Chapter 5: The Black-Ringed Snake
With a single move, Qu Yi knocked out three Dragon-Tailed Snow Cats. In just a short while, he imprinted his own soul mark on their Soul Flowers, turning them into his pet beasts. With his current cultivation level as a Higher Soul Immortal, he no longer needed the help of a Divine Artifact to imprint his soul mark on the Soul Flowers of these three monstrous beasts.
It wasn’t long before…
“Ah… my Soul Flower…”
“Brother, we’ve become pet beasts now.”
The three Dragon-Tailed Snow Cats regained consciousness and immediately sensed something wrong with their souls. They quickly figured out what was going on. Qu Yi watched the three of them with a smile before humming softly.
“Master… our master,” the Dragon-Tailed Snow Cats managed to say with difficulty. Their souls were under control, leaving them without any ability to resist.
Qu Yi smiled and said, “You three are now my pet beasts. There’s no need to think further. I’ve already chosen names for you—the first one is Cat One, the second is Cat Two, and the third is Cat Three.”
“Thank you, master,” the Dragon-Tailed Snow Cats replied, quickly accepting their fate.
Qu Yi controlled these three monstrous beasts so that they could carry out their activities while he focused on cultivating inside the Dimensional Sphere.
“Alright, Cat One and Cat Two, follow me into the Dimensional Sphere. Cat Three, you continue on your way to Tianjiu Star,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
With that, he sent Cat One and Cat Two into the Dimensional Sphere, then entered it himself. Soon after, the sphere landed on Cat Three. Without hesitation, Cat Three took off immediately and returned to the Transportation Hall on Wind Luo Star, entering the spatial teleportation array.
※※※
Tianjiu Star was one of the 36 star regions in the Monster Realm, and it was the core planet of that region. The planet’s landmass resembled two circular layers removed from either side of the entire planet, creating two massive inland seas, with land everywhere else. This planet had a primordial energy vein, but since it was occupied by snake-like monsters, this vein was also under their control. Apart from a few special areas that allowed other monster races to visit Tianjiu Star, only snake-like monsters were permitted to enter the rest of the planet.
After six years of constantly using the spatial teleportation arrays, Cat Three finally arrived at Tianjiu Star. Freedom Island was an island in the eastern inland sea of Tianjiu Star, and it housed the only spatial teleportation array on the planet. Moreover, all monster races could live on Freedom Island.
Mao San arrived at an inn on Freedom Island and then entered a room.
Qu Yi finally came out of the Dimensional Ball.
“Mao San, you’ve worked hard. Now go and train inside the Dimensional Ball,” Qu Yi said with a smile. After saying that, he sent Mao San back into the Dimensional Ball and then released Wu Yuan from it.
“Woof woof, Qu Yi, how many more monsters have you caught?” As soon as Wu Yuan came out, he looked at Qu Yi with a smile.
Over these six years, Qu Yi had captured dozens of monsters for Wu Yuan to devour, and now Wu Yuan’s cultivation level had reached that of a Six-Star Yuanpo Monster.
One level per year.
Qu Yi shook his head smilingly and said, “Wu Yuan, we’ve arrived at one of the 36 Tian Gang Stars in the Mulin Star Region—Tianjiu Star. Now, we can explore this planet.”
“Explore” meant getting ready to hunt monsters.
Wu Yuan understood perfectly.
“Woof woof, great! That way I can eat more monsters.”
Qu Yi chuckled and immediately called out, “Wu Yuan, let’s leave Freedom Island and head deep into the land of Tianjiu Star right now.”
“Woof woof, okay.”
Soon, Qu Yi and Wu Yuan flew away from Freedom Island toward the land of Tianjiu Star.
On Freedom Island, many cultivators noticed the movement of Qu Yi and Wu Yuan, all showing surprised expressions, while some who were monsters wore mocking looks.
“Hmph, two fools who don’t know death. Don’t you realize that Tianjiu Star is ruled by the snake race, and only Freedom Island allows other monster races to move freely?”
“Another pair of ignorant fools. On Tianjiu Star, the snake race has powerful Tianpo Monsters, with one Void Snake even reaching the cultivation level of a Six-Star Tianpo Monster.”
“Are monsters these days so eager to seek death?”
“If my senses are right, one of those monsters seems to only be at the Six-Star Yuanpo Monster level. To dare enter the land with such a cultivation level is pure suicide.”
……
On Freedom Island, many monsters spoke scornfully.
Meanwhile, Qu Yi and Wu Yuan had already reached the skies above the Eastern Inner Sea and were flying toward the land of Tianjiu Star.
※※※
On Tianjiu Star, all the land had been occupied by 36 types of snake monsters. Thus, the land was naturally divided into 36 regions, each ruled by a different snake monster species.
Qu Yi, along with Wu Yuan, flew from the Eastern Inner Sea westward to the eastern coastal region of the land.
This region was ruled by the Wu Huan Snake Tribe.
