Stronger with Crimson Modifier

The white light receded.

It transformed into a burly man with a longsword on his back, dressed in a black robe.

The man had coarse features, with thick brows and large eyes.

His brow was slightly furrowed.

It seemed something was troubling him.

"Greetings, Martial Uncle Songling Zi!"

A passing Disciple in a gray robe saw the man and greeted him.

Hearing this, Songling Zi simply gave a slight nod.

Then, he ascended the steps and entered a grand hall named Yuqing Hall, meeting no obstructions along the way.

The light inside the great hall was somewhat dim.

Only rows of candles burned steadily, their flames swaying and flickering.

As he drew closer, the faint breeze he created caused the candle flames on either side to waver.

"Songling Zi pays his respects to the Sect Leader!"

Songling Zi looked at the figure standing with his back to him and bowed with his hands clasped.

Before him stood an old man.

The old man wore a Daoist Robe embroidered with a black and white yin-yang pattern, his frame as lean and straight as a pine tree.

His snow-white hair was neatly tied up in a Daoist topknot, secured by a crescent-shaped Jade Crown the color of green jade.

The Jade Crown was lustrous and translucent, and as a fluorescent glow flowed across it, a faint light shimmered in and out of view.

Hearing the sound, Yuqing Zi did not turn around.

Instead, he tilted his head up to look at the portrait hanging before him.

The painting depicted a lone figure in white with a longsword on his back.

And on the white jade pedestal beneath the scroll, an ancient longsword was displayed.

"Songling Zi, do you know why I have summoned you this time?"

After a long moment, Yuqing Zi turned around, his gaze calm as he looked at Songling Zi and asked the question.

Songling Zi had already straightened up.

Hearing this, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Senior Brother, don’t beat around the bush with me. Just say what’s on your mind!"

His tone was completely unrestrained, showing that his everyday relationship with Yuqing Zi was extremely close.

"I just found a great spot and was about to enjoy a few drinks when you called me back. You really know how to spoil the mood."

Songling Zi pouted, his words filled with dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Yuqing Zi sighed softly.

"In the mortal world’s trials, the heart is forged strong; in the Divinity Transformation Realm, the true meaning is understood.

The winds and clouds of change are but illusions passing before the eyes; only when Dao Rhyme infuses the body can one become an immortal.

Junior Brother, your aptitude is nothing short of breathtaking. At this rate, I’m afraid it won’t be long before you break through the barrier to Divinity Transformation."

"Not at all, I can’t compare to you, Senior Brother. I just don’t like staying cooped up in the Sect."

Songling Zi shook his head.

Yuqing Zi didn’t press the matter further.

Instead, he said,

"I’ve summoned you this time because there is an important matter I need you to handle."

Songling Zi’s expression shifted, his interest suddenly piqued. He pressed,

"Oh? And what matter might that be, Senior Brother?"

"The Founder has sent down a decree. The fortune of the Observing Demon Race is in flux, and the Great Calamity may arrive any day now! I want you to find the one who will face this tribulation and bring them into our Taiqing Palace."

Yuqing Zi’s expression was grave as he spoke each word with deliberate weight.

Hearing this, a flash of astonishment crossed Songling Zi’s face, and he retorted instinctively,

"How is that possible? The Great Calamity occurs once every thousand years. It’s only been three hundred years since the last one!"

Yuqing Zi shook his head, but an imperceptible glint flashed in his eyes.

"This matter... I do not fully understand it myself.

However, this might be the very opportunity for our Taiqing Palace to achieve great prosperity! Whether we can secure the top position among the three major sects for the next thousand years will depend on this!"

...

「At the same time, in the Cangzhou Realm.」

An aged monk in red robes emerged from Jue’an Temple, the leader of the Buddhist Dao.

Meanwhile, a young Scholar in white robes set out on a journey from the Celestial Righteous Institute, the head of the Confucian Dao.

Their purpose was one and the same: to find the one who will face the tribulation and guide them into their Sect.

...

「As time went on.」

Hu Qi gradually regained awareness of his body.

He could clearly feel that he was enveloped in a warm, thin membrane.

His body was submerged in a warm liquid.

The space around him seemed to be oval-shaped.

As he moved, the space he was in grew increasingly cramped.

Furthermore, his body was in a long, slender, and soft state.

