Chapter 6: The Serpent’s Lair, Ten Thousand Venoms Howl

“In this world, the act of killing itself does not incur karmic burden.”
“Only when the slain creature bears resentment toward me does my karmic burden grow.”
“If the resentment lingers for a long time, the karmic burden accumulated increases, and may even outweigh the merit earned.”
“But if the creature feels no resentment toward me, or has no time to develop such feelings, then my karmic burden does not increase.”
“Therefore, if one seeks merit greater than karma, one must kill swiftly—so swiftly the creature can barely release a trace of resentment, or not at all!”
“Of course, if the slain creature feels gratitude for being killed by me, I would gain even more merit.”
“Yet, so far, I have not encountered such a case!”

Leaving the secret chamber, Lu Sheng gently collapsed some stones, burying the area beneath. Then, after crawling through several branching tunnels, he began capturing snakes and insects, experimenting with swift kills, slow kills, and torturous kills, carefully observing the changes in merit and karma.
These, then, were the conclusions he had drawn.

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“Similarly, if someone harbors hatred or resentment toward me, my karmic burden may grow.”
“The saying ‘he who is condemned by a thousand, dies without illness’ likely refers to one accumulating too much karma, thus inviting fatal calamity!”
With this realization, Lu Sheng gained a certain understanding of how merit and karma were acquired:
“In contrast, if someone feels gratitude or admiration toward me, my merit may increase as well.”
“These could be called human merit or human karma.”
“Killing for merit is different—it comes from the feedback of Heaven and Earth. By returning these creatures to their origin, I am rewarded by Heaven and Earth!”
“In this world, killing is a recognized and beneficial act; this merit can be called Heaven and Earth merit.”
“Conversely, if I commit acts harmful to this world, I may acquire Heaven and Earth karma.”

Human merit, human karma, Heaven and Earth merit, Heaven and Earth karma—this was Lu Sheng’s current classification of the merit and karma he could obtain.
When killing, one reaps Heaven and Earth merit, and human karma.
“These two kinds of merit and karma are not distinguished by the artifact, suggesting their effects are fundamentally the same.”
“Even if there is a slight difference, it makes no real difference to me.”

Thinking thus, Lu Sheng casually killed another hibernating snake. This time, he gained 1 point of merit.
“Hm! Ordinary snakes and insects generally provide only 1 point of merit, but those with demon python bloodlines offer more.”
“Perhaps this stems from differences in their essence—the more essence returned to Heaven and Earth, the greater the reward I receive!”
“Therefore, as my strength grows and I slay more powerful creatures, the merit I gain will surely increase!”

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Having understood the sources of merit and karma, Lu Sheng began to ponder their uses.
“Merit is nearly omnipotent in its uses; there’s no need to test further.”
“But what is karma good for?”
This question nagged at Lu Sheng’s heart. Merit had many uses and would inevitably be consumed.

Yet karma, for now, had no apparent use; if it continued to accumulate unchecked, excess karma might adversely affect him.
At that point, Lu Sheng would face real trouble!
“Perhaps I can experiment on other creatures!”
Unwilling to test on himself, Lu Sheng grabbed a snake and stunned it, considering the matter.

Seeing his karma had reached 59 points from earlier experiments, Lu Sheng focused his mind and instructed the artifact:
“Artifact, bestow 1 point of karma upon this snake!”
His karma attribute instantly dropped to 57 points. As for the snake, it remained unconscious, showing no sign of reaction.
“It can indeed be consumed!”
Finding a way to expend karma, Lu Sheng was overjoyed. If karma could be consumed, it was no longer a threat to him. More important now was to test its effects.
“Artifact, bestow another point of karma upon this snake!”
…
Continuing to bestow karma, Lu Sheng observed changes in the snake. After 1 point, the snake awoke from its stupor; after 5 points, it became savage; after more than 10 points, it lost all intelligence and attacked madly.

