Chapter 1432: Blessing

The Xiushe Snake said with a sneer, “The eastern barbarians just had to come up with all of those lies, saying I was the one who brought disaster to the people, and that was why Yi came to kill me. It was clearly just a struggle between two powers, and I was the loser. However, they made it seem as if I were deranged and had lost my mind. I am the honorable guardian of the Miao people, a deity created by heaven and earth. Am I really that pitiful?!”

Zu An’s group all had strange expressions. In the end, it seemed that the snake wasn’t even that upset that it had been killed. Rather, it was angrier that it had been treated as just another monster that brought disaster to the world.

Yu Yanluo was surprised and asked, “In the past, there was a rumor that Yi was just bragging about killing you. Did you find a chance to escape?”

The Xiushe Snake’s head turned a bit red as it replied, “Ahem, back then, Yi was indeed formidable, and I was not a match for him. I… did not manage to escape either. I was sliced into several pieces.”

The snake seemed a bit embarrassed in the beginning, but it was calm when it said the second part. At that moment, Zu An almost felt that the snake was a bit proud of what happened. He thought, What the hell? Is being killed by Yi something to feel proud of?

The Xiushe Snake continued, “The native people call the mountain range you are standing on the Ba Tomb. It is actually formed from my corpse.”

All of them were truly shocked now. They had seen that the mountains undulated up and down and snaked from side to side, really resembling a snake. However, they had all carefully confirmed that it wasn’t alive, so they hadn’t thought too much of it. They hadn’t expected the mountain to actually really be the Xiushe Snake, albeit made from its corpse. For its corpse to turn into an almost never-ending mountain range… Just how large had it been back then?

“Then right now, you…” Yu Yanluo began, looking worriedly at the snake. What she was implying was obvious. If you’re already dead, what kind of state are you in right now?

Just then, Zu An had been examining the snake carefully as well. He had noticed that even though its appearance was sinister, there wasn’t any malevolent energy around it. After all, after cultivating the Primordial Origin Sutra and gaining the ability to purify evil spirits, he had become quite sensitive to such things. However, the Xiushe Snake clearly wasn’t one of them.

The Xiushe Snake sighed and said, “Back then, I had the duty of protecting my people, but I lost to Yi, which led to the defeat of the Miao people. However, they did not blame me, and only wept bitter tears instead. They even built this Ba Snake Temple to commemorate me, making offerings day and night without end. Then, one day, I was suddenly revived.” It looked a bit perplexed as it continued, “In truth, it cannot be called true revival. I do not know what kind of state I am in.”

“It’s the power of faith…” Zu An said to himself. He hadn’t watched so many movies for nothing. The power of faith could amass into a divine being, and the Xiushe Snake was clearly such a creature because the common people really did believe in it. That was why it had ‘revived’ amid its remains.

The Xiushe Snake’s eyes lit up as it said, “As expected of a friend of Nuwa’s descendant, your knowledge is admirable. So that was what it was, haha…” It sounded quite excited at first, but that feeling gradually gave way to sorrow. By the end, it felt so moved that there were tears in its eyes.

The snake slithered up to the window and looked at the islands scattered around Dongting Lake, saying with a conflicted expression, “Back then, I merely felt that they were quite respectful to me, and the things they used for the offerings matched my tastes. That was why I stayed here to act as a protector. At the time, I even found them a bit silly and laughable, and thought to myself that I would just leave and move on whenever I got bored. I could never have expected I would even be revived because of those people I previously laughed at.”

Yu Yanluo said gently, “Those people loved and respected you, so how could you not love them back? If it really had been as you said and you didn’t care at all, why would you have fought against the eastern barbarians, joining the fight personally? You even sacrificed your life in the end.”

Zu An and the others nodded. With the Xiushe Snake’s cultivation, if not for the sake of the Miao people, it could live however it pleased. It definitely wouldn’t have been killed like that.

The Xiushe Snake was a bit alarmed, saying, “I am not as great as you make me out to be…” Its voice trailed off, as if it were lost in its own thoughts.

“Right, just now, we saw a giant snake swallow a giant elephant in the lake. Was that you?” Zu An asked curiously. Since it had been revived through faith energy, it wouldn’t need to feed on physical food, right?

