Starting as a Snake: Defying Heaven with Invincibility

Two hours later, Xiao Long arrived at his destination. In front of him lay a massive pit, dozens of meters in diameter, surrounded by a hazy mist that obscured whatever lay within.

The area was flat and deserted, save for a few low-level demon beasts curiously peering into the pit, too afraid to venture closer.

"Scram!"

Xiao Long's voice, charged with inner Qi, thundered outwards, his aura fully unleashed. The low-level demon beasts trembled in fear and scattered like birds and beasts.

In this outer region, an eighth-tier demon beast was considered formidable, and with his dragon aura, ordinary beasts dared not approach him.

Xiao Long climbed to the edge of the pit and peered inside. Through the mist, he could vaguely make out a human silhouette, though it was unclear.

"A human?"

Xiao Long descended into the pit, reaching its center, and was instantly stunned...@@novelbin@@

Indeed, there lay a human—a young girl, to be precise. Her beauty could only be described as heavenly.

Her eyes were gently closed, long lashes resting on her flawless face, which seemed sculpted by the divine, without a single blemish. Her black hair cascaded over her jade-like shoulders, and her pink lips were alluringly vibrant, her features exquisitely perfect!

In two lifetimes, Xiao Long had never seen such perfection.

A face that could topple cities and kingdoms.

Such thoughts crossed Xiao Long's mind.

As he looked down, he couldn't help but nearly have a nosebleed.

The girl was unclothed! Her alabaster body lay exposed to the air, her slender legs long and graceful, her figure flawless, even more perfect than the Red Lotus Martial Emperor he had seen!

"This..." Xiao Long's mind was momentarily unresponsive.

To have cultivated to the peak of Martial Emperor, his mental fortitude was unquestionable. Xiao Long had seen countless beauties of all kinds, yet none had ever caused him to lose composure like this.

After a moment, Xiao Long calmed himself. Such a mysteriously appearing girl was surely no ordinary being. Moreover, he was now a snake! A snake! Even if a beauty was presented to him, he could do nothing; that was the crux of the matter!

Once calm, Xiao Long began to examine the girl, only to be surprised to find her soul seemed extremely unstable, fragmented as if it might leave her body at any moment.

Suddenly, her form blurred, transforming into a humanoid white light, which gradually shrank until, right before Xiao Long's eyes, it became a white fox!

The fox was pure white, fluffy like a pristine snowball, only palm-sized, with a very faint aura.

"This is... the aura of a Transformation Pill!" Xiao Long exclaimed in shock.

The snow fox's aura was barely perceptible, its soul nearly shattered, and combined with the scent of a Transformation Pill, Xiao Long immediately understood she was a demon beast that had failed to transform.

When demon beasts reach the Demon Sovereign realm, most transform into human form to cultivate, as the human body is the optimal form for understanding the laws of power.

To transform, one must consume a Transformation Pill and survive the Nine-Nine Thunder Tribulation to successfully become human.

Transforming from a beast to human defies the natural order, and heaven imposes a thunder punishment. Failure results in soul injury or memory loss at best, or complete annihilation at worst.

Transformation carries risks.

However, Xiao Long did not believe her failure was simply due to the tribulation. With his extensive knowledge of pills, he detected impurities in the Transformation Pill, likely mixed with toxins, which might have caused her failure.

"Sigh! Failed the tribulation, soul shattered, it's just your bad luck," Xiao Long sighed, about to leave when he paused, a strange look in his eyes.

Such a mysterious demon beast surely held great secrets, possibly a legendary celestial demon from the Heavenly Realm. Could he just let her die?

"Forget it, we are fated to meet. I, the Emperor, will grant you a chance. Whether you survive depends on your fate."

Xiao Long sighed deeply, feeling a pang of heartache, as he took out the last Soul-Reviving Pill.

With her soul in such a state, she was ninety-nine percent doomed, with only a sliver of hope lying in his hands.

Xiao Long was confident that if anyone else tried to save her, even a Martial Emperor, exhausting all resources, they might not succeed. On the entire Shenzhou Continent, only Xiao Long had a chance.

Because, coincidentally, Xiao Long knew two formations to save a demon beast that failed transformation!

Xiao Long opened his inventory, scattering a large number of spirit stones around, channeling his inner Qi to trace a series of intricate patterns between them.

Gradually, the surroundings fell silent, the environment turning pitch black.

"The Nine Nether Soul-Guiding Array, combined with the Seven Stars Soul-Nurturing Array, are my life's work. At my peak, I had a ninety percent chance of saving you. Now, my strength is not what it was, and the formations' power is less than a tenth of their perfect state. The spiritual Qi source can only be sustained by middle-grade spirit stones. Whether you survive is up to fate."

Xiao Long placed all his spoils into the formation, positioning two hundred middle-grade spirit stones at the core as the energy source.

"Activate the Nine Nether Soul-Guiding Array!"

Xiao Long unleashed his inner Qi, pushing the formation to its limits.

He could feel the scattered soul fragments of the snow fox slowly returning to its body, though the process was agonizingly slow.

If snakes could sweat, Xiao Long would be drenched. He felt his inner Qi being rapidly drained, half gone in just a few breaths.

"Damn it, I'm risking my life here!"

With some reluctance, Xiao Long took out two spirit crystals, discovered in a spiritual spring, their energy purer and more absorbable than spirit stones. He swallowed one without hesitation, throwing the other into the formation's core as its power source.

With the support of the spirit crystals, Xiao Long felt much relieved. The scattered soul fragments swiftly returned to the snow fox's body, and after an hour, they were finally whole.

Xiao Long exhaled deeply. Though he had spent two valuable spirit crystals, at least he hadn't failed.

After a brief adjustment, Xiao Long scattered the remaining spirit stones in seven positions, forming a new formation pattern. The positions corresponded to the Big Dipper in the sky, faintly drawing down the power of the stars.

Then, Xiao Long wrapped the Soul-Reviving Pill in his inner Qi, placing it at the heart of the formation. The pill, originally meant for himself, was now used to save a fox.

Xiao Long was at a loss for words. For someone as pragmatic as he, using his resources to save a fox unrelated to him, with no guarantee of success, was unheard of.

"The Seven Stars Soul-Nurturing Array is complete. Now, it's up to your own fate."