33 – The Golden Serpent

The truck hovers two meters off the ground. Following a river upstream that leads into a destroyed valley. The place, almost as big as Jinchuan, looks like it has been bombed to kingdom come. Massive trees uprooted. Scars on the nearby mountains, hills, and the surrounding rocks. Me and Fumo exit the truck.

“What else did you guys find here?” I asked. There wasn’t much to see with the naked eye. I’d probably get more by tapping into the Noosphere again, but I wanted to hear their findings first.

“Unlike the destroyed village, two parties fought on equal grounds here.” Fumo state the obvious

“Hmmm. Equal grounds?” I frowned “But there weren’t any wounds on me based on what we saw at the village.” There’s something not right here

“True. Why don’t you use that spell once more?”

I nodded and focused. Reaching out through my connection to the Noosphere, I scanned the surroundings until I found a faint memory hue. Like before, I touch it with my divine sense and create a projection so Fumo can also see what is happening.

A massive golden serpentine tail swipes violently. The sheer force annihilates an entire hill. Tracing its long body, the serpent has a familiar female upper body in place of its head. It was undoubtedly the female face I would have if I turned into a human. and she was completely naked. 

Goddamn! I looked pretty good!

“A Semi Golden Core Golden Serpent!” Fumo shouts in disbelief

Then from the direction of the destroyed hill, a blindingly bright white sweep back. Gouging huge burning wounds on the female serpent and creating the unnatural carvings on the surroundings. The serpent uses her hands to cast her own spells. Shed golden scales into spears and thrown with equal if not more force than my railguns. The spears split in half as a flying sword flashes. Then blitzed into the female serpent. She caught the sword in her hands. 

“That is a war crime weapon.” I note as the sword have three edges that spiraled forward like an auger

Then the sword spins in her hands, creating friction with the golden scales on her hands as it tries to bore through. Dust settled on the shattered hill, revealing a young man in gray robes. Blood streamed from his mouth and the side of his head. Throwing a knife wreathed in lightning from one hand and another blinding white sweep from the other palm before charging forward in a blur.

The serpent coiled her lower body, scales glowing brilliantly as she tanked the light. The lightning knife struck the pommel of the spinning tri-edged sword, conducting electricity through the blade and driving it forward with explosive force. It mangled her hands, but she twisted aside at the last moment, the sword only grazing her shoulder.

The cultivator closed in. Blinding light gathered in both palms. Sensing danger, the serpent turned, exposing a unique scale on her back. The cultivator’s attack was absorbed by the scale and reflected straight back at him.

He screamed as his own technique slammed into him. The heat instantly incinerated everything below his waist and charred his upper body as he raised his arms in time. The cultivator drops lifeless to the ground. The serpent checks once before finally relaxed and slumped to the ground. Grievously wounded herself.

But then the dead cultivator turns into ash. An exact copy of the cultivator blinked into existence. Unharmed but not exactly back in full power. The serpent, already exhausted, is caught unprepared for the second round. As she raises her upper body, the tri-bladed sword and lightning knife plunged to her back. The cultivator formed hand seals. Arrays appeared above and below her, summoning chains that locked onto the embedded weapons and slammed her onto the ground.

“That life saving item… IS FUCKING EXPENSIVE!” He shouted as he stomps at the serpent’s head

“That was TEN. FUCKING. YEARS. OF. POINTS!” He unleashes his frustration while the serpent can only glare hatefully

“I’m calm. I’m calm. Thank you brother system.” He muttered to himself, suddenly composed again. Blinding light gathered in his palms once more

He pressed his burning palm against her humanoid head. She screamed as scales and flesh melted away, revealing bone. But his brief tantrum had given her enough time. As her head burned down to the skull, her vital Qi (Lifespan) erupted in a violent explosion, further shattering the hills and blasting the cultivator away.

When the dust settles, the cultivator appears once more. Wounded than before but forcing himself to stand and move towards the now dead serpent. He then pulls a different knife, plunging at the serpent’s corpse and taking her heart. Putting the heart into his storage ring as he limps away and falls to the nearby river.

Finally I looked at Fumo, who frowned heavily. Deep in his own thoughts. Clearly not expecting this kind of outcome. 

But the vision wasn’t over. 

Heavy hoofbeats echoed from the far side of the battlefield. Then I saw myself again. Walking on all fours like an animal. The hooves on the forelegs are clawed, the skull head is wrong as it looks like a deer skull with fangs. 

The past me approached the golden serpent’s corpse. He opened my jaws wide and began swallowing her massive body whole. Bones cracked. Flesh and scales were forcibly reshaped and absorbed. When the past me finished, he rose onto digitigrade legs ending in hooves. He then turned toward the river, following the wounded cultivator.

The vision finally faded.

I folded my arms, processing what I’d seen.

“So that’s where I got my snake parts…” I muttered. “If I trace it further back, I’ll probably find the wolf and deer parts too. The old man did say the golden serpent had the highest cultivation, so she became the base of my body.”

I paused.

“But there’s still that unknown cultivator…”

“Do you see any trace of the unknown cultivator?” I ask Fumo for confirmation

“No. There's none. We thought that you were a mountain guardian that turned demonic and responsible for the destruction.” His brow furrows further

I snorted. “But it looks like I am just a scavenger eh?”

