Chapter 20: Short-term Goals, Another Seven Years to Come

"Tell me I look like a person! Just say it! Don't you love it when I take human form?"

"How annoying! You might not need to cultivate, but I certainly do!"

Feng Xue was reaching the limit of his patience with the little white snake's saccharine, high-pitched, affected voice. Just as he was about to turn her into a mute stone, a thought struck him, and he pivoted to a different topic.

"You mentioned earlier that you've been cultivating for forty years?"

"That’s right. Let me see... maybe forty-four... hmm, forty-five years? Somewhere around there!" The little white snake seemed uncertain herself; after all, for a snake living in the desolate wilderness, keeping track of exact time was hardly a priority.

Regardless of whether it was forty or forty-five years, it sounded inexplicably strange to Feng Xue. After all...

"Does it really only take forty-five years for a creature like you to attain such sapience? If that were true, wouldn't every old monkey in the mountains be a supernatural spirit by now?"

Feng Xue’s question was logical. Even accounting for species limitations, whether looking at folklore or biology, the intelligence of reptiles is generally lower than that of mammals. Of course, if one counted birds—those remnants of the dragon race—there were the genius corvids, but in the worldview of supernatural tales, birds were classified as "feathered insects," while most reptiles were "scaled insects."

So, the question remained: if a creature with a typically small brain capacity like a snake could develop human-like intelligence in forty years, how long would it take for ravens, dolphins, or even primates like chimpanzees?

Hearing this, the little white snake was puzzled. She asked with some surprise, "Does the mention of forty-four years not ring any bells for you?"

"What should it ring? I’m only in my twenties. How would I know what happened forty years ago?" Feng Xue rolled his eyes. Forget forty years ago; even if aliens had invaded and been repelled a year ago, it would be impossible for him to know, given he had only been in this world for two days.

"..." The little white snake was noncommittal about Feng Xue’s stated age. In her eyes, if Feng Xue wasn't a truly powerful master, he was surely the reincarnation of some great figure. Perhaps even a deity from the Underworld who had grown bored and come to the mortal realm for a vacation.

Grandma Fox had told similar stories about such figures; whether they retained their memories or not, one should never speak of it directly. So, she simply went along with Feng Xue’s lead.

"The Dilu-Jiang! It’s the Dilu-Jiang! The essence of the lunar moonlight that appears once every sixty years. Any creature lucky enough to consume and digest it can awaken its intelligence, extend its lifespan, and master methods to absorb moonlight."

"Oh!" Feng Xue had heard of the Dilu-Jiang in his reading, but a thought suddenly occurred to him. "If animals can gain intelligence and longevity from it, what about humans?"

"That... I’m actually not sure."

The little white snake shook her head decisively. Before meeting Feng Xue, she hadn't even crossed paths with a human.

The snake didn't know, but that didn't stop Feng Xue from pondering. He had previously assumed that the eighty-plus years of life remaining after she sacrificed her cultivation was the human lifespan she had gained by taking human form. But thinking about it, she hadn't even reached a human form yet—how could she have gained a human lifespan bonus?

Now that he thought about it, those eighty years—no, adding her original lifespan and the time passed—it should be over a hundred and twenty, nearly a hundred and thirty years.

Given that the lifespan of such a small snake was roughly five to ten years, this meant the effect of the Dilu-Jiang was likely to grant sapience and add one hundred and twenty years to one's natural lifespan.

At this thought, Feng Xue’s heart began to race. If humans could also benefit from the Dilu-Jiang, could he use it to extend his own life?

But forty-four years ago... that meant there were sixteen years left.

"So I need to find a way to add at least seven years to my lifespan!"

Feng Xue instantly set a short-term goal for himself, though he didn't hold out much hope. After all, if it appeared every sixty years, given the lifespans of martial artists and mystical cultivators, most would encounter it once or twice in a lifetime, and even ordinary people might stumble upon it. If it were truly that easy to extend one's life, it wouldn't be so simple.

Therefore, the Dilu-Jiang could only be an option, not his primary goal.

"Master, you've asked everything you wanted to ask. Can you let me be a person for a while?"

Seeing Feng Xue in a good mood, the little snake brought the topic back. Feng Xue rolled his eyes. "No. I need to cultivate. If I turn you into a person, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from taking advantage of you! Oh, and I almost forgot—you look like a mute stone!"

"Bang!"

Satisfied, he placed the white snake statue by the bedside and climbed back into bed. Amidst the silence of the night, he continued his cultivation.

The vital energy surged like the tides, rising and falling. Within his sea of consciousness, the sphere shrouded in fine, gauze-like radiance was slowly becoming full and rounded, pulsing gently with Feng Xue’s breath and heartbeat.

The explosive, intermittent extraction made his supply of vital energy more cyclical than that of ordinary cultivators, which made the pulsing of his spirit in his mind far more distinct than in others.

The spirit of an ordinary cultivator pulsed like a breathing light—slow and rhythmic—whereas Feng Xue’s spirit pulsed like a heartbeat: sharp and intense.

This spirit, different from that of ordinary cultivators, was nonetheless outputting magical power. It accumulated in the vastness of his sea of consciousness, and under his conscious guidance, it turned into a fine drizzle, falling upon the field of his heart and gathering into a small pool.

According to the cultivation manuals, upon reaching the Grandmaster realm, one could command magical power to surge like a tide with a single thought. Feng Xue’s tiny pool seemed insignificant in comparison.

But if one added the caveat that this was only his first night of cultivation, it was a different story. For a novice cultivator, reaching the state of a solidified spirit and rainfall-like power would be impossible without months of secluded training and burning away three to five years of their lifespan.

Every leap of his spirit meant the extraction of vital energy equivalent to three days of life. At this rate, over the course of a single night, Feng Xue had extracted energy equivalent to sixty years of life.

When he woke up feeling refreshed, he only felt a hunger in his belly. He looked up and saw his remaining lifespan: 3,281.

"As expected, I accidentally burned away two days of life yesterday."

Feng Xue muttered as he walked over to the plain-looking stone. "I think you look like a ring."

"Bang!"

"That’s too much! You can seal my mouth if you want, but you’ve filled the entire room with vital energy! How am I supposed to cultivate now?"

As soon as she could speak, the little white snake immediately began to protest. Feng Xue, hearing this, could only sigh.

Although he had burned through sixty years of life in one night, it didn't mean his spirit had gained sixty years of cultivation. He was just beginning; like a newborn infant, no matter how much you fed him, there was a limit to what he could ingest and digest.

But since Feng Xue’s vital energy cost him neither money nor his life, he simply kept increasing the flow.

Feeling his spirit full to the point of expansion, Feng Xue adjusted his clothes. He had two more things to do today!