Chapter Five: The Serpent's Shadow Crisis

Because Jiang Xuan was pinned beneath him, unable to move, the Demon Lord and Empress had no choice but to desperately cultivate, attempting to convert the snake meat they had just eaten into spiritual energy for their practice.

After a short while, the Demon Lord emerged first, his entire body brimming with vitality, exclaiming with great joy:

“Hahaha! As expected of a rare genius in the Profound Realm, even reborn as a beast, my talent remains unparalleled! With this ‘Myriad Demons Heart Sutra,’ I have broken through to the second tier of demon beasts in less than half a day!”

“Fatty, I will make you lose all your teeth!”

Almost simultaneously, the Empress also broke through to the second tier at the same moment as the Demon Lord.

“The ‘Imperial Tyrant Technique’ is truly profound! I never imagined I would advance to the second tier so quickly. Excellent. Now it’s time to let this fat bird taste what it’s like to get beaten!”

“An emperor must not be humiliated!”

The difference between the first and second tiers was immense—strength could increase tenfold.

Previously, they had blamed their inability to defeat Jiang Xuan on their vastly smaller size. Now that they had reached the second tier, they were eager to reclaim their pride.

Yet, to their despair, even with their newfound second-tier demon beast power, neither bird could budge Jiang Xuan, who was still pressing them down.

At that moment, they finally noticed a faint mist of blood surrounding the giant fat bird that Jiang Xuan had transformed into.

“Blood energy like mercury, blood plasma turning to mist?”

“Damn it, when did this fat bird reach the third tier of demon beasts?”

“It’s infuriating! I’m cultivating the highest-level technique, yet my power hasn’t increased as fast as this gluttonous lazy bird’s!”

The Empress was stunned—her spirit shaken deeply at that moment.

“Third tier?”

“Is that really third tier?”

“What kind of monster is he?”

“Could this fat one be a throwback ancestor?”

“Or perhaps a reincarnation of a divine beast like the Golden Crow or Phoenix?”

The Demon Lord’s mindset also collapsed; such overwhelming helplessness was a first in his life.

At that moment, a huge snake head suddenly appeared before them.

It was a third-tier Golden Armored Snake Demon!

Neither the Demon Lord nor the Empress, at their current second-tier strength, stood a chance against this third-tier snake demon; the outcome was inevitable—a swift and utter annihilation.

Even with all their skills, without sufficient spiritual energy to support them, they couldn’t even launch an attack.

Originally, the appearance of this third-tier snake demon would have meant their doom.

But now, because of Jiang Xuan, this crisis was inadvertently averted.

Simply put, they were shielded beneath Jiang Xuan’s weight.

The Golden Armored Snake Demon couldn’t strike them unless it first killed Jiang Xuan!

But Jiang Xuan had already reached the third tier of demon beasts, equal in strength to this snake demon. Killing an opponent of equal tier was no easy feat.

“Could it be?”

“This fat bird chose to pin me beneath itself to protect us?”

The Demon Lord found it hard to believe, but despite Jiang Xuan’s questionable motives, the result was undeniably that he had saved his life again.

“Fatty, wake up quickly!”

“The snake demon is invading the nest, you know that?”

“If you get bitten to death, we’re all done for!”

The Empress frantically slapped Jiang Xuan, a flicker of gratitude blossoming in her heart.

She was certain that if she hadn’t been protected under Jiang Xuan, she would have become the Golden Armored Snake Demon’s meal in one bite.

Meanwhile...

The third-tier Golden Armored Snake Demon herself was stunned.

She guessed the giant eagle demon’s offspring must have been born quite recently.

After all, her own child was only second tier, the perfect nourishment for such a newborn bird demon.

But when she saw Jiang Xuan sleeping soundly in the nest, she was shocked.

This bird was unbearably fat, showing no trace of eagle demon traits—almost like a fat ball.

What was even more unbelievable was that judging by the broken eggshell nearby, this little bird demon had been born less than a day ago!

To advance to the third tier in such a short time was monstrous.

If Jiang Xuan continued to grow, the entire snake tribe in this demon beast forest would be doomed.

Now, the Golden Armored Snake Demon was no longer just protecting her child.

For the sake of the entire snake tribe, she had to kill Jiang Xuan in his cradle.

With a wide-open maw, she fiercely bit down on Jiang Xuan’s large, fat belly.

At the same time, sensing imminent danger, Jiang Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, flashed upward, flapping his wings in a mystifying manner, narrowly evading the lethal strike.

“Snake demon!”

“What a huge snake demon!”

“What the hell? Are we being raided?”

Just waking up, Jiang Xuan was still trying to understand the situation when the system’s command was promptly delivered into his mind.

“Ding!”

“The host is obliged to protect the younger brothers and sisters from the ravages of the third-tier Golden Armored Snake Demon!”

“Please slay the snake demon and protect Little Black Bird and Little White Bird!”

“Mission complete: Reward—three drops of Golden Crow essence blood, three evolution points, and the ultimate skill ‘Golden Stone Strike’!”

As Jiang Xuan rose, Little Black Bird and Little White Bird broke free from their bonds and hurriedly flew into the air.

Since they were newly hatched and their wings were not yet fully developed, their maximum flight height was barely half a meter.

This distance was far from enough to escape the Golden Armored Snake Demon’s attack range.

After missing its strike, the snake demon quickly shifted its target, this time choosing the closest—Little White Bird.

With an open, ferocious blood-red maw, the third-tier snake demon moved swiftly, nearly cutting off every escape route, leaving almost no chance of survival.

“It’s over!”

The Empress despaired. If she were a third-tier demon beast now, she could have used dozens of escape techniques!

But at second tier, even using all her spiritual energy, she couldn’t perform a single spell.

Just as the Empress was sinking into hopelessness, a stout figure suddenly dashed forward like an arrow from a bow, colliding with the Golden Armored Snake Demon at terrifying speed.

The snake demon was knocked flying, and Little White Bird was miraculously saved.

“Damn!”

“This skin is way too tough!”

Jiang Xuan rubbed his beak, feeling the pain.

Just now, he had used the Light as a Swallow skill, flying at full speed to crash into the snake demon.

Sparks flew, yet no mark was left on the snake demon’s body.

The Golden Armored Snake Demon was renowned for its defense, especially as a third-tier of its kind.

Breaking through its defense was extremely difficult.

But Jiang Xuan was not without a plan; he recalled the Golden Eagle essence blood he had been rewarded earlier.

The Golden Eagle was one of the most ferocious bird clans, known for transforming its feathers into sharp golden blades capable of splitting mountains and rocks.

With this in mind, Jiang Xuan knew he had to play his trump card.

“System!”

“Activate Golden Eagle evolution!”

As he spoke, the Golden Eagle essence blood spread throughout Jiang Xuan’s body, quickly extending to his wings.

Most notably, the tips of every feather glowed with a faint golden light.

These were the lowest-level golden feathers. Though they couldn’t yet split mountains, they should be more than enough to slay a third-tier Golden Armored Snake Demon...