Chapter 117: Metamorphosis

"Falling behind others? That's impossible," Qinghu stated with unwavering certainty. It was just a matter of breaking through a seven-colored barrier; how difficult could it be?

Could she really not find a loophole in a dumbed-down version of a divine prohibition?

Their group arrived before the seven-colored barrier, where about a dozen people had already gathered.

These individuals were divided into two small factions. Three of them were young people with vibrant, red, shimmering hair—one girl and two boys. These were the people of the Fire-Tail Pheasant Clan, standing on the east side. The other dozen or so were youths with snake-like pupils; they appeared to be of the same kin as She Shiyi, standing to the northwest. There were many boys among them, but only two girls.

The two factions felt somewhat incompatible.

After all, they were only temporarily teamed up, so this was not surprising. At least, that was how it appeared to Qinghu.

Shen Qinghu walked back side-by-side with She Shiyi, followed by a group of fierce fire lions and lackeys. She radiated an air of unadulterated arrogance.

Her arrogance, combined with the importance She Shiyi placed on her, immediately made certain people uneasy.

"Shiyi, is this the new friend you went to pick up personally?" a girl with snake-like pupils asked, looking at Qinghu with a hint of hostility.

"That's right. This is my good friend, Shen Qinghu of the human race. She is a beast tamer," She Shiyi nodded and replied.

"Who here isn't a beast tamer?" the girl with snake-like pupils retorted with a disdainful tone.

"There are many beast tamers, but what is there to be proud of for an entry-level tamer like you? Besides, Shen Qinghu brought a sixth-rank light-sword fish. What are you taming? Has it reached the ninth rank?" She Shiyi replied, giving her absolutely no face.

Their branch of the snake clan was naturally gifted at taming serpentine wild beasts and ferocious beasts.

Those with poor talent tamed wild beasts, while those with strong talent—like him—tamed ferocious beasts in great numbers. He was considered a standout among his peers, yet even he only tamed an eighth-rank venomous black-spotted king cobra.

However, most of the snakes tamed by the snake-eyed youths following him were merely common wild beasts. Even those who tamed ninth-rank snakes were rare.

Yet, they were all incredibly proud. It was an eyesore to him.

Look at Shen Qinghu—a sixth-rank light-sword fish. He couldn't even compare to her from afar.

For his own kinswoman to lack such basic judgment was simply brainless.

"There is always someone better. Don't use your shallow perspective to judge others. You must learn to respect the strong." She Shiyi’s merciless words immediately brought the snake-eyed girl to tears.

She hadn't even said anything. Why be so mean to her?

In truth, the girl had forgotten that her initial tone and attitude were already wrong.

Who exactly was she looking down on? Was everyone someone she could afford to look down upon? Without even knowing the other party's depth or capability, she had jumped out to speak. If he didn't scold her, who would?

"She Shiyi, don't go too far," another snake-eyed boy standing beside the girl said, pressing his lips together in displeasure. There is always a heroic boy willing to stand up for a beautiful girl.

"How am I going too far? If you don't understand, don't know, or aren't sure, don't speak nonsense. Didn't your father lecture you before you left home? You're only jumping out because you're banking on the fact that I'm your kinsman, aren't you? If someone else were in charge here, would you dare to jump out so casually?" She Shiyi said irritably.

"If you're not happy staying here, you could have said so earlier. You can leave right now," She Shiyi continued. "I gathered my kinsmen to excavate this spirit cave out of respect for the clan leader, to look after everyone. If you don't want to be looked after, you are perfectly free to go find another spirit cave on your own. It's not too late yet anyway."

"No one asked you to take advantage of the situation while speaking recklessly and offending my friend." She Shiyi’s defense of Qinghu made her nod repeatedly.

Qinghu mused to herself: This snake-boy’s temperament actually suits me quite well. Perhaps I shouldn't treat him as emergency rations in the future?

"You..." the boy tried to speak again, but was immediately pulled back by someone beside him. "Shiyi, don't mind him. This kid doesn't know how to talk. Since we’ve managed to enter the Xuantian Tower together, we should naturally act together. Don't worry, I will keep an eye on him and won't let him cause you any trouble."

The boy tried to speak again, but was silenced by a cold, fierce look from his companion. "Brother."

"If you ruin things, don't call me brother again," the other said with severity. The boy immediately withered.

