The Variegated Demon Tiger moved in a blur. It was already on top of Luo Zhen before he could even process the attack. One second, it was across the clearing; the next, its gaping maw was inches from his face, so close he could smell the rot and see the flecks of gore clinging to its teeth.
There was no time for a plan. There was only instinct.
Crack!
Luo Zhen's massive python tail whipped through the air, a black blur of motion that connected with the side of the tiger's head. The impact sent a sonic boom echoing through the trees and shot a jarring, numbing pain up his entire body. The tiger's attack was broken, sending it tumbling to the side, but it shook its head as if swatting a fly and immediately coiled to pounce again.
This time, something was different. A low, earthy-yellow light began to emanate from its body. In the space of a few heartbeats, the tiger's vibrant, striped fur hardened and bleached into a dull, grayish-white. It was as if its very skin had turned to stone. A palpable aura of weight and unyielding hardness rolled off it. This was no longer a demon tiger; it was a living gargoyle.
A notification pinged in his mind. "Target has cast Stone Skin. Advise caution."
"An earth-type?" Luo Zhen muttered, surprised. He didn't hesitate, spitting a jet-black arrow of venom.
Thwip.
The poison dart, usually a guaranteed finisher, simply bounced off the tiger's new stony hide and clattered uselessly to the ground. Before he could react, the Stone Tiger was on him.
Startled but not panicked, Luo Zhen slithered in a violent, evasive maneuver, narrowly dodging a devastating bite. The tiger was fast, though. Missing with its teeth, it immediately swiped with its claws—massive, sharpened talons that scraped against Luo Zhen's body with a screech of metal on metal.
Sparks flew. A searing, numbing pain shot through him. When he'd finally put some distance between them, he risked a glance down. Where the claws had hit, his scales were completely gone, leaving behind angry, swollen red gashes, some already beading with blood.
A low, rumbling growl came from the Stone Tiger. It licked its claws, then looked back at Luo Zhen, its expression dripping with smug satisfaction. Behind it, the pack of lesser demons erupted in a cacophony of jeers and barks, a pathetic display of borrowed courage.
Luo Zhen assessed his wounds—painful, but minor. He ignored them, his gaze turning cold as he sized up the Stone Tiger and its pathetic entourage. The brief exchange had told him a lot.
The tiger was an earth-type, that much was obvious. And its Stone Skin was a purely defensive ability. He wondered if it had any offensive tricks up its sleeve, but seeing it resort to a basic claw attack made him doubt it. Most beasts in the Demonic Qi Realm only mastered a single skill when they evolved, whether it was for attack, defense, or something else entirely. It looked like this one had put all its chips on defense.
Across the clearing, the stone-skinned beast, now the size of a prize bull, let out another guttural snarl. Its hide seemed to grow even thicker, more impenetrable.
"ROAR!"
With a powerful push from its hind legs, it launched itself forward again, another gray blur of speed and aggression. Its strategy was brutally simple: get in close and overwhelm him with sheer physical force. With a defense like that, it was a solid plan.
Too bad Luo Zhen wasn't just any snake.
This time, he didn't move. He remained perfectly still, his eyes locked on the charging beast. Just as the Stone Tiger was about to connect, Luo Zhen's jaws opened wide.
A massive, searing, orange-red fireball erupted from his throat.
BOOM!
The fireball, the size of a cannonball, slammed into the Stone Tiger mid-pounce. The sheer force of the impact sent the beast flying backward, crashing hard against the ground. But that wasn't all. Under the intense heat and explosive force, spiderweb cracks began to race across its stony hide. They spread wider and wider until, with a final, definitive CRACK, the stone skin shattered, revealing the vibrant, striped fur underneath.
Its ultimate defense was broken.
Without the protection of his Stone Skin, the Variegated Demon Tiger's confidence evaporated. The smugness was gone, replaced by a raw, primal fear. Its pack of followers fell silent, their bravado vanishing like smoke. They stared at Luo Zhen, terrified, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
Hissssss. Luo Zhen flicked his tongue, his gaze unwavering. That one fireball had drained half his demonic energy, but it had been worth it. The tiger was vulnerable now. If he wanted it dead, there would be no escape. Not even for a mid-stage demon.
And he did want it dead. The killing intent was rising within him.
But just as he prepared to unleash another attack, a new sound cut through the air—a long, drawn-out howl from the distance.
"AWOOOOOOO!"
The sound rolled across the mountaintop, carried on the wind.
Luo Zhen's head snapped in its direction. A pack of powerfully built demon wolves was cresting the hill, at least forty or fifty of them. At their head was a colossal gray wolf, as large as a young bull, its presence radiating authority. It was from this alpha, this Wolf King, that the howl had come.
It was just as massive as the tiger, and Luo Zhen could feel the same energy signature radiating from it: mid-stage Demonic Qi Realm.
The pack moved with incredible speed, covering the distance to the summit in seconds. The Wolf King, flanked by its warriors, gave the wounded tiger a dismissive glance before its eyes settled on Luo Zhen. It studied him for a long moment, then opened its jaws and unleashed a vicious burst of energy.
In the blink of an eye, a two-foot-long blade of pure, shimmering green wind materialized and shot toward Luo Zhen with a piercing shriek.
