Watching from the Shadows

At that moment.

The night was deep and still, and demonic auras stirred.

Now and then, the ghostly wails and wolfish howls of various yao drifted in from outside, along with the occasional faint sound of heavy panting.

There was still some time before midnight. Su Changsheng went over every detail of his plan once more in his mind.

From deliberately making the snake saliva ice a third smaller, to cultivating until he was weak and depleted, to steering the Black Tiger Yao toward hunting in the Wilderness, and so on.

He had actually been guiding the Black Tiger Yao from the shadows all along, leading him in the direction he had envisioned.

Every sentence, every movement, even every choice of words had been carefully considered.

Although some details had deviated along the way and the execution had not been perfect, the outcome had been set the moment the Black Tiger Yao did not kill him on sight: the Black Tiger Yao would inevitably choose to trade some scraps of blood food he thought beneath him for that piece of snake saliva ice.

Capitalists would maximize their profits.

The Black Tiger Yao, accustomed to exploiting half-demons, was no exception. The greed bred into a yao's bones doomed him to follow the path Su Changsheng had laid out.

Still, there were shortcomings. Especially when I first met the Black Tiger Yao-one careless step really could have destroyed both my body and soul. Yao are far more savage and ruthless than I imagined. I still underestimated the cruelty deep in their blood.

Su Changsheng reflected on each of the oversights he had made during this plan.

He also built an entirely new behavioral model, personality profile, ability dossier, and more for the Black Tiger Yao.

Only by knowing himself and his enemy could he fight a hundred battles without peril.

He would certainly face the Black Tiger Yao someday. Preparing early could never hurt.

He was not one of those fools or hotheaded youngsters who dared shout at their enemies that the river flowed east for thirty years and west for thirty more. People like that probably would not last even a second in a Wilds Yao Stronghold.

After this round of reflection, the time to reap today's rewards arrived before he knew it.

At midnight, the survival settlement arrived right on schedule.

Rating: Good.

-Clever and resourceful, cautious in your advance, audacious in your actions. You consider the whole picture, excel at drawing lessons, and dare to think. Through careful execution, your gains were meager, but steady and secure.

-You excel at borrowing another's power and act with audacity. You used the Black Tiger Yao to intimidate the half-demons of the Half-Demon Grounds. Although somewhat rash, this also provided you with a relatively stable environment for growth. Only time will reveal the benefits and drawbacks.

-Today's performance was good. Survival points +52.

Good?

So survival ratings have different grades too?

Su Changsheng took a deep breath, excitement rising within him.

A full 52 survival points. Added to his original 58, he now had 110 survival points in total.

Rich in an instant!

That many survival points would be enough to bring a new demonic art to the Skilled Level.

However, Su Changsheng had no new demonic arts for the moment. He would not learn the Shedding Rune yet, and his own practice with the Concealment Rune was already close to the Skilled Level.

He would therefore keep saving these survival points in preparation for improving the Green Snake Breathing Method.

Cultivate!

Su Changsheng quickly gathered his thoughts and resumed cultivating.

His aptitude might be poor, but that was no excuse to lie flat and give up. His cheat, survival points, might be powerful, but he earned them by risking his life and facing danger.

If possible, he would rather spend every day safe and sound, receiving only the guaranteed minimum settlement.

In a Wilds Yao Stronghold, danger lurked on every side.

Staying alive was the foundation of everything!

After that.

Su Changsheng returned to his shut-in life.

During the day, he "worked hard" at making snake saliva ice. He made some progress, but not quickly; it took roughly half a month for him to "barely" finish forming a piece.

During that time, he ate a tiny bit of blood food, looking blissfully happy and utterly satisfied whenever he did.

At night, he cultivated for a fixed six hours, without fail.

One could say he demonstrated to perfection how a snake lived as a shut-in.

He continued like this until the end of the month drew near.

That day, Su Changsheng was condensing snake saliva ice. This material produced by his innate talent was almost formed; it would be finished in another day or two.

Sure enough, here it comes again!

With his back to the door, he could still sense a faint, icy aura emerging, yet could see no figure at all. The Black Tiger Yao's Wailing Ghost must have come again!

Over the past half month, this Wailing Ghost had appeared silently every three or four days to watch him from the shadows. Sometimes it came while Su Changsheng was condensing snake saliva ice, sometimes while he was practicing his breathing exercises. Once, he had even been startled awake by a sudden chill while sleeping.

Fortunately, he had prepared for this. He pretended to get up to urinate, acting as though he had no idea the Wailing Ghost had arrived, and narrowly escaped disaster.

His Skilled Level innate talent, along with a mind stronger than that of an ordinary half-demon, made him fully capable of sensing the Wailing Ghost's sinister aura.

And so, under the Wailing Ghost's covert observation, Su Changsheng continued making snake saliva ice in an orderly manner, without the slightest abnormality.

Three to five minutes later, the sinister aura suddenly vanished. Su Changsheng did not stop what he was doing, however. He kept at it for more than two hours before finally stopping, utterly exhausted and panting.

As usual, he cut off a small piece of meat, put it into his belly, drank three large buckets of cold water, and began cultivating to replenish his demon power.

It should be gone now.

The Black Tiger Yao seems reckless, cruel, and bloodthirsty. But who would have imagined such a cautious nature was hidden deep inside him?

He had the Wailing Ghost watch me for a full half month, and the thing even makes random inspections. Thank goodness I was cautious back then and didn't choose to break through immediately. Otherwise, there would have been no end of trouble.

After stopping his cultivation, Su Changsheng let out a long breath. Even as he felt fortunate, he could not help frowning.

Logically, this should have been the Wailing Ghost's final visit to monitor him. After all, despite half a month of random checks at any time and place, it had found no major problems.

Su Changsheng did indeed take half a month to condense a single piece of snake saliva ice. And his innate talent had indeed improved only slightly.

With that being the case, what use was there in continuing to watch him?

But I still can't break through immediately.

Su Changsheng sighed.

He did not dare gamble, nor could he afford to.

After all, the Black Tiger Yao could apparently spare a valuable Wailing Ghost subordinate to watch him for a full half month simply because he had nothing better to do.

Who knew whether, upon learning he had broken through, that fellow would capture him and squeeze him around the clock to produce snake saliva ice?

A First-Level Half-Demon who produced two pieces of innate-talent material a month and a Second-Level Half-Demon who produced more than ten were worth entirely different amounts.

A three-hundred-percent profit was enough to make any capitalist brave the danger. For the Black Tiger Yao, this did not even count as dangerous.

So he absolutely could not gamble.

Staking his life and death on a single wager was not Su Changsheng's way, nor did it accord with the path of survival.

By my reckoning, I absolutely cannot reveal that I've advanced until my strength approaches the Black Tiger Yao's.

So I need to find a skill that can completely conceal or alter my aura. It can't be a Demon Art Rune. It has to be a demonic-art skill that stays active permanently.

What should I do?