you'll have to undergo a series of trials. Otherwise, you can just die from the poison in your body."

"The position of Snake God doesn't need a weakling to inherit it."

Those merciless words made Dugu Yan grit her teeth, but when she thought it over, they made sense.

How could something like becoming a god out of nowhere possibly fall into her lap?

Surely someone would have inherited the position of Snake God long ago.

"Senior, I accept your trials."

"Good."

As soon as Dugu Yan agreed, Xiao Qing turned into a streak of light and shot into the space between her brows.

The wound on her neck began to heal instantly.

"Ninety-Nine Trials of the Snake God, First Trial: Snake Transformation."

"How can a successor to the Snake God have no serpent nature?"

"Perform an authentic Snake Dance in front of everyone during class and announce the Snake God's return."

"Deadline: one week."

When she heard the trial, Dugu Yan's mouth fell open.

Was this just asking her to humiliate herself in public?

Suddenly performing a Snake Dance during class—how was that any different from taking a dump in the middle of the street?

The poison issue was still in doubt, so Dugu Yan put the trial aside for now. After getting leave from her instructor, she headed straight for Sunset Forest.

There were some things she had to confirm with her grandfather first.

At a hotel beside the academy, Lu Xian watched Dugu Yan hurry out of the academy and smiled knowingly.

Go and find out for yourself, girl!

A lie that can truly deceive someone is always seven parts truth and three parts falsehood.

Once Dugu Bo told her the whole truth, Lu Xian didn't believe Dugu Yan would fail to take the bait.

By the time she believed it without a doubt, this brand-new Destined Worker would already be on the job.