Transformation

Bai Yujing had suffered many times for his nature—a nature that dictated he act entirely on instinct.

Someone had once mocked him, saying, “Rivers and mountains may change, but a person’s nature never does.” At the time, Bai Yujing had been so enraged that he waited until that person was meditating in a spiritual spring, transformed into his serpent form, and sank his fangs into the man’s true body. Though his jaw had ached for half a month from the impact, he had at least left a deep bite mark on the surface of that “smelly stone,” which barely sufficed to soothe his grudge.

But now, for a rare moment, Bai Yujing found himself in agreement with that saying.

—In the future, I really should use my head more.

The moment the wine went down, Bai Yujing snapped into clarity, and a wave of regret immediately followed. But it was too late.

The scalding liquid seared his throat, sliding down his esophagus and igniting a fire in his gut.

…Something is wrong with this wine.

Bai Yujing set the cup down and pressed a hand to his forehead; his stomach churned violently. The nightmare-like sense of distortion did not fade; instead, it intensified as the wine settled.

Just then, a commotion rose around him: “…Heavens!”

The divine senses previously fixed on Bai Yujing were suddenly withdrawn. Gasps of astonishment echoed from the guests in the outer pavilion, seemingly marveled by Shen Fenglin’s staggering wealth.

Through a haze, Bai Yujing saw Shen Fenglin produce spiritual artifacts from his storage ring—items he had previously wheedled out of Bai Yujing. Now, as the highlight of the ceremony, he distributed them to his subordinates before the eyes of the world, flaunting his generosity and abundance.

“True Person Lianyin, Wang Qinghe—granted the Ancient Zither, Echoing Spring.”

“True Person Yanchuan, Du Jingchun—granted the Ancient Blade, Cangwu.”

“…Duan Ai… Winter Thunder Scripture…”

“…”

Everyone was overjoyed. Their voices trembled with gratitude as they accepted their rewards. But when it came to Bai Yujing, Shen Fenglin skipped over him once again.

The guests paused in unison, and the scrutiny in their eyes took on a different, darker hue.

Caught in this kaleidoscopic distortion, the burning sensation in Bai Yujing’s gut made it impossible for him to care about anything else.

Several more people were rewarded until the final recipient stepped forward. Through the ringing in his ears, Bai Yujing caught a few words: “…Liuming… Jade Serpent Pendant…”

…What?

Enduring a massive wave of vertigo, Bai Yujing snapped his head up. He looked in disbelief at the small snake pendant, carved from jade and tied with a red silk cord, which Liuming was now accepting.

That was clearly his—

Memories surged back like a tide, drowning him until his chest ached and he could barely breathe.

【”Wow, what a beautiful pendant! This little snake looks just like Qingqing… Benefactor, is this for me?”】 【”Mhm. It’s yours now.”】 【”Thank you, Benefactor!”】

【”Once you put it on, no matter where you go, I will find you. So, don’t go running off.”】 【”Eh? But Benefactor only needs to look down to find Qingqing, right?”】 【”…Stop acting like a spoiled brat.”】

…Liar.

He had worn that jade pendant for eight hundred years, waiting for someone to find him as promised. But fate had other plans.

Eight hundred years passed in a flash, until not long ago—

“Master, I have one more request for the ceremony… It’s nothing valuable, really. I just want that jade pendant of yours… Hey, hey! Don’t hit me! Let me finish—”

“I don’t know how poor my ‘past life’ must have been to offer such a low-quality stone to Master. Now that I’m right here in front of you, why keep that broken rock as a memento?”

“Give it back to me. In the future, I’ll honor you with a piece of Top-Grade Tianshan Jade.”

So, the reason you wanted the pendant back was to hand it over to someone else?

The upheaval in his stomach reached a peak.

As the final recipient, Su Jiu-shao stood up under the envious gazes of the crowd to accept a bottle of Top-Grade Heart-Nurturing Pills and a Nine-Treasure Glazed Fan.

Yet there was no joy in her heart. She felt only a strange, flat numbness.

She knew exactly whose hands these artifacts had come from. She knew that everything she owned was not born of favor, but of reward, display, and implication—a reward for being a traitor’s accomplice, a display of her competence, and an implication… that there was no turning back.

Stowing the items, she couldn’t help but look at Bai Yujing again. She saw him biting his lip, brow furrowed, his face deathly pale. He seemed to be in inexplicable agony.

…Is it because of the scale I pulled out that day?