He captured several more snakes, expended all 59 points of karma, and, finding no further changes, killed them and paused his experimentation.
“The effect of karma seems to be amplifying negative traits in creatures, diametrically opposed to merit.”
“Though this could be useful in certain situations, it is far less valuable to me than merit.”
“Perhaps I have not yet discovered karma’s true purpose, but for now, to prevent excess karma from bringing disaster, I must periodically expend it on captured creatures and kill them afterward.”
“Other uses will have to be explored in the future!”
With this experiment, Lu Sheng temporarily decided on the use of karma.

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As he searched for a way out, Lu Sheng continued to slaughter snakes and insects. Watching his merit and karma steadily increase, he was suddenly reminded of playing games in his previous life—it felt as if he were slaying monsters for experience, and the snakes and insects were providing him with it.
“A snake pit in winter is truly a treasure trove for gathering merit!”
As his technique improved, Lu Sheng’s killing speed increased. Many snakes and insects, still dormant, were slain before they could awaken and harbor resentment.
As a result, Lu Sheng’s merit soared, while his karma remained stable within a certain range—whenever it exceeded this, he would promptly expend it on a snake, ensuring it would not affect him adversely.

However, this snake pit was not a slaughterhouse. As the number of dead snakes grew, those with strong instincts sensed the killing intent about him, and hid away when he approached.
This reduced his efficiency, and when he encountered a worthy opponent, his progress slowed even further.

With a sudden hiss, a slender purple snake, about a foot long and as thick as a thumb, evaded Lu Sheng’s short blade. It leapt, lightning-fast, and counterattacked.
“Clang!”
Lu Sheng struck at the purple snake, hearing a metallic sound as if hitting iron, his fingers numbed from the impact.
Following the force, the purple snake twisted midair and struck again. Had Lu Sheng not quickly blocked with his other hand and knife, he might well have been bitten.
“This speed, this body—this purple snake must be close to advancing a rank!”
Feeling the faint pain in his fingers, Lu Sheng pondered.

Among demon beasts, strength varies by rank. The first, second, and third ranks roughly correspond to human martial artists, grandmasters, and masters.
An advancing demon beast is generally one just entering the first rank.
Though Lu Sheng had slain many snakes, some even exotic, this snake was the strongest he had encountered. One careless move, and he could fall here!

“Hiss! Hiss!”
Lightning-quick, the purple snake and Lu Sheng exchanged several moves, neither gaining the upper hand.
Sensing Lu Sheng was not to be trifled with, the purple snake ceased attacking and instead followed closely, trailing behind him.

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“Clang!”
Once again, Lu Sheng spun and struck, but failed to kill it, feeling a sense of unease.
For some reason, the snake seemed to have singled him out—no matter what he did, it followed him relentlessly.
Lu Sheng tried several strategies to catch and kill the snake, but it saw through every trap and evaded.
“This won’t do!”
“This purple snake is small and fast, perfectly suited to this cramped pit.”
“I have strength, but can hardly hurt it.”
“If this continues, though merit replenishes me, I won’t succumb to fatigue and be ambushed by the snake, but I must constantly divide my attention, and my gains will be limited!”

With the purple snake interfering, Lu Sheng found it harder to kill as easily as before, and could only slay one or two at a time while keeping an eye on his opponent.
“Moreover, for the snake to see through my traps, it must either possess high intelligence or—”
“—have been taught!”
As this thought crossed his mind, Lu Sheng heard sounds coming from a nearby tunnel he had just passed.
In the dim light, he glimpsed a figure about three feet tall, crawling swiftly like a snake through the passage.
Though not as fast as the purple snake, it was far quicker than Lu Sheng!

“Hahaha! Young Lu, I didn’t expect you’d still be here!”
“Life must have treated you well these days—even my little Azhi couldn’t take you down!”
Before seeing the person, Lu Sheng recognized the voice immediately—it was so familiar he swiftly identified the speaker:
“Wan Gu Xiao!”
It was the very disciple of the Myriad Venoms Sect’s Yuan Gu Branch, the murderer of this body’s father, whose actions had forced Lu Sheng into hiding, using bone-shrinking arts to shrink his form and pursue him swiftly through the tunnel.