The girl who had been angered to tears saw that none of her kinsmen would speak for her; they were all on She Shiyi's side. She sobbed and ran to another girl of the clan, who didn't coddle her either: "Hurry up and wipe your tears; we have work to do later."

The aggrieved girl: "..."

The gorgeous red-haired girl standing not far away almost laughed out loud at the scene. It was clearly just a case of a girl’s jealousy flaring up.

She was certain that the snake-clan girl must have feelings for She Shiyi. Unfortunately, She Shiyi had no interest in her at all and had even humiliated her.

However, this also made her curious about the human girl, Shen Qinghu.

*Huh*, She Shiyi of the Rattlesnake Clan was truly a cold, unsociable guy who didn't care about family ties or saving face. He turned hostile at the drop of a hat, regardless of whether you were a kinsman or not. Yet, he treated this human girl so well. It was quite interesting. Could it be that She Shiyi had developed feelings for this young human girl?

"Shen Qinghu, don't pay attention to those people. They are just tag-alongs. We are the main force," She Shiyi said loudly to Qinghu. "The treasures in this spirit cave will be divided according to contribution. Those without merit will only get the leftovers."

Shen Qinghu nodded in strong agreement, understanding him perfectly. "It's fine, I understand. The dogs I brought are also a bunch of dead weight. At most, they can scout the path or serve as cannon fodder. *Sigh*, when you encounter such dead weight, you can't just throw them away. You just have to accept your bad luck."

*Pfft*—the gorgeous red-haired girl couldn't help it and laughed out loud.

"Shen Qinghu, hello. I am Lü Pingping of the Fire-Tail Pheasant Clan. These are my two brothers, Lü Ding and Lü Hong."

"Hello, my name is Shen Qinghu, of the human race." Since they had introduced themselves, she couldn't remain silent. "I have some little lions and dogs helping me. They’re just here to assist; you don't need to know them."

The expressions of She Shiyi’s kinsmen and the group of dogs were a complex, colorful mess.

The fire lions were relieved they weren't called "dead weight." Though it was a bit embarrassing to be introduced as mere "helpers," at least compared to the dogs, they felt better. *Ah, having someone else to act as a cushion is wonderful.*

"So that's why you kept that group of useless black dogs—to scout the path? That was my mistake; I should have summoned more cannon fodder to scout for the clans," She Shiyi said, not only failing to rebuke Qinghu for her dismissive attitude toward the lions and dogs, but actually cementing the title of "cannon fodder" for the black dogs.

"What are you saying? What do you mean by 'going too far'? Our Black Wolf Tribe isn't to be trifled with!" the young master of the black dogs finally exploded. His dog temper simply couldn't take it anymore.

"What was that? What is 'too far'?" She Shiyi turned slightly, the air around him distorting as countless venomous, giant snake heads emerged from the void, staring intently at the small pile of prey before them.

A group of little black dogs!!

Was their master trying to give them a pre-meal snack? Though, the snack seemed a bit small.

One snake head, two snake heads...

*Awoo, awoo!* When it’s time to eat the snacks, they must be fast, or they won't get any!

The snakes' gaze filled the black dogs with despair and helplessness.

*Awoo, awoo...* Too many, too much! It's too scary! Mommy, the doggies want to go home!

It was the first time the young master of the black dogs had faced so many massive snake heads. Thousands of venomous black-spotted king cobras were no joke. Even though the heads appearing before him were only a fraction of the thousands, the dense, flickering tongues and the terrifying aura made his scalp tingle and his body run cold. His blood felt like it was freezing.

"Hey, hey, don't scare them to death. These are black dogs. Their blood has a hint of extreme *yang* within the extreme *yin*, which is highly effective for breaking evil and illusions. At the very least, they can be used as emergency rations. Dead dogs don't taste good," Qinghu immediately intervened to stop She Shiyi from manifesting more snake heads.

Upon hearing this, She Shiyi looked at the meat on the black dogs and remarked, "That's fine. There's still some meat on them."

The black dogs: *Whimper, whimper.* What kind of path of no return have we walked? Is it too late to run away?

Seeing the dogs face such a tragic fate, the snake-clan youths were comforted—at least they hadn't fallen to the level of "emergency rations."

*Thank goodness, thank goodness.*

"Alright, let's get to it. How about we join forces to break this barrier?" Qinghu asked.

"How?" She Shiyi asked.