She felt utterly hypocritical, yet she couldn’t control her instincts. The bitter fruit of guilt and betrayal seeped out, scorching her none-too-noble heart.

“What is Sister Su looking at?”

“…!”

The voice, condensed from divine sense, exploded in her ear. Su Jiu-shao jerked her gaze back in terror, looking aghast at Shen Fenglin.

High on the dais, the youth wore a proper smile, but his eyes were bottomless.

—Whose property are you looking at?

In an instant, Su Jiu-shao’s hair stood on end—partly from the threat of the man before her, and partly from the ugly spectacle of the crowd behind her scrambling for artifacts.

She felt as if she were seeing the near future: a scene where a pitiful young snake was placed on a jade platter, its scales peeled off one by one.

They were like vultures, devouring the man’s flesh and blood. And when the table was a mess of ruins, they would look down and mock his weakness.

And she, Su Jiu-shao, shedding hypocritical tears, was no different from them.

“It has been a long road for you, Fellow Daoist Su,” someone laughed in her ear.

Su Jiu-shao turned stiffly to see the sword cultivator named Liuming smiling as he offered her a toast.

The newly acquired serpent jade pendant hung from his wrist. The red cord was as bright as fresh blood—stinging to the eyes.

Su Jiu-shao forced a difficult smile. “I thank you for the honor, Fellow Daoist, but I am feeling unwell today. Perhaps another day—”

“Another day?” Liuming said with a beaming smile. “Fellow Daoist Su must be drunk. Today is Ancestor Fenglin’s Consecration Ceremony. What ‘another day’ could there be?”

“…”

Su Jiu-shao turned toward the high platform and met Shen Fenglin’s unblinking gaze.

Her rusted brain finally began to turn. She realized this was Shen Fenglin’s way of asserting dominance over her.

Perhaps this was her retribution.

However, just as Su Jiu-shao took a deep breath, fighting back a wave of nausea to take the cup, a clear and sharp voice exploded in everyone’s ears: “…She said she doesn’t want to drink. Are you deaf, Liuming?”

Su Jiu-shao froze. She turned to see Bai Yujing leaning his head on his hand, brow furrowed as if enduring a headache, looking over with a trace of thin rage.

His eyes, bright with pain and soaked in wine, were startlingly vivid. They enhanced his already lush features, making him look like a peony caught in a torrential downpour—rare beauty, yet giving off the illusion that he was something one could easily reach out and seize.

The air froze for a moment. It seemed no one expected him to speak up for Su Jiu-shao.

Liuming, the target of the scolding, was the first to recover. He didn’t look annoyed; he simply smiled and touched the red cord on his wrist. “Senior Bai is right to lecture me. This junior—”

Before he could finish, Shen Fenglin slowly raised his hand, signaling him to be silent.

Then, the sole protagonist of the ceremony rose before the eyes of the crowd. He walked to the two of them and took the wine cup from Liuming before Su Jiu-shao could touch it.

“—!”

Shen Fenglin glanced at Su Jiu-shao, taking in her shock, terror, and suppressed pity.

He smiled—a smile that seemed to tell her: Everything this person is about to suffer is because of your lack of tact.

Shen Fenglin withdrew his gaze. Without any extra movement, he carried the wine to Bai Yujing. Ignoring the hundreds of shocked and probing stares, he leaned down and said with a smile, “Since Senior has spoken, why don’t you… drink this cup on Sister Su’s behalf?”

He knew Bai Yujing hated being forced, so he had prepared more rhetoric. But today, Bai Yujing seemed exceptionally impatient. He merely frowned, looked at him, and drained the cup in one gulp, looking as if he didn’t want to waste a single word on him.

Shen Fenglin’s breath hitched. A dark flash crossed his eyes.

But he did not leave. He remained standing in front of Bai Yujing.

The followers who had been cheering for their artifacts suddenly fell silent in unison. They all looked over.

They were like a troupe of puppets, waiting for the opening of a predetermined play. The atmosphere was so eerie it made Su Jiu-shao’s heart tremble.

The jade serpent pendant, having left its original master, swayed gently under Liuming’s wrist. One, two…

On the third beat, a majestic demonic aura suddenly erupted within the pavilion. A magnificent white serpent’s tail spilled out like an elegant skirt, instantly covering the entire palace floor!

Silence fell over the pavilion, both inside and out.

A cold, soft, and plump serpent belly pressed Shen Fenglin firmly beneath it.

Under the stunned gazes of the hall of guests, Shen Fenglin pressed against the scales and slowly rose. There was no fear in his eyes; instead, he tenderly gathered the white, supple young snake into his arms.

He lowered his head and pressed his cheek against the scales, his posture eerily intimate—as if he were not holding a beautiful but dangerous white snake, but rather his own grand future.

He was cradling his own radiant dream.

“It’s your fault, Master…” he whispered in a low complaint. “I didn’t want to make you so undignified. Why did you have to make me angry?”

…Who is speaking? Fenglin?

Bai Yujing had a splitting headache. His stomach was frighteningly hot, as if two opposing forces were fighting inside him, twisting until he wanted to pass out.

It had been a long time since he had shown his true form. A snake’s body temperature was naturally low; the agony of this heat was unbearable, feeling as if his inner demon core was about to be roasted.

“It’s your fault… Mas… I originally…”

My fault? What is Shen Fenglin saying?

This brat plans to ride over my head?!

Bai Yujing didn’t hear the full sentence, but that didn’t stop rage from rising in his heart: “…Bastard!”

Shen Fenglin froze. His sickly emotions vanished, replaced by a flash of panic in his eyes.

—How is it possible? How can he still use his divine sense after drinking that wine?

However, Shen Fenglin soon saw the feigned strength in the white snake’s unfocused pupils. He quickly suppressed his internal panic and soothed him in a raspy voice: “…Master is drunk; why are you throwing a fit?”

With that, he held a dark-red “Sobriety Pill” to the white snake’s mouth. “There, there. Your disciple doesn’t blame you. Take this and have a good sleep. Be good.”

The strange pill melted instantly upon contact, requiring no swallowing to take effect.

The world before Bai Yujing’s eyes gradually dimmed. A heavy sense of intoxication and sleepiness clouded his mind.

Oh, I’m drunk, he thought vaguely. I must have misheard him earlier.

As for revealing his true form… Fenglin will get used to it once he sees it more. It’s no big deal.

He remembered when Qing羽 first saw his true form; the dignified princess had been so scared she crawled under the bed. But she soon learned to be composed about it.

…So, it’s no big deal.

The pill seemed to melt away all unease, anxiety, and fear, leaving only the sweetest of dreams.

In the Three Thousand Realms, there was no medicinal pill that could fundamentally dismantle the will of a Tribulation-stage powerhouse—this was something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

The snow-white serpent tail became soft and smooth with intoxication, elegant and white, even the scales tucking themselves away submissively.

The foggy feeling in Bai Yujing’s mind deepened, but the heat in his stomach acted like a barrier, pulling desperately on his last shred of consciousness.

The world began to turn surreal. He felt as if he had returned to the warmest place of his youth. However, though he wanted to sleep, he couldn’t; he was forced to open his eyes amidst a sea of dizzying double-visions.

In the blurred surroundings, Bai Yujing saw a glimmer of ghostly blue light floating beside Shen Fenglin.

…?

Bai Yujing tried his best to see clearly, but the scene became murkier, leaving only that blue light suspended in the darkness like a firefly.

He saw Shen Fenglin holding him, tilting his head slightly to “look” at the strange blue object beside him.

An ethereal, cold voice emerged from that ghostly curtain, piercing through the bizarre dreamscape to ring in Bai Yujing’s ears.

[Beep—]

[Human Cultivator “Song Qing羽” collection complete. Tribulation-stage Cultivator collection progress: 8/9. Collected races: Human, Demon, Ghost, Asura, Witch.]

[Races remaining: Spirit. For the construction of the “New World,” please continue your efforts, Host.]

[The “Creator” System has upgraded to Level 3. Same-tier world isolation function activated. Achievement “Peach Blossom Spring” unlocked. Authority “Copy” opened. Next level will unlock Authority: “Summon.” Please continue…]

…What in the world?

This was the second strange voice Bai Yujing had heard today. Even in this state, he was certain that this voice was not the same as the whimpering child who had begged him earlier.

Bai Yujing’s head felt like it was exploding. He struggled to hear more clearly.

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted in his ears.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Detected an unidentified gaze falling from the Immortal Realm. High-tier world isolation initiated…]

[Warning! An unidentified “Celestial Seed” has been dropped from a crack in the Immortal Realm. Suspected deployment by an Immortal Realm Observer!]

[Urgent Task: Find the Immortal Realm Remnant and eliminate it as quickly as possible!]