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The earth trembled from the sheer force of the massive serpent’s attacks. Each strike of its massive fangs leaving behind deep gouges in the earth below, each vicious slam of its tail sending trees flying in every direction.
The cultivators were numerous, however, and most present had Golden Cores to draw strength from while the demonic serpent could only rely on its own rapidly depleting stamina.
The serpent would lose, and this thought is what drove it to near insanity as its attacks grew more and more desperate, occasionally letting out distressed shrieks with every new wound that was inflicted upon its once pristine body.
Finally, after many days and nights of ongoing battle, one cultivator let out a cry and slammed his hands to the ground. A white light exploded around the area, and the serpent let out an agonized scream that echoed throughout the destroyed forest.
When the light faded away all bore witness to the dying serpent, its once vibrant white hide drenched in blood as multiple earth spears stuck out all over its body. Its eyes, once a bright green, now a dull clouded gray as it wheezed out its final breaths.
And when the serpent died not one cultivator rejoiced, for they too had suffered many losses. They shared grim looks of satisfaction and mounted their swords. Today, it was the righteous who emerged victorious.
Or so it seemed.
Beneath the dead serpent’s corpse was a shallow hole. And from this hole a little head peered out anxiously at the cultivators’ shrinking forms as they retreated to undoubtedly discuss what was to be done about the body.
Shen Yuan cursed his misfortune and gazed up into his dead mother’s eyes with a grimace.
Who would have thought he would have transmigrated into a Demonic-White-Feathered-Serpent-Queen’s unhatched egg only to lose his mother right after hatching! How unfair! He was too young to do anything!
‘SYSTEM’ Shen Yuan howled in his mind, his little body thrashing about in rage. ‘WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW???’
[Host-dada simply needs to survive and cultivate long enough to acquire his humanoid form! Fear not Host-dada! For this System will accompany Host in his journey of growth and self-discovery! \(^ヮ^)/]
Shen Yuan glared at the blue screen and angrily booped the intangible words. ‘AND HOW LONG IS THAT SUPPOSED TO TAKE, AH?!’
[Time is inconsequential! Host must take care to remember that as a demonic creature in a world of cultivation he should not care for such trivial things! (´ ∀ ` *)]
‘...’
Shen Yuan decided not to bother responding to the system, feeling as though he would only be breaking his head on a stone wall if he even tried. Instead, he wiggled his tiny noodle body around until he was able to successfully squeeze out from under the corpse of his new body’s mother.
Gazing up into dulled eyes Shen Yuan had a sudden thought.
‘System?’
[Yes, Hose-dada? (＾▽＾)]
‘Is there a way for a demonic creature like myself to absorb demonic energies from the dead?’ If I’m going to cultivate myself into a human form I need every advantage I can get!’
[... As a matter of fact, you can Host! It is a practice most commonly seen among tight-knit demonic tribes, however, and it involves cannibalizing one's leader as a means of transferring power to the next in line!]
To a random passerby they would suddenly feel an uptick of fiery determination from the tiny snake as it wiggled around energetically, letting out near-violent hisses every now and then.
‘Eat demonic beasts, get stronger. Sounds simple enough to me!’ Shen Yuan refused to contemplate the fact that it would involve cannibalism. After all, would it really be cannibalism if he technically was still very much a human on the inside?
He also refused to contemplate why he didn’t feel as disgusted by the thought of eating his mother as he should be.
With a cheerful nod Shen Yuan decided that morality was not something that should be thought about when survival took precedence over all things!
‘Alright mother!’ He opened his jaw as wide as he could as he slithered up to one of his dead mother’s eyes. ‘Your child is in desperate need of strength! So please feed this noodle body of mine so that I do not die a horrible death!’
[...OST! HOST-DADA!!!]
Shen Yuan flinched violently and tore himself away from his mother with a hiss. ‘Ah? What is it system? Can’t you see I’m trying to get stronger here? What’s with all these mixed signals, ah?’
[This System apologizes but Host-dada has already consumed all necessary demonic energy from this body! Host was about to eat himself! (((＞＜)))]
‘Ah?’ With a start, Shen Yuan realized that his mouth hadn’t been anywhere near his mother and had instead been disturbingly close to his…
… much bigger tail holy shit! And! He whipped around and felt his eyes go wide at the sight he was greeted with. Where his mother’s massive body had been was now nothing but bones and dried blood.
If a serpent could sweat, Shen Yuan would have been drowning in a lake at this moment.
‘... system? Explain! PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW THE FUCK I ATE MY ENTIRE MOTHER WITHOUT EVEN NOTICING???’
[... would Host-dada be mad if this System forgot to mention that consuming demonic energies normally sends any and all living creatures into a feeding frenzy? (人´∀｀)．☆．。．:*･°]
‘SYSTEM!’
After devouring his mother and losing both time and nearly his own life in the process, Shen Yuan noticed a few new things about himself.
