Chapter Twenty-Two: Forced to Ascend the Throne

Although Zhou Tian appeared to be at a disadvantage in his battle with the wolf cavalry, by this point, it was clear that he had not suffered the worst of it. In the midst of combat, Zhou Tian had suddenly leveled up—not only were all his wounds healed, but his strength had increased significantly. With this newfound power, victory was well within his grasp.

With a casual flick of his tail, he dispatched his demoralized foes one after another. After his upgrade, it took him only three or four minutes to finish off the wolf cavalry, despite their resistance. Zhou Tian gazed silently at the corpses, carefully collecting anything of value from their bodies before quickly slithering away.

Although he had achieved victory, Zhou Tian knew full well that by killing the wolf cavalry, he had set himself up for reprisal from the Orc Empire. For now, no one would notice their absence, but when the patrol failed to return, the Orc Empire would undoubtedly investigate. Once their bodies were discovered, this area would soon be crawling with orc search parties.

As long as he remained undiscovered, all was well. But if he were found out, he would surely face the full might of the orc army. Well aware of the danger he was in, Zhou Tian fled at a breakneck pace.

He crawled on, heedless of direction, for nearly a dozen hours. Only when he was certain he had put enough distance between himself and the previous battlefield did he finally stop.

“There shouldn’t be any orcs here,” he muttered, plunging into a forest and beginning to survey his surroundings.

Almost as soon as he entered, intending to rest, a bestial roar erupted from his left. Before he could react, a magical beast crashed out of the underbrush and lunged straight at him.

With no hesitation, Zhou Tian lashed out with his tail, sending the beast flying. Though his strength was not yet extraordinary, he was more than a match for ordinary magical beasts. This attacker was a low-level creature, the sort that could bully wild animals but stood no chance against Zhou Tian. Its sneak attack was doomed from the start.

After knocking the beast senseless, Zhou Tian slithered over. Though he could have easily killed it, he refrained. In this unfamiliar land, what he needed was a guide. Low-level magical beasts lacked true intelligence, but if he could control one, it might still be of some use.

Whimpering, the beast cowered and retreated as Zhou Tian approached, completely cowed by his display of strength.

“Do you yield?” Zhou Tian asked.

The beast simply trembled, unable to answer. Zhou Tian’s brow furrowed as he realized he had overlooked an important detail. In this world, Mandarin was the universal language, spoken by nearly all intelligent beings. But only those with a certain level of intelligence could master it. Low-level magical beasts, for all their improved instincts over wild animals, still acted mostly on instinct. For them, learning Mandarin was no simple feat.

So, though both were magical beasts, the low-level creature didn’t even understand Zhou Tian’s question, let alone answer it.

Shaking his head in resignation, Zhou Tian was about to kill the beast and seek another solution when inspiration struck. Teaching Mandarin to a magical beast was impossible, but there was nothing stopping Zhou Tian from learning its language. While it would be impossible for him to master a beast’s tongue on his own, he had his system to rely on. With its power, even the most improbable tasks became possible.

After searching the system’s shop, Zhou Tian’s gaze settled on one particular item.

“Language Mastery: Price, 500 spirit energy. (Effect: Enables communication with any living creature.)”

While this skill provided little benefit in combat, its utility was immense. And at a reasonable price, Zhou Tian hesitated only a moment before gritting his teeth and purchasing it.

“Hey, where is this place?” Zhou Tian asked the beast again, now equipped with the Language Mastery ability. This time, the beast understood and, though still frightened, gave a muddled answer. Yet, due to its limited intelligence, all it could say was that this was its home—a reply so simplistic that Zhou Tian nearly collapsed in exasperation.

Wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, Zhou Tian realized the beast was incapable of answering such a complex question. He tried something simpler.

“Are there any creatures like this nearby?” he asked, drawing an orc in the dirt with his tail.

To his relief, the beast glanced at the drawing and shook its head decisively—no orcs in the vicinity.

