Chapter 5
Chapter 5: The Blue-Robed Girl, Passed Down Throughout The Mortal World
South Peak.
One of the mountains mirroring Yuzhao, the location where Little Green crossed her Tribulation—sparsely populated.
On another mountaintop, Lady White stood like a white jade Guanyin—Goddess of Mercy; not the slightest disturbance could escape her eyes.
Jiang Linxian stood beside her, unable to feel that pressure, yet the Minor Demons on the surrounding peaks were trembling with fear.
A Great Demon with over a thousand years of cultivation could generally be considered a Demon Lord of their domain.
It was only because Lady White was kind-hearted; had it been any other Great Demon, they would have long since followed her example and begun exploiting the surrounding territory.
Little Green sensed the heavenly mechanism. She expelled her Demon Core, suspending it above her head, and began drawing in Spiritual Energy.
The previously clear night sky suddenly churned; dense black Tribulation Clouds gathered from the peaks on all four sides, lightning flickering within the thunder clouds like golden serpents dancing wildly, as the deep rumble of thunder echoed through the valley.
The first bolt of Tribulation Lightning struck down—a blue-white flash hitting the Demon Core directly.
Little Green's enormous serpent body rolled in agony across the valley floor, her green scales scorched one by one.
Drawing on instinct, she circulated the protective Magic that Lady White had taught her, a layer of blue luminescence rising around her whole body.
Immediately after, a second and third, thicker bolt of thunder fell in succession—not only tempering her physical body, but striking directly at her divine soul.
Amid excruciating pain, her hardened serpent scales began to soften, her bones emitting strange sounds as the beast's structure was forcibly remolded.
The Tribulation Lightning paused, yet a more treacherous "Heart Flame Tribulation" ignited from within her.
Scenes from the past surfaced—her yearning for power, her reliance on her elder sister, the loneliness of solitary cultivation, her possessiveness toward Jiang Linxian… the Heart Flame scorched her will.
Her attachments transformed into resolve; she guided the Heart Flame with her divine soul, instead using it as fuel to refine the Cross Bone and nourish her Primal Spirit.
The final wave of thunder poured down like a waterfall, shaking the cliffs.
Within the blazing radiance, her serpent body completely dissolved, and the silhouette of a young woman gradually coalesced.
Blue light surged skyward, dispersing the remaining clouds.
In the faint light of early dawn, a blue-robed girl stood barefoot upon scorched rock.
Her features were bewitchingly beautiful, her bearing full of life, her eyes carrying the clarity of the newly born and a trace of wildness not yet faded.
She curiously examined her own slender fingers; when she rose to stand she felt quite unsteady, then gazed toward the shimmering surface of West Lake in the distance and the figure of a person and a serpent on the mountaintop.
Lady White brought Jiang Linxian to Little Green's side.
Jiang Linxian blinked wide-eyed, staring at the peerlessly beautiful demon girl with her slender figure standing before him.
Lady White, seeing this, reprimanded her.
"Little Green, do you remember what I taught you?"
"But Sister, wearing clothes always feels so uncomfortable…"
It was Little Green's first time being human—she had never before had any habit of wearing clothes.
Yet under Lady White's strict demands, she had no choice but to use her Magic to transform her serpent scales into a dress to wear on her body.
Little Green went to embrace Jiang Linxian again, but the moment she tried she realized she couldn't quite wrap around him fully—unless Jiang Linxian actively coiled around her.
At nearly 5 meters in length, there was no way two arms alone could hold him; Little Green simply ordered,
"Little Immortal, you're so heavy—hurry up and coil around me or you'll fall!"
Jiang Linxian was speechless, but still obediently coiled around Little Green's waist, his head pressed into her embrace and held there.
Little Green may not match her sister, but she was still very well-endowed.
Little Green lowered her head as usual to nuzzle Jiang Linxian; when she had been a serpent before, it had always been a flick of the forked tongue—now…
Before, both of them had been serpents; now that only Jiang Linxian was a serpent, he was the one who felt a little out of place instead.
In the eyes of any mortal, it was a white giant serpent coiled around a blue-robed girl—a sight that would frighten anyone to death.
As Little Green held Jiang Linxian, she touched and squeezed him as if familiarizing herself with her new body, and asked,
"Sister, when do you think Little Immortal will be able to achieve Manifestation?"
