Xiangliu

### Summary

Giant snake daemon whose venom can induce infertility across anywhere that they come across.

**Xiangliu** is a giant daimon in the form of a nine-headed serpent whose poisonous breath can make the land wherever it comes across cursed and infertile.

## Overview

**Xiangliu** (相柳), known in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* as **Xiangyao** (相繇), is a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction in Chinese mythology.

He was a minister of the snake-like water deity Gonggong. When Gonggong received orders to punish people with floods, Xiangliu was proud to contribute to their troubles. Eventually, Xiangliu was killed, in some versions of the story by Yu the Great, whose other labors included ending the Great Flood of China, in others by Nüwa after he was defeated by Zhurong. It said that his blood stank to the point it was impossible to grow grain in the land it soaked and the area flooded, making it uninhabitable. Eventually Yu had to restrain the waters in a pond, over which the Sky Lords built their pavilions.

An oral version of the Xiangliu myth, in which Xiangliu is depicted as a nine-headed serpent responsible for floods and other harm, was collected from Sichuan as late as 1983.

## Summary

Like many other demonic creatures, the xiangliu daemon were the creations of the original Demons who used them to wreak havoc in the mortal world, especially on Earth, and bring misery upon mankind.

In the Xia dynasty of Ancient China, the god Gonggong employed the service of a dozen witches to summon and bind the Alpha Xiangliu, **Xiangyao**, to him as his familiar to use it in his military campaigns, unleashing its terrible poison onto any place that refuse to worship him. Gonggong was later defeated by Zhurong while Xiangyao escaped into the wild during the conflict.

Many years later, it was killed by the mythical king Yu the Great, and from its body, poisonous blood leaked out as giant floods and stank to the point where it was impossible to grow grain in the land the blood soaked, making it uninhabitable. Eventually, Yu had to restrain the waters in a pond, over which the gods built their heavenly pavilions.

Several centuries later, it was revealed that Xiangyao had managed to reproduce and its progeny now live in the cold and damp lands within the Chinese Underworld, much to the frustration of Yanluo Wang and his fellow chthonic gods.

During the Devil Civil War, a cadet house of the Valac Clan use their hereditary power to supply the Old Satan Faction with hundreds of "domesticated" xiangliu daemon, which were used by the Asmodeus Clan to rain destruction upon the territories that supported the Anti-Satan Faction. These daemon were eventually destroyed, however, when Sirzechs Gremory used his Power of Destruction to disintegrate all of them during the Battle of Serpent's Bay.

## Appearance

Xiangliu daemon resemble giant snakes, with the largest recorded one reaching as large as over a hundred feet across. They have shiny black scales all over their body except on their nine heads, which appear to be the silent screaming faces of humans.

The mythical Xiangyao is recorded to be the largest of them all, befitting its status as an Alpha Daimon, and reached nearly 500 ft across with heads as large as a small house. It had shiny silver-white scales, nine faces that resembled human skulls with giant fangs, and shiny golden gemstones on its head. It secreted a foul-smelling glowing blue slime.

## Characteristics

Xiangliu daemon is known for their savage and terrifying nature, as it is an extremely voracious daimon who would stop at nothing to capture its prey and to fill its nine-stomachs, even if that means devouring entire villages and cities or even committing cannibalism against its own kind. When a xiangliu catches its prey, all nine of its heads will attack the target at once in nine different directions, thus preventing them from escaping.

Because of its voracious nature, it is considered nearly-impossible to tame one as a familiar without demonic means, as the only known ways for a xiangliu daimon to be tamed is either through the demonic witchcraft of witches or through the Valac Clan's hereditary power that allows them to tame all kinds of serpentine creatures. Even then, during the Devil Civil War, in order to maintain their control over the hundreds of xiangliu daemon they kept, the Old Satan Faction had to send people into the mortal world to kidnap thousands of humans every week.

