"I'm... alive?"

When Yin Hui regained consciousness, he was surprised to discover he was still in one piece. His body was stiff, but he mustered the strength to sit up.

The surface he was sitting on was warm and dry. There was also a rough texture to it, similar to that of fine gravel.

Yin Hui noticed that even though he was sitting down, he seemed to be moving. Still impaired by darkness, Yin Hui reactivated his spiritual sense to figure out what was going on.

"This is..." Yin Hui's pupils shrunk.

He was resting on the back of a giant snake. Surrounding him were countless other snakes of various colors all moving in the same direction.

One of the snakes noticed that Yin Hui had woken up and hissed at him loudly. Startled, Yin Hui immediately used the Beast Suppression spell on it. When his spiritual sense made contact with the snake's mind it immediately severed the connection and slapped Yin Hui hard with it's tail.

Yin Hui was sent flying from the strike. He almost fell off the snake he was riding, but managed to barely hang on. The snake hissed at him repeatedly, in a manner similar to human speech. Despite no words coming out, Yin Hui understood the message.

"Do that again and the next strike will take your life."

Yin Hui climbed back onto the snake he almost got knocked off of. When he was back on, he clenched his stomach. That one casual tail strike had fractured a few of his bones. He could also tell by how fast the snake broke free of the Beast Suppression spell that it was holding back a significant portion of it's power.

After that first experience, Yin Hui did not dare to use his spiritual sense to gauge the strength of the rest of the snakes around him. Considering how they were all roughly the same size and moving together as a group, he hypothesized that they must've all had around the same level of power.

"Despite being extremely angry that I tried to control it, that snake only injured me slightly. The way it stared at me with it's eyes... Could it be that whoever they're taking me to wants me alive?"

Yin Hui noticed that the snake that attacked him had a very complex gaze in it's eye. A gaze filled with contempt and hatred, but not completely towards him. It was as if Yin Hui was prey that it had been chasing for months, but right when it was about to catch him he was taken away by someone else. Because of this, Yin Hui felt that wherever these snakes were taking him he would be safe. If not, he would've been torn to shreds and eaten long ago.

Knowing that there wasn't anything he could do other then wait, Yin Hui took out Su Jia's compass. He let out a sigh when he saw that they were moving the opposite direction of where he needed to go.

The snakes seemed to know the layout of the pass well. There wasn't a single moment of indecision during the transitions between one tunnel to the next.

"These snakes are not only fast, but knowledgeable of the pass as well. Perhaps after I meet their master I could get him to let me ride one of these snakes to where I need to go."

After about three hours of high speed travel through a complex network of caves, the snakes stopped at the mouth of the final tunnel. Each of them kept their distance from the exit, as if a single step outside would cost them their lives. The snake Yin Hui was riding on turned it's head and hissed at him. The rest of the snakes did the same, a few of them gesturing to the exit with their heads.

The space at the end of the tunnel was pitch black. Even with his spiritual sense, Yin Hui could not pierce through the darkness.

Cautiously, Yin Hui flew off the back of the snake and through the mouth of the tunnel. As soon as he did, the sea of snakes slithered back into the pass.

Wherever he was, the area was vast. Despite being senseless, Yin Hui could tell that he was within an enormous chamber of some kind. It was an assumption based purely on intuition, but one that he knew was correct.

Suddenly, a small bright spot appeared on the floor of the chamber. This light was genuine, allowing Yin Hui to see with his eyes. In the center of the spot was the exact same giant egg from earlier.

"Move... To the light..."

The voice was ancient, and echoed throughout the entire chamber. Just these words alone carried so much power and authority that Yin Hui subconsciously began to fly towards the bright spot. When he broke out of his trance, he found himself standing right next to the giant egg in the center of the light.

"If I may ask, who are you your excellency?" Yin Hui clasped his hands.

Yin Hui normally hated using such honorifics when addressing others. Those who demanded respect by using these titles were never good people in Yin Hui's eyes. They were usually just narcissists who enjoyed bullying the weak to feel better about themselves.

However, in the presence of this voice, Yin Hui felt neither shame nor anger in addressing it as such. For the first time in his life, he believed he found someone worthy of such a title. The ancient voice radiated power and authority, so much so it compelled Yin Hui to subconsciously lower himself.

"Haha... You think you're worthy enough to know me?"

The laugh was dignified, and contained no traces of contempt or anger. It was as if it truly believed that Yin Hui was a lower being compared to itself.

"Perhaps not, I'm sorry if I offended you. However, will his excellency please tell me why I have been summoned here?" Yin Hui did not take offense to the voice's degrading words. From his point of view, he was indeed inferior in all aspects compared to this great being.

