After locking down his new turf at the Ten-Mile Water Shop, Luo Zhen woke up the next day ready for conquest. It was time to expand.
He left the Big Green Fish and the Carp Demon on guard duty, grabbed a random handful of lesser demons, and set off like a tidal wave toward the neighboring territories. It didn't really matter who he brought along; Luo Zhen knew he was the main event. The others were just hype men.
"Alright, who's the boss around here? Show yourself!" one of his demons bellowed as they stormed the first new territory.
You don't get to be that loud without drawing attention. Moments later, a crew of mean-looking fish demons swarmed out to meet them.
"Who's the moron making a racket on my turf!?" their leader, a massive black turtle with the aura of a late-stage Earthly Profound master, roared.
Luo Zhen flicked his serpentine tail and materialized in front of the turtle. "I've decided I like this place," he said, his voice dangerously calm. "So, you have two options. One: you and your crew pack it up and get lost. Two: you die here."
The turtle exploded in rage. When he sensed Luo Zhen was only at the initial stage of the Earthly Profound realm, his fury boiled over. He charged, a screaming mass of shell and fury.
Luo Zhen didn't even flinch. He simply opened his mouth and coughed up a bloom of crimson lotus fire.
The screams that followed were not of anger, but of agony.
In a matter of minutes, it was over. The turtle and his toughest enforcers were nothing but ash. The territory was his.
"Boss Snake is a legend!"
"All hail Boss Snake!"
His crew erupted in cheers. Luo Zhen allowed himself a small, sharp smile. "Let's move. Next target."
Fueled by the devastating power of his Red Lotus Fire, Luo Zhen carved a path of destruction through the local factions. It was effortless, like a storm tearing through dead leaves. By midday, his domain had swelled to five hundred miles. He'd crushed at least thirty crews, big and small, leaving no survivors among their Earthly Profound masters.
All that slaughter—and the spirit stones and elixirs he'd devoured along the way—sent his experience points into the stratosphere, multiplying more than ten times over.
After hitting the five-hundred-mile mark, Luo Zhen decided to pump the brakes. Pushing further risked running into the real heavy-hitters: the Heavenly Profound masters. Not that he was scared. Honestly, with the Red Lotus Fire at his command, he figured he could take one. He might even win.
The real problem was logistics. Five hundred miles was already a huge territory to manage. He was stretched thin. It was time to consolidate his gains and build a stable foundation.
On the way back to his headquarters, mobbed by his ecstatic followers, Luo Zhen pulled up his stats panel.
Host: Luo Zhen
Race: Serpent (Supreme Mutant Spirit Species)
Name: Red Lotus Serpent
Bloodline: Red Lotus Serpent
Abilities: Water, Fire & Ice Magic; Flight
Attack Skill: Red Lotus Fire (Tier 2 Beast Fire)
Defense Skill: Water Light Shield
Other Skills: Poison Arrow, Entangle
EXP: 170,000,000
Killing Aura: 45,000
Realm: Earthly Profound (Initial Stage)
System Note: Major realm breakthroughs carry a chance of triggering a successful bloodline evolution!
He closed the panel. He had a staggering one hundred and seventy million experience points. To hit the mid-stage of his current realm, he only needed ten thousand. He had enough EXP to push all the way to the Heavenly Profound realm if he wanted. The only bottleneck was his Killing Aura, which was a little low. Still, he had more than enough to jump straight to the late stage of his current realm. Not mid-stage—late stage.
But he wasn't interested in leveling up just yet. It wouldn't improve his Red Lotus Fire, and that was his trump card. Beast Fire wasn't tied to the realm level. That Ghost-Headed Tiger he'd fought was a full-fledged Heavenly Profound beast, but its fire was only Tier 1. And guys like that were one-in-a-million; most demons didn't have Beast Fire at all.
His fire was the reason a newbie like him could punch so far above his weight class.
He was mulling this over when his entourage ground to a halt. He blinked, pulled from his thoughts. "What's the hold-up?"
"Boss, we've got highway robbers up ahead!" a demon yelled, sprinting back from the front line.
