"I never imagined that I, the mighty Burning Heaven Dragon Emperor, would be reborn as a mere beast."

In the dim, damp cave, a long, slender, black creature surveyed its surroundings with a cold gaze.

Beside "it" were two identical creatures, young Black Spine Snakes, with several broken eggshells behind them, indicating they had just hatched.

"Damn it! Of all things, I had to become a snake, and a non-venomous Black Spine Snake at that, the lowest of the first-tier demon beasts. Who knows when I'll be killed? What a joke!"

As one of the eight titled Martial Emperors of the Shenzhou Continent, Xiao Long was in a foul mood.

He had painstakingly found the Temporal Ancestral Dragon's blood essence inheritance. As long as he refined the essence, he was confident he could transcend the peak of Martial Emperor and become the legendary Ascendant Immortal, breaking free from this world.

But unexpectedly, at the critical moment of refining, the Red Lotus Martial Emperor, along with two other titled Martial Emperors, attacked him. Severely injured and seeing no hope of breaking through, Xiao Long ignited the Temporal Dragon Blood Essence in a self-destructive explosion, killing one of the Martial Emperors on the spot. Another was regressed to infancy by the essence's power and eventually became a fertilized egg, turning to ashes. The Red Lotus Martial Emperor was severely injured and fled, unable to recover for a hundred years.

Accurately speaking, now on the Shenzhou Continent, including the injured Red Lotus Martial Emperor, only six titled Martial Emperors remained.

"Damn woman, the next time I see you, I'll rape you and kill you! Again and again, to quench my hatred!"

Thinking of the Red Lotus Martial Emperor's fiery, devilish figure and angelic face, Xiao Long swallowed hard, then gritted his teeth. Such a venomous woman, killing her a hundred times wouldn't be enough to vent his anger.

The problem was, in his current state, encountering the Red Lotus Martial Emperor would mean she'd blow him away with a breath, not to mention whether he could even meet her.

"Forget it, I'll wait until I break through to the Demon Emperor realm."

After a long while, Xiao Long calmed down. To him, the physical body was fleeting; the soul was the essence.

He had a human soul, so strictly speaking, he was human. Many demon cultivators on the continent had no choice but to self-destruct their bodies and possess a demon beast, which was not uncommon.

At worst, he could wait until he reached the Demon Sovereign level, practice the Soul-Snatching Art, and find a human body with good aptitude to possess.

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Xiao Long tried to move, and although it was unfamiliar, he managed to crawl around the cave with difficulty. After a lap, he was exhausted and panting; this body was too weak and needed some transformation.

"Right, what would happen if a demon beast practiced human cultivation methods?"

Xiao Long suddenly thought of this.

In his past life as the Burning Heaven Dragon Emperor, he had received the Burning Heaven Ancestral Dragon's inheritance. The cultivation method he practiced was the supreme dragon clan technique. Although dragons were divine beasts, they were essentially evolved demon beasts.

If he used this Black Spine Snake's body to practice dragon clan techniques, wouldn't that be...

Thinking of this, Xiao Long felt a surge of excitement.

Apart from higher-level races, demon beasts typically only began to take human form and practice cultivation techniques at the Demon Sovereign level. No first-tier demon beast had ever practiced cultivation techniques before; Xiao Long was certain this was unprecedented.

"Haha! Wonderful, wonderful!"

Xiao Long immediately thought of a core dragon clan technique, the "Azure Dragon Tome." This technique produced gentle inner qi, strengthening meridians and tempering the body.

As for its level, it was only a lower-grade Profound-level technique. He had more advanced ones, even Heaven-level techniques, but those were too violent. With this frail body, he might explode into pieces just starting to practice.

The lower-grade Profound-level Azure Dragon Tome was the most suitable after much consideration. Once he laid a solid foundation, he could switch to a more advanced one.

Immediately, he began absorbing the faint spiritual qi from the world according to a specific circulation route.

Cultivation techniques were generally divided into four levels: Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven, each with four grades: lower, middle, upper, and supreme.

Ordinary people could mostly only practice Yellow-level techniques. Those with good family conditions might practice an upper-grade Yellow-level technique, which was considered good. Profound-level techniques were only available in major sects, and one needed sufficient talent to become a core disciple or elder to practice them.

Xiao Long's technique was the gentlest among Profound-level techniques. Moreover, demon beasts' bodies were inherently stronger than humans, making the practice even smoother.

Xiao Long spent about a day finally drawing spiritual qi into his body. After several cycles, he stored it in his demon core.

The core of human martial artists was the dantian, while for demon beasts, it was the demon core.

The Azure Dragon Tome, worthy of being a dragon clan technique, transformed Xiao Long's originally pitch-black demon core. After the spiritual qi baptism, it carried a faint trace of gold, and his scales also bore a hint of golden spiritual qi, making them incredibly resilient.

Xiao Long tried slithering around again, finding it much smoother than before, without any effort.

"The Azure Dragon Tome is considered mastered. Next, I'll aim to reach the first level within two days."

Xiao Long calmed his mind again, coiling motionless in the nest.

Waves of spiritual qi swirled in like a vortex, entering his meridians, cycling repeatedly. Xiao Long's body gradually strengthened, his snake form growing thicker and longer, its color deepening to a profound black.

The two "brothers" nearby seemed curious, slithering over and flicking their tongues, but were immediately repelled by Xiao Long's aura.

Xiao Long considered teaching these two little fellows, but with a first-tier demon beast's intelligence, understanding was questionable, so he ignored them and continued practicing.

***

Two days later.

"Haha! Finally reached the first level!"

Xiao Long was overjoyed, feeling his strength was now more than ten times stronger than before! Stronger than ordinary second-tier demon beasts, yet his demon core remained unchanged, still just one centimeter in diameter, indicating he was still at the first-tier demon beast stage.

Retracting his aura, everything returned to calm.

He noticed the two brothers trembling nearby. The Azure Dragon Tome carried a supreme dragon clan aura, instilling fear in lower-tier demon beasts, so Xiao Long had to restrain his aura.

"Little ones! Come here!" Xiao Long sent out a mental command, having mastered the demon beast language from his birth memories.

The two snakes dared not disobey, slowly slithering over.

"Remember, I'm your big brother, no need to fear me," Xiao Long continued sending mental commands.

Both snakes flicked their tongues, indicating they understood.

Xiao Long nodded, then realized snakes couldn't comprehend nodding.

The little fellows surprisingly mimicked Xiao Long, making a "nodding" motion, leaving Xiao Long speechless.

"Haha! The Black Spine Snake nest is here!"

"Finally found it!"

At this moment, excited human voices echoed from outside the cave.