Battle Through the Heavens: Oh no, I've become the succubus Xiao Yan!

The market in Shimo City was bustling with people, the air dry and parched, a mixture of yellow sand and the smell of sweat.

Xiao Yan was walking down the street when he suddenly stopped.

His soul perception detected a faint but peculiar fluctuation—not battle aura, not the aura of a magical beast, but a resonance from the depths of his bloodline. That resonance was so faint that ordinary people couldn't detect it at all, but the Fire God Body possessed a natural sensitivity to special physiques.

"What's wrong?" Little Fairy Doctor asked.

"Wait me a moment."

Following the sensation, Xiao Yan entered a narrow alley. The alley was crumbling, with peeling walls on both sides and piles of garbage and sewage on the ground. This was the dirtiest and most chaotic corner of Stone Desert City, inhabited by the poorest of the poor.

After a short while, he stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden door.

The door was ajar, and faint breathing could be heard from inside.

Xiao Yan gently pushed open the door.

The room was dark, with only a sliver of light coming in through a tiny window. A small figure huddled in the corner—a girl who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old. She hugged her knees to the wall, her clothes tattered and so dirty their original color unrecognizable.

What's most striking about her are her eyes.

The pupils of those eyes were not the normal human circles, but vertical—like a snake's.

This is a girl of snake-human mixed heritage.

The girl sensed someone entering and abruptly looked up. Her face was filled with fear, and she shrank even more, like a frightened little animal.

"No...don't hit me..." Her voice was thin and trembling, "I didn't steal anything..."

Seeing this, Xiao Yan felt a pang of heartache and crouched down to bring his eyes level with hers.

"I won't hit you," he said softly and gently. "What's your name?"

The girl looked at him timidly, not daring to answer.

"My name is Xiao Yan," he pointed to himself, "and yours?"

"...Azure Scales".

The sound was so soft it was like a mosquito's hum.

Xiao Yan nodded. Qing Lin, the snake-human hybrid girl with the Azure Serpent Three-Flower Eyes in the original story. Her physique allows her to tame snake-like magical beasts, an extremely rare talent. But in this world that discriminates against snake-people, her bloodline is not a talent, but a curse.

  

"Do you live here alone?"

Qinglin nodded, then shook her head.

"There was a time...there was a time when someone took me in, but he didn't want me anymore. He said I was a monster..."

Her voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

Xiao Yan looked at her curled-up figure, feeling a pang of sadness. Qing Lin in the original story was the same—discriminated against, abandoned, living like a rat in the street. Later, Xiao Yan rescued her, finally giving her a place to belong. But how did she endure the days before that?

"Would you like to come with me?"

Qinglin suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"What...what did you say?"

"I said, are you willing to come with me? To leave this place?"

"But... I'm a snake-human hybrid, everyone says I'm a monster..."

"I am not one of them," Xiao Yan stood up and extended his hand, "In my eyes, you are not a monster. They are the monsters."

Qinglin looked at the outstretched hand, and tears welled up in her eyes.

From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever reached out to her. She is despised by humans and rejected by snake people. She lives in the cracks between two worlds, belonging to neither.

Now, a boy stands in front of her and extends his hand to her.

She hesitated for a long time, then slowly placed her hand on it.

The hand was small, cold, and trembling.

Xiao Yan grasped it, and the warmth of his palm transferred to it.

"Let's go."

-

Little Fairy Doctor was waiting at the alley entrance when she saw Xiao Yan leading a petite girl out, and she was slightly taken aback.

"This is……"

"Qinglin," Xiao Yan said, "is a snake-human hybrid who has always been bullied. She will come with us from now on."

Little Fairy Doctor looked at the timid girl, her eyes filled with tenderness, not disdain.

She crouched down to be at eye level with Qinglin.

"Hello, Qinglin. My name is Little Fairy Doctor."

Qinglin shrank back, not daring to look at her.

"Don't be afraid," Little Fairy Doctor's voice was gentle, "I won't hurt you."

She took out a piece of dry food from her bosom and handed it to Qinglin.

"Are you hungry? Eat something first."

Qinglin glanced at the dried rations, then at Little Fairy Doctor's gentle smile, and finally cautiously accepted them. She took a bite, and tears streamed down her face again.

She hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.

The Little Fairy Doctor reached out and gently wiped the dust off her face, her movements as gentle as if she were wiping a fragile piece of porcelain.

"From now on, we'll make sure you don't suffer any more grievances."

Qing Lin raised her head, looking at Little Fairy Doctor's warm smile, then at Xiao Yan standing quietly beside her. Her lips trembled for a long time before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Sister...can I stay with you forever?"

Little Fairy Doctor patted her head and smiled.

"certainly."

-

That evening, the three rested at the inn. After taking a bath and changing into new clothes, Qinglin looked much better. Her features were actually quite delicate, but long-term malnutrition had made her pale and thin, and coupled with her always hunched over and looking down, she appeared unremarkable.

While Qing Lin was taking a bath, Xiao Yan told Little Fairy Doctor about Qing Lin's constitution.

"The Azure Serpent's Three-Flower Pupil?"

"An extremely rare pupil technique constitution," Xiao Yan said. "People with this constitution can tame snake-like magical beasts and make them their battle partners. Qing Lin's bloodline contains genes from both humans and snake people, so she was born with this ability."

"Isn't that amazing? Why do people call her a monster?"

"Because the people here discriminate against snake people. Humans think that snake people mixed with humans are unclean, while snake people think that mixed-race people are inferior. Neither side accepts her."

Little Fairy Doctor was silent for a moment, then said, "Just like my Calamity Poison Body."

"Not quite the same," Xiao Yan said, "but not entirely different either."

Little Fairy Doctor nodded and looked in the direction of the bathroom.

"I will be good to her," she said. "I know what it feels like to be treated like a monster."

Xiao Yan looked at her profile without saying anything, but simply reached out and squeezed her hand.

When Qinglin came out of the bathroom, she saw the two holding hands, paused for a moment, then lowered her head, her ear tips turning red.

"Qinglin," Little Fairy Doctor beckoned, "come and sit down."

Qinglin hesitated for a moment, then walked over and sat down next to Little Fairy Doctor. Little Fairy Doctor gently and skillfully dried her hair. Qinglin's body slowly relaxed, leaning against Little Fairy Doctor's shoulder, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

She hadn't felt this warmth in a long time.

Xiao Yan watched this scene with a slight smile on his lips.

Tomorrow, he will go deep into the desert to find the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire.