Starting with the titmouse, seventy-two transformations

Chapter 20: Deduction: A Century-Long Cycle Leads to a Viper (Please continue reading)
"Just right here."

A moment later, Liu Sheng circled several times over a forest area, and after confirming that there was no danger, he swooped down.

As the white mist rose, his true form appeared.

With each use, his skills have become increasingly refined.

He sat down under a tree, summoned his control panel, reviewed his previous thoughts, and then a thought struck him:
"Consuming all spirit points, deduce the Iron-Scaled Serpent..."

In an instant, ink cascaded down the panel like a waterfall.

Amidst the chaotic interplay of light and shadow, his mind... seemed to be drawn in, as if he were actually there—

[In the first year, you were born in the snake pit...]

In the second year, you had already conquered the snake pit and avenged your parents and sisters.

They began a premeditated poisoning, and ate the venomous snakes in the snake pit…

In the third year, several beautiful female snakes wagged their tails at you; you killed them and ate them…

[In the fourth year, you're eating snakes...]

[In the fifth year, you're eating snakes...]

...

[In the fifteenth year, you have eaten up the entire snake cave. Every year, more and more venomous snakes are released from above, but you eat them all.]

You vaguely sense that some changes have occurred within your body: your scales are tougher, you are stronger, faster, your venom is more potent, and you are more resistant to hunger and thirst.

You're starting to peel...

...

In the twenty-fourth year, you killed the last venomous snake that was released this year.

Over the years, more and more venomous snakes have been introduced, and they've become increasingly powerful, but none of them are a match for you…

It became your meal.

You don't mate, you don't play, you don't hibernate; you're either killing snakes or on your way to eat snakes every day.

You are a heartless venomous snake.

You have begun your ninth molt...

In the twenty-fifth year, having completed your ninth molt, you are now two zhang long, with arms as thick as a person's arms, covered in iron scales, and with sharp venomous fangs.

The new venomous snakes introduced this year are all top-tier "snake kings"—thick, ferocious, and highly venomous…

If you're just starting to molt, you won't be a match for them.

But now, all they can do is wail, flee, and eventually become your meal.

A mysterious aura, unnoticed, has emerged within you, permeating and strengthening your scales, muscles, bones, and fangs…

You sense, deep down, that if you can fill your entire body with this energy, you will undergo a transformation in your life level…

In the twenty-sixth year, you discover that the mysterious energy within your body grows stronger as you consume venomous snakes…

You need to eat more venomous snakes, but the number released each year is simply not enough.

You discover for the first time that this snake pit has become a shackle on your life's transformation.

You became exceptionally irritable, smashing through layer after layer of the solid stone walls surrounding the snake pit...

I'll give you more snakes, or I'll let you out!

[In the twenty-seventh year, only one venomous snake was released this year.]

Blue-green scales, a slender figure, two or three times your height, very handsome…

good smell!

It's a little different; it actually flicks its tongue to greet you...

This is a venomous snake that has become a spirit!
It said that snakes are born noble and will never be slaves. It asked you to grant its wish, help it transform, and break free from its snake pit.

You asked how to help it transform.

Tears of sorrow welled in its eyes, and it opened its mouth, inviting you to crawl inside…

You lower your head, slowly swim to its mouth, and seize the opportunity to bite its vital spot, inject venom, and break its spine.

Before it died, it flicked its tongue and kept saying it was impossible...

You are just a strange snake, how can you kill this snake spirit!

Snake spirit?
It smells really good!

In the twenty-eighth year, the year you ate the Blue-Green Snake Spirit, you never felt hungry.

Your strength has increased again, enough to kill an opponent of the level of the Azure Serpent Demon head-on.

The mysterious energy within you has grown much stronger, but it is far from enough to fill your entire body.

You feel confused…

So, the moment the cover was lifted again, you sprang up and crawled out of the hole.

A powerful hand reaches out to grab you.

You coil around it, open your mouth and bite down; the venomous fangs seem to pierce a resilient membrane, sinking into flesh and injecting venom…

You have successfully escaped the cave!

In the twenty-ninth year, after many hardships, you arrived at a valley.

