That trace of spiritual intelligence, so crucial to a demonic beast, seemed utterly useless to Luo Zhen.
After all, Luo Zhen himself possessed great wisdom.
Luo Zhen shook his head, then sloughed off the white snakeskin he had shed.
This was a regular occurrence for Luo Zhen; every time he advanced a major realm, he would shed his skin once.
Ultimately, he was still a snake. Even though he had evolved into a top-grade spiritual species, the Flying Mystic Snake, he was still a member of the snake family.
Perhaps the day Luo Zhen evolved into a flood dragon, he would no longer need to shed his skin.
As Luo Zhen was pondering, the system's voice suddenly rang out.
"It has been detected that you have successfully broken through from the Demonic Origin Realm to the Demonic Spirit Realm. This upgrade is a major realm crossing. The reward is now being distributed."
"You will receive one opportunity for bloodline evolution. Do you wish to claim the reward?"
"Yes!" Luo Zhen naturally wouldn't refuse.
As soon as his voice fell, the scene before Luo Zhen's eyes suddenly vanished, replaced by a gray, chaotic landscape.
"It's over, this evolution is going to fail." Seeing the chaotic scene before him, Luo Zhen's heart skipped a beat.
Based on his experience from the previous two bloodline evolutions, he had concluded that if such a chaotic scene appeared, the evolution would surely fail.
As expected, after a quarter of an hour, the chaotic scene suddenly disappeared, and the original scenery reappeared.
At the same time, the system's voice sounded again.
"Bloodline evolution failed!"
"You have not completed the bloodline evolution and will remain a Flying Mystic Snake!"
"I knew this would be the result," Luo Zhen said with a bitter smile.
Whether the bloodline evolution succeeded was purely a matter of probability and luck. The system offered no good suggestions, and there was nothing Luo Zhen could do.
Shaking his head helplessly, Luo Zhen opened his attribute panel, and his information appeared before his eyes.
Name: Luo Zhen
Race: Snake (Top-grade mutant spiritual species)
Species Name: Flying Mystic Snake
Innate Bloodline: Flying Mystic Snake Bloodline
Innate Abilities: Water, Fire, and Ice attribute spells, flight by spreading wings
Other Abilities: Venom Arrow, Constriction
Passive Ability: Thick Armor
Experience Points: 101/5000
Realm: Early-stage Demonic Spirit Realm
System Prompt: After each major realm crossing, there is a certain probability of successfully evolving your bloodline!
Luo Zhen glanced at the attribute panel and then closed it.
He was now a Demonic Spirit Realm demonic beast, a level equivalent to a Spirit Martial Realm human warrior. With such strength, it was time for Luo Zhen to seek revenge!
He had two main enemies: one was Zhao Feilian, the Sect Master of the Mystic Sword Sect, and the other was the Baboon Great Commander in the mountain range.
Zhao Feilian was at the early-stage Spirit Martial Realm, and the Baboon Great Commander was at the mid-stage Demonic Spirit Realm. Furthermore, this man and beast had fought a fierce battle a few days ago, resulting in significant injuries for both.
Zhao Feilian had even lost an arm because of it!
Luo Zhen's eyes darted around. He planned to deal with Zhao Feilian first.
But before that, he had to make a trip to the Decaying Peak to see if he could find the pass for the Blackwater Mystic Snake.
With a flick of his tail, Luo Zhen twisted his serpentine body and sped towards the Decaying Peak.
Before long, Luo Zhen arrived at the Decaying Peak. With his current Demonic Spirit Realm strength, he could enter freely even without the protection of the treasure map.
Arriving at the cave entrance on the mountain, Luo Zhen drilled into the mountain's belly.
In just a few minutes, Luo Zhen reached the square in the center of the mountain's core. The square was quiet, and in the center lay a super giant snake.
This super giant snake was enormous, reaching a full hundred meters in length. In front of this giant snake, Luo Zhen was like a little brother!
The sudden sight of this giant snake startled Luo Zhen, and he instinctively assumed a defensive posture. But the next moment, Luo Zhen sensed that something was wrong. He could feel no life from this giant snake; it felt like a corpse.
However, for some unknown reason, a faint, strange gas emanated from the giant snake's body.
Puzzled, Luo Zhen's gaze swept over the entire giant snake, and its information appeared before his eyes.
Name: Corpse Snake (Blackwater Mystic Snake)
Race: Corpse Race? Snake Race?
