I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel-Chapter 322

The snakes kept stealing glances at me, gauging my reaction.

“Shiiik...”

Those sharp, vicious things had turned into meek little lambs.

Well, I guess it made sense.

The Snake Queen isn’t called that for nothing.

Feels like I’m finally benefiting from having such a fine wife.

“Saaak...”

Actually, they weren’t just being docile—they looked afraid.

Not surprising. When she’s with me, Fasir softens up a lot, but if not? She’s cold enough to freeze your blood.

Honestly, I was kinda scared the first time we met.

A basilisk of that size blasting destruction beams from its mouth, turning you to stone with a single glance, and swinging a massive sword with her tail? Yeah. Anyone not afraid of that is lying.

“Ssak ssak.”

But seriously, how are they even making that pose?

“Ugh, why’d it have to be snakes?”

Baekrang spoke while flicking her tail.

Now that I think about it, she had a bit of history with the Snake Queen, didn’t she?

“...Saw her ages ago. Guess she’s still alive and kicking, huh?”

“Saaak...”

Two of the snakes flinched at Baekrang’s words.

【Red Serpent – LV70】

【Blue Serpent – LV72】

A red one and a blue one.

Both were pretty damn big.

Maybe about half the size of the Snake Queen?

“Gek-gek.”

They both seemed to have the presence of spirit beasts, but... they weren’t speaking?

“Why are you pretending you can’t talk?”

Huh?

I stared at Red and Blue Serpent.

The snakes that had been pressing their heads to the ground slowly lifted them and—

“Ah! Young Master, you’ve arrived! Red Serpent, at your service!”

“I greet you too! But uh, are you really a young master? I mean, if we’re going by age... maybe that fits?”

Red Serpent and Blue Serpent bowed with perfect manners.

So they could talk and were just keeping their mouths shut, huh?

“To think someone so noble would come to a shabby place like this...! I, Red Serpent, am truly honored. But Young Master... your wife, she—urk!”

Red Serpent suddenly stiffened.

“Ah, never mind! It’s nothing!”

Did you just turn to stone?

Well, that’s a relief.

Hoya, who I brought to guide us, turned out to be kind of useless—but these two might actually come in handy.

They’ve lived here a long time, so they should know the area well.

“B-But Young Master, what brings you to a backwater place like this? Don’t tell me the Madam sent you?”

“Gek?”

By “Madam,” they must mean the Snake Queen, right?

She didn’t send me or anything, though...

“Gek-gek.”

I looked over at Baekrang and gek-gekked at her.

She caught my meaning immediately, her tail flicking lightly.

“We came for something else. Not something you need to know. What are you two doing here, anyway? Is this where you ended up after separating from the Snake Queen? Letting humans use you like this?”

“Use us? Please, call it ‘cooperation.’”

Blue Serpent bristled at Baekrang’s phrasing.

“Cooperation?”

“Yes! Do you really think spirit beasts like us could be tamed by humans? It’s mutual. We work together.”

“Really? Then how come the guy who summoned you bolted at the first sign of trouble?”

“Saaak?”

The snakes turned their heads in unison at Baekrang’s jab.

The humans who’d been yelling from afar were now nowhere to be seen.

Once they saw the snakes bowing down to us, they must’ve fled.

I thought they’d put up a fight even without the snakes, but I guess not.

“Th-that bastard!”

Red and Blue Serpent scratched the undersides of their necks with their long tails like their collars were too tight.

They clearly knew those guys had run, but hadn’t really cared.

The Five Venoms Sect.

The real core of this checkpoint wasn’t those humans—it was these snakes.

Letting those humans go didn’t matter.

“Damn it, should’ve known when they tossed us one rat like we were dogs.”

“One rat?”

“Gabivalha. Bit bigger than a normal rat, but yeah—that’s all we got. Just one.”

Now the snakes were finally ranting about the unfair treatment they’d gotten.

“They called it cooperation, but all they gave you was one rat? That’s their idea of a deal?”

“Well, yes, of course it wasn’t ideal... but we’re generous, so we went along with it.”

Tch. Something’s off.

Was it just pride that kept them from saying the truth?

Baekrang narrowed her eyes too.

She realized they were hiding something.

Now, how do we get them to spill it?

Crack.

“Hiyaak! I’ll talk, okay?!”

Blue Serpent, briefly half-turned to stone, finally opened her mouth in a panic.

Seriously, the Snake Queen is amazing.

Not sure how she turns people to stone from this distance, but hey.

“S-So, after we split from the Snake Queen, we just wanted to live peaceful, separate lives...”

What’s up with your voice?

“Then some snake we’d never seen before showed up and said we should team up for a job...”

Is your tongue still stiff?

“It had these rainbow-colored scales, and its power was overwhelming... N-Not that I was scared! I just got curious and followed it, that’s all...”

You were scared.

“They told us to work with humans. And so, we poor snakes were tricked...”

So in summary: just when these snakes thought they were finally living their dream of independence, another snake appeared and roped them into some shady deal.

They got dragged off and handed to the Five Venoms Sect, where they were basically forced to work under crap conditions.

Then the greedy boss ran for his life as soon as things turned dangerous, leaving the workers behind.

“Huk... sob... we were just pawns...!”

I gave Baekrang a look.

Isn’t this something we could definitely take advantage of?

“Hey, snakes. You see this lizard here?”

“We see him, yesss.”

“What do you think he came here for?”

I struck the most intimidating pose I could manage.

Something like the stance of a seasoned martial arts master.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Well, judging by how he used the Snake Queen’s technique as soon as he arrived... maybe he’s here to destroy the Five Venoms Sect?”

