Kicking them while they were down—Tu Xiao'an's methods weren't limited to just that.
'Hehe, I also have an ability to dominate my own kind. Perfect time to test it out.'
'Trying to outnumber me? I'll toy with you until you're dead.'
One of Tu Xiao'an's Talents was a dominance ability over the Snake Race. This was different from subjugation. Subjugation allowed him to tame any type of creature, as long as his Level was high enough.
Dominance, however, was specifically for other snakes of his kind.
It gave him absolute control over other snakes, as if he were the Snake King. Every snake would have to obey his every command.
Of course, this was on the condition that Tu Xiao'an's Level was higher than or equal to the other snake's. If a snake's Level was higher than his, the dominance ability would have no effect.
With a thought, Tu Xiao'an activated his dominance ability. A miraculous scene unfolded. A kingly aura pulsed from his body. At that moment, it was as if he had a God's perspective, able to perceive the auras of certain creatures within a ten-meter radius of himself.
The auras he sensed belonged to the Snake Race, hidden throughout the mountain forest. Tu Xiao'an was keenly aware of every single snake within that ten-meter range.
The Snake King aura radiating from Tu Xiao'an immediately filled the snakes within ten meters with terror. They abandoned their territories one by one and slithered toward the Tu Family's backyard.
"HISSS..."
The Snake King aura Tu Xiao'an was emitting had no effect on the rats. One of the smaller ones, struggling to shake off the harassing mosquitoes, made a suicidal charge at Tu Xiao'an.
'You're asking to die! Do you really think I'm some pet snake?'
A cold light flashed in Tu Xiao'an's Snake Pupils. With lightning-fast reflexes, he struck.
He caught the charging rat in his jaws. It struggled for a few moments, then went still.
With a flick of his Snake Head, Tu Xiao'an sent the rat's corpse flying. It was dead.
In the blink of an eye, one of their own had died. The rat swarm grew agitated, but the rabbit-sized Rat King remained unmoved, watching with cold eyes.
It was likely waiting for the right opportunity to deal the snake a fatal blow.
Rats were intelligent and cunning creatures. One that could become a Rat King was bound to be even more formidable.
RUSTLE... RUSTLE... RUSTLE...!
Just then, from the woods on the back mountain, a multitude of small snakes suddenly emerged.
That's right—small snakes. Each was at most a meter long and they came in various colors. The sight of more than a dozen of them slithering out at once was enough to make one's skin crawl.
Even Tu Xiao'an himself was startled.
The dozen or so multi-colored snakes slithered down and prostrated themselves before Tu Xiao'an, the little silver-white snake, like subjects kowtowing to their emperor.
Dominance. All these snakes had been affected by Tu Xiao'an's dominance ability. He could enslave and command them as he pleased. They were utterly loyal; even if he ordered them to die, they would not resist.
'What a powerful ability! Just by activating my dominance, I've summoned over a dozen snakes who will obey my every command.'
Although they were all ordinary snakes, all First Rank—some not even adults—it was still an astonishing result.
'Imagine if my Level increases and my dominance ability grows stronger. I'll be the absolute Snake King. With a single hiss, thousands, even tens of thousands of snakes will answer my call.'
The modest backyard was now home to over a dozen rats and over a dozen snakes. A literal den of snakes and rats.
With more than a dozen snake underlings, Tu Xiao'an felt his confidence swell. A brilliant, cold light glinted in his Snake Pupils as he let out a sharp hiss.
In an instant, the dozen or so snakes lunged at the swarm of rats, their cavernous mouths wide open. The scene immediately devolved into chaos.
The rats were already overwhelmed by the harassing mosquitoes and covered in bites. When the swarm of snakes charged, they didn't even have the strength to defend themselves.
It was a slaughter. A complete and utter slaughter. The entire scene left Xiaobai, who was watching from the doghouse, completely stunned.
His canine eyes were filled with bewilderment. He couldn't understand why snakes from the mountain forest would come slithering down here.
The battle was decided. All that remained was the Rat King. It still hadn't made a move, but was instead staring intently at him.
It was soldier against soldier, king against king. One small, colorful snake made a suicidal lunge for the Rat King. The Rat King let out a strange shriek, and its sharp teeth clamped down on the snake's body, instantly tearing it in two.
Tu Xiao'an witnessed this with astonishment. 'Such powerful jaws.'
It had torn a snake in half in a single bite, blood dripping everywhere.
'Looks like I can't be careless. It would be best if my underlings could finish off the Rat King for me, but unfortunately, my dominance ability has a limited range of only ten meters. That's why only a dozen or so small snakes showed up. The larger snakes weren't affected at all.'
'If the range were wider, or my Level higher, I could definitely summon more snakes to help.'
Mere First Rank snakes had limited killing power, but luckily, their opponents were just rats. It was enough.
Snakes and rats are natural enemies. Between two creatures of the same Level, the victor is clear. Soon, several more rats had been bitten to death.
Tu Xiao'an, for his part, enjoyed watching the show, his Snake Pupils icy cold.
But he also understood that as long as the Rat King remained, killing all the other rats was pointless.
Tu Xiao'an's advantage was his venomous fangs, but the Rat King's advantage was also its teeth. While its teeth had no Venom, their biting power was immense—it could chew on stones as if they were crackers. One could only imagine their sharpness and strength.
His goal was to make the Rat King die from poisoning. But with a two-Level difference between them, he wasn't sure how effective his Venom would be.
Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew past, carrying a thick, bloody stench. Tu Xiao'an decided to strike first.
He recalled all the mosquitoes from the air. The small snakes were dealing with the small rats, so the mosquitoes were no longer needed for that. Then, with a turn of his thoughts, he directed the black ball of mosquitoes to swarm the Rat King.
'If I can just kill this Rat King and devour it, I can reach Level 2 and pass this initial, weakest phase. This must be the system's test for me.'
'Reach Level 2 in a day? I won't even need a full day.'
SQUEAK...!
The Rat King let out a piercing shriek. A sharp glint flashed in its beady eyes. The massive black ball swarmed toward it, a truly frightening sight.
In an instant, the Rat King was enveloped by the dense cloud of mosquitoes. It waved its front claws frantically, and mosquitoes fell in droves.
'Hmph, this rat is somewhat interesting.'
In the blink of an eye, dozens of mosquitoes were dead, but Tu Xiao'an, directing from the side, felt no pity whatsoever.
'There are plenty more mosquitoes where they came from. Even if all five hundred die, I can just subjugate more.'
Still, there was an advantage in numbers. As fierce as the Rat King was, it was put in a miserable state by the swarm, shrieking again and again.
Tu Xiao'an was actually worried the damned rat's incessant screaming would wake his mother and sister from their peaceful sleep inside the house.