The woman listened and said, "Both of those stories sound a bit out there. I don't believe either of them."

The man laughed. "I, for one, hope it's the first legend. A Rank Three Creature, a Female Demon, taking human form... I'd really love to see that."

"Hmph, a female ghost is more like it. This flute music is so mournful, it would be the perfect entrance for one," the woman said, sounding jealous.

"Hehe, as for whether it's true or false, I'm afraid even our academy's dean couldn't say for sure."

Tu Xiao'an, listening from the shadows, was startled. 'I can't believe this academy has such a strange place,' he thought. 'Suppressing a Rank Three Creature? That's quite an undertaking. If I get the chance, I'd really like to go down into the water and check it out.'

The flute's sound made his own Jade Flute resonate, which was a bit strange, but Tu Xiao'an had more important things to do right now.

"Did you know? I heard the outer courtyard is crawling with snakes now. They're everywhere. It's practically turning into a Snake Cave."

"What's that got to do with me? As long as there are no snakes in the inner courtyard, I'm fine," the woman said.

The man laughed. "I kind of wish there were snakes in the inner courtyard. Then we could have snake soup."

Tu Xiao'an listened to a few more sentences, shook his head, and decided not to listen any longer. He silently slipped past the couple.

Continuing deeper, a mountainous area appeared before him. Two low mountains stood side by side, connected for a distance of about three li. Tu Xiao'an was inwardly amazed. 'They actually enclosed a lake and mountains within the academy. Truly an impressive feat.'

As Tu Xiao'an got closer, he noticed many large caves in the low mountains, which seemed to house some rather powerful creatures.

From time to time, the roars of beasts echoed from within.

Tu Xiao'an scanned the area with a cool, impassive gaze, his eyes finally locking onto the fifth cave from one end.

The fifth cave had a dense aura of a special Snake Race. 'The Cat Spirit must be hiding in here.'

'Why did it run? It seems it doesn't trust me.'

Tu Xiao'an considered this for a moment, then headed straight into the dimly lit cave. The moment he entered, a sinister wind howled past, chilling him to the bone.

But Tu Xiao'an was completely unaffected. He continued deeper into the cave. The interior was crescent-shaped, with jagged, strangely-shaped rocks. The ground sloped downward from the back to the front, much like an opera stage.

Suddenly, a large swarm of black bats, at least a hundred of them, flew out with a flurry of SQUEAKS. They seemed to have been spooked by something, completely ignoring Tu Xiao'an as they fled for their lives out of the cave.

Immediately after, a brutal and incredibly cold Snake Race aura swept out from the depths of the cave.

'Looks like this Cat Spirit has gone berserk again.'

Tu Xiao'an now knew that the denser the Snake Race aura Haitang emitted, the less sane it became.

'The Snake King Stone...'

Tu Xiao'an guessed that Haitang must have swallowed the Snake King Stone, causing it to mutate into this creature that was neither cat nor snake.

Continuing forward, Tu Xiao'an advanced about three hundred meters and came upon a wide, open area. There, the Cat Spirit, once again in its beast-like form, was cruelly devouring a python over seven meters long.

The python had vibrant stripes and was of a good breed—an Awakened Creature—but it had been brutally turned into a meal by the Cat Spirit.

The ground was drenched in fresh blood. It was feasting ravenously, a truly cruel and bloody scene.

'No wonder it chose to hide in this specific cave out of so many. It turns out there was a python hidden here, probably one raised by the Ancient Academy.'

The moment Tu Xiao'an arrived, a demonic, blood-red light shone upon him. The beast-like Cat Spirit instantly spotted him, whipping its head around to stare at him with extreme ferocity.

"ROAR..." The Cat Spirit let out an earth-shattering roar, and a Snake Race aura swept out, blanketing everything.

The entire cave began to tremble violently, and loose stones and dust rained down.

Tu Xiao'an instantly felt a powerful wave of Qi wash over him. With a quick jolt of his body, the oncoming wave disintegrated.

Seeing the Cat Spirit in this state, Tu Xiao'an knew it had already lost its mind. Moreover, the Snake Race aura around it was growing stronger. If this trend continued, he feared it wouldn't be long before the entire Ancient Academy was overrun with snakes.

'This Snake King Stone... just what organ of the Snake King is it, to possess such power?'

'Could it be the transformed Golden Core of a Rank Three Creature?'

'If that's the case, then this is an incredible find. For someone of the Snake Race like me, it's practically a Supreme Treasure.'

"Haitang, calm down!"

Tu Xiao'an shouted, but his only reply was a ferocious roar from the Cat Spirit. Its eyes were like a Sea of Blood, filled with Killing Intent.

Clearly, Haitang now saw Tu Xiao'an as food, too, and wanted to swallow him whole.

Just then, it moved. It moved like a clap of thunder, its momentum overwhelming. It opened its massive maw, revealing a row of gleaming, pale-white fangs, and charged abruptly at Tu Xiao'an.

A normal person would have wet their pants and their legs would have gone weak at such a sight.

'Dammit, looks like this is going to be a hassle.'

Tu Xiao'an stood his ground, his eyes like flashes of cold lightning. He clenched a fist, and his entire hand was instantly engulfed in boiling Flame. The surrounding temperature shot up abruptly.

The beast-like Cat Spirit appeared above Tu Xiao'an's head, terrifyingly fierce. He roared, "Fire Fist!"

He threw the punch. The blaze was dazzling, flowing across the air. The searing temperature instantly vaporized the air itself.

BOOM...

The Cat Spirit shrieked in pain and was sent flying backward, slamming hard against the rock wall.

"That punch should be enough to wake you up," Tu Xiao'an said lightly, relaxing his fist as the Flame vanished.

If Ren Hailong were here, he would realize how lucky he was that his arm had only been crippled before.

If Tu Xiao'an had used this Fire Fist technique on him back then, his arm would have been instantly reduced to ash.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

The Cat Spirit got back to its feet, its eyes even more demonic and terrifying. It let out a hoarse, sharp screech, like a Fierce Ghost wailing.

'Still not awake.'

Tu Xiao'an frowned. 'This thing is tough.' He hadn't held back with that last punch at all.

After all, the Cat Spirit itself was Level 29, and on top of that, it had swallowed a Snake King Stone, making it abnormally powerful.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...

A thick snake tail whipped toward him, so fast that Tu Xiao'an didn't even have time to react before it wrapped around his waist and hoisted him into the air.

Abruptly, the tail, still coiled around Tu Xiao'an, smashed him against the rock wall.

'Sigh, it looks like I can't maintain this human form.'

'If I can't keep it, then so be it. At least I won't be holding back anymore.'

BOOM...

A huge crater appeared in the rock wall. The next second, a Giant Snake materialized within it, soaring upward. Its entire body shimmered with resplendent purple-and-gold stripes. An unbelievably terrifying Snake Race aura erupted from it, instantly kicking up sand and stones and stirring violent gusts of wind in all directions.

This low mountain contained many caves, hiding quite a few captive Awakened Creatures. But at this moment, they all suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably, prostrating themselves on the ground.

"I'll show you what a real Snake is."

Tu Xiao'an had revealed his true form. Towering over everything, the majesty of the Snake King was on full display.