After messing around at home for over half an hour, Su Zhou had more or less gotten a handle on the abilities of his perfect body.
Besides basic enhancements like improved looks and an all-around boost to his physical fitness and five senses, Su Zhou discovered that, like some rattlesnakes and pythons, he now had Thermal Vision.
Now, even with his eyes closed, he could form a three-dimensional image in his mind, allowing him to perceive the thermal activity around him. He just wasn't very skilled with it yet; using his Thermal Vision always felt a beat slow.
Su Zhou's assessment of this was, "Makes my eyelids obsolete."
Next was his immunity to all poisons and his insect-repellent nature.
While he couldn't test the former just yet, the latter was a plain-to-see fact. The moment Su Zhou took a walk around his kitchen, he saw a swarm of black cockroaches and other insects scrambling out from every corner and crevice, flying about in a panic.
A sky filled with a dancing swarm of roaches—the scene was more terrifying than facing a gunman. A chill ran down Su Zhou's spine, and the sight was so shocking that he quickly threw open his front door to drive them out.
"My bad, everyone. I'm so sorry."
As he watched the resilient critters disappear into the corners of the hallway, Su Zhou frantically apologized to his neighbors on the same floor in his head. 'But I can't control it either! Southern cockroaches are nothing like the ones up north. Each one is as big as a grown man's thumb, and they can fly!'
The sheer intimidation factor was enough to make one's blood run cold. Su Zhou would rather fight that Swordsman from Zhu Country, Sukra, all over again than face a swarm of roaches.
Su Zhou's evaluation of this was: "Insect Extermination Master."
After forcibly driving all the bugs and ants out of his home through the windows and door, Su Zhou took out a knife to test his Defense Power and Self-Healing Power.
To make a less-than-elegant comparison, the skin of his new body was somewhat like frozen, greasy, skin-on wild boar. To put it more elegantly, his skin was like jade. As long as the blade wasn't angled correctly, it would easily slide right off his skin.
Even when angled correctly, it was still quite tough and couldn't pierce very deep.
As for his Self-Healing Power, all he could say was that the Undying Blood truly lived up to its name. He had just spent five minutes getting the hang of it, managing to stab his palm with a small knife, but before the blood could even well up from the wound, it had already finished regenerating.
"Ow! That fucking hurts!"
After all that trouble, Su Zhou, who was completely unharmed aside from the pain, commented, 'But if this is the case, how am I supposed to do a blood-binding ritual with a Divine Artifact in the future?'
"First, you have to find a Divine Artifact, and that Divine Artifact has to support an ancient function like blood-binding," the Snake Spirit said objectively. "If all else fails, just bite yourself. Your teeth are much more effective than a knife."
All in all, according to the Snake Spirit, this level of Self-Healing Power was already comparable to the Talent Superpowers of some Awakeners.
Of course, this regeneration wasn't unlimited. It depended on his body's nutritional reserves, and it had especially poor Compatibility with being frozen—he wouldn't be able to regenerate if encased in ice. So, before his Awakening, Su Zhou thought he'd better stay far away from cold places. 'That's very snake-like, after all. Cold-blooded animals and all that.'
Aside from these 'abilities,' the body itself was naturally attuned to certain Extraordinary Powers. With Wind Aid, he would not die from a fall. With Water Assistance, he would not die from drowning.
In a cultivation novel, this would be described as having an excellent constitution and an innate Spirit Root—a perfect Seed for Cultivation. It would be the same for other power systems; his aptitude would be anything but poor.
"This is insane!"
After finishing his tests, Su Zhou sat at his living room table, touching the flame of a lighter. It took nearly ten seconds of contact before he even felt a burning sensation. His face was a mask of shock and elation. "And I haven't even had my Awakening yet. If I Awaken and get even stronger..."
Even for someone who had always pursued 'change' and 'the abnormal,' he couldn't quite imagine the vast possibilities that lay ahead.
"It is my blood, after all." On the living room table, Yara, who had crawled onto the TV remote and turned on the television, spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "The Undying Blood, the Holy Snake Spirit Blood. The very same bloodline that the people from the Continuous Prayer Meeting would spare no expense to trade with me for."
"And you think that's all? Not even close! In fact, if you suffer a grievous injury, or when you are on the verge of death from old age, you can use Snake Shedding to recover from most of your injuries and even regain your youth. *That* is the essence of being undying."