As soon as Qu Yi landed, countless Black Ring Snakes crawled out from the ground—some as wide as a hundred meters, others as wide as ten. Their poisonous eyes stared at Qu Yi and Wu Yuan with utter ferocity.
The snake monsters of Tianjiu Star were divided into four tribes, categorized by their combat tactics: the Tail Snake Group, the Body Snake Group, the Head Snake Group, and the Special Ability Snake Group. Some snake monsters used their tails for attacks, some their bodies, and some their heads. Of course, some also possessed innate abilities. The Black Ring Snakes primarily used their bodies for attacks, so they belonged to the Body Snake Group.
“Uuu, Qu Yi, there are so many snakes here. Catch a few for me to swallow,” Wu Yuan exclaimed excitedly, showing no fear at the millions of Black Ring Snakes surging forward.
Qu Yi smiled slightly.
In a flash!
A Black Ring Snake fifty meters wide was already lifted into the air by Qu Yi. No matter how violently it thrashed its massive body, it couldn’t break free from his grasp. Qu Yi activated his Immortal Essence, which he had already transformed into energy, and seized the snake’s vital point.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
On the land, the millions of Black Ring Snakes saw Qu Yi catch one of their kind and fiercely hissed, filling the air with a stench.
Qu Yi had already sensed that the largest snake on land, over a hundred meters wide, was only at the level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Monster. How could it pay attention to the hissing of these snake groups?
“Wu Yuan, eat it. This Black Ring Snake is already at the level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Monster. After eating it, you should be able to reach that level,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
“Uuu, Qu Yi, you’re really kind,” Wu Yuan cried out in ecstasy.
In an instant, Wu Yuan reverted to his monstrous form. He opened his dragon mouth and sucked the Black Ring Snake into his belly, digesting it quickly.
“Uuu, full, full, so full…” Wu Yuan danced in the air.
These actions enraged all the Black Ring Snakes on land once again.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Another wave of hissing came from the snakes.
“You’ve entered our territory of Black Ring Snakes. You’re dead.”
“You killed one of our kind. You’re dead.”
“…”
Suddenly, the hundred-meter-wide snake transformed into a towering black giant, ten meters high, radiating a cold and vicious aura as it roared fiercely.
Qu Yi smiled. His body vanished into thin air again, and the next second he was already beside the giant, delivering a punch.
At the cultivation level of a higher-tier Earth Soul Demon, Qu Yi’s created dimensional space was completely hidden in the void, and due to the chaos energy, there wasn’t even the slightest spatial fluctuation.
“You…” The giant merely cried out in terror.
This giant formed from the Black Ring Snake never expected that in the demon world, there could be demons capable of wielding spatial magic to such a delicate extent.
In the air, the giant’s body suddenly exploded, turning into flesh and blood that drifted like sand and soil toward the land.
The leader of this group of Black Ring Snakes, their strongest warrior, was directly killed by Qu Yi.
The millions of Black Ring Snakes on the land, having witnessed Qu Yi’s strength, stopped hissing and immediately fled into burrows to save their lives.
Qu Yi smiled and didn’t bother killing those fleeing snakes. Instead, he took Wu Yuan and continued flying deeper into the land.
These snakes, with their strongest strength at the level of Earth Soul Demons, were not Qu Yi’s target.
Hunting for snake demons at the level of Heavenly Soul Demons was his real goal.
“Uwu, Qu Yi, the snake you gave me tastes absolutely amazing. I never thought the meat of this venomous snake would be so delicious,” Wu Yuan exclaimed joyfully as he followed Qu Yi.
With Wu Yuan’s current strength, he could directly devour snakes of a higher level than himself and refine their demon essence without needing to enter a dormant state.
Qu Yi smiled.
“Wu Yuan, I’ll have to work harder and catch more Black Ring Snakes so you can break through to the cultivation level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Demon,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Although Wu Yuan could still improve his cultivation by devouring demon beasts, he couldn’t eat too many at once. He had to refine one before moving on to another. That’s why Qu Yi only caught one snake earlier; otherwise, he would have caught dozens to help Wu Yuan instantly reach the level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Demon.
“Uwu, Qu Yi, you’re really kind,” Wu Yuan said happily.
Qu Yi wiped his forehead. Wu Yuan’s constant praise made it hard for him not to do good deeds.
“Alright, refine this Black Ring Snake well. We’re about to enter the deeper parts of the land,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Wu Yuan immediately quieted down and focused on refining the snake.
Perhaps because of the strength Qu Yi had shown, the entire population of Black Ring Snakes was already aware of it. So, even with Qu Yi flying in the air, none of them came out of the ground to stop him.
Qu Yi wasn’t worried about any tricks from the snake colony and continued flying confidently deeper into the land.
One month later.
Qu Yi arrived in an area filled with strange rocks and ancient trees. As soon as he rose into the air, he sensed a massive presence.
“Hehe, finally, a Wu Huan Snake at the Tian Po Yao level has appeared.”