Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 318 A Thousand-Mile Chase
Headquarters of the Serpent Cult, Mount Kemennu.

Long ago, this place was also called Da Mang Mountain. It is said that at that time, this place was rich in a precious medicine called "Lingzhi" - but as time went by, this medicine seems to have disappeared.

This has directly led to the already desolate mountainous areas becoming even more deserted.

After the arrival of the Serpent Worship Cult, the place did not become much more lively. Instead, as the cultists spread snakes, insects, and poisonous plants, it became increasingly sinister and terrifying. Coupled with the large number of monsters that occasionally appeared around Mount Kemennu, the entire mountain had become a veritable demon cave.

However, those monsters that prey on people do not attack the members of the Serpent Worship Cult. According to the cult's archbishop, this is because the followers of the Serpent Worship Cult are already tainted by the aura of those monsters when they first join—of course, in the mouths of the Serpent Worship Cult, this is not the aura of monsters.

In the eyes of the Serpent Cult, this is the aura of the starry sky, and those so-called demons are nothing more than races from the stars.

Breaking free from the shackles of the earth and soaring towards the distant starry sea has always been the ultimate goal of the Serpent Worship Cult, a vision inherited from the ancient giant serpent and passed down from the previous era.

"After all, the planet we live on is really too barren."

In the ruins of Stonehenge, Septimus, the Archbishop of the Serpent Cult, opened his eyes.

The exact date of Stonehenge's construction is unknown. According to ancient legends, this megalithic structure was once a passageway connecting to the outer world—however, with the arrival of a great war, all the passageways to the stars were destroyed, and even the ancient civilization was lost to time.

And it was the survivors after that great war who created the civilization we have today.

However, some traitors betrayed their former ideals and the vision passed down from the previous generation. They became complacent and even wanted to die on this planet for the rest of their lives.

"And now, even the great serpent god who has awakened..."

Archbishop Septimus's face darkened.

The sudden awakening of the Great Serpent God was already extremely unexpected to him, but what surprised him even more was that the Great Serpent God would refuse the blood sacrifice—this was simply illogical. After all, this was the best method that the Serpent Worship Cult had spent generations researching, and the Great Serpent God had no reason to reject it.

Furthermore, historically, the Great Serpent God killed far more people than they did.

Putting aside everything else, just take that great war that took place in ancient times. Weren't all those people from the previous generation wiped out by the great serpent god?
It was by devouring the people of the previous generation that the great serpent god obtained that incomparably powerful force, and thus had the last laugh in that ancient war, even swallowing the four chaotic gods from the starry sky.

The serpent that devours the heavens and the earth—that's what later generations called that great serpent god. It's a symbol of brutality and destruction, the ultimate force that devours everything.

But now, this great serpent god, who symbolizes brutality and destruction, is attacking him just for a bunch of monkeys?
"Luckily, this time it was just a stand-in, otherwise..."

Archbishop Septimus couldn't help but feel grateful for his wise decision, and even subconsciously drew a vertical line on his chest, a prayer gesture used by the entire Serpent Worshipping Church.

But with that one stroke, Septimus's chest split open.

As if an invisible blade had ripped open his chest, Septimus's robes were instantly stained with blood.

"What...how could this be?"

Septimus looked down at the wound on his chest in disbelief. He couldn't understand what kind of attack this was. There was no danger around him, yet the penetrating wound on his chest was still going deeper.

Judging by the depth of the puncture, it was clearly intended to completely pierce his heart as well.

"So, what exactly is it..."

Septimus, who had lost too much blood, was already experiencing blurred vision.

But in his last moments of consciousness, he still saw those eyes.

Those were the eyes of the giant snake that he had just seen with his stand-in.

"A curse originating from the bloodline..." Archbishop Septimus completely lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Du Yi, far away, also withdrew his intention to launch a long-range attack.

It wasn't about gathering soil with consciousness, nor about igniting flames with consciousness, but rather about following that faint sense of the unseen and directly tearing apart the target's body—this was the first time Du Yi had ever known that magic could do something so convenient, even from thousands of miles away, even though he still didn't know where the target was, it could still kill people invisibly.

"As long as a connection can be established, a curse can be used to take a life directly. The stronger the connection, the better the effect of taking a life..."

After a moment of observation, Du Yi roughly understood how this curse-based life-reaping technique worked.

"I'll have to be more careful from now on. What if someone uses my things to establish contact with me and then curses me..."

The ever-cautious Du Yi couldn't help but start thinking about how he should deal with similar attacks.

Then Du Yi realized that he didn't seem to need to pay much attention to this.

The first step in a curse is to establish a certain connection with the target at the soul level. Then it comes down to a contest of soul strength – simply put, whoever has a stronger soul can exert influence on the other person.

His greatest strength right now is his soul.

"Then maybe I could deliberately throw some things out to fish?"

In just a moment, Du Yi had already come up with fifteen rather vicious ways to harm people, such as deliberately releasing items related to himself so that potential enemies could curse him... However, after only thinking about it for a short while, Du Yi gave up.

Instead of scheming against people at such a peripheral level, it's better to just use his superpowers.

So... is this it?

Du Yi questioned the depths of his own soul.

He had initially thought that the Tatumbutu people were asking him to help protect their descendants, but now it seemed they were asking him to help punish their unfilial offspring. He had initially thought that the Snake Worship Cult had some other explanation, but who would have thought that the so-called archbishop was simply evil.

And now, this so-called archbishop has also been killed by him. Shouldn't he have fulfilled the request of these Tatumbutos people?
"What's going on? It doesn't seem to be over yet?"

Feeling the fluctuations deep within his soul, Du Yi frowned slightly.

But immediately, he regained his kind expression.

This was because the awakened local people had already walked towards him.

Judging from his timid and apologetic expression, he seemed to want to express his gratitude.

"No need, really no need."

Seeing that the villagers had even brought out eggs, Du Yi quickly shook his head.

He didn't do anything. Even if he tidied up the fields, it was just a piece of cake for him. Strictly speaking, he didn't even need to lift his hand. He only needed to have a thought to get everything done.

Just as Du Yi was about to refuse, his appetite, which had been dormant for who knows how long, was attracted by the meat and eggs offered by the villagers.

"This is……"

Sensing the unusual energy emanating from the ingredients, Du Yi fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)