Whoosh—
The flower-patterned snake strikes.
Smack!* The little snake lashes its tail, the tail striking like a hard whip, and whacks the second sister on the head!
"Hiss!"
Struck on the head, the pain causes the little green snake not only to release the big bird egg it had been biting in the middle, but also to let go of the one it had coiled around.
The entire little snake curls up into a tight ball.
The white snake, witnessing this scene, senses that something is wrong.
Immediately and obediently, it loosens its grip and tries to coil its own bird egg and retreat.
Too late.
Smack!* The little snake lashes its tail again—the hard whip of its tail strikes the third brother's tail for the second time!
"Hiss!"
The little white snake, whose tail tip has been dealt a heavy blow, just like the little green snake, writhes in pain, flips onto its belly, releases the bird egg, and instinctively curls up before rolling aside.
"Hiss hiss!"
With a graceful flick of its tail in a sweeping circle, Xu Chengxian neatly draws all three bird eggs toward itself.
Head held high.
Victory—achieved as easily as pie.
Absolutely effortless!
"Hiss!"
Who?! Who dares ambush Me?!
After all, they weren't ordinary little snakes. The little green snake endured the pain, crawled back up, and lifted its head to look at the attacker.
The moment she realized it was Xu Chengxian, her pair of tiny, pitch-black bean-like eyes widened in shock.
"Hiss?"
That dumb flower-patterned snake?
"Hiss!?!"
My freeloading big brother?!
The little white snake also flipped over into an attacking stance, but upon seeing Xu Chengxian's appearance, its tail stiffened.
Because it noticed that this so-called big brother was a full circle thicker—and significantly larger—than it was.
They were from the same nest, their auras eerily similar, definitely very close relatives. So why was his growth rate so much faster?
But neither hesitated for even a second. They immediately coiled and lunged toward Xu Chengxian, determined to snatch the bird eggs back.
Blood food—absolutely not to be given up!
Smack!! Smack!!
Both snakes were sent flying once again!
Pfft!! Pfft!!
One after another, they landed.
As they scrambled back up, the little green snake's eyes flickered with uncertainty.
It was thinking—were those two previous failures due to carelessness, or was the enemy simply too strong?
"I have already drawn in spiritual energy, refined a trace of demonic power, and become a demonic beast."
"Demonic beasts rely on blood food to strengthen our vitality. These bird eggs—I can't give them up!"
"That ugly flower-patterned snake is only relying on being a bit bigger. It's not even as clever as the little white one beside it. That last hit must've been pure luck."
"Fight again!"
"... " Xu Chengxian wore a strange expression on his face. As he heard the inner thoughts of his little sister, the Empress, he simultaneously picked up the exact same stream of consciousness from his Daoist Brother.
The only difference?
Her use of "I" as the Emperor had been replaced by "This Seat".
Her "demonic power" became his "spiritual power".
And her "ugly flower-patterned snake" became his "stupid flower-patterned snake."
Seriously impressive, these two.
He could understand them not calling him "brother"—after all, one was an Empress and the other a Daoist, both of whom had probably lived for who-knows-how-many years. Not wanting to acknowledge a little brother was understandable.
But one called him ugly, and the other called him stupid?!
That's like a dung beetle trying to jump high—you guys are taking it a bit too far (literally too shitty)!
"Hiss hiss!"
At that moment, the little green snake was the first to lose patience. It moved its body, opened its mouth, bared its fangs, and lunged straight for Xu Chengxian.
It activated the trace of demonic power within its body—its scales faintly glowed with a green shimmer, and its speed became noticeably faster than before.
"It's no use, my silly little sister," Xu Chengxian said calmly, standing tall without moving, merely lifting its tail.
Blocking it right in front.
"Ha!"
The little green snake's heart leapt with joy. Inside, it let out a gleeful cry, and fiercely sank its fangs into the snake tail.
It didn't need to bite and injure—it just needed to hurt enough to make the flower-patterned snake let go of the bird eggs. Then… Mmmph!
"Hiss!"
Ouch!!
So hard!!
The snake tail she had bitten into was digging into her teeth—so painful!!
"Hiss hiss…" Xu Chengxian chuckled inwardly.
He could have dodged the little green snake's attack entirely—but he didn't want to waste any more time fighting over the bird eggs.
Old me still needs to eat my fill and then sleep.
With a sudden flick of his tail, he sent his little green sister flying.
At the same time, he lashed out toward the little white brother who had been sneaking in for a surprise attack.
Smack!!
The brother didn't get the same "gentle" treatment as his sister—this time, it was a direct smack across the face.
The green and white little snakes were sent tumbling away once again.
Meanwhile, Xu Chengxian stood firm, protecting the three bird eggs without budging an inch.
Ling Xiao (the little green snake) was flung away, dazed, and slowly crawled back up.
Ling Yunzi (the little white snake) had it even worse—both his face and tail throbbed with pain.
The two little snakes got back up, both looking utterly bewildered.
They couldn't understand—why?
Why can't they beat an ordinary little flower-patterned snake?
Sure, this ugly (stupid) flower snake may have hatched before them, but I (This Seat) have refined demonic (spiritual) power—how could I (we) possibly lose to it?
And not just lose—we were completely crushed.
Not even a single advantage gained!!
"How could I (This Seat) lose to a little snake?!"
"If I (we) can't even beat a little snake, where is my (our) dignity?!"
"Fight again!"
Smack!! Smack!!
Thud!! Thud!!
