The Earth Serpent sighed and continued, “The teacher meticulously divided a single ‘native’ into many parts, carefully labeled each one, and then distributed them to different ‘natives’ for consumption.”
“What a ‘meticulous’ approach,” Qiao Jiayin remarked sarcastically from the side.
“First, he discovered that those who ate the head could gain ‘divine powers.’ Then, he further divided a single head into multiple portions and repeated the experiment. Ultimately, he concluded that only by precisely consuming the eyeballs could a ‘native’ possibly achieve an ‘echo.'”
After finishing, the Earth Serpent glanced at Qi Xia and said, “I often wonder… why the ‘eyeballs’? The human body has so many organs, yet the vessel for each person’s ‘divine powers’ isn’t the most complex organ—the ‘brain,’ responsible for thought—nor is it the core organ that powers the body—the ‘heart.’ Instead, it’s the eyeballs. Even my teacher couldn’t answer this question.”
Hearing this, Qi Xia found it utterly laughable.
“Earth Serpent, do you truly believe in your teacher’s so-called ‘research’? In a place where science is irrelevant, someone is actually conducting research and arrogantly declaring ‘findings.'”
“You can’t say that… My teacher did make significant breakthroughs… This place does need ‘research’…”
“How utterly ridiculous,” Qi Xia sneered. “‘Echoes’ exist, ‘divine powers’ are real, ‘godly abilities’ manifest, ‘divine beasts’ soar, ‘time’ stands still, and the ‘dead’ revive—yet what puzzles the Celestial Serpent is ‘why divine powers are stored in the eyes.'”
“This…” The Earth Serpent faltered at Qi Xia’s question.
Qi Xia pressed on, “It’s as absurd as living in an era where airplanes fill the sky, yet scientists focus their latest research on ‘how to make raindrops hurt less when they hit your head.'”
“Even so, the questions you’re curious about have no answers,” the Earth Serpent countered. “My teacher was merely trying to unravel the mysteries of this place within his capabilities.”
“Are you saying… even the ‘Celestial Serpent’ considers these questions unsolved mysteries?” Qi Xia seized the key point in the Earth Serpent’s words.
“Yes,” the Earth Serpent nodded. “Even though my teacher is the most inquisitive among all the ‘Celestials,’ he still encounters countless enigmas.”
Qi Xia shook his head. “Perhaps his curiosity isn’t as strong as you think. He might just be a self-deluded pseudo-scholar.”
“But he did succeed,” the Earth Serpent insisted. “After uncovering the secret of the ‘eyes,’ my teacher soon faced another challenge.”
The Earth Serpent steered the conversation back to the Celestial Serpent’s research. Following the first experiment, the Celestial Serpent repeated the process several times.
However, the results changed. When he precisely extracted the eyeballs of ‘natives’ and fed them to others, he found that it didn’t guarantee the recipients would gain ‘divine powers’—it only slightly increased the odds.
After numerous experiments and follow-ups, the Celestial Serpent reached his final conclusion: the eyeballs had to come from a ‘native’ who possessed ‘divine powers’ at the time of becoming one. In other words, for a ‘native’ to gain an ‘echo,’ they had to consume the eyeballs of an ‘echoer.’
“I still don’t get it,” Chen Junnan frowned after listening. “Even if that old bastard figured out that ‘echoes’ are stored in the eyes… why turn you into… this?”
Chen Junnan pointed at the Earth Serpent’s body, and the latter turned around again, gazing at them with the eyes on the back of his neck.
“How is this not obvious…?” the Earth Serpent said. “My teacher reasoned that if ‘divine powers reside in the eyes,’ then implanting these eyes into our bodies could grant us those powers—as long as the implanted eyes ‘survived.'”
“That logic is both simple and utterly idiotic…” Chen Junnan gritted his teeth. “Even if the old bastard really thought that, shouldn’t he have implanted the eyes on the face?! How the hell would they ‘survive’ on the back?! Who’s the real idiot here—me or him?”
Qin Dingdong sighed. “The fact that you suggested ‘implanting them on the face’ already makes you pretty idiotic…”
“I…” Chen Junnan paused. “Damn it, that old freak has me so pissed I can’t think straight.”
“True,” the Earth Serpent nodded. “At first, my teacher did consider implanting the eyes on the face.”
“Huh?” Chen Junnan was stunned.
“But his research had to remain confidential,” the Earth Serpent explained. “If all of us ‘Serpents’ walked around with faces full of eyes, everyone would notice. So he chose more… discreet locations.”
With a bleak smile, he added, “Want to see the eyes on my thighs? Too bad none of them ‘survived’—just bloody holes left behind.”
“Hard pass…” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “Let’s keep this conversation clean.”
“Fine, brat,” the Earth Serpent nodded. “Though you make a fair point, my teacher’s ‘implantation’ was far from conventional…”
“What?”
“Remember the first ‘native’ who gained ‘divine powers’?” the Earth Serpent chuckled. “Guess what his ‘divine power’ was?”
The group exchanged glances before shaking their heads.
“‘Grafting,'” the Earth Serpent revealed. “A perfect ‘divine power.’ A cultivation technique meant for plants was now capable of transplanting organs directly.”
“That’s insane,” Chen Junnan muttered. “If this ‘grafting’ is so miraculous, why did all those eyes implanted in you die? If ‘natives’ are the strongest ‘echoers,’ shouldn’t it work every time?”
At this question, the Earth Serpent’s expression darkened again.
“That’s how I left a trail,” the Earth Serpent said hoarsely. “I didn’t need eyes implanted all over my body… but my teacher discovered that none of the eyes implanted in me survived… He uncovered my secret. From then on, I was plunged into hell.”
Qi Xia suddenly realized something. “You mean ‘rejection’?”
“Exactly,” the Earth Serpent nodded. “Qi Xia, I already ‘have’ something. How could I accommodate a second? Even if transplanted… how could it survive?”
“‘Rejection’?! What kind of bullshit logic is that?!” Chen Junnan interrupted. “Those old bastards up there have a ton of abilities each! Why don’t they reject?!”
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