California, Howard Farm.

Ethan sat in the sofa while looking at the strange snake trapped in the cage. With a snap of his fingers, the cage desintegrated as the Dao of Death covered it, something that was just recently comprehended by a newly emerged genius in the Immortal Realm.

The Dao of Life was comprehended by Ye Tian, but the Dao of Death took more than 500 years in the Immortal Realm before a genius that had just ascended ended up finding the Tree of Enlightenment casually created by Ethan. Under the state of enlightenment, he comprehended the Dao of Death.

'Come here, little one...' Ethan muttered, his thoughts transmitted to the strange snake in front of him. It seemed to be a very young snake, yet it seemed to have wisdom, 'As expected of an alien species. It seems that these beings have already started with their 'plan', hm?'

The young snake was frightened, but it calmed down after hearing Ethan's voice in its mind. Its eyes shined with wisdom that couldn't be possessed by ordinary beasts, and it felt inexplicably calm when it stood near that human. It was as if it was in the embrace of its mother, it brought both bad and good memories to the young snake.

Unknown to it, the young snake had already been assimilated by Ethan the moment it was brought here to him. It was his first experiment, and it worked perfectly. Inside the nodes of reality assimilated by him, any being that enter will be assimilated, 'It also seems that it depends on the strength of the being. A being equivalent to the Open Body Realm takes an instant, from this on, it must take a minute or so for someone at the Ascending Decay Realm.'

As Ethan's Body and Soul keeps adapting, the time it takes to assimilate the nodes of reality gets shorter and shorter. The same goes for the beings that are assimilated by him.

The past of the young snake played like a video in front of him, 'Hm... While its mother was away, the race of these humanoid beings stole it and simply dropped it on Earth. They're indeed starting with their little plan, how interesting.'

'Now I know why these major countries want these species... The path of awakening their inner genes was derived from these captured beings, and it also seems that the race of these humanoid beings take on the path of genes.' Ethan resumed the information obtained from the memories of this young snake.

It brought him enormous benefits, now he knew exactly what he was going to face. The race of these humanoid beings at the moon can't be pronounced by human language, but Ethan could roughly name the race as Chaelmuth, and it has no meaning in human language as well.

They are humanoid in shape, they have a small stature, only about 1.40 meters as an adult. Their heads are way bigger than ordinary human heads, their eyes are completely black. Although Ethan knew about their existence, he was too weak to have a precise description about their appearance and race before, 'It seems that some of these rumors about sight-seeing aliens weren't truly false. They take the path of genes.'

According to his current information, they are collecting many species two galaxies away and preparing to start with their plan, 'They are just sending newborn species for now, but in around two months from now, they will start sending stronger species. Human beings will have two options: Evolve or Perish!'

As for what kind of species will be sent, Ethan is not sure. However, two months is more than enough for him to get overwhelmingly stronger than the strongest of that race, 'Oh, Chaelmuth race... Treating humans like this, it seems you don't know our true potential.'

No one knew the potential of Human race better than Ethan, giving them a way to get stronger is Chaelmuth race biggest and worse mistake!

Dispelling these thoughts, Ethan stared at the young snake as it stared back at him with wisdom shining brightly, ''Oh, little one... At the moment I got you, you're destined to go a path that will surpass the strongest of your kind. You shall be the ancestor of the World-Devouring Snake race, and thus you shall be named Jormungand!'' [1]

Perhaps because of feeling inexplicably close to Ethan or truly liking the name, the young snake - Jormungand - nodded happily, ''Hiss, hiss!''

''Come with me, Jormungand. I will take you to see some of my creations and also the first gift you'll receive from me.'' Ethan smiled lightly while showing the World of Origin to the young snake, ''You see this? This is the World of Origin, here, cultivators seek the Way of Immortality, while the Immortals seek the ultimate truth!''

Jormungand looked at the Mortal and Immortal Realm with keen interest, it was an extremely smart snake. Born with inherited memories from its bloodline, it knew about the path of cultivation. However, it didn't know that such thing could be created, as it was just a very young snake.

Walking with Ethan, Jormungand was brought to a piece of land where a spherical, ant-sized planet floated in the void, and so it was surrounded by two moons and a sun, ''This is a perfect gift I'll be giving to you. A World-Devouring Snake must have a world it reigns, right? This world is called [Abyss World], I hope that under your command, it can prosper!''

''I'll also transform your bloodline and innate talent. You're talented as of now, but it's not enough to be the sovereign of a World that can only be under the rule of the strongest. In thirty thousand years, I'll be giving you a little test.'' Ethan said seriously as the young snake nodded fiercely, already treating Ethan like his mother, or in this case... father.

If it wasn't captured, under normal circunstances, it would also go through a Rite of Passage after it becomes an adult. It was treating Ethan's test like its rite of passage.

Ethan smiled with satisfaction after seeing that Jormungand was feeling expectant, 'A good seedling, yes? I hope that you can make the Abyss World can be on par with the World of Origin under your rule!'

''Remember, little one... In thirty thousand years from now, I'll be giving you a little test. I'll also visit you every now and then. Have a good stay in the Abyss World!''

As his voice fell, Jormungand was teleported to the Abyss World. It is not ruled by Heavenly Dao, but something called Will of the World. Essentially, it's the exact same thing, but the Will of the World will not make the path of its beings harder, nor will it give rewards.

Time set to 10.000 years in the Abyss World, 1 day in the outside.

At the same time, as its bloodline and innate talent were transformed by Ethan, it inherited many memories from the new bloodline.

The inherited memories seemed to become a flowing river, and so Jormungand was brought to a world of memories.

Note [1]: Jormungand is the World Serpent, its whole body could cover the whole Midgard (Earth). I have named it like this as a reference and because of the similarities with its race, World-Devouring Snake.