This is a paradise for venomous snakes, numbering in the tens of thousands…

You're so happy!

[In your thirtieth year, you ate over a thousand venomous snakes, and the mysterious energy within your body grew even stronger.]

But you realize that if you keep eating like this, it won't be long before you've eaten all the snakes in the valley. A sudden idea strikes you, and you recall a scene you witnessed along the way—

Some two-legged creatures throw a single grain of millet into the ground in spring, and in autumn they can harvest ten thousand grains…

So, you decide to "plant snakes."

In the thirty-first year, your plan succeeded.

After you intentionally controlled the number of snakes you ate each year and poisoned a dozen or so eagles that came to hunt snakes, the snake population began to grow slowly.

You see hope for something to become a spirit.

...

In your fiftieth year, you perched atop the highest rock in the valley.

Looking at the venomous snakes covering the mountains and fields, I felt completely satisfied.

Twenty years later, the number of venomous snakes has increased nearly tenfold.

You secretly increased your annual food ration to two thousand pieces, but the mysterious energy within your body now only fills about 30% of your capacity.

Over the years, some unusual snakes in the snake troop have come to become spirits and challenge you.

You discover that the effect of eating one snake spirit is comparable to eating three thousand venomous snakes.

So, you begin to cultivate snake spirits.

You actively sought out various rare plants and fruits to feed the snake swarm.

It mates with thousands of female snakes, giving birth to venomous snakes with your bloodline.

You nurture their growth, allowing them to challenge your position...

Then, it will become the resources for your transformation.

...

In the sixtieth year, when you went out to find Baozhi, you grabbed a lost two-legged beast.

This two-legged beast named Lu Sheng said he was going to the capital to take the imperial examination and that he would govern the country and bring peace to the people in the future.

But when he arrived at Snake Valley, he fainted from fright, and his crotch was filled with a foul stench.

Originally, governing the country and ensuring its stability...

It means pooping in your crotch.

This is an interesting two-legged creature, and you decide to keep him as a pet, passing the time by listening to his stories every day.

...

In the seventieth year, Lu Sheng said you were a dragon's offspring.

You ask what dragon seed is?

The answer is that it was born from the mating of a true dragon and a wild man.

You felt he was insulting you, so you lashed out with your tail and sent him flying into the snake swarm.
He made ten thick, long female snakes mate with him.

Unfortunately, it was not successful.

He told you that he had seen it in an ancient book—

There exists a strange serpent with dragon blood, which dwells in deep mountains and valleys for a hundred years, devouring the moonlight and dew. After a hundred years, it sheds its skin and grows dragon patterns, which is called "Hui".

A snake transforms into a dragon after five hundred years, dwelling in deep pools and great rivers, with fleshy horns on its head, capable of summoning wind and rain…

You firmly believe this.

...

In the ninetieth year, Lu died.

He said that in their world, seventy is a rare age, so he was considered long-lived.

The only regret is not seeing you transform into a viper.

Before he died, he touched your scales, said he wanted to return to his roots, and told you his home address…

If you are reborn as a viper after ten years, please send you back to your hometown.

You couldn't speak, you just nodded.

...

[In the first hundred years, ten years after Lu Sheng's death, you felt loneliness for the first time.]

Your descendants are everywhere, even though the mountains and fields are covered with them…

But you've grown tired of them.

You often wander around a small mound of earth near the rocks...

That's Lu Sheng's grave.

Fortunately, after decades of consuming thousands of snake spirits, the mysterious energy within your body has finally filled your entire being.

On a stormy night, you were suddenly overcome with a sense of unease and quietly left the swarm of snakes.

South of Snake Valley, in a damp and murky place, you burrow a hundred feet underground to begin your tenth molt…

Blood spurted from its scales, its skull split into three parts, and the earth's energy transformed into yin fire, burning its tail as it rose upwards.

Success in this trial will transform your bones into a serpent and give you dragon markings on your forehead; failure will...

Flesh and bone turned to ash; a century of arduous effort vanished in a single day.

[In the 103rd year, the Awakening of Insects, all things come to life, and you emerge from the ashes…]

They opened their eyes!

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(End of this chapter)