Realm: None (Target is deceased)
Skills: None (Target is deceased)
Description: After the Blackwater Mystic Snake died, its corpse was reanimated by the effect of the Silver Flood Dragon's reverse scale, evolving into a strange Corpse Snake with a certain degree of strength. It later fell completely under the attack of the Baboon Great Commander of the Bright Moon Mountain Range.
"It's actually a Corpse Snake?!" Looking at the information, Luo Zhen came to a sudden realization.
So this Corpse Snake was transformed from the corpse of the Blackwater Mystic Snake. This thing was similar to a human corpse turning into a zombie.
But the Silver Flood Dragon's reverse scale was unexpectedly powerful, capable of reanimating a corpse?!
Luo Zhen moved the Corpse Snake aside and, as expected, found a golden scale under its abdomen. Without a second thought, Luo Zhen pried the golden scale off.
"You have obtained the Silver Flood Dragon's reverse scale!" the system's voice suddenly announced.
"Why is the Silver Flood Dragon's reverse scale golden?" Luo Zhen played with the scale and was suddenly reminded of a saying.
A dragon has a reverse scale; touch it and you shall die!
This meant that a dragon had a bottom line that could not be crossed. If you crossed it, you would definitely be attacked and killed.
Unexpectedly, the Silver Flood Dragon also had its own reverse scale, and it possessed considerable power.
With a glance, the information of the reverse scale appeared before Luo Zhen's eyes.
Name: Silver Flood Dragon's Reverse Scale
Effect: Possesses a certain amount of life force.
Description: A reverse scale taken from a Silver Flood Dragon. It is also one of the passes required to enter the place where the Silver Flood Dragon is sealed.
"As expected, this reverse scale is the pass." Luo Zhen was delighted. He opened his snake mouth and swallowed the reverse scale.
This was Luo Zhen's way of storing things. When he needed to use the reverse scale in the future, he would just spit it out.
With the pass in hand, Luo Zhen was about to leave when he suddenly hesitated. The reason was that he was intrigued by the Corpse Snake.
Luo Zhen could strengthen himself by devouring his own kind or those with similar abilities. This Corpse Snake was also a snake, and an ancient spiritual species at that. If Luo Zhen devoured this Corpse Snake, he might even gain a new ability.
The reason for Luo Zhen's hesitation was that he was a bit reluctant.
After all, this Corpse Snake was already in the category of a zombie, and it was so large. If he devoured it like this, Luo Zhen felt like he was eating a corpse.
"Why not give it a try? After all, getting stronger is the most important thing." After a moment's hesitation, Luo Zhen finally came before the Corpse Snake.
Then he opened his snake mouth and bit down hard on the Corpse Snake.
"You have come into contact with the Corpse Snake (Blackwater Mystic Snake). Devour immediately?" the system's voice suddenly sounded.
"Yes!" Luo Zhen had no reason to hesitate.
"Host confirms devouring. Devouring in progress..."
As soon as the system's voice fell, in the next moment, a strange change occurred!
A terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from Luo Zhen's mouth. The suction force even formed a screen of light, enveloping the hundred-meter-long body of the Corpse Snake in just a few breaths.
The next moment, the essence of the entire corpse turned into a torrent and drilled into Luo Zhen's body. Before long, only a thin snakeskin was left of the massive Corpse Snake.
"You have devoured the Corpse Snake (Blackwater Mystic Snake)!"
"Due to the Blackwater Mystic Snake bloodline within you, your abilities and the Corpse Snake's overlap. You cannot obtain a new active ability!"
"You have obtained the passive ability, Water Armor Technique!"
"Water Armor Technique?" Luo Zhen was slightly taken aback and quickly looked at the skill description for Water Armor Technique.
"Water Armor Technique: A passive ability of the Corpse Snake (Blackwater Mystic Snake). It can generate a water-attribute leather armor outside the body to block enemy attacks."
"This seems similar to the Stone Skin Technique of that demon tiger from before. One is water-attribute, and the other is earth-and-stone-attribute." Luo Zhen flicked his forked tongue. This reminded him of the tiger demonic beast with the Stone Skin Technique he had encountered in Cangshan County.
Just then, the system's voice sounded again.
"It has been detected that your Thick Armor and Water Armor Technique are both defensive abilities. Do you wish to synthesize the two abilities?"
"Yes! I confirm the synthesis!" Luo Zhen said with some anticipation.
"Thick Armor and Water Armor Technique are being synthesized..."
"Synthesis successful!"
"Congratulations, you have obtained the new ability [Waterlight Shield]!"
Luo Zhen was overjoyed and quickly looked at the skill description for Waterlight Shield.
Waterlight Shield: A water-attribute defensive ability.
Skill Exclusive: A synthesized skill exclusive to the host, Luo Zhen.
Skill Description: Can mobilize demonic power and water elements to generate a water-attribute shield on the body's surface. The shield has powerful defensive capabilities, and its defensive strength will increase as the host's realm increases.
"Let's test the power of this Waterlight Shield first." With a thought from Luo Zhen, a thick blue water shield appeared on the surface of his body.
This blue shield was not the usual circular shape, but elongated. To be precise, it was formed according to Luo Zhen's body shape, and the surface of the shield flickered with a faint blue light, looking quite peculiar.
After thinking for a moment, Luo Zhen turned his head and spat a two-meter-long fire blade at his own body.
Bang!
The fierce fire blade was directly repelled by the Waterlight Shield, having no effect whatsoever.
"This shield seems very powerful. Even my own fire blade can't break it!" Luo Zhen was overjoyed and then dispelled the shield on his body.
Opening the attribute panel, Luo Zhen's attributes appeared before his eyes.
Name: Luo Zhen
Race: Snake (Top-grade mutant spiritual species)
Species Name: Flying Mystic Snake
Innate Bloodline: Flying Mystic Snake Bloodline
Innate Abilities: Water, Fire, and Ice attribute spells, flight by spreading wings
Defensive Skill: Waterlight Shield
Other Skills: Venom Arrow, Constriction
Experience Points: 101/5000
Realm: Early-stage Demonic Spirit Realm
System Prompt: After each major realm crossing, there is a certain probability of successfully evolving your bloodline!
After a glance, Luo Zhen closed the attribute panel, then crawled out of the mountain's belly and left the Decaying Peak.
Target, Sect Master of the Mystic Sword Sect, Zhao Feilian!
Beating his wings, Luo Zhen traveled swiftly, and before long, he arrived in the sky above the Mystic Sword Sect in Bright Moon County City.
Looking down at the Mystic Sword Sect, which had been reduced to ruins, a cold light flashed in Luo Zhen's long, narrow snake eyes. Although the Mystic Sword Sect had been destroyed by him, as long as Zhao Feilian was not dead, the Mystic Sword Sect could still rise again.
And now, Zhao Feilian's aura was wafting from below.
"Zhao Feilian, get out here and die!" Luo Zhen shouted, his voice rolling and booming across the area.
The voice rolled, spreading in all directions.
"It's you?!" Zhao Feilian rushed out. Seeing Luo Zhen, he gave a savage smile and said coldly, "You dead loach, you've got some nerve, coming here to die on your own accord!"
After speaking, Zhao Feilian drew his longsword, preparing to attack Luo Zhen.
But the next moment, Zhao Feilian suddenly froze.
He sensed Luo Zhen's formidable aura. The demonic might emanating from Luo Zhen was in no way weaker than his own!
"You... you've broken through to the Demonic Spirit Realm?!" Zhao Feilian's face was filled with horror, a mix of shock and doubt.
"Haha, that's right!" Luo Zhen laughed heartily in mid-air. "Zhao Feilian, today is the day you die!"
As soon as his voice fell, Luo Zhen opened his snake mouth and spat out a sharp fire blade carrying a ferocious aura.
This fire blade, composed entirely of flames, was over two meters long and slashed towards Zhao Feilian on the ground with scorching heat.
"Hmph, so what if you've advanced? I advanced to the Spirit Martial Realm ten years ago. I know plenty of martial arts techniques!" Zhao Feilian gritted his teeth, then swung his longsword, unleashing a wave of sword qi.
"Boom!"
Luo Zhen's fire blade and the sword qi collided violently. Zhao Feilian's sword qi was instantly shattered, and the fire blade, with undiminished momentum, continued to slash towards him.
Zhao Feilian was greatly alarmed and hastily slashed out several more waves of sword qi before he managed to shatter Luo Zhen's fire blade.
"What a domineering flame blade! It seems I have to get serious!" Zhao Feilian glanced at Luo Zhen with apprehension, then continuously swung his sword with one hand, assuming various sword stances.
At the same time, a powerful aura emanated from Zhao Feilian's body.
