Chapter 30 - The Eye and The Snake

Yang's body felt strangely uncomfortable as he entered his dorm room. It was as if his skin was crawling, every pore reacting to a sudden change. Yang's eyes widened, and he immediately sat down to cultivate the spirit energy within him. Within the ocean of his Spirit Realm, the neidan was finally stimulated. An image of a snake, big enough to swallow the world, appeared in his mind. The snake had gold scales, jade-colored eyes, and feathers the color of sand behind its head.

Yang's eyes opened, turning jade as his body shone with a golden radiance. Scaled patterns began to form all over his skin, appearing translucent as the gold radiance burst from him. It looked exactly like snake skin! It was as if Yang had shed his skin, as he had many times before. He grew a full six inches, his hair turning jet black, with a few strands near the front the color of sand. His Yin Yang Divine Tattoo was still there, but the serpentine dragon was now jade in color with golden eyes. The catfish whiskers and beard were a mix of dark green and black, and the color of the hair from the top of its head to the tip of its tail matched that same mix.

His body became more muscular but streamlined. In his robes, he appeared like a monk but with a powerful physique. His face had an eerily serene expression, masculine in appearance, reminiscent of a man looking down from the heavens. His hair fell to the center of his back, and his skin was incomparably harder than before when pressed. His Spirit Realm doubled in size.

However, a major change occurred! The same dragon that was his Yin Yang Divine Tattoo suddenly appeared in his Spirit Realm, flying in a circle around the neidan that floated into the air and became like a moon. Images began to stream into Yang's head, causing him to ache with pain. His eyes widened as the images imprinted themselves in his mind. He could become the serpentine dragon!

The entire Pangu continent shook, sending tidal waves across vast distances as the ground trembled and cracked. Even fissures formed, but the areas near Gold Lotus City felt nothing. Suddenly, the skies darkened with black clouds. Only those outside or cultivators of the Meteor Vessel Stage and above sensed the disturbance. Tribulation lightning crackled and struck random places, eventually centering above Gold Lotus City, specifically above Yang's dorm room. The neidan released an enormous amount of spirit energy inside Yang, forming a sphere of jade energy that protected him as a bolt of tribulation lightning slammed into it.

The energy absorbed the lightning, draining it into the neidan. Suddenly, Yang transformed into a ten-foot-long, two-foot-thick jade serpentine dragon. He released a roar that echoed throughout the city. He flew into the sky, half-conscious and driven by instinct. Lightning crackled across his body, and Yang began to laugh. His laughter soon resonated throughout the continent, scaring many people and causing all magical beasts to tremble. Some places were mysteriously protected by the sudden changes.

As if the heavens allowed him to, Yang's voice thundered throughout the world, "I AM FREE! Hahaha! I AM THE WORLD SERPENT ONCE MORE! ALL WILL SUBMIT!"

Suddenly, the night sky cleared, and Yang reverted to his human form as he slammed into the ground. Meanwhile, Guo Mei was in her room, her consciousness in her Spirit Realm. In there, it was a land of pitch darkness, illuminated only by lightning flashing in the sky. There was also a crimson orb in the center of her Spirit Room. However, it was no ordinary orb! It was the crimson iris of the Eye of Darkness!

When tribulation lightning struck, it also slammed into her. It drained into her Spirit Realm and injured the Eye of Darkness. It wailed in agony, ripples appearing in the darkness. Suddenly, a cage of golden light began to materialize, along with countless jade spirits in the forms of men, women, and children. These were the souls of the dead Mei had collected. They converged into the cage, the color turning into a glowing jade.

The Eye of Darkness was enraged. How dare the girl fight her! How dare the snake evolve against all odds and cause tribulation lightning to strike Mei, forcing the Eye to drain it to protect its host! How dare the girl trick it! How dare she use its meals as a weapon to seal it!

"You dare challenge me?!" the Eye roared, the Spirit Realm shaking with its wrath. "I gave you talent! I gave you the means to be what you are!"

"You ruined my life! My power is not one gained by my own training but a curse you granted me!" Mei roared, a clone of her body made by her consciousness appearing before the Eye as they both floated in the sky. "You are not invincible, as you believed. The tribulation lightning struck you. I don't know why it did, but its arrival signifies your end. I will seal you and destroy your consciousness."

