As Tu Xiao'an walked toward the third building, two figures appeared not far away—a man and a woman.

"Hailong, did you see that? Wherever that kid goes, the snakes automatically part for him. My little brother said it's impossible for there to be two masters of the Snake Race in this world, so how is he doing it?"

Bai Chuyan stared at the slender figure in the distance with a complicated expression.

Although she was a Human Awakener, even she had to be fully geared up to enter the campus now, her shapely figure hidden completely from view.

"I do not know," Ren Hailong replied. "But since he is a Martial Cultivator, he must have some special techniques."

A flicker of deep interest appeared in Bai Chuyan's eyes. "Have you sensed the Cat Spirit's aura yet?"

"No."

"Then let's follow him. He might lead us to it," Bai Chuyan said, as if acting on a hunch. A sly glint appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Tu Xiao'an reached the third floor and headed for the stairs. Suddenly, his pace slowed. He was no longer in a hurry. He leisurely followed the stairs upward, quietly sensing that special aura of the Snake Race.

The fourth floor, the fifth, the sixth...

Tu Xiao'an's feet came to an abrupt halt when he reached the eighth floor. Instead of continuing up the stairs, he turned a corner and stepped into a hallway.

The scene in the hallway was horrifying. Layers upon layers of venomous snakes occupied the entire corridor, as if it had been submerged in a flood.

The sheer number of snakes was staggering. There were over ten thousand of them in this single corridor—enough to make anyone's blood run cold.

The snakes were piled up, reaching as high as a man's thigh. But upon seeing this spectacle, Tu Xiao'an remained perfectly composed. In fact, a faint smile played on his lips.

'This must be the floor. There are more snakes here than anywhere else, packed so tightly they can barely move.'

"Scram..."

Tu Xiao'an glanced at the swarms of snakes filling the corridor and uttered a single, soft word.

In an instant, the terrified snakes surged like a tidal wave. There were too many of them and the corridor was too narrow for them to simply part. Instead, huge numbers of snakes launched themselves out of the building, raining down from the eighth floor with a rustling sound.

It was like a shower of falling leaves. Fortunately, there weren't many people on campus at the moment. Otherwise, they would have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of venomous snakes raining from the sky.

Anyone standing below would have been buried by the snakes in an instant.

It took a good ten minutes for the corridor to empty. Tu Xiao'an then strode forward, taking a leisurely stroll. There were many rooms along the hall: computer labs, science labs, and so on.

Tu Xiao'an passed one room after another without stopping. The aura of the Snake Race grew stronger, closer. It was right at hand.

Just then, Tu Xiao'an's steps halted in front of a laboratory. He stared intently at the door for a few moments, then reached out, grabbed the handle, and twisted.

The door was unlocked. It opened easily.

Inside, it was pitch-black and gave off an inexplicably sinister feeling. The air carried the distinct smell of lab chemicals.

But Tu Xiao'an had long been able to see in the dark as if it were day. The pitch-blackness did not affect his vision or his Insight in the slightest.

Without a moment's hesitation, Tu Xiao'an stepped into the laboratory. It was filled with all kinds of experimental equipment, along with numerous bottles and tubes of chemicals.

Tu Xiao'an gave them nothing more than a passing glance. He coolly scanned the room, certain that the Snake Race aura was coming from this very laboratory.

'But... why does this feel a little off?'

'If a Snake King more powerful than me were hiding here, it wouldn't just sit still after seeing me walk in.'

'Besides, that Snake Race aura is faint and intermittent. It's highly unusual.'

Suddenly, a white shadow shot up in the darkness, flashing past in an instant.

It was heading for the lab's exit.

"Trying to run?"

Tu Xiao'an glanced at the main door and narrowed his eyes. The door slammed shut.

The white shadow crashed into the door, then shot back and vanished, hiding itself once more.

'It's not a snake?'

Tu Xiao'an's eyes were filled with astonishment. The white shadow was incredibly fast, and he hadn't gotten a clear look at it, but its shape was definitely not that of a snake.

"Come on out. Stop hiding."

Somewhere in the darkness, a pair of eerie eyes lit up. They shone with a terrifyingly sharp intelligence and flickered with a crimson glint. They were a pair of blood-red eyes, and they stared fixedly at him, filled with boundless brutality and cruelty.

At that exact moment, a sharp cry echoed beside Tu Xiao'an's ear. The sound was like a mournful wail, filled with infinite resentment and malice. Just hearing it was enough to raise goosebumps all over his body.

Hm?

Tu Xiao'an frowned. The white shadow leaped high into the air and shot toward him, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Tu Xiao'an's reaction was just as fast. He grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it directly at the white shadow.

BOOM...

The chair exploded in mid-air. The white shadow let out a strange cry and landed heavily on a long table.

Seizing the opportunity, Tu Xiao'an tried to get a clear look at his attacker. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't a snake.

'A snake's long body is too easy to recognize.'

But the white shadow moved again, darting rapidly around the lab before attacking Tu Xiao'an from a tricky angle.

In mid-air, Tu Xiao'an saw a sharp claw glinting with a deadly light.

"Hmph... Still coming at me?" Tu Xiao'an snorted coldly. His pupils contracted as he softly uttered two words: "Thunder Shock."

He raised his hand, and a flash of light suddenly erupted in the pitch-black laboratory, striking the white shadow in a fleeting instant.

BANG...

The white shadow was blasted to the ground, finally subdued.

At the same time, Tu Xiao'an finally got a clear look at the creature, a surprised and dubious light in his eyes.

It was an incredibly cute cat, about the size of a normal housecat. Its body was covered in long, snow-white fur that draped over it like silk. It had a pair of small, pointed ears and faint golden markings on its head that made it look utterly unique.

'How can it be a cat?'

Tu Xiao'an was speechless. He had clearly been following the special Snake Race aura.

And yet, the aura emanating from this cat was growing more and more intense, thick with killing intent. Its blood-red eyes, as if mutated, were filled with savagery and brutality.

It was a stark contrast to its adorable appearance.

Those savage eyes were just like a venomous snake's. Once they fixed on you, they looked as if they yearned to sink their fangs into your flesh and inject their deadly venom.

'Where did I go wrong?'

Tu Xiao'an was about to search for the special Snake Race aura again, but just then...

"AWOO..."

The cat, which had been dazed by the Thunder Shock, now snapped out of it and let out a ferocious, defiant roar at Tu Xiao'an.

It was a terrifyingly vicious sound.

Its blood-red eyes grew even more sinister, emitting a demonic glow. But what was truly unbelievable was the incomparably cold and terrifying aura now radiating from the cat's body.

Tu Xiao'an's eyes went wide in disbelief as he exclaimed, "This is impossible!"

The cold aura radiating from the cat—wasn't that the special Snake Race aura he had been searching for?