The battle was over. Luo Zhen tasted the air, his forked tongue flickering, and turned east. He had a new target.
A memory, a gift from the Earthly Despot Bear he'd defeated, was clear in his mind: a small cave, hidden to the east, holding a hundred-year-old ginseng. For a martial artist or a demonic beast, a treasure like that meant a massive boost in power.
The bear had been too massive to squeeze into the tiny cave entrance, its prize forever out of reach. But for Luo Zhen, a snake, it was almost laughably easy. His body was built for this, naturally able to constrict and narrow. Getting that ginseng wasn't just possible; it was a sure thing.
He moved carefully, and before long, he was at the base of a sheer rock face, a wall of stone draped in a tapestry of flowers and vines. About twenty feet up, he saw it: an opening, dark and deep, about the size of a washbasin.
That had to be the place.
With a flick of his tongue, he began to climb, his scales finding purchase on the dense vegetation. In moments, he was at the cave's mouth. An intoxicating, herbal scent—pure and potent—drifted out, confirming his hopes.
The ginseng was in there.
He didn't hesitate, pouring his serpentine body into the darkness. His eyes adjusted quickly, and there it was: a vibrant green plant, radiating that incredible aroma. The shape of the leaves confirmed it. Ginseng.
A silent, serpentine laugh escaped him. He whipped his tail, using it like a pickaxe against the soft earth. The soil gave way easily, and within seconds, he'd unearthed a yellow root shaped uncannily like a small doll.
He didn't care about the dirt. He opened his jaws and swallowed it whole.
What happened next was bizarre. The moment the ginseng hit his stomach, it began to dissolve at an impossible rate, transforming into a rush of raw energy that surged through his entire body.
This isn't normal, he thought, stunned. I'm no ordinary snake. He knew how serpents ate—they swallowed their prey whole and spent weeks, sometimes even a month, slowly digesting. But this? This was instantaneous.
As if in answer, a voice pinged in his mind.
You have consumed a hundred-year-old ginseng!
Gained: 50 Experience Points!
Fifty points. Just like that. Added to what he already had, his total shot up to 85. He only needed 70 to reach the next level.
Experience threshold reached. Level up?
He didn't hesitate. "Yes."
Consuming 70 Experience Points... Upgrade successful!
Congratulations, you are now a fifth-level demonic beast!
He could feel the power settling into his bones, a thrilling transformation. With a flick of his newly strengthened body, he left the cave. He was already moving toward his next prize.
An hour later, he arrived at a desolate hill. It was a barren, ugly mound of dirt, almost completely devoid of plant life. Its one defining feature was holes. The place was an absolute maze, riddled with the burrows of countless rabbits and fat rats. They had practically hollowed the hill out, making it look like a giant, crumbling beehive.
The moment he arrived, the residents vanished into their tunnels. They knew a predator when they saw one.
Luo Zhen ignored them and made his way to the summit. There, a single, thick jujube tree stood against the sky. This was his target.
The bear's memory had mentioned this tree, too. It wasn't ordinary; its fruit held a faint trace of medicinal power. The bear had tried them, but they weren't ripe yet, so it had moved on.
But for Luo Zhen, no scrap was too small. Ripe or not, he was here to eat.
He scaled the tree with ease, found a green jujube, and swallowed it.
You have consumed a Green-veined Jujube. Gained: 0.5 Experience Points!
His eyes lit up. It works.
He didn't waste another second. He tore through them, a blur of motion and swallowing. Half the jujubes on the tree vanished into his gut, dissolving into tiny streams of experience. Each one was only worth half a point, but it added up fast.
Soon, he'd racked up another 60 experience points. He needed 90 to hit level six. Just 30 more points to go—another 60 jujubes. He looked up. The tree was still loaded with them, more than enough.
He opened his jaws to continue the feast when a sound from the distance stopped him.
He froze, his head snapping up. From his perch at the top of the hill, he had a perfect view of the surrounding area.
Two human warriors were approaching. Fast.
His vision focused, and information flooded his mind.
Name: Yang Xing
Race: Human
Strength: Sixth-level Martial Warrior
Name: Li Yi
Race: Human
Strength: Sixth-level Martial Warrior
Two of them. Both sixth-level.
Alarm bells screamed in his head. He shot down the tree and dove into the nearest burrow, vanishing from sight. These guys weren't just high-level; they were armed, with sabers hanging at their waists. This wasn't a fight he could win.
His philosophy was simple: Fight when you can win. Run when you can't.
Just moments after he disappeared, the two warriors arrived at the barren hill.
"Ha! I knew it. There's something off about this jujube tree," one of the warriors declared, a grin spreading across his face.
"Seriously, Yang, that's impressive," the other chimed in. "Picking up on something weird from that far away."
"It's nothing, really. The discipline I follow makes me unusually sensitive to rare, natural treasures. But... wait a minute. A ton of these jujubes have already been eaten!" Yang Xing exclaimed, his brow furrowing.
His companion, Li Yi, scanned the branches. "Probably just a demonic beast passing through," he reasoned. "This fruit has medicinal qualities; it's potent stuff for them, too."
