"Hiss!!!!"

The Ironline Snake writhed in excruciating pain. The venom flooding its head threatened to drown its mind entirely, leaving only a single, frantic roar echoing in its residual consciousness: "Run! Run fast!"

At the brink of death, the sheer instinct to survive overrode its maddening bestial nature.

It spat a mouthful of pitch-black venom toward Gu An before turning its body to flee desperately backward.

The Water Origin Pearl activated instantly. A barrier of brilliant blue spiritual light enveloped Gu An, blocking the venomous spit, though a large hole was immediately corroded into the protective shield.

"You think you can run?"

Gu An narrowed his eyes. The Mind-Bewildering Bell flew from his storage bag with a sharp chime, the sound waves drilling into the Ironline Snake's mind and driving it into an even deeper frenzy.

The serpent's body suddenly stiffened. It whipped its head around, its crimson eyes burning with absolute madness as it hissed and flicked its tongue. The last shred of its sanity was completely submerged in a tide of furious hatred.

"Devour him! Devour him!!!"

Driven mad by the psychological assault, the Ironline Snake's hatred for Gu An reached its peak. It charged blindly, throwing all caution to the wind as it lunged straight at him.

Wisps of water vapor surged into the air as Gu An conjured another Water Spear Spell. This time, the snake had no such luck. With its mind in complete chaos, it failed to dodge or even activate its Iron-Skin Spell, taking the strike head-on.

Gu An let out a low chuckle. A snake's skull was naturally fragile, let alone one that had already been severely damaged by his Emerald Shadow Needle.

Trying to play the hard-headed fool? You stay right here!

With a dull thud, the snake's raised head slammed heavily onto the water's surface. The crimson light in its eyes instantly extinguished, and it went entirely still.

Sensing the death of the Ironline Snake, the school of Black Spirit Fish swarmed up from the depths with a great splash, greedily gulping down the dispersing snake blood.

"Shoo, shoo! Get away!"

Gu An's face darkened when he saw a few bold fish actually trying to tear off a bite of the snake meat, and he barked a sharp scolding at them.

The master does all the work, while the spirit beasts get the meat?

This is completely upside down!

With a flick of his sleeve, he swept the entire carcass of the Ironline Snake into his storage bag. Ignoring the Black Spirit Fish as they blew anxious bubbles at the surface, Gu An turned to leave. The brief battle had consumed a significant amount of his spiritual power, and he needed to return to his quarters to meditate and recover.

[One of your cultivated Black Spirit Fish has reached the end of its natural lifespan and returned a spiritual qi cluster to you!]

Gu An paused.

The Ironline Snake was already dead, so why was another fish dying?

Don't tell me they're overeating and bursting their bellies!

What a bunch of stupid fish!

Frowning, Gu An walked back to the edge of the pool.

Looking closely, he spotted a small, ice-blue serpent churning up the water. Its scales shimmered with a pale blue light, and it was currently straining to swallow a Black Spirit Fish whole. It was unmistakably the Cold-Scale Python.

It turned out that while Gu An was locked in combat with the Ironline Snake, the python had sensed the turbulent spiritual power outside, forced its way out of its eggshell, and crawled into the pool.

Gu An had been so focused on the fight that he hadn't even noticed its birth. Now that he paid close attention, a faint thread of connection rippled through his mind.

"Eat!"

Gu An was caught between surprise and delight. He was thrilled that the Cold-Scale Python had finally hatched, but alarmed that it seemed to be a complete spendthrift.

A spendthrift from day one! That would never do. Gu An immediately tried to guide his new companion onto the correct path.

"Be good. You can't eat that one. Spit it out, quickly."

"Eat!"

The Cold-Scale Python ignored him completely, its focus locked onto its meal as it slowly forced the Black Spirit Fish down its throat.

A dark line formed on Gu An's forehead. This little glutton was already showing a rebellious streak right out of the egg! How could he allow this?

Feeling the heavy burden of his disciplinary duties, Gu An quickly sent another thought across the bond.

"No eating that! How about some spiritual rice instead?"

Perhaps annoyed by Gu An's constant nagging, the python grew a little flustered, sending back an urgent, choppy thought.

"Eat! Eat!!"

A moment later, it finally managed to swallow the fish with great effort. Its belly swelled up visibly as it did a joyful little spin in the water, only then noticing Gu An standing on the bank with a grim expression.

Though its intelligence was still rudimentary, it could vaguely tell that its master was displeased. Its round little head tilted as a clever idea struck. It bit down on another Black Spirit Fish, wiggled its chubby body, and swam toward the shore.

Fawningly, it held the fish up toward Gu An, sending a wave of pure, childlike affection across the link: "Eat!"

[One of your cultivated Black Spirit Fish has reached the end of its natural lifespan and returned a spiritual qi cluster to you!]

Looking into the python's large, moist, expectant eyes, Gu An felt entirely helpless. His heart softened. He squatted down and gently stroked the creature's smooth, rounded head. It felt cool and refreshing to the touch.

