Hidden genius: Black belly snake

The zither palace was not too far from the Eldorian royal palace and so Tang Yue and Lotte quickly reached the private quarters.

The entire mansion was moderately sized with about 5 to 6 chambers on the ground floor and a similar layout on the first floor as well.

There was a huge inner courtyard with a beautiful blossoming lotus pond and the garden surrounding the place was also quite breathtaking.

Tang Yue looked around in awe. Her emerald eyes were visibly surprised.

When she first heard about the banishment, she thought that she would have to revisit her pathetic lifestyle from back in the serpent lands.

But this was totally different from what she was expecting.

Beautiful carvings were engraved on the wall and lavish furniture was tastefully arranged.

Though the zither palace was not as big as the royal palace, it was still as exquisite and exorbitant.

While Tang Yue looked around the mansion in awe, Lotte looked at her with awe and worship in his eyes.

The elf was very touched by her kindness and understanding. 

It was just a small gesture but that in itself meant a lot to him.

Not that Tang Yue did not plan exactly for this.

When she saw Lotte's injuries, she, of course, was alarmed but she only went the extra mile to test the elf out.

Since it looked like she was going to be staying here for at least the near future, Tang Yue wanted to cultivate some allies no matter what their status might be.

She was ruthless and manipulative by nature, mostly due to the cruel conditions of her upbringing, never knowing the love of a mother or the kindness of her father.

But no matter how calculative she was, at the end of the day, just as she was brutal to her enemies, she was also equally kind to her friends, regardless of their status.

Tang Yue looked at the elf and smiled, satisfied with the expression on his face. 

She had finished touring the zither palace and was very content with everything she had seen so far.

"Lotte, dismiss all the maids and servants in the palace." 

"I need two front gate guards, two patrolling guards, and two back gate guards."

"Ideally I would like them to be well trained."

"But as long as they are loyal and hard-working, I do not mind lower-level guards as well."

"But everyone is to be stationed outside and no one is allowed to enter the quarters unless I say so."

Tang Yue gave elaborate instructions to Lotte and the elf as well resolutely nodded his head. 

The look of adulation in his eyes was unmistakable.

Tang Yue chuckled and then quickly dismissed him.

Loyalty was not something that could be bought overnight. So she didn't think too much about it.

After Lotte left and the day to day affairs of the new palace were settled, Tang Yue summoned Little Plum to let it roam free.

She wanted to use this newfound delightful seclusion to her full advantage.

She settled comfortably on the serene courtyard and sucked in a few breaths of the cold freezing air.

So many ridiculous things had transpired back in the forests and she hadn't gotten the chance to process any of them yet.

Just thinking about them made her mind spin and a familiar face to cross her mind.

Tang Yue shook her head vigorously as if meaning to shake that frightening image right off of her brain.

She then summoned her status screen to start with.

When the monstrous centipede had dropped dead on her lap, she was pretty sure that she heard a few level-up notifications.

She didn't quite understand the meaning of these levels and was very curious to see what happens to her at higher levels.

So Tang Yue decided to start with the big blue screen.

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Name: Tang Yue

Level 6 (0/12800)

Species: Blue venomous serpent

Grade: Spirit beast

Body constitution: Silver Mortal Body

Mana constitution: Silver Mortal Core

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Poison resistance: Level 11

Heat resistance: Level 50

Cold resistance: Level 12

Lightning resistance: Level 11

Agility: Level 13

Physical Strength: Level 8

Soul Strength: Level 1

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Attributes:

Health points: 200/200

Health regeneration: 0.1hp/hr

Mana points: 200/200

Mana regeneration: 2mp/hr

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Contracted companions: 

Fire elemental: Level 0 

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Bloodlines:

Phoenix (High-grade): 0.001%

Storm dragon (Epic-grade): 0.0001%

Completed Bloodlines:

Wild Salamander (Common grade)

Fire twin-tailed bird (Low grade)

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Skills:

[Lesser Illusion magic] - Passive skill, Able to cast illusionary disorienting spells

[Evolution] - Passive skill, Able to constantly improve and upgrade the body

[Lesser regeneration] - Passive skill, Able to regenerate and recover completely over a period of time, provided vital organs are unharmed.

[Higher fire affinity] - Passive skill, Able to manipulate mana into low-grade fire.

[Venomous bite] - Active skill, Level 11, Toxicity depends on the poison resistance of the body

[Venom spit] - Active skill, Level 11, Toxicity depends on the poison resistance of the body

[Startle] - Active skill, Level 8, Disturb an enemy's concentration

[Hide] - Active skill, Level 0, Hide presence

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"Not bad!" Tang Yue clicked her tongue and nodded.

With her quick and lucky power-ups, she had gained quite a lot of buffs.

In particular, her emerald eyes excitedly circled around the new skill she had gained, illusion magic spell Hide!

This is exactly what Tang Yue had been waiting for.

The spell itself was not something new to her. 

Despite her cripple status, Tang Yue still had access to knowledge about this sort of common spells back in the snake clan.

It was just that she only now was strong enough to cast the actual spell.

The snake hummed in sweet happiness as she also glanced at her illusion magic which was now upgraded to lesser illusion magic.

"Hmm… Wait a second." Tang Yue suddenly perked up as her mind processed these new changes.

She gazed at the list of her skills, and she couldn't help but wonder about something so obvious that popped into her mind. 

"Could my evolution skill be upgraded at higher levels too?"