As the giant serpent swallowed the fruit, after a few seconds, all the toads retreated, and a plume of white smoke suddenly erupted from the serpent's body. It looked like the steam rising when the lid is lifted off a pot of steaming mantou buns.

(Slender?) Through the rising white vapor, we could see the black serpent's scales peeling away, and the mottled wounds on its body healing at a visible rate. This bizarre phenomenon stunned both me and Number 12; we never imagined such a thing existed in this world.

We couldn't fathom what that fruit we just witnessed truly was. Still filled with doubt, we continued to stare intently at the giant serpent, as its body began to change once more.

The serpent’s originally triangular head shape started to morph; its snout gradually elongated, and its nostrils lifted higher. Simultaneously, two lumps, the size of human heads, sprouted from the top of the serpent's head.

Most strangely, four streams of bloody liquid suddenly emerged from the sides of the serpent's body, and something resembling bone grew out from the pooling blood. Seeing the resulting shape, which looked like chicken claws, I couldn't help but gasp sharply.

Before I could utter my own speculation, Number 12 shouted from a distance, "This... this is transforming into a dragon!

This black snake has truly become a spirit!" While Number 12 was speaking, the flesh and muscle growing from the sides of the black serpent’s body were gradually being covered with skin. However, because the four newly grown legs were too small, the entire body appeared somewhat deformed.

Furthermore, the two fleshy lumps on the black serpent's head had not developed into proper dragon horns; they remained merely two bulging spheres of flesh, looking incomparably strange. Crucially, with its body in this state, the giant serpent’s transformation seemed to halt.

In other words, it was frozen into this thing that was neither snake nor dragon. At this point, a legend suddenly came to my mind: it is said that dragons evolve from snakes and carp.

Dragons transformed from snakes are called Feilong (Flying Dragons); though they lack wings, they can soar through the air. Dragons transformed from carp, however, must pass the Dragon Gate and become Jiao (flood dragons), capable only of commanding rivers and seas, but unable to fly.

And no dragon is formed in a single instant. After achieving a rudimentary dragon form, an internal core (a Dragon Pearl?) appears within them, requiring constant absorption and expulsion of this core through cultivation to truly become a dragon.

This process must take countless years, at least a thousand, one would suppose. But once an animal possesses an internal core, its lifespan becomes extremely long.

It is said that back in the nineties in rural Guangdong, a fisherman once caught a freshwater carp approximately three hundred catties in weight and over ten meters long. Not long after the carp was brought ashore, it died, and within its remains, a round stone bead, polished dark and gleaming, was discovered.

The farmer had no idea what this bead was and casually tossed it outside the house. That night, however, when the farmer went to the outhouse, he noticed a mysterious green light emanating from the tall grass in front of the house.

Thinking it might be some treasure, he pushed aside the grass and found the stone bead. Surrounding the bead were several strange snakes with prominent comb-like growths on their heads.

Seeing the farmer approach, they immediately raised their heads, adopting the posture of roosters about to attack. The farmer had heard that cockscomb snakes were transformed monsters, all highly venomous; a single bite meant death within three steps.

Frightened out of his wits, the farmer stumbled backward repeatedly. At that moment, strange, drawn-out cries echoed from the roof.

The farmer looked back and saw their family's big black cat of twenty years perched there. This black cat was fat and sluggish, its fur dull, usually sleeping all day, practically at the age of just eating and waiting to die.

But unexpectedly, the black cat now appeared vibrant; its fur stood on end, its eyes glowed, and it leaped effortlessly from the roof to the ground, pouncing upon the cockscomb snakes. The farmer almost cursed—the cat was lazy and greedy, allowing the mice to nearly move the house, yet never catching one, but now it was so spirited.

However, realizing the black cat was coming to his aid, and knowing that a cat over twenty years old could also be considered a spirit, he held his tongue. The black cat drove off the several cockscomb snakes almost without effort, then nudged the stone bead toward the farmer, as if signaling that this was a good thing and shouldn't be tossed around carelessly.

The farmer patted the cat’s head in appreciation, picked up the stone bead, and placed it on the table near the window. At that time, electricity had not yet fully reached the rural areas.

When placed there, the stone bead made even the candlelight seem dim, so the farmer gave it no further thought, using it simply as a decoration by the candle. It seemed the farmer was quite ignorant; anyone with a little knowledge would surely have recognized the bead as a luminous pearl and sold it.

From that day on, while the farmer worked during the day, the black cat played with the stone bead at home. In less than a month, the farmer noticed that the black cat's fur color was slowly improving, becoming slick and shiny.

