Martial Saint with Passives

His Mental Power flowed like quicksilver, pouring into the snake’s brain unimpeded!

A wondrous sense of connection was instantly established.

Jiang Che felt as if he had instantly gained a cold, simple extension to his consciousness.

The spotted snake, originally full of vigilance and hostility, suddenly relaxed.

It raised its head, slowly slithered over, and affectionately rubbed its cold body against Jiang Che’s fingers.

’Coil up,’ Jiang Che commanded in his mind.

The spotted snake immediately and obediently curled into a coil.

’Straighten.’

The snake’s body slowly straightened out.

’Go to the doorway, do a loop, and come back.’

The spotted snake executed the command without hesitation, slithering to the doorway to turn in a circle before returning to Jiang Che’s feet.

’It really is obedient.’ Jiang Che nodded.

But when Jiang Che tried to make it do more complex things—like fetching a specific object or performing more delicate actions—

its response was much slower.

’I’ve heard snakes have very low intelligence. It probably can’t understand...’

Then, he began to test another function.

’Take over its body!’

With a mere thought, the scene before his eyes instantly changed!

Jiang Che felt that he now had two perspectives in his mind at once!

One was his own normal field of vision.

The other was the low, blurry, ground-hugging perspective of a snake!

At the same time, his new tongue constantly flicked in and out, flooding him with a rich stream of scent-based information!

He controlled the snake’s body, making it slither and writhe. It felt as natural and smooth as controlling his own limbs!

Next, Jiang Che tried to read the snake’s memories.

Fragmented, blurry images immediately flashed through his mind:

ambushing a mouse in the grass, devouring a frog by a pond, curling up in a cold cave during winter...

’Ugh... that’s a bit disgusting.’

Jiang Che quickly cut off the memory feed.

He wasn’t quite used to the primitive memories of devouring prey alive.

Having finished his experiment with the snake, he turned his attention to the crow that was tied by its feet with a thin string, flapping about restlessly.

He activated [Pupil Seal] again, attempting to drive the Soul Seal into the crow’s head.

This time, however, his Mental Power seemed to hit an invisible barrier and was gently repelled.

At the same time, he felt a slight prickling sensation between his eyebrows as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

’Hm? It failed?’ Jiang Che rubbed his forehead. The dizziness quickly subsided.

’Is my Mental Power too weak to control the crow, or have I reached my control limit?’

He then activated [Pupil Seal] on the spotted snake again, this time to actively sever the Soul Seal connection between them.

The feeling of perfect control, as if directing his own limbs, vanished without a trace.

The spotted snake on the ground shuddered, shaking its head left and right in a daze.

It then instinctively sensed a threat, quickly recoiled, and reverted to its former cold, vigilant state.

Jiang Che used the skill on the crow again.

This time, there was no resistance. His Mental Power successfully imprinted itself within the crow!

’Just as I thought.’

Jiang Che understood. At his current Realm, it seemed he could only maintain one [Pupil Seal] at a time.

"CAW!" the crow squawked, its frantic struggling coming to a halt.

It tilted its head, looking at Jiang Che with its beady black eyes, which now held a docile, submissive look.

Jiang Che untied the rope binding it and issued a series of commands.

The crow was clearly more intelligent and could understand more complex instructions.

For example: "Fly to this height," "Go peck that tree branch," and "Bring me that small stone."

Next came taking over its body.

The vision from controlling the crow was significantly clearer than the snake’s!

Not only was the crow’s eyesight better, but it could also perceive far more colors and details than the human eye!

The rumored tetrachromatic vision of birds was indeed far superior to that of humans!

Jiang Che felt like he was seeing the world for the first time all over again!

Controlling the crow’s flight and looking down at the ground from high above was a novel experience!

He maneuvered the crow through a few agile laps around the courtyard, extremely satisfied.

Finally, he looked at the mutt tied to a table leg, trembling slightly.

He canceled the crow’s imprint and tried to use [Pupil Seal] on the dog.

His Mental Power reached out, but he felt a distinct sluggishness and resistance.

The mutt whimpered and cowered on the floor.

A slight, sharp pain shot through Jiang Che’s temples.

The imprinting had failed again.

’It seems this dog’s Soul is stronger than the crow’s and the snake’s. I can’t control it with my current Mental Power...’

Jiang Che rubbed his temples, but he wasn’t discouraged.

The backlash was minor, almost negligible.

After weighing his options for a moment, he made his choice.

The snake wasn’t very useful and the dog couldn’t be controlled. Only the crow, which could fly, had excellent vision, and was intelligent enough, was a suitable scout.

He gave both the spotted snake and the mutt to Cheng Yuzhi to dispose of as he saw fit.

He kept only the black-feathered crow for himself.

He looked at the crow perched quietly on his arm and issued his first and most important command:

’Fly out and move cautiously within the Sect. Pay special attention to Vice Sect Leader Xie Songnian’s courtyard. If you see him leave, follow him from a distance. Stay hidden, and keep me updated on his movements. If you sense danger, flee immediately. Your survival is the top priority!’

The crow gave a hesitant nod, as if only partially understanding. It then flapped its wings, flew out the window, and soon became a tiny black speck that vanished into the sky above the Cangyun Sect.

Jiang Che watched it go, the tension coiling in his chest loosening slightly.

With these new eyes in the sky, he would be able to learn much about Xie Songnian’s movements!

This way, he could plan ahead and take precautions!

He was still very weak compared to Xie Songnian, who was at the Fifth Layer of the True Master Realm.