The first being his new change in size. Whereas before he looked like a particularly over-cooked noodle, now he was at least as thick as bamboo! Progress! The second was that his scales were much harder than before, proven when an unlucky Four-Eared-Feline attempted to nibble on him, thinking he would make for an easy snack.
——Only for its teeth to shatter on the first bite in a mess of blood and bone fragments. The twin shrieks from both snake and cat echoed throughout the forest on that day, heard by a nearby village who promptly began to weave stories of a pair of siblings who got lost amidst the trees only to die and become a twin-headed vengeful spirit. The story would become a local legend, not that Shen Yuan or his unfortunate victim would ever become aware of this fact.
The third and last thing Shen Yuan noticed about his newer evolution was——
‘System! I can smell colors! And I’m not even on drugs!’
That was right! Shen Yuan, serpent pokemon extraordinaire, was now able to smell colors. And while it seemed lame at first, the transmigrated serpent quickly realized something incredibly useful about his new ability.
He could see danger coming from miles away! Talk about tasting the rainbow!
Tongue tasting the air, Shen Yuan saw a black cloud approaching rapidly and quickly darted up a tree and hid amongst the leaves as a small group of Seven-Fanged-Obsidian-Macaques darted past, shrieking and screaming excitedly as they followed the false trail he’d laid out for them to pursue. Because if there was one thing Shen Yuan knew, it’s that Seven-Fanged-Obsidian-Macaques were both expert trackers and incredibly easy to dupe with only a pit full of dead rodents and a bit of blood here and there.
… Okay so maybe they were not that easy to trick but in his defense he had read up on quite a number of demonic beasts and memorized their habits before his unfortunate passing and subsequent soul transfer.
It’s just! There were so many cool monsters and demons! And if Airplane ever bothered to dedicate some of his energy towards world-building instead of porn Shen Yuan would have absolutely not even cared about the non-existent plot!
Oh right, he’d long since realized just where he had transmigrated. And to add insult to injury it was not because most of the creatures in the world bore a surprising resemblance to the ones in Proud Immortal Demon Way.
No.
He only realized where he was because he made the incredibly stupid mistake of introducing himself to a crying child after the medicine he’d attempted to bring home to his sick mother was smashed into the ground mercilessly by a bunch of bullies, and Shen Yuan had crept out of the forest, across a river and to the boy’s side when he caught his incredibly distinctive and gold-red scent and immediately panicked because crying child oh god what do I do——
“Why are you crying?” Shen Yuan had hissed.
And promptly regretted doing so when the child, who only moments before had been staring at him in barely contained terror, gasped in surprise.
“Y-you can speak?” The boy had asked, the fear slowly being replaced by something akin to awe as the serpent nodded.
‘No going back now.’ Shen Yuan thought as the boy then seemed to remember his question, going by the way his eyes filled with tears anew, and wow, how were his eyes not bloodshot by now?
“I- I was trying t-to help my mama! She’s s-sick a-and I got her medicine b-but the other boys in the village b-roke it! I can’t help my m-ama now! I can’t help her ‘cus I’m too weak to fight back!” The boy wailed, tears dripping down his face as he hiccupped and sobbed, arms wiping unhelpfully at his face, leaving streaks of dirt behind.
Shen Yuan, in a moment of panic because he wasn’t sure if the sounds of a child in distress would attract more reasonable adults who absolutely would call in someone to kill an obviously demonic serpent, raised his head up as far as he could——
——and booped the boy on the forehead.
The boy stopped crying immediately, eyes snapping open in shock, a hand flying up to touch where he'd been successful booped. Shen Yuan was proud to have calmed down a hysterical child with no sacrifice on his part. 'Ah, dignity, you will live on for another day!'
“There we are,” Shen Yuan slithered closer to the now quiet boy and coiled around his legs. “Enough tearsss, little one. Isss there a reassson you are unable to get more medicine for your mother?”
The boy sniffled. “We are poor, and I used up all our money on that medicine,” His eyes watered. “And now it’s gone.”
Shen Yuan thought for a moment. Demonic-White-Feathered-Serpent scales were capable of great healing if given willingly, but could be lethal if taken by force. Not to mention, he thought with a grimace, giving one scale let alone a few will severely deplete most of his energy, and only done by fully mature Serpent Kings and Queens during nesting to protect newly laid eggs from danger.
[Ding! Host-dada has a new mission available! ☆:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:☆ ‘Serpent Scales, Salvation or Damnation’ Accept? Y/N]
Shen Yuan refused to glare at the text. He refused.
‘System. Tell me why I wasn’t made aware of the existence of missions before now?’
[... Host never asked! ╰(´︶`)╯]
Shen Yuan repressed the violent urge to slam his head into the ground and wriggle around in rage like a worm that was being scorched in the sun.
‘... I accept this mission.’
[Yay!! Upon completion of this mission Host-dada will——]
As the System began info-dumping onto him, Shen Yuan easily ignored all of it and faced the teary eyed child who blinked once he realized he was once again the focus of the serpent’s attention.