"I am you, and you are me! We are flesh! We are darkness!" the Eye screamed.

"No. I am much more than that," Mei said as she waved her arms, the souls fully fusing into the cage as she chanted. "Gone are the days of the Era of the Elemental Sovereigns. Lightning has fallen, and the Darkness has sealed the Elemental Sovereigns. It is the salvation of the realms. It does not possess evil. It is only a shadow. Gone are the days of its existence. It is gone. It is gone."

"NO! I won't be quelled by some little girl! I fused with the Right Eye! It is my destiny, our destiny, to rise and become the new Elemental Sovereign of Darkness and undo the mistake of the Prime! We are destined to free the Elemental Sovereigns! You cannot defy it! YOU CANNOT!" the Eye roared, banging against the cage to no avail as it felt its energy sapped from its flesh.

"I am not your servant or anyone's tool! I am me! I am Guo Mei!" she roared, and several Chinese characters formed, the words the exact copy of the chant she had made. They soon landed on the Eye, causing it to scream as its consciousness was destroyed. The jade cage began to shrink and soon entered the Eye. The crimson iris turned to jade, becoming a beacon in the darkness of her Spirit Realm. Soon, light shone, revealing the night sky. The stars sparkled with celestial brilliance, and the Eye became nothing but a catalyst for her growth.

"I am free. I am me. I am not just darkness. I am light!" Mei declared, her body shining with light before her consciousness faded. She was a rare case of having an affinity for both light and darkness. Unbeknownst to her, she caused the whole continent to shake as well. Every person with a Fragment of Darkness, or those sealed and undiscovered by all, felt the changes brought about by Guo Mei. The Eye of Darkness was subdued. Even those with rare artifacts that detected the Fragments of Darkness learned the truth.

That day would forever be known as the Day of the Eye and the Snake. One snake was reborn and transcended into a dragon unlike any other. Another became a Vessel of Darkness that embraced light and subdued the darkness. No one suspected it was the same snake that chose reincarnation to become what it was always meant to be in the Immortal Realm. No one suspected that his elder triplet was that same Vessel of Darkness. Only four knew the truth that night: the parents and grandparents of the two triplets.

The entire continent was engulfed in chaos for an entire week. The empire was forced to use its soldiers to restore order during the turmoil. Several people also traveled to the Pangu Continent, suspicious of its activities. Dragons all over the world began to stir, wondering what the new dragon was and where it could be found. Practitioners convened in Pangu, hoping that the seals over the other Fragments of Darkness had weakened so they could be discovered. The world could no longer afford to doubt the continent's legends of the history of cultivation after that night.

Yang awakened three days after that night, while Mei awoke two days later. All eight recruits were given leave for a day to allow the academy to be restored. Mei and Yang were summoned to the patriarch's house, while Lin remained absorbed in fusing opposing elements together. His grandfather informed him that he would soon gain access to the secret powers of the Yin Yang Divine Tattoo, a feat unprecedented for a practitioner with any ranked Divine Tattoo below the Earth Mortal Stage. The parents and grandparents of the two remaining triplets paused before the interrogation began.

"Explain what happened that night," Guo Jing said, staring intently at Mei and Yang.

"Do I have to?" Yang asked.

"Yes. You caused this chaos! There is no way it wasn't you," Jing said.

"Hey, I never called myself the World Serpent before, right? I was never even a dragon in the first place. The Yin Yang Divine Tattoo depicts what I should have been," Yang lied.

"Explain the change in height! Explain the strand of sand-colored hair!" Guo Li, his grandmother, demanded.

"I made a breakthrough in my poison cultivation. I was busy recuperating. The next thing I knew, lightning fell from the sky and blasted me out of my own room. I woke up two days later and learned of all the chaos," Yang said, already guessing what he had caused for Mei. "Besides, I never had any inclination to rule the world. Isn't that what 'submitting' means? From what I know, humans become masters of magical beasts in two ways: One, by making a peaceful contract, which is usually successful with the weak and young. The other is by forcefully defeating or discouraging the magical beast and compelling it to submit to a master-servant relationship."