Invincible Snake Emperor

Chapter 536: Chapter 523: Luo Ziyun’s Secret

"Xiao’an, pay attention. What I’m about to tell you is very important." Luo Ziyun was so furious she wanted to yank Tu Xiao’an out of the Ten Thousand Blood Pool and give him a sound thrashing.

Tu Xiao’an shrugged. "I am being serious. Just because Demon King Liu couldn’t achieve Rank Four of Ascension doesn’t mean I’ll fail too."

Backed by his system, Tu Xiao’an was confident he would one day become a Rank Four Divine Spirit, a Land Immortal. After all, he was already Level 35. Not even a rocket could match his rate of progress.

"I hope you can maintain that confidence forever," Luo Ziyun said, speechless. She didn’t know what to say to him.

She reined in her frustration and continued, "Do you know why Demon King Liu failed his Ascension?"

Tu Xiao’an rolled his eyes and waited for her to continue. ’I don’t even know Demon King Liu, so how the hell would I know anything?’

"The truth is, back then, Demon King Liu could no longer be considered a snake. He had evolved himself into a Divine Dragon and attempted his Ascension with a dragon’s body. Unfortunately, he still failed in the end."

Tu Xiao’an was stunned. Then, his eyes flashed. "The great Snake King walked the path of a Snake Becoming a Dragon? It would have been a miracle if he’d succeeded."

There’s a harsh saying about forgetting your roots. No matter how high you climb, you must never forget who you are or where you come from.

A snake is a snake, and a dragon is a dragon. The path of Cultivation is a battle against the heavens for longevity, a constant process of improving your Cultivation, breaking the shackles of your bloodline, and becoming more transcendent with every step.

It’s like someone who lacks confidence in their appearance getting plastic surgery. It’s ultimately a superficial fix and won’t earn them true respect.

If you don’t accept yourself to your very core, what great deeds can you possibly hope to achieve?

Demon King Liu pursued the path of becoming a dragon and cultivated to the absolute peak. When he tried to ascend with a dragon’s body, he surely failed to gain the recognition of the Heaven and Earth Law. That’s why he failed.

It’s like a major beauty pageant with one simple rule: no plastic surgery. None of that superficial nonsense.

"Xiao’an, you have a great Talent for Cultivation. Since you already understand this principle... that’s right. Only after his Ascension failed did Demon King Liu realize he had taken the wrong path. He never should have walked the path of a Snake Becoming a Dragon. In the end, it was his own undoing."

A sentence he had once said, one she remembered deeply, resurfaced in Luo Ziyun’s mind.

"Yan’Er, I took the wrong path. It was a crooked path. A snake is a snake, and a dragon is a dragon. It was a grave mistake for a snake to attempt to ascend to a Rank Four Divine Spirit in the grand form of a dragon. The Celestial Dao is uncompromising. What right does someone who has forgotten his roots have to become a Rank Four Divine Spirit?"

Because of this, the Snake Race later adopted an unwritten rule: no snake is permitted to walk the path of becoming a dragon. Any snake that does so is to be expelled from the Snake Race and scorned by all snakes.

Fortunately, Tu Xiao’an hadn’t accidentally gone down the wrong path.

Ever since his rebirth as a snake, he had never once thought of becoming a dragon. To him, snakes already had incredible potential. They had no hands or feet, yet they could become the overlords of the forest, striking fear into the hearts of countless animals.

Besides, Bai Town was built on a culture of snake worship, so he didn’t believe snakes were inferior to dragons. To put it simply, snakes were real, while dragons were far too illusory.

Dragons were lofty, noble, and majestic, but as a snake, Tu Xiao’an neither envied nor worshipped them. He believed that with enough effort, he could become even more powerful than a dragon.

And now, he had more or less achieved that.

"Actually, I’m more interested in your relationship with Demon King Liu. And who are you, really?"

Tu Xiao’an was extremely curious about Luo Ziyun. Ever since they’d met, this mysterious woman had constantly upended his understanding of her.