“Lisssten to me, child. I am a Ssserpent capable of powerful healing magicsss,” At this the child let out a wheeze, face lighting up with renewed hope. Shen Yuan remained focused although he couldn’t help the slow sway of his head, pleased with the child’s growing excitement. “But I need you to help me, ssso I can help you.”
The child nodded once, curls bouncing with the motion (‘Ah! So fluffy!’), his face set in determination. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to find me sssomething to hide me. My ssscalesss are far too white, and many would kill me for sssimply exisssting. Can you help me with that?”
While Shen Yuan knew a child wouldn’t be able to procure a hiding place out of nowhere, he still debated whether or not hiding inside his clothing was better than being thrown into a dirty satchel.
“We’re almost there!” The boy whisper-shouted, steps speeding up with urgency, unintentionally jostling his poor passenger who very quickly realized that serpents, even demonic ones, could in fact get motion sick.
Shen Yuan hissed in discomfort as he was quickly and carefully tugged out of his hiding place, only to grow silent at what the boy was now showing him. The boy’s home was small, very small. Practically a crumbling stone box with a piece of fabric for a door. There was a copper pot to the side and two chipped stone cups with a bundle of brittle herbs sitting next to them atop a smooth stone. Besides that was——
A woven straw mat. A pair of worn, simple wooden shoes were placed beside it. And on top of the mat was an old woman. An old woman who wheezed with every breath and who didn’t even seem to notice the boy’s presence.
Shen Yuan felt something thick build in his throat. And he swallowed the feeling down forcefully before turning to look at the boy who was gazing quietly down at the sick woman.
“This is my mama,” He turned to look at Shen Yuan and asked him, voice filled with uncertainty, “c-can… can you really help her?”
Oh, was that the sound of Shen Yuan’s heart shattering?
“Yesss, I can. Place me on top of her chessst,” With some hesitation, the boy did just that, and Shen Yuan carefully coiled around himself, mouth beginning to open wide, “Now, obssserve.”
He shot forwards with precision, hearing the boy let out an alarmed cry, and sank his teeth into his own tail.
With a great deal of effort, and no small amount of internal agonized sobbing, Shen Yuan was able to tear out a few scales and carefully position them onto his body. Once he felt they were secure he turned to the boy who wore an expression of utter horror.
“Quickly, take thessse ssscalesss of mine and clean them. Then I need you to feed them to your mother.”
“But you’re bleeding!” The boy said, voice cracking even as he moved to do the serpent’s bidding. Shen Yuan lit a candle in his heart for himself. He had just nerfed his own awesomeness, after all.
To his credit, the boy made quick work of cleaning the scales. Then with careful motions, he slipped each scale into his mother’s mouth and massaged her throat to get her to swallow every one of them.
Even before the last scale went down, the boy’s mother was quick to regain her color, and her breathing grew stronger. And she even seemed to…
‘Ah,’ Shen Yuan thought, as both the serpent and the boy watched with wide eyes as the old woman became infinitely less old and more spry than before. ‘I forgot the scales were basically a youth potion as well.’
After a few minutes of staring at the young but now healthy woman, Shen Yuan was promptly lifted up into the air by an overjoyed child, tears of happiness dripping down his face as he wrapped the serpent up into a hug.
A very constricting hug! Just who was the serpent here, ah???
“Thank you! Thank you! You saved my mama! I’ll be in your debt forever! Thank you!” The boy cried, rubbing his face into the serpent’s body, who was immediately and to great effect reminded of his missing scales as the salty tears dripped onto his open wounds.
The agonized shriek that escaped Shen Yuan startled the boy into dropping him and ow that hurt even worse than having salt literally being rubbed into his wounds.
“Oh no! I’m sorry! I forgot!”
“.... ngh, it isss alright. I am happy to have helped you. And no need for debtsss, I felt like helping and ssso I did.”
And when the boy’s mother woke up to find her son tenderly wrapping a serpent’s injuries, feeling younger than ever, and no evidence of her previous illness, she reacted not at all as Shen Yuan expected her to.
“... is this your new pet Binghe?”
‘Who is the pet here, ah?!’
Wait.
‘BINGHE?????’
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Important things must be said three times! Mission ‘Serpent Scales, Salvation or Damnation’ complete! Host-dada! This system is so proud! And you met the protagonist early on! Ah! How things work out for Host-dada!!! ∑d(°∀°d)]
‘SYSTEM!!!!!’
And that was how Shen Yuan found out he was in the Proud Immortal Demon Way.
Not long after having his injuries treated, Shen Yuan bid farewell to the happy mother and son, but not before leaving one last scale in case of emergencies, much to little Binghe’s displeasure, and slithered back into the forest across the newly dubbed ‘Luo River.’
He did not want to be involved in the plot any more than he already and unintentionally was! People have died and will eventually die for less!
… ah, why did he feel like he just jinxed himself?