["Sorry, the system is busy. Please try again ter!"]

  "NO! I choose NO!" Xiao Long tio shout.

  ["Sorry, the system is busy. Please try again ter!"]

  [..."Three," "Two," "One."]

  ["Since you did not make a choi time, the system has automatically activated the Stro Demo System for you!"]

  Xiao Long: "..."

  "What kind of nonsense is this? Giviwo options just to mess with me?" Xiao Long cursed in frustration.

  Sihe system was already activated, Xiao Long had no choice but to accept it. Once he breaks through to the Martial Emperor, no, the Demon Emperor realm, he must catch this troublemaker and whip its corpse.

  ["Pyer Xiao Long, wele to the Stro Demo System!"]

  Name: Xiao Long.

  Race: Bck Spine Snake (Low-level Demo).

  Level: 2, level requires 500 experience.

  Soul: Great Perfe of the Emperor Realm (Frozen).

  Cultivatiohod: Azure Dragon Tome (First Level).

  Skills: None.

  Gold s: 0.

  ["Ding! Would you like to cim the beginner's gift pack?"]

  [The gift pack tains: 1000 experience points, 1000 gold s, a special item "Midas Touch," and a skill book "Beast Taming."]

  ["Midas Touch" Description: Instantly verts wild monsters within 5 levels higher than your own into gold s. The number of s is determined by the monster's level. Casting range is 10 meters, cooldown is 24 hours. (Upgradeable)]

  "Beast Taming" Description: tame any demo not higher than your level, iive on wild monsters, cooldown is 15 minutes, tame up to three. (Upgradeable)

  "Yes." Xiao Long was too zy to choose no, knowing it would be useless.

  ["Ding! gratutions on reag level 3! You need 300 more experience for the level!"]

  ["gratutions on learning the new skill 'Beast Taming,' level one."]

  ["gratutions on obtaining the special item 'Midas Touch,' level one."]

  Xiao Lo a few hings appear in his mind: an iory with a golden hand beled "Midas Touch," and a skill bar with the detailed description of Beast Taming.

  When Xiao Long looked inside his body at the demon core, he was surprised to find that its diameter had reached three timeters, indig he was now a third-level demo, and his strength had signifitly increased, firming his breakthrough to a third-level demo!

  "Level 3, third-level demo, could it be that this system isn't messing with me?"

  Iing.

  He returo the , where his two brothers were unharmed, gathered around the massive bake's corpse, unmoving, as if m.

  "Strange, Bck Spine Snakes are cold-blooded creatures, the lowest level of demo species, born without emotions. Could it be due to a bloodliation?"

  Xiao Long uzzled, looking at the bake's corpse, feeling a twinge of pain in his heart, along with an overwhelming urge to "kill," which quickly sobered him.

  It seemed he was indeed affected by the Bck Spine Snake's bloodline, being cruel and murderous, starting to hate humans.

  "This bloodline is peculiar!" Xiao Long immediately realized this, as it could influence his will as a Martial Emperor, indig the bloodline's extraordinary nature.

  No point in dwelling on it now; he would deal with the bloodline issue when he became stronger.

  He crawled over to his two brothers, and with a thought, began to use the skill "Beast Taming."

  Acc to the skill's description, he could tame any creature not higher than his level. He first used the Beast Taming skill on the slightly rger bake.

  ["gratutions! You have successfully tamed a Bck Spine Snake, level 1, current tamed beasts: 1/3."]

  After the system prompt, the Bck Spine Snake lifted its head, looking at Xiao Long with bright eyes. Xiao Long was surprised to find a sliver of soul unication had formed between them.

  "Amazing!" Xiao Long had to admit, the Beast Taming skill was indeed unique.

  After fifteen minutes, when the Beast Taming skill's cooldown was over, he used it on the sed s reacted the same way, lifting its head towards Xiao Long, f a sliver of soul unication.

  "Haha!" Xiao Long was overjoyed.

  " you uand me?" Xiao Lo a mental signal.

  "We !" came the simultaneous reply from both sides.

  "Damn!" Xiao Long was astonished.

  With this, couldn't he teach them cultivatiohods?

  Xiao Long thought about it. The Azure Dragon Tome was extremely plex; even if they uood, they might not be able to practice it. After some thought, he decided to teach them a high-grade Yellow-level cultivatiohod, "Subdue Dragon Art," which was highly suitable for snakes, along with a matg high-grade Yellow-level body refining martial art, "Subdue Dragon Battle Body."

  With this cultivatiohod and martial art, they would be nearly invincible among their peers and could fight against third-level demos or humans at the third level of Body Refining.

  "I'll call you Da Hei and Er Hei. I'm your boss. Practice this cultivatiohod and martial art well; it will greatly be you."

  "Yes, boss!" the two snakes respoheuro the o begin practig the first level of the Subdue Dragon Art.

  Xiao Long, in a good mood, left them alone and wandered off into the distance, wanting to find an opportunity to test the power of Midas Toud ask someone about the current situation on the ti...

  ***

  "Where did Zhang He and the o? Why aren't they back yet?"

  In a clearing in the woods, two men and a woman were sitting by a campfire, roasting a wild boar. They were all wearing robes with red Fire Cloud patterns, belonging to the same sect as the two people Xiao Long had killed earlier.

  "They caught a third-level Bck Spine Snake, probably went to find its ."

  "It's just a few worthless snakes, how much could they be worth?" the haughty woman in the middle muttered.

  This woman in-looking but had an astonishingly wide figure, as wide as two people, with a face full of fat, resembling a wriggliball from a distance, estimated to weigh over 300 pounds.

  "Sister Xue is right, we must teach them a lessohey return." The two men quickly fttered her, with one even slig a piece of wild b to offer to Xue Yi.

  Though Xue Yi was ugly, her status was extremely noble, being the biological daughter of an enfort elder of the Fire Cloud Sect. She oiled and domineering, destroying anything she disliked, especially hating womeier than her, often killing or disfiguring them. Maiful women had died at her hands, and everyone feared her wrath.

  "After eating, go find them."

  "Yes!" The two men dared not object.

  At this moment, footsteps rustled nearby, and a man and a woman in white robes passed by. Seeing Xue Yi and her panions, their faces ged, and they quickly lowered their heads, pretending not to see them, hastening their steps to leave.

  "Stop!" Xue Yi shouted.

  The two halted.

  "Seeing me and not greeting, trying to sneak away, did you do something guilty?" Xue Yi's malicious eyes narrowed into slits.

  Who didn't know of Xue Yi's notorious reputation? Cold sweat broke out owo, cursing their bad luck for entering such a demon.

  "Sorry, we were in a hurry to get home and didn't see Miss Xue. Please five us," the young man bowed.

  "Heh, I don't think so. Two of my people are missing, and I suspect you killed them," Xue Yi accused without any evidence, pg the bme on them.

  ***

  Xiao Long was wandering in the bushes when the system suddenly alerted him.

  ["System Alert: 300 meters northwest, five wild monsters detected."]