Bai Yuan finally found the source of the demonic aura in a corner of the back kitchen where wild ga was kept.
It was a small cyan snake, only the size of his palm.
"This is it?"
Bai Yuan gazed at the Little Cyan Snake lying motionless on the ground as if it were dead. The demonic aura was indeed emanating from its body.
’A third tamorphosis!’
The three words surfaced in his mind involuntarily.
A snake undergoes nine tamorphoses to beco a dragon.
A Snake Demon molts once every hundred years. After each molting, it becos extrely weak, but if it survives, its power will increase dramatically.
It was just like the Snake Demon that Bai Yuan had killed in Zhu Huan’s secret chamber.
But that large snake had only undergone its first molting, while this little snake before him had already undergone its third. This ant the little snake had three hundred years of cultivation!
The more tis a Snake Demon molts, the weaker it becos after each one.
This little snake in the back kitchen was so weak it couldn’t even maintain its original form, which was why it had shrunk to the size of a palm.
Bai Yuan reached out and poked the little snake with his finger.
There was no reaction.
A snake this small was probably brought to the Five Flavors Pavilion by accident, scooped up into a ga basket by a Hunter.
It had probably just molted, which would explain why it was so weak.
He called over Master Chen, who was in charge of the back kitchen.
"Who delivered this little snake?"
Master Chen stared at the little snake, pondering for a long while before speaking. "It was probably delivered by a Hunter from Cao Valley County."
Bai Yuan nodded slightly.
’So it’s not a demon from near Qinghe County,’ he thought. ’No wonder I’ve never heard of it.’
This Snake Demon was quite unlucky. Normally, before molting, a Snake Demon would choose a hidden location. For so reason, this one’s nest had been raided by a Hunter.
Bai Yuan fetched a small wooden box and placed the little snake inside.
Killing this little snake might yield a considerable number of enhancent points, but he chose another path: to ta it.
Besides finding demons, a Demon Hunter possessed another ability: demon taming.
And the condition to unlock the Demon Taming skill was to keep a demon by his side for seven days.
Most demons were free and proud. Unless suppressed with overwhelming martial force, they would never obey. This little snake, however, was the perfect subject for unlocking the Demon Taming skill.
’Don’t tell I’m the chosen one?’
Finding a Three-tamorphosis Snake Demon in the kitchen... it was hard not to see this as a blessing from the heavens.
To refuse a gift from heaven is to invite misfortune.
Bai Yuan decisively tucked the wooden box containing the little snake into his sleeve.
...
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
To prevent any accidents, Bai Yuan hadn’t gone out to fool around. Instead, he had obediently stayed in the Five Flavors Pavilion.
Once the ti was up, his panel quietly changed.
[Na: Bai Yuan]
[Class: Demon Hunter, Swordsman, Boxer, Chef]
[Skills: Cooking (Master), Demon Finding (Skilled), Demon Taming (Uninitiated), Tiger-Crane Form (Skilled), Blood Tiger Saber (Proficient)...]
[Enhancent Points: 51]
The Demon Taming skill had indeed appeared in his skill list.
Bai Yuan had saved his enhancent points for seven days just for this mont.
"Add points!"
[In your first year of practicing Demon Taming, you start by training like breaking a hawk.]
...
[In your tenth year of practicing Demon Taming, you gradually begin to master the techniques for taming demons.]
...
[You practice Demon Taming day and night for fifteen years without rest. You can finally ta so weaker demons.]
[Na: Bai Yuan]
[Class: Demon Hunter, Swordsman, Boxer, Chef]
[Skills: Cooking (Master), Demon Finding (Skilled), Demon Taming (Initiate), Tiger-Crane Form (Skilled), Blood Tiger Saber (Proficient)...]
[Enhancent Points: 0]
His enhancent points were exhausted, and the Demon Taming skill had been raised to the Initiate level.
The Initiate-level Demon Taming was perfect for use on the little snake.
Although the little snake’s original cultivation was high, it was now incredibly weak. Its consciousness had even dissipated, making this the perfect ti to take advantage of its vulnerability.
A Demon Pet with the power of a third tamorphosis was far more useful than the enhancent points he would get from killing it.
Bai Yuan would have loved to ta thousands of Demon Pets at once to help him farm enhancent points, but unfortunately, the system had thoroughly quashed that idea.
For every level he raised his Demon Taming skill, he could acquire one more Demon Pet.
Still, one Three-tamorphosis Snake Demon was better than ten weasel-like demons. One shouldn’t be too greedy.
Demon Taming was actually quite similar to animal training. It involved getting the demon to gradually familiarize itself with its master’s aura, supplented with herbal dicine.
Bai Yuan imdiately made a trip to the largest herbal dicine shop in Qinghe County.
The Huwei Arts Hall’s dicine shop only sold dicines that benefited Martial Artists. Other, more obscure redies could only be found at the Liu Family’s pharmacy.
His luck was good; the pharmacy had all the pills he needed for the initial taming process.
However, the Liu Family monopolized the herbal dicine business in the city, so the prices were steep.
Bai Yuan could be considered a wealthy man now, so he readily bought the herbs he needed.
This bit of silver was nothing compared to taming a Three-tamorphosis Snake Demon.
Following the images that had appeared in his mind, he ground up the herbs and rolled them into small, pitch-black pills.
These little black pills were a potent poison to humans, but a great tonic for demons.
He placed a little black pill in the wooden box.
The Little Cyan Snake seed to have slled the fragrance of the dicinal pill. Its motionless body gradually started to react.
The Little Cyan Snake slowly opened its mouth and swallowed the entire black pill. Its body was so slender that the pill created a comical-looking bulge in its belly.
Seeing the Little Cyan Snake swallow the pill without any trouble, Bai Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
Taming a demon was a test of patience; it couldn’t be rushed.
He would need to feed it the dicinal pills for three months before the demon would understand his commands. To make it move like an extension of his own arm would take even longer. But spending extra ti for a Three-tamorphosis Snake Demon was well worth it.
After eating the little black pill, the Little Cyan Snake returned to its previous state, lying motionless in the wooden box.
Satisfied, Bai Yuan closed the small wooden box and tucked it into his robes.
Before long, he would have a Three-tamorphosis Snake Demon as a helper, which would surely produce so unexpected results when the ti ca.
This heaven-sent fortune put him in a great mood.
But he was the only one in all of Qinghe County who could seize such an opportunity. If an ordinary person saw the little snake, they would just think it was a common creature and might even step on it and kill it.
In fact, the Little Cyan Snake’s encounter with Bai Yuan was also a stroke of fortune for it.
If it hadn’t t Bai Yuan, a Demon Hunter, its current state was a hair’s breadth from death. It would have been impossible for it to survive until its power recovered.
"I should give you a na."
Bai Yuan thought for a mont, then blurted out a na.
"Xiaoqing?"
"That’s a good na. From now on, you’ll be Xiaoqing."
Xiaoqing still lay silently in the small wooden box in his robes, showing no reaction. Bai Yuan took this as the Little Cyan Snake’s tacit approval of the na.
He felt his naming skills were truly excellent.
If he had the chance in the future, he’d have to catch a white snake and call it... Lady Bai?
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