Hidden genius: Black belly snake

"Three of our strong generals have been put down like animals, Prince Xander."

"We deserve an explanation for this. We need a direct audience with his majesty, the Emperor, at the least."

"Or else don't blame us for the consequences."

The dwarven emissary Billanda yelled, with his saliva spewing out along with his heavy words.

The twenty elven generals from the crown prince's personal army all had grave looks on their faces.

No one has dared to talk to their tyrannical crown prince in this manner for decades.

The man's frosty eyes had a pensive look in them as he scanned the dwarf throwing a tantrum in front of him.

"So…" The crown prince paused, tilting his head and resting it casually on his palm.

"You have decided to directly accuse us without any proof?" His lips curled upwards in amusement, not matching the seriousness of his threatening tone.

"Ah… I… No… That's not what I meant." Dwarven General Billanda stuttered.

He squirmed under the full brunt of the Crown Prince's unbridled killing intent.

Even though the Saint realm and Demi-God realm were merely one step apart, the two couldn't be compared.

The Dwarven General Billanda was still in the Saint realm and shivered in front of the Demi-God realm Crown Prince.

He instinctively knew that he had spoken too much in front of the cold-blooded mad man.

"I apologize, your highness. Our brethren's untimely demise greatly saddens this humble General. This is a huge blow to our clan."

Xander nodded. He didn't dwell too much on the words thrown out in anger.

"Indeed, Emissary Billanda. I am deeply saddened by this incident as well. I am appalled that such an unfortunate tragedy had occurred right under our collective watch."

"But I promise you, the elves are not involved in this. You can rest assured. I will find out who was responsible for this and send the enemy your way, imprisoned in chains."

The dwarf looked at the crown prince hesitantly. But he could only grit his sharp teeth and accept this outcome.

After all, Xander was correct. Their brethren had been killed right under their noses, assassinated with extreme precision.

Neither dwarves nor the elves would benefit from such a tragedy.

Only someone who wanted to poke a hole in their delicate balance would benefit from such a thing.

If it was one thing Billanda hated more than the arrogant elves, it was a cowardly backstabbing act such as this.

"I trust your words, your highness. We will take our leave now."

The dwarven emissary, General Billanda, followed by his companions left the royal court in anger and frustration.

Xander pinched the space between his eyebrows as he sighed. Things were starting to become chaotic.

He addressed his generals and left the royal court in long strides.

"Hmmm… I might have to concoct a batch of high-grade pills to personally compensate for this incident." He murmured as he walked back to his private chambers.

While he was having a bad day, his consort was surprisingly having a great day.

The herbs did not take long to digest and Tang Yue soon received the quest completion notifications.

Ding. Quest completed

Ding. 50 Experience points have been rewarded

Tang Yue was about to summon her status screen and check her upgraded attributes, when suddenly a loud noise erupted from her behind, followed by a foul odor.

Cough… Cough… No one was around.

So the embarrassed snake woman ignored the pungent transgression.

But she did wonder if treating her body like some sort of garbage dump was finally getting to her.

As if to answer her troubling question, a system notification chimed in, reminding her that she was not completely alone.

Ding. Congratulations. Body tempering successful. Silver-tier mortal body stage has been achieved.

Ding. 200 Experience Points have been rewarded

Tang Yue blinked and stared at the notifications. "Body tempering huh? Interesting."

"So the pungent gas release earlier is probably just minor impurities being expelled from my body." Tang Yue stood up from her seated position.

She stretched her limbs and jumped up and down, but didn't really feel any difference in her overall strength.

She absent-mindedly stared at her thick body and pondered.

The most common method to temper one's body is by consuming marrow and bone cleansing pills.

She has even heard rumors about high-grade cultivation techniques that can temper one's body.

But this is the first time, she is hearing about tempering one's body by chewing on some herbs.

"System, can you explain this process?" She asked, trying her luck to get some information from the stingy perverted thing.

[Yes. Dumb snake. Since you lack the capability to understand things on your own, I will spell it out for you.]

Tang Yue wanted to punch the damned thing, but she patiently listened. At least, for once, the damned thing was willing to explain.

[When you increased your poison resistance and resistance to the various elements of nature, your natural defense improved and your body was tempered.]

[As serpentine clan members we are naturally blessed with high agility and strength.]

[So as long as you improve your defense and regeneration capabilities you can easily temper your Mortal body and obtain a Martial body.]

[Beyond that, it will all depend on your luck…]

The system mysteriously ended its explanation and went back into the usual silent mode.