"You have respect boy, but that's only natural due to how limited your view of the world is. However, since you are so polite, I will grace you with my true form."

Crack~

In an instant, 10 giant torches lit up, dimly lighting the surroundings. Like he assumed, Yin Hui saw that he was within an enormous chamber. The chamber was essentially just a larger cave, but at least a hundred times bigger than the others. It was covered with ores containing precious metals and minerals, some of them exuding large amounts of spirit energy.

"Are you done admiring my home?" The voice said.

Mesmerized by the riches within the chamber, Yin Hui almost forgot that he was in the presence of an extremely powerful being. He turned around and was about to apologize when his entire body froze.

"You... you're... This is impossible..." Drops of sweat began to form on Yin Hui's forehead. At that moment, he knew exactly where he was.

Before him was the barely visible figure of a gigantic snake with pitch black scales. Even after coiling itself a countless number of times, it still took up 70% of the chamber. It's yellow eye was the exact same as the one that appeared in his mind, though now he discovered that the eye alone was larger than his entire body.

"This is Black Serpent Mountain... And you're the Onyx Serpent..."

From Yin Hui's memory, Black Serpent Mountain was located in the inner region of the Tang Province. To go from the outer regions to the mountain would take at least a couple months, even by flight!

Yin Hui now understood just how wise he was to not provoke the snakes who transported him further. If those snakes could travel months of distance in mere hours or days, he couldn't imagine what cultivation they possessed.

"Is that what you people call me and my home nowadays? Hmph, I thought I was all but forgotten by now. To think all that is known of me is the color of my scales."

Yin Hui noticed that around the Onyx Serpent's head were nine faintly glowing stars. Within those stars were what seemed like mini-worlds. However upon closer inspection, Yin Hui felt the power of dao residing in each star!

"Your excellency... Are you an Earth Immortal?" Yin Hui was astounded. The ability to form a world using one's dao, and nine of them at that! He believed only a legendary Earth Immortal would be capable of such a feat.

The Onyx Serpent roared with laughter. His voice was so loud the entire chamber shook.

"An Earth Immortal? An Earth Immortal?!" The serpent's head slithered around Yin Hui with amusement in it's eyes.

"I would kill you right now for such an insult, if it just wasn't so ridiculously funny." A trace of anger could be heard within the serpent's tone. This minor change alone required all of Yin Hui's willpower to keep himself from falling to his knees.

"A mortal cultivator like you, who probably hasn't even seen an immortal in his life, dares to compare me to a mere Earth Immortal?! You should choose your words more carefully."

Yin Hui fell to his knees and prostrated himself. He was not afraid of death, but he feared the Onyx Serpent greatly.

"Forgive me great Onyx Serpent. My knowledge is lacking so I was ignorant."

"Hmph, an Earth Immortal is nothing to me. With my strength I could kill a thousand of them without lifting a muscle." The serpent scoffed.

Yin Hui gulped down a mouthful of saliva. The Onyx Serpent did not seem to be joking, he felt like it was completely serious when it made such a statement.

"Anyways, you asked why I have summoned you. Is that correct?"

"Yes your excellency." Yin Hui replied, keeping his head on the ground.

The Onyx Serpent nod its head towards the egg beside Yin Hui.

"The snakes that escorted you here are all my children. However, that egg is the only one that bears my true bloodline."

"I feel a connection has formed between you and my descendant. If that is correct, you should have met each other telepathically already."

Yin Hui thought back to the yellow eye that appeared when he first touched the egg. Initially, he thought it was from the Onyx Serpent, but it turned out to be its pre-born child!

"That massive power I felt enter my mind was actually from the egg?" Yin Hui stood up in shock.

"Obviously, if it was me, do you think you would still be alive?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Touch the egg once more. If it accepts you, it will integrate with your body until it is ready to hatch. Once it does, my child will fight along side you and act as your companion."

"What if it doesn't accept me?"

"Then I will kill you so I can sever that measly connection and raise the child myself. I am only giving you this opportunity because a loose bond has already been established."

A breath of cold air entered Yin Hui's nostrils. Once again he had been put into a life or death situation. He needed to get this egg's recognition or else he would die.

"I've been through many tough times since I became a cultivator, and survived them all. This will be no different!"

Mustering his courage, Yin Hui walked up and put his hand on the egg. A red flash of light appeared and Yin Hui's body was sent flying into an ore deposit a few feet away.

The Onyx Serpent shook its head.

"You failed."