166: Chapter 166 The Green Snake Faints Again?

"Hehe, you'll thank me sooner or later."

"But I still hope that the next time you become my Subordinate Demon, you'll still be this stubborn when we meet."

"Hahaha!"

The Demon Lord waved his hand and spoke with a laugh.

He didn't seem angry at all.

The sea of blood surged continuously with the Demon Lord's laughter, and the surrounding scenery shifted once more.

They had returned to the Glacier Secret Realm.

Xu Qing felt a burning sensation on the back of his right hand and raised it to look.

The Blood Seal on his arm was now like a seed, growing and spreading until the entire area below his elbow was covered in blood-red patterns.

Clearly, this was the work of that Demon Lord.

What a damn bastard.

Xu Qing was now an other-world civil servant, the West River God; such a large-scale tattoo was quite bad for his future prospects.

"Niangniang?"

Elder Li's Clone also noticed Xu Qing's abnormality and looked at the blood patterns spreading across his arm.

Even she couldn't understand the patterns within the blood-red lines.

She just had a very evil and ominous feeling about it.

"It's fine, just a small problem."

Xu Qing covered his arm.

"When will the Secret Realm open again?"

Having achieved his goal, Xu Qing now only wanted to leave the Secret Realm.

His harvest was already rich enough; as a snake, one shouldn't be too greedy.

With Xu Qing's financial resources, he could just wait at a safe Secret Realm exit and use Spirit Stones to buy all sorts of rare Materials brought out from inside.

The nefarious capitalist snake could do as he pleased.

"It will take a while longer. Are you really okay?"

Elder Li's Clone was surprisingly much gentler than her original self.

She was very concerned about Xu Qing.

"I said I'm fine."

Xu Qing's tone unexpectedly became sharp.

It was as if a sudden surge of blood had gone to his head.

Xu Qing realized this himself; it seemed his mind was also being affected by the Blood Seal.

"...Has Niangniang reached a rebellious phase too?"

"...Bullshit!"

Xu Qing snapped back uncontrollably.

"This Elder can understand."

"When I was over a hundred years old, I also reached a rebellious phase and had many Contradictions with my mother."

Elder Li seemed to speak from deep personal experience.

Deep personal experience my ass.

A mere granddaughter dared to speak to This Snake like that!

Besides, this woman had always been in a rebellious phase in front of Daya.

"Follow me for now. When we leave the Secret Realm, we'll go find Mother together."

Xu Qing wanted to run away.

But Elder Li reached out, pinched his neck, and lifted him to the side.

"Be good. If you're sick, you have to be good and see a doctor and take medicine."

"I'm not sick!"

"People who aren't sick always say they aren't sick."

"I'm a snake!"

"Snakes that aren't sick always say they aren't sick."

In the end, Xu Qing did not escape Elder Li's clutches and was kept by her side under constant supervision.

This is so infuriating for a snake!

Green Snake was turning dark.

Elder Li even made a rubbing of the seal on Xu Qing's arm and used a secret method to transmit it to her main body for research.

During this time, Xu Qing resisted fiercely.

But he was still pinned to the ground like a kitten and subjected to a forced physical examination.

Humiliation; the dignity of the Green Snake had suffered a severe humiliation.

Three days later.

"He's becoming closer and closer to the nature of a Yao Beast."

"As expected, is this seal affecting his mind? The situation is quite bad."

Elder Li frowned as she watched Xu Qing rolling around in the snow, flicking his tongue.

The darkening was very successful.

Over the three days, Xu Qing's mind became increasingly unclear, and instinct began to suppress his reason, taking the upper hand.

"Come, Xiao Qing, open your mouth. There's a Frog to eat."

Elder Li took out a piece of dried Frog.

"Xu Qing" immediately widened his eyes, wagged his tail, approached, and opened his mouth wide.

He made an "ah—" sound.

"Good boy."

Elder Li rubbed Xu Qing's head and tossed the dried Frog into his mouth.

She seemed to be quite enjoying herself.

At this moment, Xu Qing...

...could only vaguely sense that he was being fed.

[Ding! Dao Cultivation is full. Would you like to upgrade?]

The semi-conscious Xu Qing finally heard the System's prompt.

"The last... chance..."

Xu Qing barely mustered his last bit of conscious awareness.

"Upgrade..."

Before he could hear the System's confirmation, he fell into a deep sleep.

In Elder Li's view...

...just as she finished feeding him a dried Frog, Xu Qing Face-planted into the snow.

His head was buried directly in a snowdrift, with only his butt and tail exposed.

His tail went limp, and his last bit of spirit vanished.

The entire snake looked as if he were dead.

"Eh??"

"Niangniang, hang in there!"

Grabbing his tail, she pulled Xu Qing out of the snow.

After checking carefully and barely sensing a weak breath, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked up at the sky.

She pinched her fingers, performing a careful divination.

"It seems it won't be long before it opens."

Time flowed slowly.

Seven days later.

The endless blizzard stopped on this day.

A massive vortex appeared in the sky; the Secret Realm was opening.

"..."

Elder Li said nothing, held the sleeping Xu Qing, and soared into the sky, darting toward that massive vortex.

...

Xuanji Sect.

"demonic resentment, extremely thick demonic resentment."

Daya looked at the sleeping Xu Qing and spoke with a frown.

"When you encountered the Demon Lord before, this green snake must have been hit."

"Presumably, this green snake's racial Bloodline is quite extraordinary."

"Perhaps the Demon Lord took an interest in him and wants to refine him into a chess piece."

Daya closed her eyes, and the spiritual light in her dharma eye slowly faded.

"Then Mother, what should be done?"

"The Qi of Demonic Resentment cannot be destroyed, nor can it be sealed."

"It is already beyond help; it's impossible for this green snake to wake up."

Daya said, shaking her head.

"Ugh... where is this?"

"How did This Snake faint again?"

Xu Qing sat bolt upright, only to see Daya and Elder Li both looking at him as if they had seen a ghost.

"Mother, this?"

"Ahem, this green snake's Bloodline and race are extraordinary, allowing him to regain consciousness."

"But, his Dao Cultivation in this life will likely never advance another step."

Xu Qing felt a bit of a blockage in his body and circulated his Demonic Power.

His aura broke through to the Late Stage of the Golden Core.

"Mother, this?"

"Don't ask me, that's what it said in the books."

Daya felt that her Face as a Soul Transformation Cultivator was being lost.

Internally, she cursed.

"Damn ancient books, they're all fucking lies!"

Xu Qing tried to prop himself up but swayed, finding his right arm wouldn't obey him.

Turning his head, he saw that the blood patterns had spread from his elbow to cover his entire arm.

"demonic resentment has condensed into a Demon Seal."

"It has spread to your entire arm; your current situation is very dangerous."

"Among the patterns in the Demon Seal on your arm, many of them meant 'reincarnation', 'Possession', and 'replacement' in ancient times."

Daya finished speaking.

Elder Li inexplicably felt that this explanation wasn't very convincing.

"...I understand."

Xu Qing looked at the System panel, and his expression darkened.

At this moment, a column marked in large blood-red characters appeared on the panel.

[Forced evolution to World-Ending Serpent Follower of Demon, 9%]

[Ding! Crisis warning! Please note: detection indicates the host is undergoing Possession.]

[Ding! Crisis warning...]

"Is there a solution?"

"...Yes."