Chapter 659: Great Demon 22
A spectral image of a Golden Ring Snake appeared over the Ten-Direction Mountain Range. Not only did the demonic beasts within the mountains see it, but even the Cultivators near the range witnessed it. A Golden Ring Snake... Considering its identity and recalling past events, all the Cultivators came to a single realization. This was likely the very same Silver Ring Snake from all those years ago.
To leap from a Silver Ring Snake to a Golden Ring Snake through ancestral reversion left the Cultivators who had personally experienced the conflict between the Human and Demon Clans utterly speechless. Weren’t demonic beasts supposed to cultivate slowly? How much time had passed? It had already reverted from a Silver Ring Snake to a Golden Ring Snake?
Regardless of the speculation outside, everything on Tan You’s end was peaceful and serene. Ever since the final bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation struck that day, Tan You had lost control of her body, feeling as if she were floating in the long river of time.
It was as if she had completely broken free from the shackles of her physical form, her soul drifting lightly between one transparent orb of light and another. Looking at these orbs, Tan You couldn’t help but reach out and poke one curiously.
The next second, countless memories flooded her mind. Tan You blinked, watching the majestic images of the senior Great Demon Golden Ring Snakes in her head. She couldn’t help but wonder, ’Is this what I look like now?’
Unfortunately, no one answered. It seemed Tan You was all alone in this space. She wasn’t annoyed, though. She just calmed her mind and began to watch the experiences contained within the orb of light before her.
She had thought the inherited memories would be like clearing levels in a game; once her cultivation reached a certain stage, she would unlock the corresponding memories. But now, Tan You realized she had been mistaken.
The number of Great Demons in the Golden Ring Snake clan was small, but they had left behind a wealth of inherited memories. Some specialized in tempering the physical body, others excelled in combat, and still others were masters of comprehending the Heavenly Dao. In short, whatever you wanted to learn, you could find it here.
Tan You, of course... wanted it all.
She had an urgent thirst for knowledge. It wasn’t certain she would even be a demonic beast the next time she went to a Cultivation World. But so what? Broadening her horizons by learning more could never be a bad thing.
And so, Tan You stubbornly stayed inside that eggshell, refusing to come out no matter what.
The Little Mouse and the Two-Tailed Cat, waiting outside, had become rather zen about the whole thing. They had been waiting in front of Tan You’s snake egg for nearly fifty years, yet she was so patient that she stubbornly refused to emerge.
The two little ones couldn’t just wait for Tan You forever. Seeing that she had no intention of coming out, they began to live their own lives. After all, Tan You was already at the Ninth Rank, while they hadn’t even reached the Seventh Rank.
Now that Tan You was cultivating so diligently, she would definitely be the first to ascend. The two little ones didn’t want to be left too far behind.
Time slowly passed as the demonic beasts cultivated diligently. Tan You finally managed to go through all of the Golden Ring Snake clan’s inherited memories once. Note, that was ’go through,’ not ’master.’ How could it be so easy to completely master all these inherited memories?
By now, a full sixty-eight years had passed since Tan You underwent her Heavenly Tribulation.
Stretching contentedly, Tan You opened her mouth and yawned. The next second, she froze. ’Why does this place feel so cramped? And why have I become so tiny?’
She looked down at her coiled body, then glanced around. All four sides were smooth. ’Am I inside an eggshell?’ Tan You moved her head, and her small head instinctively bumped against the shell.
The instant her head touched the eggshell, Tan You understood. This shell couldn’t be broken by external force; she had to refine it with her own power.
At this thought, Tan You’s tiny body moved. The little-finger-thick Golden Ring Snake opened her mouth slightly, and each inhale and exhale seemed to carry an endless Dao rhythm. The eggshell that had been confining her gradually began to thin...
As Tan You breathed in and out, Bai Ze also sensed the change. He held the small snake egg in his palm, his eyes filled with curiosity as he gazed at it.
As the auspicious beast of the Demon Clan, Bai Ze’s history was undoubtedly long, and his inherited memories were naturally immense. He knew about Tan You’s ancestral reversion, but he had never witnessed it firsthand. Seeing her in this state now was truly a novelty.
Bright sunlight shone on the snake egg, making the already thinning shell nearly transparent. Inside, one could only see a small snake coiled like a mosquito coil, lying at the bottom. Its delicate head was slightly raised, and with each breath, one could faintly discern the little snake’s greed.
The Little Mouse moved closer. "She looks so small. Is that Huanhuan?"
The Two-Tailed Cat wagged its tails. "It’s Huanhuan. It’s a shame the eggshell is in the way. We can’t see the silver rings on her body."
Bai Ze was just about to speak when the little snake inside the egg moved. A long, thin tail suddenly whipped out, landing on the eggshell with a THWAP. A smile touched the corners of Bai Ze’s mouth. "She’s quite strong."
The Little Mouse made a fist. "Go, Huanhuan, go!"
"Huanhuan, you’re the best!" Not to be outdone, the Two-Tailed Cat cheered. When it came to shouting encouragement, how could it possibly lose to the Little Mouse?
Other demonic beasts were also waiting here. Seeing Tan You begin to break out of her shell, countless of them stared, hoping she would emerge quickly. To be honest, even before her ancestral reversion, she didn’t meet with everyone very often.
But back then, she was fine, so no one was so worried. Now, everyone said Tan You had undergone ancestral reversion, but no one knew if she was truly safe. That’s why they were all so desperate to see her.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, a crack appeared on the eggshell. More and more cracks followed until they covered the entire surface of the egg.
Even Cang Long was growing impatient. "It didn’t even take my kid this long to hatch. This little girl is such a slowpoke."
Just as he spoke, a small head wearing a piece of eggshell like a hat landed in Bai Ze’s palm. Tan You looked left and right, then in the next second, she absorbed all the eggshell fragments into her personal space. All that remained in Bai Ze’s palm was a tiny, little-finger-thick snake, golden from head to tail.
Though she had just hatched, there was no slime on Tan You’s body; she looked clean and dry. Bai Ze gently pressed the pad of his finger on Tan You’s head. "Welcome back from your seclusion, Huanhuan."
Tan You opened her mouth with a sigh. "Bai Ze, you’ve picked up some bad habits."
The smile on Bai Ze’s face widened. "I’ve gotten used to it. You don’t like Huanhuan?"
Tan You coiled twice around Bai Ze’s index finger. "As long as you’re happy. Whether I like it or not is unimportant."
Cang Long moved closer to Tan You. "Do you still remember me?"
Tan You flicked her tongue, as if greeting Cang Long. "I know. I went through ancestral reversion, I didn’t become an idiot. Of course I remember everyone. And I heard you say that your kid hatched faster than me."
Cang Long preened. "Of course. My kid stayed in the egg for twenty-one years after birth before hatching—a true prodigy. But you actually stayed in your egg for sixty-eight years. Is this the kind of prestige an ancient Great Demon has?"
Tan You swished her tail. "It’s different. Your little kid had a normal hatching. I stayed in my egg because the opportunity from ancestral reversion is precious. Of course I had to use that time to learn as much as possible."