Chu Kingdom Calendar, Early May.
Xuan Yangzi led a hundred mbers of the Snake Catchers Sect to surround Myriad Serpent Valley, intending to blood-sacrifice three million mortal snakes, but they suffered a devastating defeat, with nearly all dead or injured.
Since then, Xuan Yangzi disappeared.
No one knew where he went. He might have found a secret place to heal, or he might have been too ashad to face anyone, or perhaps he fled to another region.
Because no one survived to tell the tale, the massacre at Myriad Serpent Valley was only discovered by the world a week later.
Mid-May.
The Qin army broke through Chuyang City, decimating the Chu army of 800,000 and capturing 500,000, including 3,000 cultivators!
The Southern Region of Chu Kingdom completely fell.
The core force of Chu Kingdom, the Astrology Bureau, retreated to the capital city. The main force's defeat signaled the end of this war, and the fall of the entire country was only a matter of ti.
This was destined to be a losing war from the start; the strength of the two sides was not on the sa level.
If the Qin army hadn't been cautious to minimize casualties, they would have broken the city a month earlier.
The four major sects of the southeast, northwest, Kunlun, Penglai, Ice and Snow, and Snake Catchers, did not send a single person to aid, waiting quietly for the regi change.
These four sects have a long history, even predating Chu Kingdom, and regi changes were nothing new to them.
For the stubborn resistance of various cities in Chu Kingdom, the Qin army was very patient. They would rather wait for months until the people inside starved or surrendered than attack rashly.
They wanted a complete country, not ruins.
Of course, these are all later matters.
…………
This ti, Xu Hei's coma did not last long.
In just three days, he woke up. After achieving perfect Foundation Establishnt, Xu Hei's physique far surpassed ordinary demonic beasts, possessing the qualities of a legendary divine beast.
Xu Hei checked on Xu Bai beside him and found that she was unhard, which put his mind at ease.
He picked up the bronze mirror beside him and observed it carefully, finding that it had lost its previous luster. He rembered Hei Huang had said it could only be used once.
He probed it with his divine sense, but there was no response.
Xu Hei looked at his reflection in the mirror, sighed, and put it back into the pale golden storage bag.
"Brother Xu, you're awake!"
Man Jin imdiately flew over and stood in front of him.
"Thank you, Brother Man Jin, for your help this ti!"
Xu Hei said sincerely.
"Brother Xu killed so many enemies for ; I should be the one thanking you. Besides, it was the pills you gave that gave the courage to attempt Qi Condensation. You helped !"
Man Jin said even more sincerely.
Originally, Xu Hei's kindness to him was already imnse. After this battle, Xu Hei's kindness was even more unrepayable.
He even wanted to give Xu Hei a piece of his ivory, but Xu Hei strongly persuaded him not to.
This ti, although Xu Hei woke up, his condition had not fully recovered. Consuming so many pills in succession had caused significant side effects.
Even now, he still felt waves of soreness. Both his bones and ridians had varying degrees of damage, and there were many residual dicinal residues in his body.
During the previous battle, he didn't have ti to check, but now he saw that the problem was significant.
Xu Hei planned to retreat in Myriad Serpent Valley for so ti, adjust his condition to the best, and then co out.
"I need to retreat for a few more days," Xu Hei said.
"Haha, no problem. I'll guard here. This valley is quite nice; I also need to consolidate my cultivation," Man Jin laughed.
Xu Hei nodded.
Man Jin was not human; he had not experienced the scheming of human sects and had a simple mind, which also made him sincere.
Xu Hei imdiately activated the Demon God Cauldron to absorb the remaining dicinal power in his body. At the sa ti, he operated the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon cultivation technique, fully refining it, or expelling so useless substances from his body.
…………
In the blink of an eye, June arrived.
The breeding season for snakes had ended, and most of the snakes in Myriad Serpent Valley had left, returning to their respective habitats.
Only a few snakes that lived here year-round remained, and they all revered Xu Hei as their king.
The hundreds of snake demons captured by Xuan Yangzi had also left, leaving only a few behind for unknown reasons, staying in Myriad Serpent Valley for a long ti.
Whenever they saw Xu Hei, they would lower their heads.
Without any verbal communication, just a glance from Xu Hei, they could understand his orders and act according to his will.
Xu Hei did not interfere with these intelligent snake demons; whether they stayed or left was their own choice.
The environnt here also often attracted so natural enemies of snakes, leading to hunting and fighting.
Xu Hei did not interfere with this either. As long as it wasn't humans causing large-scale destruction, he wouldn't intervene.
During this ti, under Xu Hei's careful observation.
He discovered that Myriad Serpent Valley, besides being filled with spiritual qi and being a rare blessed land, seed to have a trace of dragon qi deep underground.
It might be this trace of dragon qi that attracted so many snakes every year.
But when Xu Hei delved underground to investigate, he couldn't sense it anymore.