Fumo looked at me seriously. “How do you feel about all this?”

“Uh… nothing?” I shrugged

“What do you mean nothing? This was you! Even if seeing this doesn’t make you remember, you should feel something, right?” He asks in genuine concern

“Should I?” I asked, tilting my head.

I turned back toward the truck when a shiny glint caught my eye near one of the gouged hills. It sparkled like a collectible in a game. Curiosity won instantly.

I walked over and found a faint, metallic mark etched into the rock.

“What did you find?” Fumo asked, coming up behind me.

“A glinting mark on this rock. Should I touch it?”

Fumo stepped closer and squinted. “Which rock?”

I pointed directly at it. He shook his head, clearly seeing nothing. Fuck it. I pressed my hand against the mark.

The ground trembled. Fumo immediately tensed while I projected a railgun in my hands. A huge section of the hill groaned and slid open, revealing a dark tunnel.

We exchanged glances, then stepped inside together. Just like in Jinchuan, Fumo took the lead with his golden bell shielding the front. I followed behind, aiming my railgun over his shoulder while reinforcing the bell with my AT field. I occasionally tossed out high-intensity glowsticks to light the winding path.

Eventually, the tunnel opened into a vast cavern.

“This looks like the golden serpent’s dwellings.” I said, pointing at a large pile of shed golden scales in one corner.

“Any more glints only you can see?” Fumo asked warily. “There could be leftover traps.”

I spread my divine sense through the cavern. “All clear.” I put away my railgun and threw glowsticks to light the cavern

Fumo is near the pile of shed golden scales. Arms folded, burrows frowned as he deliberate to himself. Fighting temptation which he is losing before he finally asks.

Fumo approached the pile of scales, arms folded, brows furrowed. He seemed to be fighting an internal battle before finally speaking.

“Brother Danxing… would you mind if I take some of these golden scales?”

“Why are you even asking for permission?” I replied, already picking one up. It was surprisingly large. About the size of my hand, which meant it was as big as a grown man’s head for a normal person.

“Well, since you’re partly the golden serpent… and these scales are quite valuable. They can reflect spells,” he explained.

Immediately I shovel the shed scales to my storage ring as soon as I heard that it is precious. “Well, how much do you need?”

Fumo looked dumbfounded by my greed. “Just a few dozen.”

I left three dozen on the ground. “Take them as thanks for coming with me.”

“Many thanks.”Fumo said, quickly storing them away. As he did, a hidden box was revealed beneath the pile. We shared another look and I checked the box.

Inside were three sets of female clothing, each more revealing than the last. The third set was practically transparent and barely covered anything. Fumo immediately looked away, cheeks flushed.

“Looks like she prepared outfits for when she finally took human form,” I muttered.

 Beside the clothes are three books.

Heavenly Golden Arrays

The Coiling Lotus

And an unnamed book.

I peruse the books. The Heavenly Golden Arrays is a book detailing on making spiritual arrays with Metal Qi. The Coiling Lotus however, makes me pause. If I still had eyebrows, I would’ve raised them as it is nothing short of a porn book. Detailing how to perform sexual acts with female upper body and serpentine lower body. Plenty of pictures too. I teasingly show it to Fumo who has his face immediately reddens and recoils away. Especially the picture detailing a female human being coiled by the serpentine lower body of the female serpent that pleases her until she makes the titular coiling lotus bloom.

He turned bright red and recoiled instantly. “Brother Danxing, please! I do not need to see that!” Then he closes his eyes and chant something to clear his mind

“Hehehe. Live up a little. You don’t wanna be flustered with everything indecent.” I joked. 

“Although, does porn book for cultivators also detail the usage of Qi during sex like this one?” I ask in genuine curiosity as this book provides quite the detail for that.

Fumo cleared his throat awkwardly. “Ehem... You might have found a Dual Cultivation Manual.”

“Wait, so cultivators can actually get stronger through sex?” I ask on the absurd notion as I continue reading

“Ehem. Yes. As for how it works…”

“Yes, yes. I found how it works.” I interrupt hims as I read the parts detailing how it works. Essence sharing between two participants. Yang Essence from male, Yin Essence from female. There are two ways listed in the books. The Harmonious way where both participants benefit equally. Then the Cauldron way where one party is treated as a cauldron to harvest essence. But this way is only listed for the female as this method extracts the Yang and stores it in the female’s womb to assist further in cultivation even after dual cultivating.

“Oh, but the titular ‘coiling lotus’ is only for pleasure between two women.” I note on the addendum I read

“I don’t need to hear that.” Fumo groans once more, now covering his ears

We leave the cavern after that. There’s nothing else of value. The Golden Serpent doesn’t have a storage ring and spirit stones. While I read the unnamed book which apparently is the Golden Serpent’s diary. The first dozen pages are her clumsy attempt at learning to write. Then four entire pages were filled with different name ideas she had considered for herself. After that, it becomes a proper diary. Which looks quite interesting.

As we reach the truck, I glanced at Fumo

“I’m going to read this. Want to learn how to drive?”