Chapter 32: Shadow Demon Kingdom, Xiangliu Bloodline
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
The two monster corpses combined were worth 1.2 million, yet now 400,000 was being offered to him—practically a giveaway.
Seeing Ningning’s stunned expression and her hesitating lips, it was likely she had never encountered something like this either.
When something abnormal happened, there must be something strange!
"Don’t be nervous."
Grandpa Chu gently stroked his beard and said cheerfully:
"My only request is to borrow that bracelet you’re wearing for a closer look."
Jiang Yan glanced at the Sanskrit Sword Buddha Arm, his brows slightly furrowed, but he said nothing.
"If I’m not mistaken, you should be the disciple of some alchemy master, buying these cheap monster corpses just for practice.
You're clever, a good actor too. You knew not to rush to ask the price for something you wanted, so you circled around before selecting it. But you overlooked one thing—earlier you leaned more towards the Scarlet Iron Cauldron, yet now you chose the Hook Snake. Doesn't that prove it’s even more valuable?"
"Unfortunately, it can’t escape these old eyes. These tricks are what I used to play when I was young. No need to worry. Even if it’s gold, but I don’t know what it’s good for, then it’s still garbage."
Looking at Grandpa Chu, who was confidently deducing everything,
Jiang Yan paused in silence for a moment, then exhaled deeply and praised:
“Jiang… the older, the wiser!”
You say it is, so it is!
He’s already imagined everything so thoroughly, no need for me to explain!
Grandpa Chu smiled proudly and said, "Don’t worry, I wouldn’t pocket your bracelet. It’s merely a transcendent item; I can craft such things myself. I’ve just hit a bottleneck recently and wanted to observe the handiwork of other masters for inspiration. So, how about it?"
"Of course."
Now that things were said to this extent, Jiang Yan removed the bracelet formed from the Sanskrit Sword Buddha Arm and handed it over.
The other party’s strength far exceeded his own and was an alchemy master—there was no need for him to covet a mere transcendent item.
More importantly, it was never about the item—it was about the offspring.
They were alive!
With just a thought, Jiang Yan could summon them back.
Without his permission, no one else could use them, and they would suffer several times the backlash from the mutation.
"Efficient and straightforward—you’re my kind of guy."
Grandpa Chu chuckled as he took the bracelet and examined it, muttering:
"This is some kind of mutated antler, walking the path of Tibetan Buddhism, soaked in corpse oil from a mass grave for forty-nine days, and even involved the sacrifice of numerous battle puppets and living vengeful spirits. It should be related to the Corpse-Dissolution Court. No wonder you wanted similar materials. Wait a second!"
"Why is there a forged sword device hidden within, its spirituality blending perfectly? I nearly missed it! These two components weren’t forged as one—how could that be?"
However, the more he looked, the more Grandpa Chu shed his casual attitude. His expression grew more serious, and the shock in his eyes nearly overflowed. In disbelief, he said:
"Why can’t I see even the slightest trace of fusion, as if they were naturally one entity? Strange, far too strange. Clearly, it’s only a transcendent-level item, yet its spiritual intensity rivals that of an Ancient Talisman level. This is… craftsmanship of divine wonder."
Grandpa Chu scratched his head, suddenly realizing that all he had learned in life seemed laughable before this seemingly simple transcendent item.
From this small bracelet alone, it was clear that someone behind Jiang Yan must be a forging grandmaster—or even a great master—with skills nearing the Dao.
After a long while, he reluctantly returned the bracelet, rubbing his hands and asking expectantly:
"Umm… young man, might I have the honor of visiting your teacher?"
His gaze was devout, like that of an apprentice.
"It’s inconvenient. It doesn’t like meeting people."
Jiang Yan declined politely, though he too was surprised.
This old man was truly an alchemy master. Just a few glances, and he had already guessed most of the Sanskrit Sword Buddha Arm’s origins.
However, he still hadn’t seen through the essence of the offspring, mistaking the strong spirituality as merely the result of a superior artifact.
As for Grandpa Chu’s request, Jiang Yan certainly could not comply.
After all, he had no forging master behind him—only the Dark God Embryo.
The only ones allowed to see it were the sacrificed materials.
But Grandpa Chu had gotten one thing wrong.
The ability of the Dark God Embryo to nurture offspring was a creator-level means. Compared to that, even a forging grandmaster was utterly inferior.
How could hard work ever compare to cheating?
"True, the number of people who wish to meet a grandmaster is beyond count. It surely doesn’t like being disturbed."
Grandpa Chu was full of regret.
He kept his word and directly handed both the Hook Snake and the Scarlet Iron Cauldron fragments to Jiang Yan.
As for the payment, one could go to the notary office to transfer the money into a public account. The funds would only be sent to the seller once the buyer confirmed the transaction.
But most people didn’t use this function—it was easily traceable.
Especially dark organizations.
After being white-ticketed so many times by the Bureau of Historical Revision—accounts frozen after each transaction—they’d developed a psychological shadow.
So generally, people used gold—rare material only born from planetary explosions, also commonly applied in rituals, sacrifices, and forging or alchemy.