A moment later, Zhao Feilian suddenly shouted, "Take this, Mountain-Shattering Mystic Light Slash!"
As his voice fell, a massive phantom sword suddenly formed. The sword's shadow was as large as a great tree, and under Zhao Feilian's control, it slashed towards Luo Zhen in mid-air.
"Die, you dead loach! This is my unique ultimate technique. Even the Baboon Great Commander was seriously injured by this move!" Zhao Feilian laughed triumphantly.
The phantom sword's speed was extremely fast. Luo Zhen only had time to activate his Waterlight Shield before he was struck by the sword's shadow.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A series of explosions rang out in mid-air. The air vibrated wildly, turning into a howling wind that whipped around.
"Hmph! You reckless loach, you dare..." Zhao Feilian's face was full of contempt, but his words were cut short. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the sky, shouting in horror,
"This... how is this possible? How can you be unharmed after being hit by my attack?!"
The sword shadow in the sky had dissipated, revealing an unscathed Luo Zhen. A layer of azure water-colored shield floated on the surface of Luo Zhen's body. It was this shield that had allowed him to withstand the attack just now.
"Idiot Zhao Feilian, didn't expect this, did you? I have a defensive shield!" Luo Zhen looked down at Zhao Feilian below and laughed heartily.
"A defensive shield..." Zhao Feilian murmured. "What kind of defensive shield is this? It can actually withstand a direct hit from me?!"
"Impossible, this is impossible!" Zhao Feilian suddenly became agitated and shouted, "My attack is incredibly powerful. Even the Baboon Great Commander, who is a minor realm higher than me, was seriously injured by it. How can your shield have such strong defensive power!"
"I can't be bothered to waste my breath on you," Luo Zhen opened his snake mouth and spat out a series of orange-red fireballs the size of millstones.
For a moment, it was as if a mighty rain of fireballs fell upon the area. The massive fireballs crashed down and then exploded around Zhao Feilian.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Another series of earth-shattering explosions. The nearby ground trembled incessantly from the exploding fireballs. For a time, dust and smoke filled the air, and flames shot up everywhere.
When the dust settled, it revealed a ground riddled with holes, as shocking as if it had been bombarded by countless cannonballs.
On the cratered ground, Zhao Feilian lay in a pool of blood, covered in wounds. In many places, his white bones were exposed.
Zhao Feilian lay on the ground like a dead dog, his breath extremely faint. It was clear he wouldn't live much longer.
Seeing Zhao Feilian's condition, Luo Zhen sneered.
A sharp ice spear shot out from Luo Zhen's mouth and pierced through Zhao Feilian's chest.
"You have killed the Sect Master of the Mystic Sword Sect, Zhao Feilian!"
"Dropped an Extraordinary Low-grade sword [Mystic Light Sword]!"
"Gained 500 experience points!"
As soon as the voice fell, a light green longsword appeared in front of Luo Zhen. This was Zhao Feilian's personal sword.
"I'm a demonic beast, what use do I have for a sword?" Luo Zhen curled his lip, then looked at the experience template.
"Five hundred experience points?" Seeing the system's prompt, Luo Zhen was pleasantly surprised.
He and Zhao Feilian were of the same realm. According to experience, killing a demonic beast or warrior of the same rank shouldn't yield so many experience points.
Luo Zhen opened the system and asked, quickly receiving an explanation.
The system replied, "Zhao Feilian's identity is the Sect Master of the Mystic Sword Sect, which qualifies him as a small BOSS. Therefore, there is an experience bonus for killing him."
Hearing the system's explanation, Luo Zhen couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
To think that a human warrior had become a small BOSS!
Usually, human warriors went into the mountains to hunt or entered dungeons to kill demonic beasts. He never thought they would one day become a BOSS themselves!
Shaking his head, Luo Zhen collected his thoughts and began to consider his next move.
Zhao Feilian was dead, so next up was the Baboon Great Commander!
"During the fight just now, Zhao Feilian said the Baboon Great Commander was severely injured by his sword technique?" Luo Zhen looked towards the core area of the Bright Moon Mountain Range and sneered, "Baboon Great Commander, you'd better not disappoint me!"
With a flap of his wings, Luo Zhen stirred up a strong wind and headed towards the center of the mountain range.
...
"Baboon, get out of here and die!" A loud shout exploded over Bright Moon Lake.