He no longer had human limbs; in their place were a flexible spine and muscles.

Moreover, his tongue was long and forked. As he flicked it in and out, he could feel two fangs at the front of his mouth.

’Clearly, the species I’ve been reborn as this time isn’t human.

I’m a small snake, inside an eggshell.’

Regarding this situation, Hu Qi felt only a slight sense of surprise.

But when he connected it to the possible hatching of his Taiyu Serpent Bloodline, he didn’t pay it too much mind.

Other than that, it seemed he could use his Spirit Devouring Talent.

He could clearly sense wisps of differently colored light motes drifting around him.

This substance before his eyes seemed to be the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy of this world.

It bore some resemblance to the Ethereal Wanderers on the Desolate Star.

The Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy here was also divided into different attributes.

Just as he thought of this, within his soul, the Rune Spirit Seed trembled slightly.

A stream of more detailed images and information flowed out in response.

’I see, so this is the so-called Spiritual Energy...’

Hu Qi’s thoughts stirred.

The information he just received had clearly told him where he was.

The Cangzhou Realm.

The Cangzhou Realm, unlike the worlds he had experienced before, was a Cultivation-type world with a setting resembling ancient society.

It was home to Extraordinary beings like Cultivators, Demons, and Ghosts.

But regardless of their kind, the source of their power came from absorbing Spiritual Energy.

Spiritual Energy was an energy substance that far surpassed ordinary Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

It was the foundation of the Extraordinary in this realm, the source of all power.

His arrival and rebirth here were perhaps not a coincidence, but due to the Taichu Demon Refining Talisman within his Rune Spirit Seed.

’Absorbing this Spiritual Energy should speed up my hatching!’

Having thought of this, Hu Qi began to actively absorb the surrounding wisps of Spiritual Energy.

Logically, since he had not yet hatched, this should have been impossible.

But with his Spirit Devouring Talent, he could accomplish it with ease.

...

Inside a dimly lit mountain cave.

At this moment, in the deepest part of the cave, amidst a pile of rotting leaves and in the crevices of the damp soil, a clutch of snake eggs lay buried.

However, unlike the other snake eggs, one of the eggs was exceptionally large, two to three times the size of the others.

And, even more peculiar was that, a faint, thin mist seemed to gather in layers around this particular egg.

It was as if a suction force existed within it.

As the thin mist surged into it...

...THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

The clear sound of a heartbeat echoed from within the snake egg.

An unknown amount of time passed.

CRACK... CRACK...

Suddenly, in the quiet environment, the sound of an eggshell cracking abruptly rang out.

Looking toward the sound, one could see that the largest egg was rocking gently, emitting a faint CLICK sound.

The mist that had been swirling around it dissipated.

As it continued to rock, suddenly, a tiny crack snaked down from the top. As the crack gradually widened, a soft white light shone from within.

The eggshell shattered.

Immediately after, a triangular head poked out from the opening. Its wet scales were covered in slime, glistening with a faint white sheen in the dim light.

Hu Qi blinked his eyes.

His vision was awash in crimson, like looking through night-vision goggles.

He shook his head.

He began to adapt to this serpentine body.

This wasn’t a difficult task for him.

After all, he had taken the form of a snake before.

During this time, he surveyed his surroundings.

He was currently in a narrow mountain cave, surrounded by piles of fallen leaves and damp earth. The air was filled with the mixed scent of decay and dampness.

On the other side of the cave, the sound of water hitting stone made a faint, crisp noise that echoed in the enclosed space.

Not far away, several grayish-white snake eggs lay quietly among the rotten leaves and soil.

Hu Qi only gave them a glance, not paying them much mind.

He pressed his body to the ground and slithered toward the sound of water.

And there, in a corner of the cave, a stream was rushing through.

The current carried small stones and withered branches from the mountain, crashing along its path. The splashing water hit the cave walls, filling the air with a faint mist.

Hu Qi used the reflection on the water’s surface to get a simple look at his new body.

His eyes had vertical pupils, covered by an iris.

His head was an inverted triangle, and his entire body was covered in fine black scales. He was about 1.2 or 1.3 meters long.

This size far exceeded that of a typical newborn snake.

Furthermore, he could feel that with the passing of time, the somewhat soft scales on his body were continuously hardening.

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