"Robbers? Seriously?" Luo Zhen was more amused than anything. He slithered to the front to see for himself.
Blocking their path was a tough-looking crew of demons led by a massive black seal, a mid-stage Earthly Profound master. His cronies were no slouches either, all of them at the Demon Spirit level.
The seal puffed out his chest and began reciting some lines he'd clearly picked up from humans. "This road is my road, these trees are my trees, if you want to pass..." He trailed off, his eyes going wide.
He was staring straight at Luo Zhen, his expression a comical mix of shock and disbelief.
"Young Master? Is it really you!?" the seal suddenly bellowed, then charged forward.
"Whoa there. 'Young Master?' I have no idea who you are," Luo Zhen said, spitting a sheet of ice that instantly formed a wall between them.
"You don't remember me? It's me, Ah Bao!" the seal cried, his voice thick with desperation.
"Ah-who? Look, pal, you've got the wrong snake," Luo Zhen said.
"No, I don't! I could never be wrong!" the seal insisted. "I can feel the Xuan Yin bloodline in you. You are my Young Master—the Black Water Mystic Snake!"
"Black Water Mystic Snake?" Luo Zhen flicked his tongue. This was getting interesting. "And what's your connection to their clan?"
The Xuan Yin bloodline was the exclusive signature of the Black Water Mystic Snake clan. If this seal knew about it, he was more than just some random thug.
"My family, the seals, we served your clan for three hundred years! I grew up with the young masters. How could I possibly be mistaken?" the seal's voice cracked with emotion. "After the Great War, I was the only one of my family left. I thought... I thought the Black Water Mystic Snakes were all gone. But now I've found you, Young Master!"
"You're mistaken," Luo Zhen said, shaking his head. "I'm not a Black Water Mystic Snake."
"Impossible!" the seal roared. "If you're not the Young Master, then why do you have the aura of the Xuan Yin bloodline?!"
It was true. Luo Zhen had devoured the essence and body of a Black Water Mystic Snake long ago. Though he had since evolved into the Red Lotus Serpent, remnants of that bloodline still lingered within him.
Luo Zhen's genetic makeup was… complicated.
His evolutionary journey had left him with a cocktail of powers. There was a trace of the ancient Teng Snake in him, and as the seal had correctly identified, a sliver of the Black Water Mystic Snake. But the dominant power, the one that defined him now, was from the Nine-Headed Hydra, Jiu Ying. It was this chaotic mix that made him a "Supreme Mutant Spirit Species" in the system's eyes.
He looked at the desperate seal. "You're not wrong," Luo Zhen admitted. "I do have traces of the Xuan Yin bloodline's power."
That was all the seal needed to hear. He immediately prostrated himself, slamming his head against the ground. "This subordinate greets the Young Master!" he cried, his voice choked with tears.
"Whoa, hang on, I wasn't finished," Luo Zhen said, using his tail to stop the seal from giving himself a concussion. "The Xuan Yin power in me is faint. It's a whisper. It means I'm not a true Black Water Mystic Snake." He pointed to his forehead. "See this lotus mark? I absorbed the power of Jiu Ying. I'm a Red Lotus Serpent now."
The seal looked up and finally noticed the fist-sized, fiery lotus emblem branded on Luo Zhen's brow.
"You've evolved, Young Master?" The seal's despair instantly transformed into radiant joy. He started bowing again. "Congratulations, Young Master! This is a joyous occasion!"
"Okay, seriously, stop that," Luo Zhen said, feeling a headache coming on. "I'm not your Young Master. I have no memories of being a Black Water Mystic Snake, and frankly, I feel zero connection to the clan. I'm laying it all out for you. Do with that what you will."
He turned to his crew. "Alright, let's get moving."
The seal remained kneeling, stunned into silence as he processed everything. Just when Luo Zhen thought the bizarre encounter was over, the seal let out another desperate cry.
"Young Master! If you refuse to accept me as your subordinate, I'll kill myself right here, right now!"
A violent, unstable energy suddenly flared from the seal's body. He was actually preparing to self-destruct.
"Alright, fine! I'll take you! Happy now?" Luo Zhen blurted out, shocked.
