The problem of his Spirit Power being drained away had finally ended. Either the transformation to gain the properties of the Serpent had helped out, or the process of starting the transformation seemed to save him. Now he had a treasure inside his body, yet he had no idea what he could do with it. Thankfully, it seemed stable within his body he was wasn’t about to start messing around and ruining things. Instead he merely gave it a cursory scan with his spirit sense. Although this action had caused the problem in the first place, he had faith that his new body would be safe. This faith came from the fact that his spiritual sea no longer had a roiling whirlwind of fog within it. The merging with the Serpent had cleared his head.

The immediate issue solved, Sage made sure nothing else was left behind before swimming out from the now empty Well and checking the array formations. Looking around, he noticed that the barrier that had been holding back the dark water seemed to be thinning out. Even more surprisingly, the dark water had changed colors. It used to be black as oil, yet now it was merely a muddy brown. The massive swarms of spirits that had been circling around the barrier had dispersed. Having already copied down the array around the Well, Sage made one last check to ensure he didn’t miss anything before swimming out of the barrier and into the dark waters once more. The strangest part was looking down to notice that his lower half was a giant snake tail yet it felt as familiar to him as his legs had. He still had all the memories and experiences of the life of a Serpent and swimming in an undulating snake style was now second nature.

Soon he reached the surface and poked his head out of the water. Looking around the room, Sage realized it looked exactly the same as before. Nothing stood out as being changed under his scrutiny save that there were far more of the spirits rising up out of the water and floating around the room than before. Leaving the water, Sage didn’t know how much time had passed so he decided to meet back up with the Ding Zhen and the other four inner court disciples. Glancing down, he noticed that his trousers, undergarments, and shoes had been completely destroyed when he grew this new serpent tail. The robes hanging from his shoulders were still intact but only the waistband of his trousers had not been shredded into tatters. Seems I lost that set of boots, I hope they weren’t that great. Oh well, as long as I still have my beast bag, storage bag, and storage ring I’ll be okay. Good thing I didn’t put on any of the full outfits.

Slithering over towards the door, Sage was surprised to find that it was closed. When he’d first entered the door had stayed wide open and he hadn’t heard it shut while he was still above the dark water. Curious. It must have closed on its own, or someone shut it while I was changing. How long was I down there anyway?

Sage traced some of the array symbols and added Qi to them in the way he had before and smiled as he saw the circular stone door roll open again. Glad that he wasn’t trapped inside, Sage climbed up the staircase, marveling at how simple it was to slither his way up the stairs. It was quite a different experience climbing stairs as a snake compared to when he had legs. It seemed to take less effort, but at the same time it was like walking over a grate barefooted. He could feel the corner of each and every stair pushing against the underside of his snake body. It didn’t hurt, nor did it even itch as Sage’s new snake body was many times stronger than his human one. It was merely a strange sensation that hadn’t ever felt before. Even the Twin Ringed Serpent’s memories were clear of such a sensation as the Serpent had lived most of its life below ground and the few stairs it had experience were at a different scale. Sage’s snake body was at least four times wider than the Serpent’s had been.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Sage moved back towards the throne room and didn’t run into anyone on the way. Confirming that things were the same as he left, he hoped that the others of the Sect were still here. Not wanting to get lost in the rest of this mystery compound, Sage retraced his steps in order to return to the entrance. It wasn’t until he took the last turn, only a hundred yards from the entrance door, did Sage meet another person. Smiling with relief as he recognized the beautiful woman at the front of the crowd. She had a sky blue ribbon tying back her hair and looked like she was in her late thirties, despite being hundreds of years old. Bowing to the group, Sage said, “Greetings Peak Master Zhen. Forgive me for my absence. As you can see, I had a bit of a mishap.”

He had suddenly grown far more cunning and grown himself a smoother tongue. This new appearance was astounding but at least he still wore his Holy Flame Sect robes with the many profession badges on the front. Each badge had a symbol in the center to indicate profession and stars beneath and around the symbols to denote rank. Not many people walked around with ten badges on their chest like Sage did. Most people only wore the badge of their main profession and didn’t bother with the badges of their supporting professions. Just like how people didn’t list their grade schools on professional resumes, it would be silly for a six star Chef to go around flaunting a one star Farmer badge and a two star Butcher badge. Sage was the anomaly as he had so many badges that their quantity rather than quality was his most admirable trait.

The group on the other side was shocked at this creature in front of them. At first they had been confused to see a Naga but then put up their guard further when the Naga claimed to be someone familiar. It was only after examining the badges, and after asking a few identity confirming questions did they relax their guard. At the same time, they were all very astounded by his appearance. Demonic Beasts could gain human like intellect as they grew more powerful and high ranking ones could transform into a human form. As such it wasn’t extremely uncommon to meet strange tribes or peoples that carried Demonic Beast bloodlines, many of them were even some of the dominant powers in the world.

Sage was a shocking sight now. Completely hairless, his skin was now replaced with small scales the same shade as tanned skin. His teeth were all sharply pointed and that didn’t even include his folded fangs. His skull had shortened and elongated which when combined with his flattened nose it made him look distinctly reptilian. Even worse were his eyes that had lost all of their whites. The black sclera led to colored irides and then black pupils again. The now violet iris of his eye was like a hollow ring on a sea of darkness.

“How long have I been in here, and what has happened to the others?”

Sage asked the Elders only to learn it had been less than a day since they first opened these Hidden Grounds. The five he’d arrived with were at the back of this group and he learned that they had already explored the whole place and found three doors that were locked with unique arrays of which one seemed to be the room he was in. After explaining the deadly lake he found within, Sage left the ‘Eye of the World’ out of his story.

“I battled with a Twin Ringed Soul Serpent and then some strange liquid splashed on us. I woke up just a few minutes ago in this state.”

He didn’t want to explain any more than he had to. Having had his nature changed he instinctively realized that surprise was the greatest weapon. Keeping his true strength hidden, and hiding his wealth were both sorts of surprise. Anything that could be concealed could act as hidden weapons and help to ensure his safety in the future. At the same time he would need to reveal many things that others would wish to hide, creating a contrast that could build him a reputation as someone open, honest, and transparent. The best liar was the person everyone thought was trustworthy.