I Am a Monster in Both Realms Chapter 02
Honorifics
By the side of the village, within the gently flowing stream, the water appears emerald green and seemingly calm on the surface, but in fact it was harboring tumultuous currents beneath.
It aligns with the saying, "Clear water is shallow, green water is deep, black water is profound."
A danger lurks Deep within the emerald green stream.
At this very moment, Yibai concealed his entire serpent body underwater. His scales were naturally green, perfectly blending with the stream's emerald hue, rendering him invisible.
He resembled a natural predator, patiently awaiting the approach of prey.
"It's coming!"
Yibai could sense two unusually bloody scents nearing the stream.
He lifted his gaze, peering through the water's surface towards the stream's bank.
Under his watchful eyes, two raggedly dressed children approached.
"This is definitely not human!"
Yibai couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.
In his sight, these two children seemed like beasts donned in human skin, their bloodstained scent perceptible even across the stream.
Moreover, crucially, these children lacked the spiritual aura inherent in all living things.
In simpler terms, they seemed like the undead.
Yibai was astonished, but his serpentine body remained motionless, allowing the stream to flow over him undisturbed.
His icy gaze fixed upon one of the children.
He awaited an opportunity.
An opportunity for a single, fatal strike!
His innate instincts enabled him to execute a flawless hunt.
On the stream bank, two children with dead fish eyes and eerie smiles, holding hands, approached the stream.
One of them, seemingly following their instinct, and was about to step into the stream.
However, just as the child was about to enter, he suddenly froze, his dead fish eyes fixed on the stream.
Booom!
A massive serpent head shot out from the water, creating a splash of droplets.
The child didn't even react before being bitten and dragged beneath the stream.
The other child remained frozen in place.
Underwater, Yibai utilized his formidable biting force to crush the monstrous child in his mouth, then swallowed it whole.
Before he could savor the moment, he sensed many more scents of blood rushing toward the stream.
Are these creatures dogs? Their noses are quite keen.
Yibai, unfazed, made a quick move and vanished from the spot.
In the realm of cultivation, within a deep abyss, Yibai returned.
"These creatures..."
Yibai could distinctly feel a tingling sensation in his abdomen.
He knew it was the process of digestion.
In this cultivation world, he was just a mere serpent, though his journey from another realm endowed him with a bit of intelligence.
his digestion was still similar to ordinary snakes.
Yibai Controlling his serpent body, he rubbed the incomplete parts at the bottom of the abyss, attempting to speed up the digestion.
As he did so, he keenly felt the intensifying warmth in his abdomen.
This warmth, like a swirling mass of energy, coursed through his body, ultimately reaching his serpent head.
Hum...
Yibai felt a brief buzzing in his head, a momentary daze, but quickly recovered.
After the recovery, he could clearly sense the changes within himself.
His head seemed to have cleared a bit, a mysterious sensation as if he had suddenly gained insight.
"Eating monsters doesn't seem to have made me stronger? No, I must have gotten stronger."
Yibai couldn't quite articulate the feeling, but he sensed it nonetheless.
He had become stronger.
As far as Yibai knew, the first step in the cultivation of monsters was to awaken one's spirit, a simple form of intelligence.
The second step was to 'become spiritual.'
Currently, he was likely progressing towards becoming spiritual.
It seemed he was on the right path; all he had to do was continue.
"Does this count as growing a brain?"
Yibai contemplated his changes.
But before he could fully grasp his transformation, a fish darted past him like an arrow.
He felt a momentary daze and hadn't even reacted yet.
"Why run so fast?"
Yibai puzzled, muttering to himself, but he didn't hesitate to follow the fish shadow.
His speed surpassed the fish's by several notches.
He didn't know why he was running, but he instinctively followed the fleeing fish.
"No, wang hui, why are you following me?"
The fish, upon realizing Yibai following him, stopped, and puffing bubbles from his mouth, his dead fish eyes fixed on him.
It was a giant carp, over six meters in length.
"I don't know, why are you running?"
Yibai recalled, staring at the carp, not unfamiliar to him.
He was well acquainted with intelligent creatures in the lake, and this carp was practically his neighbor.
"The Mountain Lord from the neighboring mountain sent someone to bless us. Shouldn't you hurry there? Your dragon form hasn't matured yet, how can you be so negligent, unaware of such a significant event."
The carp flapped its fins, and rolled its eyes, though they remained dead fish eyes no matter how he rolled them.
"Such good fortune? Take me along then."
Yibai immediately understood why the carp was in such a rush.
He was familiar with the Mountain Lord from the neighboring mountain. There was a high mountain beside the deep abyss, and the Mountain Lord resided deep within it.
The Mountain Lord was a tiger, the sovereign beast of the mountains, hence the title.
Yibai often heard about this Mountain Lord. Rumor had it that the Mountain Lord was a well-cultivated great monster, luring passersby into the woods and devouring them to enhance its cultivation.
This Mountain Lord was arguably the most powerful monster Yibai had ever heard of.
"Well, let's go then. If not for the fact that we're barely considered the same kind, I wouldn't even tell you."
The carp hastily flapped its fins, swimming forward.
"Little dragon, lead the way faster."
Yibai also wriggled his serpent body, following the carp as they swam.
The term "little dragon" was the way of addressing the carp. Every carp's goal in cultivation was to transform into a dragon. There was a saying, 'the carp leaping over the dragon gate,' which made calling carps "little dragons" a favorable term.
In the world of monsters, the relationship between them wasn't as straightforward as humans calling animals by their true nature. Such directness could sour relations.
Monster cultivation was already challenging, and having a favorable term could make the journey more efficient.
So, monsters would use respectful titles for each other.
For example, others would refer to Yibai as 'King Serpent' or 'Dragon Kind,' not directly as a snake.
The tiger would be addressed as 'Mountain Lord,' the carp as 'little Dragon,' and the yellow weasel as 'Yellow Immortal.'
There were many rules, but the bottom line was that monsters respected each other, avoiding direct revelations of their true nature, which could disrupt their cultivation.
In the challenging path of monster cultivation, a good start could make the journey much smoother.
So, among monsters, mutual respect was common.
After all, villains in cultivation didn't stop at anything, let alone the already arduous path of monsters...
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