Once again, the charge of the two snakes ended in failure—as expected.
This time, after being flung away, they lay sprawled on the ground, neither of them moving.
Their eyes were locked fiercely on Xu Chengxian.
Previously, their cultivation bases and spiritual awareness had completely dissipated. Otherwise, these young serpent bodies wouldn't have been able to support their divine souls. Moreover, their time spent cultivating was short, and they simply couldn't compare to this little flower-patterned snake, which possessed stronger bloodline potential.
Empress Ling Xiao and Daoist Ling Yunzi felt a deep sense of frustration.
Yet, after all that struggling, they no longer had the strength to launch another attack.
After all, they were newborn baby snakes—their stamina was limited.
But the bird eggs—just give up on them like this?
Those eggs gave off a faint spiritual aura—they were clearly no ordinary mundane bird eggs.
Eating them would bring great benefits to their bodies.
Now, all three were being monopolized by a single little flower-patterned snake, and they couldn't get a single one.
How could they not feel resentful?!
If only they hadn't been so greedy earlier—they should have just swallowed one of the eggs right away!!
But now, it was too late for regrets.
While they were consumed by bitterness and fury, Xu Chengxian couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Two little snakes, each no longer than a pair of chopsticks and no thicker than a finger, yet they went by the grand titles of Empress and Daoist, glaring at him with their bright, glossy, jet-black little bean-like eyes—it was truly hilarious.
The little snakes had sleek, glistening scales all over, delicate and smooth, exuding an adorable charm that was almost downright cute.
And the fact that they still tried to maintain an air of enduring hardships and holding back their pride—paired with their inner monologues as voiceovers—made the whole scene even more comical.
Hmph.
So what if I'm an Empress?
So what if I'm a Daoist?
See? Now you know, don't you?
Disobey Big Bro and you'll get beaten up!!
Alright, the kids' fight is over—now hurry up and divide the eggs, then go back to sleep!!
"Hiss!" He lifted his head and let out a sharp cry.
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
Seeing him raise his head and hiss, both Ling Xiao and Ling Yunzi were startled.
Could it be that this guy still had the strength to charge over and attack them again?
But then, they saw the tip of his tail flick lightly, nudging one of the bird eggs in front of him, and then nudging the other one.
The two eggs began to roll, each moving toward one of them.
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
In an instant, the green and white little snakes dashed forward, catching the eggs rolling toward them right in their mouths.
As they gulped the eggs down, they kept their shiny, tiny black bean-like eyes fixed on Xu Chengxian.
They couldn't believe it—this little flower-patterned snake had actually given the eggs back to them?
Well... aside from keeping the biggest one for itself.
Then why had it snatched all of them away in the first place?
"Why? Of course, to complete the task," Xu Chengxian thought to himself.
Ling Xiao and Ling Yunzi had no idea what he was thinking. Worried that he might try to snatch the eggs back again, they kept a wary eye on him while straining to swallow the eggs as quickly as possible.
Each of the three bird eggs was about the size of a young snake's head, and their shells were quite tough. Since they didn't want to waste any of the precious egg fluid inside, they obviously couldn't smash the eggs by hurling them against rocks like some brute method.
So, they had no choice but to follow their instincts: open their mouths as wide as possible and swallow the eggs whole.
Just like real baby snakes would—once the egg was inside, they'd twist their spines and use the force of their bodies to crush the shell from the inside, forcing the yolk and egg white out.
After several strenuous efforts, the bulging parts of their bodies gradually flattened out.
The eyes of both snakes went wide in astonishment.
These bird eggs were definitely no ordinary ones.
They were rich in vitality, and even carried faint traces of spiritual energy!!
The two snakes paid no further attention to anything else. Immediately, they coiled themselves up, closed their eyes, and began circulating their energy techniques to absorb and digest the eggs.
For them right now, they couldn't afford to miss even the slightest opportunity to grow stronger.
"Hm?" Xu Chengxian noticed that a faint layer of misty vapor seemed to be swirling faintly around the two snakes.
On the Empress-sister, the mist was a darkish green tinged with black.
On the Daoist-brother, it was a faintly shimmering, pearly white.
"This must have something to do with the cultivation methods they've chosen," Xu Chengxian deduced, easily connecting the dots based on their earlier inner thoughts.
"It seems these bird eggs really aren't ordinary."
Without any further hesitation, Xu Chengxian also opened his mouth and strained to swallow one of the eggs down.
Then, just like them, he twisted his body to crush the eggshell.
As the shell cracked open and the egg fluid began to flow out, he felt a cool sensation filling his stomach, followed by waves of warmth.
Almost instantly, drowsiness washed over him.
[Congratulations, Host. You have awakened the Divine Ability: "Consume Qi, Transform into Blood."]
[By consuming one Snake-Hunting Bird Egg, you have gained: Soul Power +11, Physical Constitution +33.]
[Congratulations on completing the task. Reward obtained: Refinement Points +3, Random Spirit Seed ×1.]
Awaken a Divine Ability?
Consume Qi, Transform into Blood?
Just like that?
Thoughts flashed through Xu Chengxian's mind.
The next moment, his eyelids grew heavy, and he drifted off to sleep.
[Blood Qi +1… +1… +1…]
[Blood Qi +1… +1… +1… +1…]
...
[Congratulations, Host. You have advanced to Tier 3 Demonic Beast. Refinement Points +1.]
[Blood Qi +1… +1… +1… +1…]
...
When he woke up again, he discovered that he was about to molt.