With no choice but to give up on his golden finger, Zeng Fei made a tactical retreat down the mountain, intending to return when he had a higher cultivation that could break through the barrier.

He couldn’t tarry here as one look at the sun informed him it’d been hours since he’d first entered the cave, meaning his arranged duel with Dong Ju would be starting soon.

To prepare for such an event, the original Zeng Fei would have been best served sparring against other disciples, but what could he do when the only people he could ask - the friends he’d made during his time at the sect - were nowhere to be found once he’d been challenged by Dong Ju?

In this, it could be seen that their connections with him hadn’t been deep, better described as acquaintances than friends, hence their unwillingness to be associated with him while he was being targeted.

This was why the original had entered the Crooked Mountain, which was sect-controlled territory containing weak demon beasts, under the belief he’d at least get some combat experience here which was better than nothing.

And how had that gone? Not great.

The demon beasts here ranged from the first layer to the third layer of Qi Refining as these grounds were only intended for new disciples to gain their first proper combat experiences. And although the original was a newbie in terms of combat experience, the same could not be said about his cultivation base at the fifth layer.

Hence, it followed that the demon beasts here wanted nothing to do with him; the only experience he’d gained so far was chasing down a handful of first and second layer beasts that’d been too slow to flee in time.

Because of this, the original had been anticipating a humiliating defeat in his fight with Dong Ju; the transmigrator felt no different about his prospects, worse even seeing as that the ritual had taken his cultivation, the one thing he’d had going for him.

Still, despite this, neither of them had entertained the idea of avoiding the duel for a simple reason.

Dong Ju had already challenged several third and fourth layer disciples before Zeng Fei, none of them worthy contenders but rather filler to prop up his record.

One of the first ones to be challenged had known how one-sided it would be and, out of a desire to not be thrashed in front of his peers, had gone into hiding after receiving the challenge.

And his reward for such an ingenious ploy?

When he’d made his return, Dong Ju’s gang of goons had harassed him for weeks on end, in total dishing out many times the punishment the poor sod would have received if he’d just shown up to the fight; his friends hadn’t been spared either, leading him to be ostracised even after it was all over with.

So while the transmigrator didn’t like the idea of taking a beating, it was still preferable to being bullied by brats for weeks on end, hence his reasoning for returning to the sect in a rush.

He made good progress, quickly clearing the mountain and proceeding through the plains, which was when he ran into a problem.

From the long grass over a dozen metres away slithered out a Green-horned Python, its murky-yellow serpentine eyes locked on him. These pythons were a common sight in the plains and one familiar to the original Zeng Fei who’d caught one earlier today.

Lacking venom, they killed their prey by using their speed to coil around their victims and asphyxiating them to death. They could also use the finger-sized horn on the top of their head to stab if given the opportunity.

What this meant was that as long as you kept your distance or had the strength to break loose of their hold, the Green-horned Pythons were relatively easy creatures to deal with.

But there were two problems with such a laidback assessment right now.

One, this demon beast was at the peak of third layer Qi Refining; although it was two metres long and chunky, with that kind of cultivation there was no question it’d be able to rapidly strike once it got close enough and have him dead before he knew it.

To have lived long enough to have achieved third layer, it clearly possessed a strong survival instinct for when to hide and when to strike.

Two, Zeng Fei was by himself and had a cultivation base at the first layer of Qi Refining, i.e. he had the strength of a critter but many times the meat of one. In light of this, it should be no surprise the python was brazenly approaching him when, to it, he must have appeared like multiple rabbits on a silver platter.

Given the unfavourable matchup, Zeng Fei was about to leg it when suddenly he got a strong sense of deja vu from this situation. It made him curious whether the P***mon response would work.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

He pointed ahead of the serpent and shouted: “I choose you, Pingu!”

The sudden flash of light caused the serpent to halt its approach, fearing it to be an offensive technique. However, as the light faded to reveal Pingu - an animal possessing not prominent muscles or large claws but a little beak, a chunky, fluffy body, and no cultivation base - the serpent dropped its caution and advanced.

What especially frightened Zeng Fei was that the penguin hadn’t even noticed the python yet, still busy appreciating his surroundings with a wandering gaze and carefree chirps.

Zeng Fei screamed in panic: “Pingu, look, goddammit. You’re about to be attacked!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

By now, he was regretting summoning Pingu, partly because the penguin seemed about as useful in this situation as a soleless shoe, and partly because he’d begun considering Pingu as his pet and therefore felt terrible for putting his baby in harm’s way.

This wasn’t P***mon after all! How was Pingu, a baby penguin (albeit a humongous one), supposed to know how to fight when he couldn’t even do the basic task of identifying threats in front of him?

But since he’d been summoned so close to the Green-horned Python, there was no time to unsummon him either before…

…the snake attacked, launching with blistering speed towards its oblivious prey. Its mouth spread wide, baring cruel serrated teeth.

Only then did the baby penguin notice its presence and attempt to face it. But it was too late.

Chomp!

Sinking its teeth into Pingu’s belly, the snake whipped the rest of its body up to coil around him, aiming for the neck. The penguin did manage to swing its wing into the snake’s head where it was biting him, but this looked no more effective than if Zeng Fei had personally come up from behind and tried to tickle the snake off.