"I knew you wouldn't have the heart to watch me die," the seal said, the self-destructive aura vanishing as he trotted over with a goofy grin.
Luo Zhen sighed. This guy was a real piece of work, literally threatening suicide to become his follower. He activated his scan.
Name: Ah Bao (Green Water Seal)
Race: Seal
Strength: Earthly Profound (Mid-Stage)
Skill: Green Water Burst Stream Slash
Loyalty: 98
Note: Subordinate of Host Luo Zhen.
Ninety-eight loyalty? Luo Zhen was floored. The scale only went up to 100, which was the level of a fanatical death-sworn loyalist—the kind of follower who would kill their own parents without hesitation if ordered. 98 was practically the same thing.
He was stunned, but also… moved. If this seal was going to be this devoted, he couldn't just turn him away.
That's when he noticed it. "What happened to your chest?"
A nasty, gaping wound marred the seal's chest, still oozing blood.
"Oh, this? It's nothing," Ah Bao said, waving a flipper dismissively. "Got into a scrap with another demon yesterday. It was a hell of a fight. Anyway, just call me Ah Bao, Young Master. It feels friendlier."
Luo Zhen's expression turned to ice. "What was the realm of the demon who did this to you?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "He dared to touch one of my people. I don't care if he's a Heavenly Profound master. He's dead."
Ah Bao flinched at his intensity. "He's a Phantom Snake, peak Earthly Profound. He's the baddest robber in these parts."
"Peak Earthly Profound?" Luo Zhen let out a cold laugh. "Lead the way. I'm going to kill him and get you justice."
"Young Master, wait!" Ah Bao pleaded, blocking his path. "This guy's abilities are weird, and he's at the top of his realm. The two of us together are no match for him! We can't afford to pick this fight!"
"So what if he's at his peak?" Luo Zhen's voice was frigid. "I may only be at the initial stage, but killing him won't be a problem. How do you think I conquered five hundred miles of territory in a single morning?"
His demons chimed in. "He's right! The boss is a beast. He's taken down plenty of peak Earthly Profound masters."
"Yeah! Our boss is on another level!"
"Don't you worry, Boss Seal. He'll get your revenge!"
As the chorus of praise swelled, Ah Bao's eyes began to shine with renewed hope.
"Young Master," he said, his voice firm with conviction. "I believe in you." He nodded once, then turned and began to lead the way.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a massive, rocky hill.
"Phantom Snake!" Ah Bao roared, his voice echoing across the landscape. "Get your slithering hide out of here!"
A moment later, a colossal water snake covered in iridescent blue rings shot out of a cave. "Well, well," the Phantom Snake hissed, eyeing Ah Bao with contempt. "Look what the current dragged in. Came back to die so soon?"
"Don't get cocky! My master is here this time!" Ah Bao shot back.
"Your master?" The Phantom Snake's amusement faded, replaced by a cautious curiosity. "And who might that be?"
"That would be me," Luo Zhen said, gliding to the front.
The Phantom Snake studied him, his eyes narrowed. Then he felt Luo Zhen's aura—initial stage Earthly Profound—and burst out laughing.
"Hah! You've got to be kidding me! A baby snake playing at being a king?" he cackled. "Ah Bao, you've really lost it, taking orders from a weakling like this!"
Ah Bao bristled with rage, but Luo Zhen held up a tail to silence him. He met the Phantom Snake's gaze, his own eyes flat and cold. "You hurt Ah Bao. For that, you die today."
"Big words from a small snake. I'll kill you first!" the Phantom Snake snarled, lunging forward and spitting a bolt of blue lightning.
"Young Master, watch out!" Ah Bao cried.
Luo Zhen didn't move. A shimmering sphere of water materialized around him—his Water Light Shield.
BOOM!
The lightning bolt hit with the force of a thunderclap. When the light faded, Luo Zhen was completely untouched. The shield hadn't even flickered.
The Phantom Snake stared, stunned. "That defense..."
Ah Bao was just as shocked. "He's... so strong," he whispered.
Luo Zhen looked at his opponent, unimpressed. "If that's all you have," he said calmly, "then this is already over."