Despite its associations with floods in Chinese mythology, most of its power derived from its dangerous venom which is said to only be seconded by the infamous basilisks. A single drop of it is enough to contaminate entire river and lakes for decades and could only be purified through a year-long ritual performed with the blessing of the Abrahamic Heaven. According to Sun Wukong, while the poison isn't capable of killing a god, it will most likely drive any weak-willed god to the verge of suicide just to stop the excruciating pain.

## Weaknesses

* **Physical Damage**: Like the majority of supernatural species, xiangliu daemon can still be killed through normal means if they receive a large amount of physical damage or fatal injuries that their regenerative power cannot heal them in time.
	+ **Mortality**: Despite its longevity, xiangliu are still mortals and can still die and be weakened by the effects of old age. The average lifespan of an xiangliu daimon ranges from 500 to 525 years, and the older one becomes, the weaker its overall powers will be and the easier for it to be defeated and slain.
* **Animal Blood (Rooster)**: Like a majority of lesser daemon, their demonic powers can be weakened, if not entirely negated, through the usage of animal blood. In the case of xiangliu daemon, blood taken from a rooster can be used as an antidote for its poison if used within 5 minutes since the victim is poisoned, in addition being a lethal poison that could melt the xiangliu from inside out if it accidentally consumes it.
* **Cold Temperature**: Xiangliu daemon become slower and weaker while in cold temperature, which is why no xiangliu has ever been recorded to have appeared during the winter months, thus making Ice Magic and cold places/areas the perfect combination when fighting against it. However, it can overcome this weakness for a short amount of time if it has already devoured a human in the last 4 hours, thus making it absolutely necessary to freeze it and the area it is in before it has the chance to eat someone.
* **Holy Attribute**: The bane of all demonic creatures. Religious symbols, scriptures, and prayers are extremely effective when defending oneself against a xiangliu daimon's demonic powers, and items imbued with the holy attribute such as holy water or consecrated oil are the typical items used when fighting against them. However, depending on the amount of demonic power a xiangliu possesses, the holy attribute's effects have upon them may differ, as the greater the amount of one's demonic power, the less effective the attribute will be upon them, and vice versa.
	+ **Hallowed Grounds**: Xiangliu daemon are physically incapable of entering religious grounds, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, or other hallowed grounds associated with the Abrahamic religions. When entering pagan temples and shrines, their powers will be weakened but overall unaffected by its divinity.
	+ **Holy Weapons**: Xiangliu daemon can be wounded or killed by weapons imbued with the holy attribute, such as holy swords or Sacred Gears with divine properties, such as Blade Blacksmith or Twilight Healing.
		- **Heavenly Weapons**: Weapons of heavenly origins can easily kill them.
* **Celestial Metals**: Weapons made out of sacred metals can be used against the majority of supernatural beings, xiangliu daemon included.

## Population

Xiangliu is considered to be among the rarest daemon to be sighted, though due to the potent *miasma* filling the world due to recent events, more and more xiangliu daemon have been reported in the recent years. They are native to the East Asian region, specially to China, and it is considered to be extremely rare and worrisome for one to appear outside of its natural territory. Giant nests of xiangliu daemon also inhabit the Chinese Underworld, taking shelter in the cold and damp areas of Diyu.

## Trivia

* Xiangliu, the moon of the planetoid 225088 Gonggong, was named after it.
* They are considered one of the rarest daemon to be seen.
* They can only be found in Eastern Asia, especially in China.
	+ They are also considered a species of daemon native to the Chinese Underworld.
* There is a pack of xiangliu daemon living in the Netherworld's Familiar Forest and are kept in track by members the Valac Clan.
* Because of its venom and nine-heads, they are also known as the Chinese Hydra by westerners.
* A 10-years-long Old Religion ritual is needed to cleanse the infected area of their demonic poison.
* While unconfirmed, it is possible that they, like the majority of snake-like species of daemon, were created by the original Valac.
* In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the Alpha Xiangliu was considered a divine being and minister to Gonggong.