Chapter 275: Chapter 59: The Ground is Full of Little Snake People
A kindly woman, with yellow flowers in her hair and dressed in a long robe, appeared before Chen Jiuge.
She was beautiful, but what Chen Jiuge noticed first was not her beauty, but the warmth that radiated from within her.
This feeling is just like a mother’s!!!
"You may call me Houtu, or you can call me Lady Saint Ping," said the woman with a warm smile.
"L-Lady Saint Ping," Chen Jiuge replied involuntarily.
"Indeed, I know your name, Chen Jiuge."
"I want to thank you for helping the little snakes transform. You’ve done me a great favor, and I feel I should reward you," Lady Saint Ping said with a slight nod.
Regaining his composure, Chen Jiuge quickly shook his head. "Lady Saint Ping is too kind. I have already received my reward; I can’t accept anymore."
"That was given by the little snakes themselves, which is different from what I will give. Come with me."
Chen Jiuge felt some resistance in his heart as he watched Lady Saint Ping turn to lead the way, but his body followed her uncontrollably.
Crossing a stretch of unchanged black earth, Chen Jiuge saw buildings for the first time in this Original Land—a large hall of pure black.
Why didn’t I see this before? Chen Jiuge wondered. He remembered how he had wandered many times upon his arrival here. Though he always ended up back where he started, he surely couldn’t have missed such a grand palace.
「...」
「Inside the hall.」
The two of them sat cross-legged, with two cups of tea on the black jade-like desk, except the tea was slightly black.
"Try it. Black Earth Spirit Tea. It’s one of the few treasures I have left," Lady Saint Ping sighed lightly.
Chen Jiuge looked at the black tea, hesitated for a moment, then took a light sip and praised, "Delicious, truly delicious."
Dark patterns crawled up Chen Jiuge’s cheeks, and his physical body was somehow elevated by a small level. Feeling the changes in his body, Chen Jiuge watched Lady Saint Ping across from him, finding it hard to believe.
"This is the unique essence nurtured within the Original Land, which was transformed from my body. Drinking it can strengthen a cultivator’s physique," Lady Saint Ping explained calmly.
"Transformed from your body?" Chen Jiuge caught the crucial point.
"Yes. In general, I’m also a cultivator from the Heavenly Realm. More precisely, I’m a cultivator from the Myriad Beasts Sect," Lady Saint Ping stated flatly.
"What? But isn’t the Snake-man Clan said to come from a lesser world?" Chen Jiuge exclaimed in shock.
"While it might not be beneficial for you to learn of this so soon, it’s also not too problematic. Let me explain briefly. But before that, may I ask who the current Sect Master of the Myriad Beasts Sect is?"
"Jun Linseng, Sect Master Jun."
"Time flies indeed. I have never heard of him. Back in my day, it was that little guy, Tian Xing, who was the Sect Master," Lady Saint Ping expressed with some nostalgia.
Hearing this, Chen Jiuge’s heart stirred. Grand Elder Tian Xing was Sect Master? When was that? It seems like it was several successions ago. That’s truly ancient history.
"Have you ever heard of the realm called Dao Yi?"
"Dao Yi!" Chen Jiuge swallowed hard, incredulous. Could it be that the senior before me is a Dao Yi expert?
"Don’t be surprised. I am not Dao Yi. To be precise, I ended up in this state due to failing to reach that realm. Back when I was half a step from Dao Yi, I decided to forcibly undergo Tribulation to become a true Dao Yi. Sadly, heaven and earth did not permit the existence of Dao Yi. I failed. With my last breath, I escaped the Heavenly Realm, happened upon this lesser world, and was forced to fuse all my cultivation and Dao, creating this so-called Original Land, in a desperate bid to cling to life."
Chen Jiuge felt uneasy observing the calm demeanor of Lady Saint Ping. This was someone who dared to challenge the Dao Yi realm!
"As one grows old, one is fond of reminiscing. Here is my reciprocal gift to you." Lady Saint Ping handed over an earth-yellow pearl.
"I see you cultivate the Power Dao and Life Dao, and you’ve just started on the Earth Dao here. You probably aim to grasp the Life aspect of the Five Elements, thereby directly advancing your Life Dao into the Heavenly Immortal realm."
"This Earth Pearl can better assist you in comprehending the Life Dao. If possible, don’t give up on the Power Dao. After all, the Life Dao makes you a tough target, but you still need some offensive means."
Taking the pearl, Chen Jiuge felt a jolt throughout his body. It was an indescribable sensation. It’s like... it’s like I feel nothing can kill me anymore!
"You should go back now." Lady Saint Ping waved her hand, and Chen Jiuge’s figure immediately appeared at the entrance of the Myriad Beasts Sect’s mountain gate.
Wait, how did I get sent directly back to the Sect? Chen Jiuge thought, somewhat speechless as he looked at his surroundings. He hadn’t even bid farewell to Wan Hao and the others yet.
After several unsuccessful attempts to make a call, Chen Jiuge could only leave a Sound Recording Talisman.
"Hey, hey, hey, Wan Hao? Something happened, and I’m back at the Sect. Don’t worry; I’ll come to visit next time."
「...」
「At that moment, in the Snake-man Clan’s territory.」
Wan Lina watched the young snake-people who had already flattened their village. Her heart, initially filled with excitement, now felt like dead ashes. Isn’t this too many? Did the Original Land give birth to all the snake-people who hadn’t even been conceived yet?