Yang's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the half-bare branches. "Damn it," he seethed. "It ate this many? If I ever find that beast, I swear I'll tear it limb from limb."
Tucked away in his burrow, Luo Zhen held his breath, absorbing every word.
He heard Li Yi again. "Brother Yang, they're not even ripe yet. What's the plan?"
"We're taking them all, obviously," Yang shot back. "If we leave them, some other creature will just finish the job."
"Good point, but they're still green."
"Who cares? Let's just bag them. Even unripe, they have enough potency to be worth something back home."
"Alright, let's do it."
With that, Yang Xing unsheathed a polished steel saber and began hacking furiously at the base of the tree. A minute later, with a final, splintering groan, the jujube tree crashed to the ground. The two warriors moved in, stripping every last green-veined jujube and stuffing them into their sacks.
"Ready to go?" Li Yi asked, cinching his bag shut.
"Let's do it. Time to hunt some real monsters," Yang said with a low chuckle. "I just perfected a new saber form. I'm itching to try it out."
Their voices faded as they walked off, likely leaving the barren mountain for good.
Still, Luo Zhen didn't move. He waited, coiled in the darkness of his den. Only when the sun finally dipped below the horizon, bleeding the sky dark, did he cautiously poke his serpentine head out. The coast was clear. The warriors were gone.
He slithered out, his gaze falling on the butchered, naked tree. A heavy silence hung in the air.
For a demonic beast, he thought, warriors were a terrifying force. They lacked the raw, physical power of a beast, but they had something more dangerous: cultivation. Humans, with their infuriating intelligence, could master ancient disciplines and devastating combat arts, letting them skyrocket in power. It was a feat most beasts could never hope to match.
But I'm different, Luo Zhen mused. I can devour and evolve. It won't be long before I'm a level-ten beast, maybe even break through to the Demonic Qi realm. Still, right now, I'm just… weak. I have to stay hidden, keep my head down.
And I have to be wary of human warriors. Anyone with the nerve to hunt in a place as treacherous as the Misty Marsh is bound to be the real deal.
The thought brought him back to the two men from earlier. With their training and their blades, any confrontation would have ended with his mangled corpse on the forest floor.
Caution is the only way I'll survive, he thought with a sigh, finding another burrow to disappear into. Night had fallen completely, and the world was now teeming with new dangers, far worse than those of the day. There was no time to wander around.
He slipped into the earth and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next morning, he was out as soon as the sun rose. After a quick breakfast of a few unlucky rabbits, he left the small hill behind.
His new target: weaker demonic beasts.
It was the law of the jungle, plain and simple. Big fish eat little fish. To get stronger, he needed to hunt, to rack up experience, to level up.
With a flick of his tail, he glided into a cold, shadowy forest. He'd already checked his internal map; this area was dotted with points of light, each one representing a demonic beast. And while the forest was full of them, not a single one posed a real threat.
Flicking his forked tongue, he began to explore.
He'd barely entered the woods when he spotted it: a red demonic fox. The moment it saw him, it bolted. But Luo Zhen was faster. He shot forward, a blur of scales and muscle. He already knew its stats—a level-three beast. It stood no chance.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, his body whipping around the fox, tripping it and instantly coiling around its struggling form. He opened his jaws and struck. The combination of his venom and crushing strength extinguished its life in seconds.
[You have slain the Red-Fur Demonic Fox. +5 Experience Points!]
The system's notification chimed in his mind the instant the fox went limp. It was too weak and not a fellow reptile, making it worthless to devour. This was purely for the EXP.
Slowly, he uncoiled, a strange sense of pity washing over him as he looked at the corpse.
"We did not quarrel," he whispered to the still air. "I had no reason to kill you."
"But this world is built on a simple, brutal truth: the strong rule, and the weak are meat."
"Your only crime was being weak."
"So don't blame me," he murmured, his voice hardening. "Blame this cruel world."
He let out a long, slow breath, his sorrow sharpening into a cold, predatory focus.
It was time to hunt.
He moved through the forest like a ghost, a silent engine of death.
[You have slain the Ringlet Baboon. +4 Experience Points!]
[You have slain the Black-Backed Demonic Wolf. +5 Experience Points!]
[You have slain the Moon Bear. +10 Experience Points!]
…
He became the forest's apex predator, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. The beasts here were weak, but the points added up. By midday, his experience bar had skyrocketed.
Snakes really are nature's perfect assassins, he thought, gliding through the undergrowth. No sound, no warning. Just a silent strike, and it's over. Especially for a venomous snake like me. One bite is all it takes. Even if they run, they're already dead.
As the thought crossed his mind, a new dot of light appeared on his map. It was glowing with a faint, but distinct, red hue, and it was moving toward him. Fast.
The system said red means danger, he recalled. But the light is weak, which means the threat is manageable. Still... no sense in taking chances.
Flicking his tongue, he shot up the trunk of a nearby tree, vanishing into the canopy. He would let this one pass. It wasn't about fear; it was about efficiency. Why risk a life-or-death struggle with a random creature he had no beef with?
He had barely settled onto a branch when a foul, acrid stench wafted through the trees. His eyes darted toward the source.
Scuttling into the clearing below was a black spider, its body as wide as a washtub.