Learning To Live Like A Snake

And so, I lived for a week with my serpent mother. My mother has a gift that I don't know if all mothers of all species have, but mine does. She seems to read my thoughts. I swear, this is no exaggeration.

Even though I am millennia old, in front of her, I look like a child. With a single look, she can convey more than ten thousand words. During this time, she taught me many things. How to hunt, how to feed without putting my life at risk, good places to make a house, etc.

And during this period I was able to get out of the cave. With my mother always close to me, of course. And what I saw surprised even me, someone who has seen the entire Buxiu continent.

There was no sky. It seemed to be a completely underground world, living in eternal darkness (not that it mattered to me, since sun or no sun I could see the same way). Instead of the sun, there was a gigantic ball right in the center of the ceiling, radiating heat as the sun should do. And, as much as it was an underground world, it was high enough to have clouds. Yes, clouds! This ceiling was at least ten kilometers away from the earth.

As my mother and I walked around looking for prey, I saw strange birds, spiders bigger than a house, and some humanoid creatures. I couldn't see them very well, because whenever they approached me, who was exploring everything with great curiosity, my mother would just give them a glance, and they would immediately run away.

After wandering through a dense forest with gigantic trees that seemed to want to reach the top of this underground world, my mother suddenly stopped and gave me a look, which I quickly understood that she wanted me to climb a nearby tree and observe everything

I thought it would be difficult to climb this tree without arms or legs, but it couldn't be easier! Within seconds, I was on a branch that had a good view. In front of me was a clearing. The clearing was at least a hundred meters long. In the clearing were two deer, with scarlet-red eyes, black-haired bodies, and three meters tall bodies of pure muscle.

They were eating dark grass, and each time they ate them, a red smoke came out of their nostrils. My mother was just below the branch I was standing on, her tongue snaking forward. One second she was there, the next I just felt a tremor beneath me, and when I looked for her, she was already in front of the two deer. They were tied to some black roots that seemed stronger than steel, firmly holding the deer that were struggling to free themselves.

How the hell did she do this? A forbidden technique? Teleportation? She was here and out of nowhere, boom, she was gone! I feel like I'm getting more childish every minute I'm here.

Quickly climbing down from the tree, I went to where my mother was with... the food. On the way, I realized that the black grass the deer were eating radiated a warmth that made my body feel more relaxed... so good... maybe sleeping here is heaven...

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain on the top of my head. Opening my eyes, I noticed that I was lying on the grass and that I slept. The pain I felt was my mother's tail hitting 'softly' on my head.

Hell, that hurt more than that bastard I fought and was using a whip...what was his name? Ah, that's not important anyway.

Looking into my mother's eyes, I realized why those deer were eating that grass, even though there was so much vegetation around. This black grass had a calming effect, especially on cold-blooded snakes like us. I need to adapt faster to my new reality, or else I will die in a useless and futile way.

Thinking about these silly mistakes I am making, I remembered my little girl while she was learning about the world. She was so curious, so eager for knowledge, for techniques that used Ki.

Why am I not in such a hurry to get back to my world? Because I know that my daughter is well protected. I have created an army to take care of her from the shadows, a sect so that she has people to rely on (even though I didn't really create the sect and only accepted my fate), Xiao Lian will protect her and I even used a forbidden technique to split my soul and create a clone that will react whenever she is in danger ... what?! I can't worry about the welfare of my little girl?!

That doesn't mean that I sat on my hands... on my tail and did nothing. However, every technique I know of that can be used at such a distance, uses the soul as the message receptacle (my soul was split, and is still wounded by it), and all require me to use Ki, and I don't feel a drop of Ki in my body or environment.

But that will change. Those roots that my mother used now were definitely a martial technique with the use of Ki! Walking... crawling towards her vigorously, with my eyes gleaming with anticipation and curiosity, I began to look at the roots with burning eyes.

Looking into my eyes, my mother had a smug look on her snake-like face. I seemed to hear in my mind her proud laugh, as if to say, 'I'm amazing, aren't I? Come on, praise me. I wish I could roll my eyes now...

Stopping my gaze at this narcissistic snake, I took a closer look at the black roots. With my normal vision, I could not see anything that differentiated these roots from the other trees around this clearing. But using that strange ability, everything changed.

Focusing all my attention on my vision, the world seemed to disappear for a second before the whole world around me turned gray. The roots that my mother created, once simple, now emanated a strange mist. The mist was black, but there was also an almost imperceptible dark green.

Tired of waiting for my analysis, my mother created a small tree in front of her and that tree created a leaf bigger than itself and killed the... food.

After that, with another leaf, she sliced the food to a size that I could eat. I like steak rare, but this is also too much, isn't it?

After eating, I looked at my mother with expectant eyes, almost begging her to teach me what she did. Even in the world of immortals, I have never seen anyone using such a strange technique with such ease. You have to know that cultivators were in eternal war against the heavens. Whenever we used a technique, we would feel a strange force wanting to stop us from doing so.

As a consequence of our defiance, the heavens prevented any cultivator from reincarnating. For a cultivator, if you die, your soul disappears as if it never existed.

With a somewhat reluctant look, my mother finally agreed. I could almost hear a sigh.

This underground world is getting more and more interesting...