am the snake demon

In a quest for eternal life, a serpent entity named Bai Xuan has spent a century honing his mystical abilities, accumulating a millennium's worth of knowledge. Following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor, Bai Suzhen, he sets out to resolve outstanding karmic obligations, believing that this will pave the way to his ultimate goal of transcending mortality. Bai Xuan's plan is to bestow wealth upon his benefactor, thereby canceling the debt, but he soon discovers that his benefactor has been reborn as Xu Yuhua, the eldest child of the Prince of Zhenbei. However, Xu Yuhua presents him with an unexpected proposal: assuming the identity of the prince's heir, inheriting the title, and commanding a vast army in the Northwest. Driven by his unwavering ambition to achieve immortality, Bai Xuan embarks on a life of deception, navigating the complexities of the mortal realm. As time passes, his reputation grows, earning him the reverence of Taoists and the admiration of Buddhists, who regard him as a divine being. Nevertheless, a clandestine report from a monk alerts him to the presence of dark energies within the royal palace, setting the stage for a new set of challenges.