The Xiushe Snake was momentarily distracted, but when it heard the question, it couldn't help but laugh. It said, “You probably saw a remnant of the past. This Dongting Lake is a bit special. Furthermore, because you are outsiders, and you even have the Nuwa bloodline with you, a scene from the past appeared.”

The group suddenly realized what was going on. It was no surprise that neither Yan Xuehen or Yun Jianyue had been able to hurt the large snake. They had been worried about the snake being some kind of spatial element cultivator, but in the end, it turned out to be because of this!

The Xiushe Snake suddenly remembered something and asked curiously, “Right, why did you all come here?”

The group’s expressions became a bit awkward. In the end, Yu Yanluo did her best to tactfully explain the entire story.

“So that was it,” the Xiushe Snake said with a chuckle. “That is easy enough, no? Since you are Nuwa’s descendant, we can be considered related somehow. I will help guide you out. Back then, in order to protect the people, I cast my power across all of Dongting Lake. It is indeed quite difficult for normal people to cross it.”

Zu An’s group looked at each other in surprise. They hadn’t expected such a difficult problem to be solved just like that.

“Right, just now, you mentioned that the war back then was between your people and the eastern barbarians. Could they be the Yellow Flame Tribe?” Zu An asked after realizing something.

“The Yellow Flame Tribe?” the Xiushe Snake repeated with a frown. It said, “They used to be mortal enemies. When did they become one tribe? The ones who fought with us in the past were indeed the eastern barbarians. Their people worshiped the phoenix and a mysterious bird.”

Zu An suddenly remembered that Shun had talked about that before. What the White Emperor worshiped was the phoenix, so it seemed as if the White Emperor’s lineage had something to do with the eastern barbarians.

The Celestial Emperor Jun had bestowed a red bow on Yi. Meanwhile, the one who had assigned him the mission of killing the monsters was Emperor Yao. Both Emperor Jun and Emperor Yao were part of the White Emperor’s faction…

The Xiushe Snake looked at Yu Yanluo and said, “Since you are Nuwa’s descendant, it is fate that we met each other. Your cultivation is not bad, but it is far from displaying your bloodline’s power. I will pass on the ‘Dragonsnake’s Nine Transformations’ to you. It can aid you in unearthing your potential. In the future, you will be able to easily use the Holy Pearl’s power.”

Yu Yanluo was shocked. However, she knew this was a great opportunity. In truth, she had been feeling a lot of pressure with the two grandmasters, Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, around her all the time. She said,“Then I’ll really have to thank senior.”

“Nuwa’s descendants have shown me great kindness in the past. I am merely settling this segment of karma,” the Xiushe Snake said with a chuckle. Then, its eyes glowed and some light slowly drifted toward Yu Yanluo. There were ancient and mysterious dao principles contained within.

Yun Jianyue moved over to Zu An’s side and quietly said, “Be careful of any tricks.”

Zu An nodded. After all, they had already experienced for themselves that monsters were not only vicious and unreasonable, but also lied a lot. As he secretly warned Yu Yanluo, he remained completely vigilant.

“Don’t worry, I can sense that it doesn’t bear any malice,” Yu Yanluo said, giving him a reassuring look. Then, she closed her eyes to receive the light. The inside of her body suddenly lit up with the radiance of the Holy Pearl.

When he saw that it had obtained the acknowledgment of the Holy Pearl, Zu An sighed in relief. Looks like I was nervous for nothing.

The Xiushe Snake could actually obtain the sincere love and respect of the locals, being reborn through faith. How could it be some evil god?

After passing on the Dragonsnake’s Nine Transformations, the Xiushe Snake’s body grew much dimmer. It said, “Sigh, my body cannot compare to before. I need to sleep for a bit, so please do as you wish.”

Then, its body flickered, returning to the giant snake statue.

Yun Jianyue was stunned, asking, “Didn’t it say that it was going to send us out? What do we do now?”

Yu Yanluo said with a smile, “Big sis Yun, it already told me the information we needed. I should be able to bring us all out.” She bowed toward the giant snake statue, then led everyone out of the temple.

“Do you feel anything strange?” Zu An asked, still feeling a bit worried.

“I’m fine. That big snake was actually a good person. Uh… I mean, a good snake,” Yu Yanluo replied. “It even reminded us to be careful of the Zaochi Giant up ahead in the Flowery Field.”