“Exactly. If even the terrifying Snake Queen acknowledges this lizard, you figure he must have enough power to pull that off, right?”

“Indeed... If it’s the Young Master, he might even be able to deal with the Sect Master and that snake...”

“If someone just showed him the way, it’d be much easier. And if you joined him, you could return to the Mountains of Ten Thousand Beasts, filled with spiritual energy.”

The snake-serpents’ eyes widened.

“B-But still... going back to the Snake Queen’s jungle would be...”

Yeah, after declaring independence from the Snake Queen, crawling back to her domain would be awkward.

“It’s not the jungle. This lizard actually owns a whole mountain.”

“Pyaaak!”

That screech sounded just like Shik-Shik.

Is owning a mountain in this world like owning an apartment complex in Bundang?

“And the Snake Queen already has her own territory, right? It’s not like their domains overlap.”

“She stays in the jungle... and we get to live free on a mountain... with unlimited prey...?”

The snakes began fantasizing blissfully.

Of course, there was one tiny detail Baekrang was keeping to herself—the Snake Queen was about to give up her jungle and move into my territory.

Still, technically, no one had lied yet.

“B-Baekrang. What’s your relationship with the Young Master?”

Red Serpent asked urgently.

Baekrang paused at the question, flicked her tail, then spoke.

“Look closely at the fur on this lizard’s back. What color is it?”

“White?”

“And what color is my fur?”

“Baekrang, you...!”

The snakes started clapping with their tails, visibly moved.

What kind of emotional manipulation trick was that?

“You did it...! I finally understand what they mean when they say it’s good to have childhood friends... I owe it all to a wolf...”

“Young Master, I pledge my loyalty!”

Red and Blue Serpent—and all the other snake-serpents—naturally pledged themselves to the Gae Gak Sect.

When I’m alone with Baekrang later, I’m definitely giving her some praise.

Doing something this adorable? She really is the Gae Gak Sect’s elite second only to Bicorn.

Baekrang gave me a sly wink while wagging her tail.

I’m going to rub her belly until she tells me to stop.

Sure, it kind of feels like we’re scamming scam victims, but hey—they’re happy too.

How long are they going to live in fear of the Snake Queen?

I’ll be the one to change that.

I’ll show them that the Snake Queen isn’t scary at all—she’s actually a lovable sweetheart.

...Though that’ll stay a secret until she finishes moving into my territory.

You can enter freely, but leaving... not so easy, little snakes.

*

“Urgent news! The Fourth Venom Gate has been breached—!”

The Fourth Venom Gate.

One of the five gates of the Five Venoms Sect, representing the snake among their poison beasts.

It’s swarming with venomous serpents and guarded by powerful spirit beasts—nearly impossible to get through unless you’re a member of the sect.

The natural terrain of Namman combined with the pressure of the snakes made the gate a perfect early barrier to ward off intruders.

For such a gate to be breached... there wasn’t much precedent for that in the entire history of the sect.

“Hmph. So the Tang Clan still lives up to its name, rotten as it may be.”

The uninvited guest from the Tang Clan—Tang So-Yeong.

They’d heard of her before.

The Five Venoms Sect had even tried to plant spies and eliminate her out of fear of her exceptional talent.

“Yu Bin Poison Flower...”

While the spirit beasts she brought along played a role, the real reason the Fourth Gate fell was likely her power.

If the force the Sect Master feared was real, it was entirely possible she could take control of the snakes in an instant.

“Tch. The Fourth Gate was bound to fall eventually.”

Of course, it was still absurd to think someone could break through a gate alone.

But the Sect Master wasn’t overly concerned—because the Fourth Gate had already been weakened.

“Sssaaaak...”

She stroked the jaw of a massive snake.

Its body shimmered in iridescent colors.

“Yes. If you’d been here, that never would’ve happened.”

“Sssak...”

This snake was the true guardian of the Fourth Gate.

But while it was away in the main sect preparing for negotiations with the Beast Palace, the Tang Clan had attacked.

The version of the Fourth Gate they breached was barely operating at half capacity.

That’s the only reason she could still keep calm.

Impressive, sure—but that was it.

Hardly worth dealing with personally.

Capturing the Tang Clan girl and paying her a brief visit afterward would suffice.

“Sect Master. What should we do?”

“What’s their destination?”

“...They’re not retreating. As expected, it looks like they’re heading for the Second Venom Gate.”

The Second Venom Gate—Jidokmun.

“Jidokmun... Not ideal.”

Despite her words, Dan Hwa-Yeon’s face was relaxed.

“If we’re lucky, we’ll at least have corpses to recover.”

She wasn’t saying Jidokmun would fall.

She was certain it wouldn’t.

“Jidok,” from Jidok meaning “spider poison,” was the gate filled with the deadliest venomous arachnids in the sect.

Some were small but carried venom rivaling that of Jimjo.

Others were so huge and grotesque, just looking at them was enough to shatter a person’s mind.

Naturally, it was far more dangerous than the half-powered Fourth Gate.

Even Tang So-Yeong wouldn’t make it through.

And even if they did, the Third Gate—Byeokdokmun—would be next.

That place was crawling with venomous lizards of every kind.

And then there were still two more gates after that.

Even the Tang Clan wouldn’t get through unscathed.

With that in mind, Dan Hwa-Yeon calmly sipped her tea, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) steeped in poisonous herbs.

But there was one thing she hadn’t accounted for—

The existence of a completely abnormal lizard...

...beloved by every spider in the world.