Moreover, the cat seemed to have regained its former vigor, occasionally managing to catch a mouse. He mentioned this oddity to a distant relative who possessed more worldly wisdom.

The relative told the farmer that the cat was merely experiencing a deathbed resurgence (huiguang-fanzhao); because the farmer had kept it for so long, it had to repay his kindness before passing. The improvement in its coat was just an illusion; the cat would die soon.

Hearing this, the farmer was deeply saddened. He himself had no wife, and for twenty years, he had been accompanied by this black cat.

Although it was usually lazy, the farmer had never blamed it and continued to feed it well. This demonstrated the deep bond between the farmer and the cat.

Upon hearing the news of the black cat’s impending death, the farmer grew sad while simultaneously preparing even better and more plentiful food for it. As expected, less than half a month later, the cat died in the farmer’s home.

The farmer was heartbroken and buried the cat beneath a large tree in his backyard, the very spot where the black cat had been born years earlier. As a token of his affection, the farmer buried the stone bead—which seemed a treasure—along with the cat.

But not long after, one midnight, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a massive bolt struck the tree in the backyard, waking the farmer from his dream. The farmer had been having a wonderful dream where the cat had come back to life and told him, "You will marry soon, and you will have ten years of prosperity, earning enough wealth for three generations of your descendants." Just as the black cat finished speaking, the thunder woke the farmer.

Seeing the brilliant firelight in the backyard, he hurriedly grabbed a water bucket and rushed to put out the blaze. When he reached the backyard, he realized the thunderbolt had not struck the tree but the grave of the black cat beneath it.

The earth had been blasted open, flames burned around the edges, and both the black cat and the stone bead were gone from the pit. The farmer looked around and saw a dark silhouette agilely jumping over the backyard wall, looking very much like the black cat.

However, the shadow vanished in a flash. The farmer rubbed his eyes and muttered that he must have imagined it; the cat was long dead.

Fearing the fire would spread to the tree and burn down his yard, he rushed to extinguish the flames. After the fire was put out, the farmer accidentally discovered an earthenware jar in the cat's grave, split open by the lightning.

Upon opening the jar, he found it contained three gold ingots. The farmer was overjoyed.

Though he didn't know which dynasty they belonged to, this was a considerable fortune. After obtaining this wealth, the farmer did not spend it recklessly but continued his simple, modest life.

A day later, the relative who had given him the earlier advice came calling, mentioning that raising edible grasshoppers had recently become profitable, but he lacked initial capital and proposed a partnership with the farmer. The farmer trusted his relative completely, sold the gold ingots, and they jointly established a grasshopper farm.

Three years later, the farmer and his relative were known locally as the Grasshopper Kings, driving Mercedes-Benzes, having bought a villa in the city, married beautiful wives, and achieved a good life. At this point, the farmer consulted a fortune teller and learned the truth: everything the cat had told him was real.

The cat had obtained the internal core from the great carp, and because it had reached an advanced age, it had become a Cat Immortal. The lightning strike that year was a heavenly punishment for the Cat Immortal; all animal spirits aspiring to cultivate into spiritual entities must face divine chastisement.

However, surviving this ordeal leads to true apotheosis. Because the farmer had buried the cat beneath the tree, the heavenly thunderbolt had not directly struck the grave, allowing the Cat Immortal to evade calamity.

And because of the prior nurturing kindness, the cat repaid such a great debt of gratitude. The farmer was deeply moved.

Although his old rural home had long been demolished and replaced by a factory, he purchased the plot where the cat was buried, erected a memorial tablet for the Cat Immortal, and came to pay respects annually. From that time on, the local place name was changed to "Cat's Grave." I read all of this in an obscure, anonymous tabloid, mostly treating it as a mere story at the time.

But the report listed some genuine place names and people, making one wonder if it was true or false. Later, I searched for it on Baidu Maps, and indeed, such a place name exists.

And the tycoon who made his fortune raising grasshoppers in that area did indeed come from a farming background; his name is best left undisclosed, but it is true he only married at forty and was extremely fond of cats. Later, this tycoon shifted his focus to real estate and is now worth over a billion.

I recounted this long story only to illustrate that whether it is a cat or a snake, obtaining an internal core allows one to cultivate into a spiritual entity. The fruit just swallowed by the giant serpent looked very similar to the legendary internal core; it might even be the same thing.

These toads and the serpent were clearly all vying for this object to achieve their apotheosis. Now that the giant serpent has seized it, it might trigger a period of bloody upheaval.

As I pondered this, the pillar I was standing on suddenly shook violently. I looked down and was so terrified that my soul nearly fled my body.