It had wide-ranging uses.
Jiang Yan also chose to pay with gold.
After the transaction, Grandpa Chu immediately shooed them away:
"Today I learned there are always higher heavens and stronger people. One must never slack off. At a hundred years old, it’s the perfect age to strive forward. You may leave now—don’t disturb my pursuit of craftsmanship."
With that, he drove both Jiang Yan and Ningning out.
His actions were swift and decisive.
"This time, I owe it to you."
Jiang Yan had promised to pay Ningning one thousand, but without her help, he really couldn’t have gotten such a deal.
So he simply handed over the rest of his cash—a total of 3,100.
However, Ningning only took one thousand, smiling as she said:
"Thank you, big brother, but I only want my fair pay. You can call me again if you need help next time!"
With that, Ningning picked up two cups of tea and walked out. Jiang Yan followed her out of the alley and saw her giving the tea to the Inner Market guards.
Sure enough,
Everyone liked well-behaved children.
Jiang Yan didn’t rush to leave.
Instead, he rented a private compartment in the Inner Market. After checking thoroughly to ensure there was no surveillance, he instructed the Coffin Spirit to stay alert.
Boom!
With a thought, gray-blue aura surged before his eyes. His consciousness entered the boundless sea of chaos, transforming into the Black Fog World Tree.
Boom!
With a gentle sway, it shook the chaos, derived earth, fire, wind, and water, opened up billions of worlds, and then instantly destroyed them.
Countless black roots spread, turning the 【Ear of the Scarlet Iron Cauldron】 and 【Hook Snake】 into nourishment, quickly hatching two offspring.
The Black Fog World Tree swayed lightly. A black fruit dropped from it, and out crawled a pitch-black, entirely shadow-formed, twin-tailed twin-headed Hook Snake, held aloft by the chaotic aura.
"Hiss hiss!"
Its two heads searched around, sensing the aura of the great creator. It flicked its tongues, expressing a sense of closeness.
Jiang Yan quietly watched this scene, information surfacing in his eyes.
【Dual-headed Shadow Venom Hook Snake (faint Xiangliu bloodline)】
【Avatar-type Offspring】
【Quality: Excellent (Common, Excellent, Perfect, Epic, Legendary, Mythical)】
【Description: In ancient times, there was Xiangliu—snake-bodied, nine-headed, also known as Xiangyao. It devoured countless humans, and wherever it passed, lands turned to marsh.
One body, many souls—each head wielding different abilities. Cutting off a single head could not kill it; only severing all nine simultaneously could extinguish it. It possessed immortality.
It was once ■■■ that severed the shadow-aspect snake head. Its blood tainted the earth, its unwillingness and hatred spread across the Historical Long River, giving birth to a vast Diseased Domain—the Shadow Demon Kingdom.
As the Historical Long River eroded it over time, many smaller snake-type Diseased Domains split off, flowing into different depths.
The ancestor of the Hook Snake was born in one such domain. All were snake-type, so a faint bloodline emerged, allowing mastery of shadow activation.
Its descendant, the Shadow Venom Hook Snake, inherited and successfully excavated this bloodline, sprouting a nascent second head. However, due to the vast nourishment required for full development, its consumption far exceeded its intake. It ended up depleting its own flesh and blood, entering a weakened state and was slain.
Fusing it with one’s own shadow births an Avatar—Dual-headed Shadow Venom Hook Snake. It can activate the shadow, attach poison to corrode flesh and shadow alike, and after death, can be revived at a cost.
Continued excavation of the bloodline and collection of history-type relics related to the Xiangliu path can enhance its essence, promote it to a lesser bloodline, and unlock the bloodline regression mission.】
【Why! Why did you kill me?】
"It’s actually…"
"A rare Avatar-type skill!"
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Author Notes:
A small detail was modified earlier—the quality of offspring is now divided into 【Common, Excellent, Perfect, Epic, Legendary, Mythical】, representing potential. Without this, it would be hard to distinguish different offspring, and readers would struggle to perceive growth directly.
Even the followers of Evil Gods have lower and higher ranks, and divine sons. Not to mention game pets—you can tell their strength at a glance.
This change doesn’t affect the plot, so there’s no need to go back and check. I’ve marked it here: the Coffin Spirit is Excellent, the Ash Lamp spell spirit is Perfect, the Sanskrit Sword Buddha Arm is Excellent, and the rest are Common.
The protagonist’s offspring can fuse and upgrade in quality, but attributes must meet fusion conditions. If they’re too contradictory, there’s a chance of spawning rare variants—but it can also lower the quality.
For example, the Coffin Spirit can bury enemies to enhance quality. The Ash Lamp is a skill-type offspring—it increases quality by improving skill proficiency or collecting additional Lamp-Igniting Hell Chapters.
Even an ordinary skill, cultivated to transcendence, touches upon rules. Not improving would be strange.
Skills already written won’t be repeatedly introduced at length—that would be filler—but their functions will be mentioned during plot development to prevent fatigue. Only during fusion upgrades will they be described in detail.