Inside the Original Land, Lady Saint Ping also witnessed this scene. I’ll need to ask Tian Xing to help manage this, she resolved.
Lady Saint Ping sent a message to Grand Elder Tian Xing, who then communicated with Sect Master Jun Linseng. Subsequently, Jun Linseng delegated the task to Wudao Tian, who then involved Chen Jiuge.
On his way to the Snake-man Clan’s land, Chen Jiuge’s feelings were beyond words. What on earth is going on?
When he arrived at the once-familiar village entrance, Chen Jiuge looked incredulously at the scene before him and exclaimed, "My goodness, what has happened here?"
"HISS! What’s the deal with the Earth Snake-man Clan? Weren’t they said to be almost extinct? Does this look like extinction?" Wudao Tian was also quite puzzled.
When the Earth Snake-man Clan were still in their initial form—essentially fetal—they could develop wisdom comparable to adults through interactions in the Original Land. However, once they left the Original Land, they would become as clueless as infants and wouldn’t recall their initial memories until they matured.
This was also the reason why those little snake-people had noted down Chen Jiuge’s name.
"Eh, are you the support sent by the Myriad Beasts Sect?" a young and cute-looking snake-person said, her face alight with surprise.
"Yes. How do you plan on building your new clan territory? What kind of style? What size?" Wudao Tian asked.
"This should be discussed with our Clan Leader."
Watching the ground covered with little snake-people, the two had to constantly watch their steps; one moment of carelessness could result in stepping on a little snake-person, which would be a grave sin.
A journey that should have taken only a few minutes ended up taking a quarter of an hour before they finally arrived at Wan Lina’s courtyard.
Hearing the noisy sounds inside, Chen Jiuge suddenly felt a bad premonition.
Wudao Tian pulled open the courtyard gate.
RUMBLE—
Countless little snake-people burst out, burying Wudao Tian underneath.
Chen Jiuge looked at a group of little snake-people, resembling adorable young girls, blinking their big innocent eyes at him, and felt a peculiar stirring.
How come these little snake-people look so much smaller and cuter than they did back in the Origin Land? Chen Jiuge picked up the little snake-person on the top layer and smiled, pleased with himself.
But the little snake-person got so scared she started wailing loudly.
"Sorry, sorry, too many kids here... Oh, why is she crying now? Let me handle it." Wan Lina quickly took the little snake-person from Chen Jiuge’s hands, soothing her softly.
An hour later, they finally managed to clear a relatively clean table. The four gathered around it, staring at the seven or eight little snake-people playing and frolicking on top, at a loss for words.
Lifting the naughty little snake-person on his head onto the table, Wudao Tian cleared his throat and asked, "Clan Leader Wan, do you have any particular requirements for the construction of the new clan territory?"
Wan Lina wore a look of dumbfounded cuteness. "I don’t know. As long as it’s livable."
Wudao Tian glanced at Wan Hao.
Wan Hao, with a serious expression, said, "Mom is always right."
Wudao Tian immediately felt his scalp tingle. Dude, you’re a Heavenly Immortal! Do you really have to be *this* obedient?
"Junior Chen, it looks like we’ll have to rely on ourselves," Wudao Tian said somewhat helplessly.
Finally, after some fierce discussion, they decided to build the new clan territory of the Earth Snake-man Clan, radiating out from the entrance of the Original Land. As for the nearby small forces or the cave mansions of some Loose Cultivators, they used Treasures to persuade them to make way. If anyone disobeyed, Wan Hao, the mother-protecting maniac, would deal with them.
For this mission, only Wudao Tian and Chen Jiuge were assigned, but they had been allocated a large number of building materials and a complete set of Yellow Turban Warriors. So it wasn’t too difficult, just requiring several years of time.
Thus, the two got a taste of the joy of fatherhood ahead of time.
「...」
"Oh, my little ancestors, please come down," Wudao Tian begged with a defeated expression.
The little snake-person on the tree held her head high with an air of arrogance. "I don’t want to. I want to fly."
"You’re a snake, why do you want to fly?"
"No, Godfather, you’re human, and you can fly. I want to fly too."
"When you start Cultivation and your Cultivation level is high enough, you will be able to fly."
"I don’t want to! I want to fly!"
No sooner had he spoken than the little snake-person in the tree accelerated and shot down, only to be caught by the neck—a fated grab—by Wudao Tian.
"WAHAHAHA! I did it!" The little snake-person twisted her body in joy.
"I want to, I want to as well!"
Countless little snake-people submerged the poor tree, and then many little snake-people fell from the sky.
A quarter of an hour later, Wudao Tian, looking utterly dejected and covered in little snake-people, arrived at Chen Jiuge’s residence.
"Uh, Senior Brother, what happened to you?" Chen Jiuge put down his teacup, his curiosity piqued by the sight of the dispirited Wudao Tian.
"Junior Brother, how come you’re unscathed? Where are the little ones you were tending to?" Wudao Tian exclaimed.
Chen Jiuge pursed his lips, prompting Wudao Tian to look in the direction he indicated.
He saw numerous little snake-people playing joyfully with some toys; some were even tangled up and wrestling over a game.
"Junior Brother, you really have a knack for rearing snakes," Wudao Tian said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Teaching them to play poker? Aren’t you afraid they’ll pick up bad habits? Wudao Tian thought.
"Senior Brother, it’s no big problem. Plus, the Earth Snake-man Clan’s new territory should be finished by this afternoon," Chen Jiuge reminded him.
"That’s truly wonderful news." Wudao Tian visibly perked up with excitement.