Luo Ziyun smiled sweetly, long since prepared to tell Tu Xiao’an everything. "Demon King Liu is my adoptive father," she said. "And I really am a human, a human Cultivator. Five hundred years ago, when my Cultivation had reached a certain level, I became very confident in my own strength. I charged into the Yaoling Mountain Range, hoping to temper myself and become even stronger."

"But a human entering the Yaoling Mountain Range is like a sheep walking into a tiger’s den. I was attacked by a horde of Demons and severely injured. I was about to become Demon food when my adoptive father intervened and saved me."

"My adoptive father said I bore a slight resemblance to a human girl he once knew, and he couldn’t help but feel compassion. That one act of rescue blossomed into a father-daughter bond between a Human and a Demon. He didn’t mind that I was human, and I was grateful to him for saving my life. We are all just living beings in this world; there are no high or low ranks, only the question of whose fist is stronger."

"Adoptive father and adoptive daughter?" Tu Xiao’an was shocked. He never would have guessed it. A human and a Snake King—two beings from completely different worlds—becoming father and daughter? It sounded absurd.

Luo Ziyun said elegantly, "Weren’t you curious why everyone in the Snake Race respectfully calls me ’Auntie’? It’s because I am the adoptive daughter of Demon King Liu. Every Demon in the Yaoling Mountain Range knows it. It’s not a secret at all."

"If you’re human, then why do you give off a mixed aura of human, snake, and dragon?"

Before, Tu Xiao’an’s strength had been insufficient. When Luo Ziyun stood before him, she was like air—imperceptible. But after his breakthrough, his power skyrocketed, and he could sense a bizarre, triple-stranded aura emanating from her.

It was something he had never encountered before.

"Because I swallowed my adoptive father’s Lifebound Golden Core," Luo Ziyun said, dropping a bombshell.

The moment she spoke, it was as if the Ten Thousand Blood Pool itself was startled; the blood within began to boil even more furiously.

"You committed patricide? You monster!" Tu Xiao’an exclaimed, suddenly heartbroken and indignant. He looked at Luo Ziyun with a strange expression. "Even if he was your adoptive father, you can’t be so heartless! You’re terrible."

Luo Ziyun: "..."

"You damned snake, you’re spouting nonsense! Believe it or not, I’ll turn on you right now!" Luo Ziyun was so angry she nearly coughed up blood. You just couldn’t be nice to this guy.

"My bad," Tu Xiao’an said with a sheepish grin. "Judging by your expression, I guess that’s not how the story goes."

*Sigh...* Luo Ziyun let out a sharp breath of Muddy Qi and shot him another glare. "I told you before. My adoptive father, Demon King Liu, returned to the Path of Reincarnation. He knew he’d taken the wrong path and would never be able to ascend to a Rank Four Divine Spirit in this life, so he had no choice but to start all over."

"You mean Demon King Liu gave up and killed himself? Then he reincarnated to become a snake again?" Tu Xiao’an asked.

Luo Ziyun’s face darkened. ’Can’t you phrase things a little less crudely?’

’The most powerful Demon King of the Yaoling Mountain Range chose to enter the Path of Reincarnation, and in your eyes, that’s just giving up and killing himself?’

Tu Xiao’an had another question. "Even if Demon King Liu was that powerful, could he control the Six Paths of Reincarnation? He could just choose what he wanted to be reincarnated as?"

’If so, that’d be too damn amazing.’

"Of course not." A bitter smile touched Luo Ziyun’s lips. "My adoptive father isn’t Yama, the ruler of the Underworld. How could he just reincarnate as whatever he pleases? It’s a matter of trying, over and over."

"He would have to try again and again, through countless reincarnations, until he was finally reborn as a snake."

’Holy crap,’ Tu Xiao’an thought. ’That’s taking obsession to a whole new level. Does he have to be a snake again? Can’t he try living as another animal for a change? What’s all the fuss about?’