After a moment of thought, the Snake Spirit added a warning, "But don't rely on it too much. Even in the Era of Spiritual Qi Revival, this ability will take a very long time to use and can only be performed once under specific conditions and in a specific location. That's because it's actually a process of essential transformation, a ritual of ascension, not a simple ability."
"If the conditions aren't met and you haven't accumulated enough power, using it is tantamount to suicide. You will dissolve within the Snake Shedding, becoming a single drop of Undying Blood, waiting for the next person to come along."
The TV was on, and a cooking show was playing.
As it happened, the chef was making a dish of spicy eels. He grabbed a handful of salt and mercilessly sprinkled it over the writhing eels. Then, the chef used the back of his knife to knock the salted eels unconscious, one by one, before dumping them directly into a pot of boiling water and cooking wine.
WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!
The eels' bodies thrashed violently, but they cooked quickly. Soon, the chef began to deftly split open the cooked eels with a toothpick, removing their innards before adding spicy seasoning.
"Eek!"
The Snake Spirit shuddered, its body twisting. It jabbed the remote with its tail, rapidly changing the channel, then turned its head to complain, "The most annoying thing about you humans is that you'll eat anything! It's so scary my scales are standing on end."
Su Zhou was speechless. "...Those are eels, not snakes. And you don't even have scales right now."
'Why would a snake-shaped Celestial God empathize with eels... What's there to be afraid of?'
To be honest, Su Zhou was quite surprised by how skillfully Yara operated the TV and remote. After all, who would have thought a snake would watch television, let alone expertly switch to the news channel to watch the daily replay? The being had even used an obviously modern metaphor like 'the gaps between keyboard keys' when talking to him earlier.
But then he remembered that her true form was a being on the level of a Celestial God and felt it wasn't so strange after all. They had their own ways of understanding the Current Realm, whether through sacrifices from their followers or other means. There was always a way. 'I'm just overthinking this,' he thought.
"Oh, right, Yara."
While reviewing his current abilities to the sound of the evening news, Su Zhou suddenly remembered something. He called out the Snake Spirit's name excitedly, "You said your blood can make people immune to all illnesses. Well, my friend, Shao Qiming—he's the one who helped you with the Orbit to save me."
"He was born frail and has had a very difficult life. If it's possible, could you convert him too? After all, Qiming already knows you exist, so it wouldn't be leaking a secret. And I'm willing to pay the price."
As Su Zhou said this, he was actually considering many things.
According to Yara, the Spiritual Energy Revival was set to formally begin in a few months. At that time, the world would undergo a drastic change. Even with the Order Array to maintain stability, much of the old order would surely be shattered.
In the coming era of change, joining forces with a trusted friend was definitely better than going it alone. Just like that time in Shan Country—without Shao Qiming, he would have been a goner. The reverse was also true, regardless of the sequence of events.
"It's possible. Your friend's Talent is actually not bad."
Yara was watching the news on TV with rapt attention, absorbing the information. She didn't seem offended by Su Zhou's question about her blood and simply said calmly, "But that little guy's illness isn't actually congenital. It's clearly the handiwork of certain people."
"If it were just a common illness, my blood would be far from necessary. A bit of your own blood, mixed with some relevant Spirit Grass, would be a first-rate panacea. Add some special Spiritual Materials, and you could even cure cancer instantly."
"What's more, in my current state with my true body still under a Seal, Gathering Undying Blood isn't easy. Think about how many rare materials those people from the Continuous Prayer Meeting used. You'd need at least half that amount, which is a quantity you'd have a very hard time gathering on your own."
Yara seemed about to reiterate how hard-won her blood was, but at that moment, Su Zhou froze.
His excellent mood from his powerful new Talent vanished, and his expression darkened completely. Su Zhou's brow furrowed as he stared at his own hand. The fair, slender hand was now clenched into a fist, looking as if it were forged from rock and iron, with immense power Gathering within it.
"Qiming's illness... isn't congenital?"
Just then, accompanied by faint wisps of Spirit Sound, a black Dark Shadow passed through the wall, seemingly on its way to another area. But before this wandering Wandering Soul could react, Su Zhou shot out a hand and obliterated it with a single punch, like scattering a puff of mist.
He lifted his head, his gaze turning deep and cold as he looked forward. "The handiwork of certain people?"
"Yara, what's going on?"
Yara turned around. She watched Su Zhou's anger build, and as if her goal had been achieved, the Snake Spirit smiled happily. "Do you even need to ask?"
"It's a Curse, of course."