When Shen Yao ascended and was undergoing the heavenly tribulation, Mo Xuan learned the news and rushed over.
However, by the time he arrived, Shen Yao's tribulation was already on its final lightning strike. Everyone believed Shen Yao's ascension was a sure thing.
Unexpectedly, the last strike of heavenly lightning was more ferocious than the previous dozens, exceeding everyone's expectations.
At that moment, Shen Yao's spiritual energy was already depleted, and the only thing he could do was fight for his life.
Mo Xuan immediately sensed something was wrong. As the final strike descended, he also flew forward to withstand it with Shen Yao.
After hearing the reason, Shen Yao looked at Mo Xuan with a speechless expression.
As a dignified Demon Lord, heavenly lightning, which was pure, positive energy, was naturally his bane. For him to rush forward, it was like offering himself up as food.
“Mo Xuan, I truly wonder if your mother forgot to find your brain when she raised you,” Shen Yao said earnestly.
Mo Xuan: …
He was driven by concern at the time and didn't think much of it, acting on instinct.
However, he had always felt his mother was strange since childhood, though he couldn't pinpoint why. Now, all the oddities had a reasonable explanation.
“You were still in your original form during the day, without the enhancement of spiritual energy. How did you transform back into human form?”
Upon hearing Shen Yao’s question, Mo Xuan felt bad again. “For some unknown reason, I transform back into human form every day at 6 PM and revert to my original form at 6 AM.”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know why either. I haven’t even figured out how you got here, so don’t get your hopes up,” Shen Yao said coldly.
“Mother, am I still your most beloved treasure?” Mo Xuan asked resentfully.
“No, you haven’t been since you became the Demon Lord,” Shen Yao replied.
After a brief argument, Shen Yao took out a Dragon Bone Grass from his space and handed it to him. “Take this. If something like what happened this afternoon happens again, I truly won’t be able to save you.”
Upon hearing this, Mo Xuan quickly tucked the Dragon Bone Grass into his embrace. He swore that if anyone mentioned snake soup to him in this life, he would fly into a rage.
“Thank you, Mother. I knew Mother loved me the most.”
“Scram!”
Mo Xuan prepared to make a swift exit. Since he had found his person, wherever his mother was, he would be.
Shen Yao rubbed his temples. In the end, he had raised him. Leaving him in this unfamiliar place was for the best.
Holding the Dragon Bone Grass, Mo Xuan went downstairs. The Shen family members had all returned to their rooms. Mo Xuan also went to the room arranged for him by Father Shen.
After seeing Mo Xuan off, Shen Yao took out his phone and began to quickly edit a video.
As soon as the video was sent, a large number of fans who had been waiting for new content rushed in.
Since his face had been shown during the live broadcast, Shen Yao’s affairs were sometimes captured on camera.
For this episode, Shen Yao primarily filmed the progress of tree planting and disseminated some of the adverse effects of planting eucalyptus trees.
In Shen Yao’s hometown, eucalyptus cultivation was prevalent, with almost all barren hills planted with eucalyptus trees.
This was because eucalyptus trees had too many economic benefits, and most importantly, they were easy to grow and matured quickly, usually ready for felling and utilization in three years.
Many experts claimed that their region was most suitable for planting eucalyptus trees, as the abundant rainfall in the south meant there was no need to worry about significant soil moisture loss from planting them.
However, their mountains were rich in springs and small streams. After planting eucalyptus trees, the once clear stream water began to turn a rusty red color and emit a peculiar odor.
Shen Yao distinctly remembered drinking the mountain spring water directly when he was a child; it was cool and thirst-quenching.
Now, not only was the water undrinkable, but even the small streams had disappeared. Consequently, many elders in the region referred to eucalyptus trees as "beastly eucalyptus" or "tree of no descendants."
Despite this, the widespread planting of eucalyptus trees could not be halted. Their economic value was simply too high. Many people said that planting a mountain of eucalyptus trees was equivalent to building houses in the county.
Therefore, even though many people were aware of the negative impacts of planting eucalyptus trees, they remained the preferred choice over planting other crops that offered lower returns for higher investment.
When Shen Yao released this video, many people from other regions who had never seen eucalyptus trees had little understanding of them, and thus their knowledge of this tree was limited.
After learning about eucalyptus trees, they were almost all greatly shocked.
“I’ve heard of eucalyptus trees before, but we don’t have them in our area, so I always thought it was making a fuss about nothing. It seems that’s not the case now.”
“But if they know planting eucalyptus trees has so many harmful effects, why are they still planting them on such a large scale?”
“My hometown also has eucalyptus trees. The small streams in the mountains now are exactly the same as what the blogger posted.”
“I used to think the trees in the blogger’s area looked really beautiful, but now it seems that beautiful things are indeed poisonous.”
“The blogger has contracted so many barren hills. I hope the blogger doesn’t use this convenience to plant eucalyptus trees.”
…
Upon seeing that comment, Shen Yao, uncharacteristically, replied, “Don’t worry, I won’t. I contracted barren hills for planting fruit trees. You’re welcome to visit then, and I’ll treat you to some fruit.”
Shen Yao was very satisfied with the effect of his video. Thinking of important matters to attend to the next day, he turned off his phone and went to sleep.
He slept soundly through the night.
Shen Yao woke up around 6 AM. As usual, he got up early to go for a run, circling the village twice.
By the time he finished his run and returned home, the entire family was awake, and Mother Shen had already prepared breakfast.
As the family sat down for breakfast, they realized someone was missing.
“Yaoyao, where is Mo Xuan?” Father Shen asked. He had a good impression of this grandson who had suddenly appeared.
“Don’t worry about him,” Shen Yao said. He figured that fellow had probably turned back into a snake again, and it was best not to let him out to scare anyone.
“That won’t do. I’ll go call him.” Father Shen said, and immediately went to call Mo Xuan.
“Wait…”
Before Shen Yao could finish speaking, he saw Father Shen come face-to-face with a small black snake.
Father Shen: …
Mo Xuan: …
“Oh, when did this little black snake return?” Mother Shen asked curiously upon seeing the small black snake.
“Is this that snake? It’s quite good-looking,” Ning Min said.
“Indeed, it looks different from other snakes; it’s dark and shiny.”
“Perhaps it came back on its own last night,” Father Shen said. “I’ll go wake Mo Xuan up for breakfast.”
With that, Father Shen intended to go around the small black snake to wake Mo Xuan.
However, the small black snake blocked Father Shen’s path and let out a “hissing” sound.
Father Shen looked at Shen Yao. “Yaoyao, what’s wrong with this little black snake? Why is it blocking the way?”
Shen Yao: …
“Dad, he’s Mo Xuan.”