"Who? Which fearless dog dares to act wild with me!?" The Baboon Great Commander ran out of his wooden hut, cursing loudly.
Then he sensed something, looked up, and saw a large black snake with wings flying in the sky.
"It's you, you dead loach!?" The Baboon Great Commander said sinisterly, "You actually have the guts... wait, your aura!"
The Baboon Great Commander's voice trailed off, and his gaze towards Luo Zhen was filled with shock.
"You... you've actually advanced to the Demonic Spirit Realm!" the Baboon Great Commander said in horror.
"Haha, didn't expect this, you dead monkey? I'm also at the Demonic Spirit Realm now!" Luo Zhen laughed heartily, then swooped down and landed not far from the baboon.
Retracting his wings, Luo Zhen sized up the Baboon Great Commander. He saw a long, terrifying sword scar on the baboon's chest. The wound was so wide that the flesh on both sides had peeled back, and through the gash, one could even see the baboon's internal organs.
"It seems Zhao Feilian was right, you are indeed seriously injured," Luo Zhen sneered.
"Nonsense, Zhao Feilian is at the early-stage Spirit Martial Realm and has such a powerful sword technique, did you think he was easy to deal with?" The Baboon Great Commander snorted coldly and said, "But Zhao Feilian's injuries are even more severe. I tore off one of his arms!"
At this point, the Baboon Great Commander threatened, "You dead black snake, don't think you can challenge me just because you've advanced to the Demonic Spirit Realm. Although I'm injured now, dealing with you is more than enough!"
"Oh, is that so?" Luo Zhen said lightly. "Let me tell you the latest news."
"What latest news?"
"Zhao Feilian is dead."
"What?!" The Baboon Great Commander was greatly shocked. "Zhao Feilian is actually dead? Although I crippled one of his arms, he was still a Spirit Martial Realm expert. Who could have killed him!?"
Luo Zhen looked at the Baboon Great Commander and said meaningfully, "What do you think?"
"Could it be you?" The Baboon Great Commander sneered contemptuously, "It's not that I look down on you, but you really can't kill Zhao Feilian!"
"Although Zhao Feilian is only at the early-stage Spirit Martial Realm, don't forget, he is the Sect Master of the Mystic Sword Sect! He knows many cultivation methods and sword techniques. Not to mention anything else, he can perform an ultimate move called something like the Mystic Light Slash. That sword technique is extremely powerful!"
"Even though I am at the mid-stage Demonic Spirit Realm, a minor realm higher than him, I was still terrified when facing that sword move!"
After saying that, the Baboon Great Commander looked at Luo Zhen with a disdainful gaze.
Luo Zhen couldn't be bothered to waste words with him and said lightly, "It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. You're about to die anyway."
"You want me to die? I'm afraid you don't have the ability!" The Baboon Great Commander was so angry that he laughed. With a fierce roar, he swung his massive monkey paws through the air several times.
The next moment, several yellow-glowing claw marks tore through space and struck fiercely at Luo Zhen.
Just as the claw marks were about to hit Luo Zhen, a blue light suddenly flashed on the surface of his body, and a thick Waterlight Shield appeared.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A few muffled sounds rang out. The yellow claw marks hit the shield but had no effect whatsoever.
"What's going on?!" the Baboon Great Commander said with uncertainty and alarm.
"I have a shield, you can't break it at all," Luo Zhen's snake head arched high, his vertical pupils flashing with a cold light. "You dead monkey, today is the day you die!"
As soon as his voice fell, Luo Zhen spat out a dense barrage of flame blades.
The flames rolled and then submerged the Baboon Great Commander.
Two minutes later, the system's voice sounded.
"You have killed the Great Commander of the Bright Moon Mountain Range, the White-haired Baboon!"
"Gained 1300 experience points!"
Luo Zhen flicked his forked tongue. After two minutes of fighting, the Baboon Great Commander was finally killed by him.
This was actually to be expected.
The Baboon Great Commander couldn't break his defensive shield at all and could only take a beating. In addition, the baboon was already seriously injured, and Luo Zhen was no ordinary demonic beast, so he was naturally dealt with quickly.
After killing the Baboon Great Commander, Luo Zhen raised his head and looked around.
"Moo!!!" Luo Zhen's serpentine body arched high, and a sound resembling a cow's moo came from his mouth.
From this day on, the entire Bright Moon Mountain Range belonged to him!
He was the one and only king of the Bright Moon Mountain Range!