"You bring out the giant snakes, and I'll bring out the light-sword fish. We hit this spot together," Qinghu pointed at an energy node on the seven-colored barrier. She then whispered to She Shiyi, exchanging a few words. She Shiyi nodded repeatedly and prepared some pills, intending to take them later.

"Fine, let's start." She Shiyi waved his hand, and a massive number of giant snakes emerged from the space behind him like flying projectiles, slamming into the energy node. Clearly, he carried a large spatial artifact that served as a nest for the snakes.

Every time a snake struck, the seven-colored barrier’s luster dimmed by a fraction. After striking, the snakes would silently move aside, returning to She Shiyi’s side to wait for the next command.

Thousands of strikes took several hours. It was incredibly tough. Not a single giant snake was injured, though they were somewhat lethargic. However, the effect was excellent; the seven-colored barrier had dimmed by at least a third.

Most importantly, it gave the surrounding people hope. When they had first arrived, She Shiyi hadn't lifted a finger; they had been the ones trying to probe and break the barrier, but even the Fire-Tail Pheasant Clan’s fire-breathing had failed to shake the barrier by even a hair.

But, they were supposed to be joining forces—why was Shen Qinghu still not moving?

Everyone present turned their eyes toward her.

"She Shiyi, I’m about to start. Once I break the barrier, remember to temporarily stabilize the opening," seeing that the barrier had dimmed sufficiently, Qinghu prepared to move. She wouldn't use earth-shifting this time. While good, it could only carry a few people. With nearly fifty people here, she had no interest in wasting her divine power to transport them.

Couldn't they just smash it open? Absolutely.

"Don't worry. I'm ready. Just break the barrier. It's all on you now," She Shiyi said, wiping sweat from his forehead. Commanding thousands of king cobras had exhausted both his spiritual power and mana; he had already taken pills several times to recover.

Hearing his confirmation, Qinghu summoned her light-sword fish.

Over eight hundred sixth-rank light-sword fish darted out from her small seashell. They shimmered within the cave. Despite their small size, they could now hover in mid-air—the true power of the sixth-rank light-sword fish. They could swim and fly, in water or air; their combat power was absurd.

Their aura was even more oppressive, forcing the thousands of king cobras to instinctively retreat into corners, hissing in submission.

She Shiyi looked at them in surprise. "Your school of light-sword fish must have dragon bloodline, right? My king cobras rarely fear anyone."

"They were just fish fry when hatched; I don't know if they have dragon bloodline," Qinghu said. In truth, she knew perfectly well what their bloodline was.

Qinghu waved her small hand, and the eight hundred light clusters shrank into eight hundred tiny dots, landing in her palm and coalescing into a small white light-sword the length of her hand.

"Condensing a weapon! You can actually fuse so many light-sword fish into a single sword? This is the second stage of beast tamer transformation. I never expected you to have walked so far on this path. I am far behind you," She Shiyi said with envy.

"Your intimacy with your snakes isn't high enough. Otherwise, you could do what I do and condense those giant snakes into a weapon," Qinghu said.

She Shiyi blinked, thoughtful. "Not enough intimacy? Is it because my snakes don't trust me enough?"

"Perhaps it's because you don't trust them? You lack trust and understanding of your snakes," Qinghu replied. "I'm starting now. You can research the second-stage transformation when you go back."

"Good," She Shiyi readily agreed.

The small white light-sword whistled through the air under Qinghu's control, striking precisely at an energy node.

*Boom!*

The seven-colored barrier shook, and the point of impact cracked, instantly caving in to form a large spatial opening.

She Shiyi immediately threw out a sticky substance, sealing the jagged edges of the hole. The opening stopped shrinking and remained as Qinghu had carved it. However, the substance around the cracked space was slowly being consumed; it wouldn't be long before it was gone, and the barrier would likely recover.

Qinghu retracted the white light-sword. "My fish can't be used for a while." She sent the fry back into the seashell, satisfied to see She Shiyi using that adhesive.

It seemed to be the saliva of some creature. Whatever it was, as long as it worked, it was fine.

Her fish were a bit embarrassed; only one strike, and then they were done for. They were still too small.

"My snakes are also temporarily out of commission, but it doesn't matter. Let's enter the spirit cave first. Once we are inside, those outside won't be able to open the barrier again. Shen Qinghu, let's go." With that, he led her inside.

As they moved, the others followed, leaping through the opening. Once they had all entered, the adhesive substance finally dissolved, and the seven-colored barrier restored itself.