Lady White thought for a brief moment and replied,
"Little Immortal's talent is very good, but to achieve Manifestation one needs at least 500 years of cultivation."
This was the conclusion Lady White had drawn from her own experience—to achieve Manifestation, one needed at least 500 years of cultivation to support it, otherwise one could not even survive the first Tribulation.
Of course, these 500 years did not mean cultivating naturally for 500 years, but rather that each day spent cultivating counted as one day.
Because a demon could not possibly cultivate for all 12 hours of every single day.
Beyond diligent cultivation, there was also the matter of innate talent.
A demon with good talent could match 500 years in 300.
If it was a plant or tree that had gained Awakening, the time needed would be even longer.
If a great stroke of fortune arose in the meantime, this period could also be shortened.
Jiang Linxian fell into thought.
‘Passed down throughout the mortal world:
A serpent becomes a python after 500 years; a python becomes a boa after 500 more; a boa becomes a flood dragon after a thousand years; a flood dragon becomes a dragon after ten thousand.’
This timeline was only the most ideal state for a Serpent Demon with some degree of talent.
Jiang Linxian was no common bloodline, and his talent was exceptional—a Dragon Pearl replaced his Demon Core within him, and the time he spent awake after sleeping was mostly spent in cultivation.
500 years was absolutely unnecessary.
With the right fortune, that time could be shortened even further.
Little Green hadn't thought as far ahead as Jiang Linxian; upon hearing 500 years, her face fell immediately.
"We still have to wait a whole 500 years?"
Lady White pressed a finger to Little Green's forehead.
"Little Immortal is still young, talented, and hardworking—it may not take that long. Didn't you yourself take 800 years?"
Jiang Linxian was considered an adult serpent, yet even among demons his age still placed him as a young demon—the kind that had only just grown his fangs.
Little Green had forgotten about that; when she compared this way, 500 years already seemed quite fast.
"Mm… I've decided then—I'll accompany Little Xian in cultivation for 500 years."
500 years—even the Monkey King was only pinned down for 500 years. Jiang Linxian had no intention of waiting that long, so going out to temper himself in the world was definitely necessary.
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Back at the Cave Dwelling.
Little Green eagerly shed her dress and slipped into the clear pool to bathe.
She leaned forward to scoop up water, and her shoulder blades moved like a pair of folded butterfly wings, clearly visible as they shifted beneath the thin layer of skin and flesh.
Water threaded through Little Green's fingers into glittering lines, running along the softest, most supple skin on the inside of her forearms, winding down to the shallow crook of her elbows.
Her long hair spread across the pool's surface like scattered ink, strand by strand drifting and unfurling in the jade-green water.
Occasionally she turned to the side.
The water's surface traced out a full arc like a new moon—beginning at her underarm, rising perilously, trembling at its peak for a moment before flowing smoothly inward, disappearing into the full, rounded curve of her hips.
"Sister, Little Immortal—come in too!"
Little Green laughed delightedly as she got her first taste of the joys of being human—a completely different experience from being a serpent.
No wonder Sister had wanted to achieve Manifestation.
Surely she could go to the mortal world now?
Little Green had just achieved Manifestation, so Lady White naturally followed her in—beneath her plain white silk dress her figure rose and fell in graceful curves, and she gently let it slip from her as she stepped into the pool.
It was not the plumpness or slenderness of common folk, but the undulating rise and fall of peaks wreathed in mist—one degree more would veer into seduction.
Compared to Lady White's dignified, mature figure and bearing, Little Green was more like a girl brimming with wild spirit.
Jiang Linxian was still a little embarrassed—before, they had all been serpents and he'd felt nothing, but now…
"What are you daydreaming about?"
‘Damn!’
At the pool's edge.
Little Green, having transformed into a girl of monstrous strength, grabbed Jiang Linxian by the tail and dragged him straight in.
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Late at night.
Under Lady White's spellcasting, Little Green drifted gently off to sleep, and she then placed a restriction seal on the Cave Dwelling.
Once Little Green woke, she would safely pass through the Weakening Period.
By that time, what Lady White needed to do would also be done. She had originally intended to do the same for Jiang Linxian, but unfortunately Jiang Linxian was far cleverer than Little Green.
She could only first bring Jiang Linxian along and think of another way.
The darkness of night surged.
Jiang Linxian followed Lady White and, for the first time, left the boundaries of Hangzhou.