With no orcs around, Zhou Tian decided to hide here for a while. Barin his fangs and sending the beast into a quivering fright, he asked, “Is there anywhere nearby where I can rest?”

The beast thought for a moment, then nodded and, without awaiting instructions, led the way forward…

———A brief interlude for ticket robbery———

“You… bastard!” Zhou Tian never imagined that after leading him for so long, the magical beast would take him straight to the mouth of a snake’s den.

To be fair, the beast had no intention of harming Zhou Tian. From the perspective of other creatures, Zhou Tian appeared to be an ordinary snake. Though his behavior was odd, the beast thought nothing of it. When Zhou Tian asked to be taken to a safe resting place, the beast immediately thought of the snake’s den.

The beast meant no harm, but Zhou Tian had been thoroughly set up. No matter how snake-like his form, Zhou Tian’s soul was still human. At the sight of countless snakes writhing before him, his skin crawled. He would rather die than take shelter there.

What’s more, the problem wasn’t simply whether or not to enter the den. The moment Zhou Tian appeared outside, all the snakes within suddenly poured out.

Though they posed no real threat, being surrounded by so many snakes was unsettling, even for someone as powerful as Zhou Tian.

As he wondered what the snakes intended, a massive, three-meter-long serpent—slightly larger than Zhou Tian himself—emerged from the den, escorted by the others.

No sooner had it appeared than the giant snake swallowed the magical beast whole. At its command, the smaller snakes fanned out around Zhou Tian and their king, forming an audience as if ready to watch a show.

“What’s this about?” Zhou Tian wondered. If they saw him as an intruder, they should have attacked him immediately. Yet they showed no sign of aggression—instead, they simply surrounded him. If they meant him no harm, why trap him here?

As Zhou Tian pondered, the giant serpent slithered forward, coiling before him and issuing a clear challenge.

“Don’t tell me… this fellow thinks I’m here to steal its throne?” Zhou Tian thought, speechless at the realization. The behavior of the snake king and the rest of the serpents left no doubt.

“Battle… victor is king!” came the slow, halting message from the snake king.

Despite its strength, the snake king’s intelligence was no greater than that of the earlier magical beast, due to the limitations of its reptilian brain. Hearing its challenge, Zhou Tian was left utterly exasperated.

“I have no intention of taking your throne. I’m just passing through. Can you tell your followers to let me go?” Zhou Tian explained.

But the snake king, lacking complex thoughts, only gave a reply that made Zhou Tian’s blood boil.

“No contest… submit or die!”

At the same time, the smaller snakes grew restless, as if preparing for a spectacle.

“It seems there’s no avoiding a fight today.” Though unfazed by the snakes, Zhou Tian had hoped to avoid trouble. With no other choice, he accepted the snake king’s challenge.

To Zhou Tian, he was the challenged party. But in the snake king’s eyes, Zhou Tian was a rival for its throne. Thus, though instinct warned it of Zhou Tian’s strength, the snake king waited for Zhou Tian to make the first move.

“I…” Zhou Tian was at a loss for words. Cursing the snake king inwardly, he prepared to attack, as his opponent showed no signs of aggression.

With a hiss, Zhou Tian spat a stream of venom at the snake king. Though snakes have some resistance to venom, Zhou Tian’s was not ordinary—it was a maximized, lethal toxin. Few creatures had ever survived it.

Had the snake king attacked first, it might have lasted a few exchanges. But standing firm and taking the venom head-on, it had no chance. In an instant, Zhou Tian’s poison ended it.

“King… king… king…”

The battle was over almost as soon as it began. As Zhou Tian slew the snake king with ease, the smaller snakes gathered around. Stopping a meter from him, they lined up according to strength and, to Zhou Tian’s utter disbelief, bowed three times in unison while chanting, “King! King! King!”

“Good grief, I’m actually the snake king now?”