The wind blade was a thing of deadly beauty, a shard of dark cyan energy humming with killing intent. It sliced through the air so fast that Luo Zhen could feel the phantom sensation of being cut before it even reached him. He knew, with absolute certainty, that if that blade hit him, it would tear through his Teng Snake scales and leave him grievously wounded.
There was no time to think. He summoned every last drop of his remaining demonic energy and let it loose.
A second fireball, even larger and more fiercely incandescent than the first, erupted from his mouth and met the wind blade head-on.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the mountaintop. The orange flames and the cyan wind blade collided in a chaotic, brilliant flash, then annihilated each other, dissolving into nothing but a wash of heat and a gust of wind.
A perfect stalemate.
The Wolf King, who had been watching with an air of supreme arrogance, looked completely stunned. Its confidence in its ultimate attack had been absolute; it had clearly seen Luo Zhen as nothing more than a nuisance. But now, its eyes were wide, fixed on Luo Zhen in a state of pure shock, a flicker of fear finally dawning in their depths.
It shot a glance at the Variegated Demon Tiger, who could only return a look of shared apprehension.
"Awoo..." The Wolf King let out a low, uncertain whine. Then, without a second's hesitation, it turned and fled. It's pack, momentarily confused, quickly followed suit, their howls fading into the distance. They had appeared like a storm and vanished just as quickly.
The Variegated Demon Tiger and its crew needed no further encouragement. They scrambled to escape, disappearing into the woods as well.
Just like that, the chaotic, noisy summit fell silent. Luo Zhen was alone.
He looked off in the direction the two demon leaders had fled, a thoughtful expression on his face. The fight had been illuminating. The tiger was an earth-type tank, the wolf a wind-type glass cannon. Neither seemed to have any other tricks up their sleeves, which made sense. The Demonic Qi Realm was, after all, the bottom rung of the ladder.
But that wasn't what had his attention. He'd noticed something crucial. When the Wolf King had unleashed its wind blade, he'd felt its demonic energy plummet by more than half. It was a one-shot wonder. The same thing had happened to the tiger; once its Stone Skin was broken, its energy reserves were practically spent.
That explained everything. It was why the Wolf King, seeing its ultimate attack neutralized, had instantly panicked and run.
He flicked his tongue, piecing it together. "They're both mid-stage, and I'm only at the initial stage. By all rights, they should have far more energy than I do. But they can only manage one big skill, while I can fire off two, maybe one if I really put everything into it. It has to be my bloodline."
"Whatever," he thought, shaking his head. "I'll figure it out later. Right now, I need sleep." He was completely drained, his body aching with fatigue. If the wolf and the tiger had been just a little braver, if they had pressed the attack, he would have lost for sure. He might have even been killed.
But they hadn't. They'd been bluffed, and they'd run for their lives.
He found a secluded natural cave, and after ensuring it was safe, he coiled up and let the darkness take him.
Days and nights bled into one another.
Luo Zhen had no idea how long he was out, but when he finally awoke, he felt incredible. Every fiber of his being was refreshed and humming with energy. His demonic reserves were full.
"Sleep really is the ultimate medicine," he mused, letting out a jaw-popping yawn before slithering out of the cave. He made his way to the spot on the mountain where the vital energy was thickest and began to dig with his tail. Soon enough, he unearthed a smooth, white stone.
"Knew it! Where there's energy, there are vitality stones." He happily swallowed it down.
As his body broke it down, the system's voice chimed in.
"You have refined one vitality stone. +27 EXP."
He opened his eyes and immediately started digging again.
"You have refined one vitality stone. +25 EXP."
"You have refined one vitality stone. +26 EXP."
"You have unearthed a hundred-year-old ginseng. +30 EXP after refining."
For the next two weeks, Luo Zhen's life fell into a simple rhythm: scour the mountain, dig for vitality stones, and occasionally find other valuable herbs. The progress was slow but steady, his experience bar inching its way forward.
Then, one day, after absorbing another stone, the notification he'd been waiting for finally arrived.
"Experience has reached the threshold. Level up?"
"Yes!" he answered without a shred of hesitation.
"Deducting experience... Deduction complete."
"Congratulations on your breakthrough! Current Level: Demonic Qi Realm – Mid Stage!"
The moment the words faded, a shimmering light enveloped Luo Zhen's body. He could feel himself expanding, his body growing visibly longer and thicker. His scales darkened to an even deeper, more intimidating black, hardening until they felt like interlocking plates of iron armor. If he faced that tiger now, he knew its claws wouldn't even leave a scratch.
But the most significant change was internal. The demonic energy vortex inside him surged, doubling in size and power. He could feel it—a deep, humming reservoir of pure energy, far greater than before. His spells would be stronger, and he could cast them more often.
He flicked his tongue and pulled up his status.
Name: Luo Zhen
Race: Serpent (Ancient Spirit Species)
Species: Teng Snake
Bloodline: Teng Snake
Innate Abilities: Dual-Element Magic (Water & Fire), Flight
Other Skills: Venom Dart, Constriction
Passive: Thickened Armor
EXP: 7/600
Realm: Demonic Qi Realm (Mid Stage)
System Note: With every major realm breakthrough, there is a chance for a bloodline evolution.