Xu Hei didn't understand why. He wasn't the type to dig to the bottom of things. Since he couldn't find it, it ant the ti wasn't right. If he hadn't cultivated the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon, he wouldn't have sensed the dragon qi at all.
In the battle against the snake catchers, he had obtained over a hundred storage bags, which he checked one by one, categorizing the items and storing them in the huge black jade space.
Xu Hei took out so items and gave them to Man Jin and Xu Bai.
Since waking up, Xu Bai had locked herself in the underground cave dwelling, fully imrsed in researching pills.
It seed that the recent injuries had greatly affected her.
Xu Hei didn't disturb her. He took out the formation flags left by Hei Huang and placed them around the cave dwelling, ensuring it was well-hidden.
This way, no one could discover Xu Bai's whereabouts.
Xu Hei regretted that he didn't have Hei Huang's formation skills. Otherwise, he could have set up a Mountain Protection Array like human sects, providing defense even if soone ca.
…………
One day, Xu Hei left Myriad Serpent Valley.
He went to a branch hall of the snake catchers he had passed by before and found it already emptied, with no one in sight.
"Have they withdrawn?"
Xu Hei was puzzled. Normally, if the small ones died, wouldn't the older ones co? If the older ones ran, wouldn't even older ones co?
He didn't know what was happening with the Snake Catchers Sect.
However, in these turbulent tis, any sect was caught in the larger trend and couldn't stay unaffected.
Xu Hei then went to Snake Village.
The news of the Southern Region of Chu Kingdom falling and the complete defeat had spread to every town and village.
From now on, Chu Kingdom might cease to exist.
Xu Hei wasn't human, so he couldn't empathize with humans.
But the scene of mortals killing immortals that day deeply influenced him, giving him the courage to resist the invaders.
Xu Hei took out a stone tablet and placed it at the entrance of Snake Village.
With the power of mortals, defying the heavens and killing cultivators, these naless people deserved respect!
This stone tablet was called the Immortal Slaying Tablet!
Xu Hei wasn't skilled in carving words, so he used his divine sense to imprint it, rging it into the stone tablet. Only those with a fated connection could sense that trace of defiance.
Afterward, Xu Hei went to the riverside.
He set up another stone tablet, leaving the image of a middle-aged scholar.
A person's death could be as light as a feather or as heavy as Mount Tai.
In a daze, Xu Hei saw the scene of that day again.
A speck of dust fell into the river, swallowed by the waves.
But this speck of dust stirred up a mighty wave.
"Though you have died, your deeds will be passed down through generations, your na will be rembered forever!"
Xu Hei bowed deeply to the stone tablet.
Across the vast land, the sun and moon changed the sky, though people die, their noble spirit remains.
Xu Hei was also about to embark on a new path.
——End of Volu One, Dragon Scale Chapter!
【PS: I deleted the relationship between the Old Snake King and the protagonist from the last chapter, treating him as a senior. The sa goes for Xu Bai, treating her as a junior.】
————
End of Volu Summary & Reflections:
I'm quite satisfied with the ending of the first volu. This was the plot I had designed from the beginning, starting and ending with Snake Village.
The difference is that the protagonist has changed, from running away at the sight of people to confronting them head-on (not really).
In short, a growing protagonist whose personality also changes is relatively rare in web novels.
This actually carries a significant risk. A change in personality might an that readers' tastes may not accept it. For example, the initial cautious approach might deter readers who prefer hot-blooded stories, while those who ca for the cautious approach might not like a reckless protagonist.
But I believe that as long as the story is well-written, there is no conflict of genre or style.
Regarding the female lead, I haven't decided whether to write one yet.
Many readers insist on no female lead because many web novels have poorly written romance, with female leads being either vases or tools to create conflict, leading to readers developing PTSD and avoiding female leads.
So readers also say the protagonist shouldn't turn human or empathize with humans, blah blah blah.
As I said before, as long as it's well-written, there's no such thing as what can or can't be written.
I've written snakes with female leads and without, and I haven't seen much difference.
Ultimately, content is king.
Why do many novels with unique concepts or gimmicks start strong but fall apart later?
Because unique concepts are temporary; only a good story can retain readers.
In the second volu, the protagonist won't stay in Myriad Serpent Valley but will go to other places and do other things. Being a mountain king all the ti can get boring, right?
He might go to the deep sea or so human sects, but it won't be cliché.
The usual content will still be mainly light-hearted and enjoyable. People like to read funny stuff, and a serious ending once in a while is enough.
At the end of each volu, I'll do a summary. With nine realms and currently 250,000 words, it should at least reach two to three million words... probably.
Off-topic:
Next month, I plan to change to a shorter title. The current title is sowhat off-putting. Although more people click in, many leave after a few chapters, especially after the Immortal Emperor devours everything, which is frustrating.
Actually, that Immortal Emperor is useless, purely a gimmick. He might co back for a revival match later to play a minor role.
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