Chapter 1: Reborn as a Snake

"Who would have thought, I, the mighty Heaven-Burning Dragon Emperor, would be reborn as a mere beast."

In a dark, damp cave, a long, black creature was coldly surveying its surroundings.

Beside it were two more creatures identical to itself—two black-spined snake hatchlings. Behind them were several broken eggshells, indicating they had just been born.

"Damn it! Of all things to become, I end up as a snake, and not just any snake, but a non-venomous black-spined snake, the lowest tier of demonic beasts. I could be killed at any moment. What a mess!"

As one of the eight titled martial emperors of the Divine Continent, Xiao Long was in a terrible mood.

He had finally found the essence blood of the Time-Space Ancestor Dragon. If he could refine it, he was certain he could transcend the peak of the Martial Emperor realm and become a legendary Daoist Immortal, breaking through the heavens.

However, just as he was about to refine the essence blood, the Crimson Lotus Martial Emperor, along with two other titled martial emperors, attacked and severely injured him. Seeing no hope of breaking through, Xiao Long detonated the Time-Space Ancestor Dragon's essence blood, instantly killing one titled martial emperor and reducing another to an embryo, which then turned to ashes. The Crimson Lotus Martial Emperor was severely injured and fled, needing at least a century to recover.

To be precise, there were now only six titled martial emperors left on the Divine Continent, including the severely injured Crimson Lotus Martial Emperor.

"Damn woman, the next time I see you, I'll rape and kill you! And then rape and kill you again! To avenge my hatred!"

Thinking of the Crimson Lotus Martial Emperor's fiery, devilish figure and angelic face, Xiao Long swallowed hard and gritted his teeth. This venomous woman, he would not feel satisfied until he had raped and killed her a hundred times.

The problem was, in his current state, if he encountered the Crimson Lotus Martial Emperor, she could blow him away with a single breath, let alone whether he would even see her.

"Whatever, I'll wait until I break through to the Demonic Emperor realm."

After a long while, Xiao Long calmed down. For him, the mortal body was nothing but a fleeting cloud; the soul was the essence.

He had a human soul, so in a strict sense, he was a human. On the continent, there were many demonic cultivators who, out of necessity, had self-destructed their bodies and possessed the bodies of demonic beasts, and this was not uncommon.

At worst, once he broke through to the Demonic Venerable realm and mastered the Soul Seizing Heaven Technique, he could find a human body with good potential and possess it.

Xiao Long tried to wriggle, and although he was not used to it, he managed to crawl around the cave, but after one lap, he was already panting and exhausted. This body was truly too weak; he needed to find a way to improve it.

"Right, what would happen if a demonic beast practiced human cultivation techniques?"

Xiao Long suddenly thought of this.

In his previous life as the Heaven-Burning Dragon Emperor, he had inherited the cultivation techniques of the Heaven-Burning Ancestor Dragon, which were the highest cultivation techniques of the dragon race. Although dragons were a divine race, they were essentially evolved from demonic beasts.

If he practiced the dragon race's cultivation techniques with this black-spined snake's body, wouldn't that be...

Thinking of this, Xiao Long felt an urge to try.

Apart from higher races, demonic beasts only began to transform and practice cultivation techniques after reaching the Demonic Venerable realm. There had never been a first-tier demonic beast that practiced cultivation techniques, and Xiao Long was certain that his situation was a first in history.

"Ha ha! Excellent!"

Xiao Long immediately thought of a core dragon race cultivation technique, the Azure Dragon Secret Canon. This technique produced a gentle internal energy that strengthened the meridians and refined the body.

As for the level, it was only a low-grade Xuan-level technique. He had higher-level techniques, even Tian-level techniques, but those were too violent, and with this frail body, he might explode into pieces just by starting to practice.

The low-grade Xuan-level Azure Dragon Secret Canon was the most suitable one he could find. Once he had a solid foundation, he could switch to a higher-level technique.

Immediately, he began to absorb the faint spiritual energy from the surroundings according to a specific circulation route.

Cultivation techniques were generally divided into four levels: Yellow, Xuan, Earth, and Heaven, with each level further divided into four grades: low, middle, high, and supreme.

Ordinary people could mostly only practice Yellow-level techniques, and those from wealthy families could practice high-grade Yellow-level techniques, which was already quite good. Xuan-level techniques were only available in major sects, and only those with sufficient talent, core disciples, or elders could practice them.

Xiao Long's technique was the gentlest of the Xuan-level techniques, and since demonic beasts' bodies were naturally stronger than humans, he found it even easier to practice.

Xiao Long spent about a day finally absorbing the spiritual energy into his body. After several cycles, it was stored in his demonic core.

The core of human martial practitioners was the dantian, while the core of demonic beasts was the demonic core.

The Azure Dragon Secret Canon, being a dragon race technique, lived up to its reputation. Xiao Long's demonic core, originally pitch black, took on a faint golden hue after being washed by the spiritual energy transformed by the Azure Dragon Secret Canon. His scales also carried a faint golden spiritual energy, making them incredibly tough.

Xiao Long tried to crawl around again and found it much smoother, with no sense of strain.

"The Azure Dragon Secret Canon is now mastered at the beginner level. Next, I'll aim to reach the first level within two days."

Xiao Long calmed down again and coiled up in the nest without moving.

Spiritual energy swirled around him, entering his meridians and circulating. His body gradually grew stronger, and his snake body became thicker and longer, with a deeper black color.

The two "brothers" beside him seemed curious and crawled over, flicking their tongues, but they were immediately repelled by the aura Xiao Long emitted.

Xiao Long wanted to teach these two little ones, but with the intelligence of first-tier demonic beasts, it was questionable whether they could understand, so he ignored them and continued to practice.

Two days later—

"Ha ha! Finally reached the first level!"

Xiao Long was extremely excited. He felt that his current strength was more than ten times greater than before! Stronger than ordinary second-tier demonic beasts, but his demonic core remained unchanged, still only one centimeter in diameter, indicating he was still at the first-tier demonic beast stage.

He retracted his aura, and everything returned to calm.

He noticed that the two brothers were trembling beside him.

The Azure Dragon Secret Canon carried a supreme aura of the dragon race, which made lower-tier demonic beasts fear him. Xiao Long had to收敛 his aura.

"Little ones! Come here!" Xiao Long sent a mental command, having mastered the language of demonic beasts from his birth memories.

The two snakes dared not disobey and slowly crawled over.

"Remember, I am your big brother. Don't be afraid of me." Xiao Long continued to send mental commands.

The two snakes flicked their tongues, indicating they understood.

Xiao Long nodded, then realized that snakes couldn't understand the meaning of nodding.

Surprisingly, the two little ones also mimicked Xiao Long's "nodding" action, leaving him speechless.

"Ha ha! The black-spined snake nest is here!"

"Finally found it!"

At that moment, excited human voices came from outside the nest.