Or so Zeng Fei believed until he saw the snake’s airborne body shoot behind Pingu and harmlessly dump to the ground instead of coiling around. The Green-horned Python appeared indecisive for a moment, its head still latched onto the chubby belly, before releasing its jaws and falling down too.

Fear turning to exultation, it dawned on Zeng Fei how powerful Pingu must be for his weak-looking smack to have dazed the Green-horned Python into retreating.

Where human cultivators utilised qi by storing it in order to fuel powerful techniques, demon beasts utilised it by directly deploying it across their bodies, effectively buffing themselves; this meant that demon beasts possessed significantly more powerful bodies than cultivators their same level (barring those trained in body-refining techniques).

But it seemed spirit beasts were a tier higher still; no wonder the Emperor’s Blackcoats had been feared throughout the lands back in the day!

And like so, the transfiguration was complete: Zeng Fei, the boy once known as Pingu’s biggest doubter, took off his mask to reveal he’d actually been Pingu’s biggest believer all along, mirroring every sports fan ever witnessing their team kickstart the comeback of dreams.

“Get him, Pingu! Fuck him up! Show him who’s top dog! Woof woof, that’s you! Come on!”

The snake, however, had no interest in watching the comeback narrative play out as it made to rapidly slither away.

Although Pingu managed to place one unsteady flipper onto its body before it escaped, this was not for long as the snake’s frantic attempts to flee caused him to slip and fall face-first onto its body, landing a finger’s breadth away from goring himself on its horn.

Although the snake violently squirmed and lashed its tail in a bid to escape, it had to contest with Pingu’s full body weight and his… bobbing head?

Zeng Fei watched with a knotted-up forehead, unsure what the hell was going on down there but giving Pingu the benefit of the doubt seeing as the penguin had brought things around before.

Zeng Fei’s prayers were answered a dozen beats later when the snake’s struggles devolved into shuddering, before then stopping altogether.

Noticing then that his qi had dropped to 30% capacity, Zeng Fei hurried to unsummon the hungry hungry penguin before he was drained any further.

He then cautiously moved closer to the Green-horned Python, relaxing only when he was certain the snake was dead.

Blood oozed out of nasty puncture marks on its tube-like body, finally making sense of Pingu’s head bobbing - the penguin had been pecking the snake to death during their tussle on the ground!

The main reason Zeng Fei had gotten closer to the snake was to check if it had a demon core, a valuable component that demon beasts formed under certain conditions.

He wasn’t surprised to find that the Green-horned Python hadn’t had one given how exceedingly rare they were at the Qi Refining stage.

Having confirmed this, there was no reason to stick around, so Zeng Fei quickly continued on his way to the sect. He calculated that if he ran there without taking breaks, he’d be able to reach the Training Hall in time for the duel.

Fortunately, he wouldn’t have to stop to refill his qi tank through meditation as he’d naturally reabsorb enough spiritual energy on the way simply through breathing - a small blessing from having his cultivation base reset and his qi capacity drastically shrunken.

He was excitedly anticipating the duel now. With how easily Pingu had dispatched the Green-horned Python, Dong Ju, who was also at the third layer of Qi Refining, would stand no more of a chance.

It would also be a good opportunity to pay respect to the original whose body he had taken over: and what better way was there than by dealing with the bully who’d kicked off the chain of events that’d led to the original’s demise?

Zeng Fei couldn’t wait to give that little thug a taste of his own medicine.

****

Unbeknownst to Zeng Fei, the reason Pingu had been bobbing his head earlier wasn’t simply because he’d been pecking the Green-horned Python to death but because he’d been fishing inside its body.

Guided by instinct, the penguin had pierced the correct spot and pulled out the serpent’s marble-sized demon core unnoticed.

There had been no hesitation in swallowing it.

Whenever demon cores were used in alchemy, they were always ground up and mixed with other ingredients to prevent the large amount of turbulent qi inside them from damaging the users of the resultant medicinal pills.

That was to say that directly consuming a demon core was a stupid idea, and other cultivators would only laugh at your idiocy if they heard that’s how you’d died.

Even other demon beasts tended not to eat the demon cores of their prey due to how dangerous it could be.

The consequences weren’t as bad for spirit beasts, whose bodies were solely made of qi, but still, there was no question that Pingu would gain indigestion from this and learn an important lesson on why you should not swallow random pieces off the street. The demon core itself would eventually be expelled from his body.

Or at least that’s what should have happened under normal circumstances.

Instead, the demon core embedded itself inside Pingu’s body and raised his cultivation to the first layer of Qi Refining.

This fusion was then acknowledged by the domain, which responded by imbuing him with esoteric knowledge.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Pingu had finished meditating on this newly attained knowledge (done so in his usual pose standing upright, not in a lotus position), and attained several insights.

His wings gained a flexibility previously unseen, moving smoothly through the air, then lashing viciously like a snake lunging out from the undergrowth; they became like fangs, his body emanating the aura of a serpent eyeing you up, preparing to pounce.

As Pingu practised this technique, the spiritual energy inside the domain began to diminish, causing it to draw more energy from Zeng Fei’s dantian.

If not for the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Zeng Fei would have noticed that his qi was accumulating far slower than it should be, almost as if there was a drain in the system somewhere.

But as he was, he was too occupied imagining the scene of him giving his bully a good old-fashioned face-slapping to pay attention to anything else.