"Sigh, what does a newborn even know? The poor thing was just hungry."

"I didn't prepare any food for it beforehand, forcing it to hunt the moment it came into the world."

"When you think about it, this is actually my fault. How can I blame the child?"

...

While Gu An was wallowing in self-reproach, the python noticed its master delaying. It rubbed its round head against his palm and nudged the fish a little closer.

"Eat~"

Faced with those wide, watery eyes, Gu An felt a bit awkward. He quickly took the fish from its mouth, picked up the chubby snake, and began to examine it closely.

Its hexagonal, ice-blue scales were arranged in a dense, flawless pattern, each one bearing a natural frost-flower design that shimmered with a soft, white-blue radiance. Its tail twitched erratically, slapping against its milky-white underbelly with loud smacking sounds. Yet, it seemed to find this highly amusing and only began to wag its tail harder.

It had a perfectly round head, round eyes, and a thoroughly plump, chubby body.

Gu An was deeply perplexed. He recalled that the Cold-Scale Python was supposed to look quite sleek and majestic. Why had its appearance drifted so heavily toward a round, portly shape just because it carried a trace of the Flood Dragon bloodline?

If not for the tiny, subtle bump on its forehead, he would have suspected Xiao Wenyuan of giving him a counterfeit egg.

The cute look wasn't bad, but he had envisioned himself riding a majestic dragon into the storm clouds, soaring across heaven and earth!

He poked at the python's pale chin, feeling a tiny twinge of disappointment.

Still, its cultivation base was quite impressive. It possessed the strength of the first layer of Qi Condensation at birth, which explained how it had managed to catch the Black Spirit Fish so easily.

Regardless of its appearance, the Spirit Contract Art was already sealed. This python was now his bound spirit beast-the kind where if he died, it died, and if it died, he would be severely injured.

"I need to give you a name," Gu An murmured, holding the python as he fell into deep thought.

Beautiful jade resting in the deep, hidden within the profound frost... How about Hengyuan?

Or perhaps Mingzhao? Breaking the dawn over the dark seas, dividing light and shadow?

Or maybe Zheyun? Crouching beneath the nine earths, waiting to stir the winds and clouds of the highest heavens!

...

He looked down at the chubby little creature in his hands and suddenly felt a profound wave of second-hand embarrassment at the thought of giving it such grand names.

What should he call it then?

Gu An pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned the python upside down, holding it by the tail while gently pressing down on its lower abdomen. After checking for a good while, nothing showed.

Oh, it's a female!

Gu An's eyes lit up. In that case, why not just call it Wangcai?

Wangcai was an excellent name!

It had cost him two Black Spirit Fish the moment it hatched; it had better bring him plenty of prosperity and wealth in return!

The more Gu An thought about it, the more brilliant it sounded. He immediately finalized the choice.

"Wangcai. From now on, your name is Wangcai!"

He transmitted the thought over, but only received a highly confused response from the python.

"Wang... eat wang... Wangcai!"

Gu An slapped his forehead, realizing that educating this creature was going to be a long and arduous journey.

Whatever. Let's see what techniques it inherited. He remembered that Cold-Scale Pythons were supposed to be born with the Ice Arrow Spell. He wondered if Wangcai had it.

With that thought, he transmitted an image of the technique across the bond.

Fortunately, Wangcai understood this time. She wiggled her plump body over to the edge of Bluewave Pool, opened her small mouth, and slowly condensed a palm-sized shard of ice.

With a soft pop, it struck the surface, leaving a small ripple.

"Excellent!"

Sensing her master's praise and excitement, Wangcai raised her head proudly, growing even more enthusiastic as she strained her head until it turned slightly red.

Finally, wisps of a dark, blue-black mist began to drift upward, gradually enveloping her body. Within Gu An's Divine Sense, Wangcai's presence suddenly became faint and difficult to track.

"This is the Cold Mist Spell! No, wait... there seems to be a trace of poison mixed in it!"

Gu An's eyes sparkled with delight. The Cold Mist Spell was already a fantastic technique for concealing tracks and obscuring Divine Sense, but the addition of a toxic element made it truly perfect.

Though he could still faintly detect her right now, that was only because her cultivation was still low. Once her strength grew, tracking her wouldn't be so simple.

Born with two innate techniques-this was practically the latent talent of a future Foundation Establishment powerhouse!

Eat! Let her eat whatever she wants!

Why should he begrudge her a few fish? Even this Ironline Snake was going to be her food!

Filled with absolute satisfaction, Gu An drew his dagger, sliced off a small piece of meat from the Ironline Snake inside his storage bag, and tossed it to Wangcai.

Ignoring her already swollen belly, Wangcai began to feast happily.

Halfway through her meal, she even stopped and pushed a bit of the meat toward Gu An, offering to share.

What a deeply grateful and filial spirit beast!

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