The Lesser Venom Wyrm slumbered in the meadows, the former lair of the Razorwind Chlorohawk, as she underwent another transformation as her cultivation progressed.
Sun Yuying's progression would be considered miraculous by Spirit Beasts, whose gradual increase in cultivation to this extent may take decades or even centuries.
The system also enforced strict measures. Sun Yuying was building a firm foundation with purer spiritual energy than most other beasts.
The more plentiful Spiritual Energy gained from consuming the Void-Striped Emerald Tiger was not only because of its stronger bloodline, but the beast also had the best foundation of the five beasts, and it had the highest likelihood of progressing towards the Second Realm.
The Void-Striped Emerald Tiger was rather tragic in that regard. It was given a patronising, mocking title by humans who caged it.
To be referred to as a Beast King usually meant you could command and control other Spirit Beasts, not mortal beasts. To name it, the Beast King of Lingshou Forest was a demeaning title to the Tiger, who had yet to reach the Second Realm.
A Second Realm Spirit Beast, the equivalent of a Foundation Establishment human cultivator, was usually the minimum rank of a Spirit Beast that could be referred to as King.
Sun Yuying slaying the Void-Striped Emerald Tiger right when it was about to progress and become a real Beast King was more soul-crushing than feeling the life fade away from it.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm once again grew in strength and size as she acclimatised to her improved cultivation.
She grew to around 40ft, her serpentine body thickened, and her flesh grew denser, whilst the horn on her head lengthened; she was now marginally smaller than the Lesser Wyrm during its peak.
Sun Yuying woke to the sunny meadows feeling powerful.
Discarded skin lay around her as brand-new, gleaming scales replaced it.
Her scales were a deeper green, the beautiful patterns more intense, and she had grown even larger.
‘Status’, Sun Yuying thought mentally.
Name: Sun Yuying
Species: Lesser Venom Wyrm
Cultivation: Upper First Realm Refinement
Spiritual Energy: 404/9000
Spirit Qi Attunement: Venom Qi
Traits: Venomous, Tough Skin, Adaptive Camouflage, Robust Jaws, Lesser Dragon Blood, Constrictor, Robust Physique, Venom Resistance
Age: 1 year, 123 days
It did not feel long ago that she had progressed in cultivation, yet now she had once again advanced, though the requirements to improve further had grown even steeper.
The new Spiritual Energy requirements will likely take me a while to meet. I probably won’t advance in time when that Whispering Spirit Beast Pavilion appears, and if the Tiger tells the truth, the Lingshou Forest has a formation that will prevent me from leaving.
Slithering, her new bulk imposing on the wildlife of Lingshou Forest, which, though mutated from Spiritual Energy, remained mortal and was naturally deterred from the spiritual pressure that radiated from her.
She made her way down the forest, leaving the higher regions where the Razorwind Chlorohawk had its nest.
The meadows seemed devoid of resources before she left, pilfered by the large Hawk, though her mind drifted back to the giant-lily-like flowers in the crocodile rivers.
Sun Yuying had developed an understanding of traits; it seemed her traits would have naturally developed by a rank from her evolution, since all were at peak, they increased to the next threshold, which was Mortal to Earth, and the benefit of them all reaching peak gained them an additional rank, which explained how her current traits were mostly Earth Intermediate.
However, the exception to this was the naturally evolved traits of a Lesser Venom Wyrm; it seemed Venemous was superior to her other traits, as it was listed in her species descriptions as an exceptional trait of the Lesser Venom Wyrm.
Robust Physique, Lesser Dragon Blood, Constrictor and Venom Resistance were also included. However, each of these traits was not as strong as Venomous, giving her a focus for improving her strength beyond cultivation. Perhaps, enhancing them all to Earth Peak Traits will bring about an interesting change.
Yet, her lowest trait remained Steel Bones, which just barely reached the Earth Lower Trait; she figured that extracting the Crushing Steel-Bone Crocodile trait perfectly would have resulted in it being much stronger, yet she resorted to utilising Crushing Iron-Bone Crocodile, an inferior mortal species, to conjoin the inferior version of the trait with the stronger partially acquired Steel Bones to acquire a weakened version.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm, though, has an instinctive instinct and desire for useful things to progress her advancement, and the pink lillies in the crocodile river gave her a strong feeling.
Making her way back to the river, she slithered through the Forest uncontested. She was the new Apex Predator, with no equal, as the only Spirit Beast that remains; she consumed the five former Apex Predators, making her unrivalled. She was a little black snake no more, and her desires, felt ages ago, were realised.
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Yet, despite the drastic changes, she was merely at the beginning of the cultivation path, and she had far to go; she now knew that Lingshou Forest was insignificant in the wide world, and that a long path lay ahead of her.
She found her interests had changed drastically as she evolved and her cultivation increased.
The denizens of the Forest seemed unappealing despite their carnivorous nature; she knew instinctively she would consume any of them if she grew hungry, yet, sated and full, she recognised the diminishing returns of Spiritual Energy for mortal animals, even among the largest Forest denizens.
These big greenish furred stag-like animals watched her in terror; even their imposing antlers seemed insignificant.
Despite being prey animals, they were large and powerful, often standing their ground, charging if threatened, yet the Lesser Venom Wyrm cowed them into submission as they took off in fright at the sight of her.
I can see why the Tiger was bored and wanted to leave this place. As a little black snake, everything reeked of danger and smelled delicious, yet now I feel the constraints and lack of Spiritual Energy.
It made the desire to acquire those lily-like flowers that much more appetising. As one of the few things besides Spirit Beasts that smelled valuable and beneficial, it made her serpentine tongue flicker in eagerness and excitement.
Reaching the river, she found it was filled with those large crocodiles. To her horror, the absence of the Crushing Steel-Bone Crocodile actually led to them chomping and consuming many of the beautiful Pink Lillies.
Those ravenous beasts are going to devour them all!
Pushing herself past the dense shrubs and watery soil, she made her way towards the murky waters hurriedly.
Irritated at the crocodiles that snapped at her in aggression, even the deterrent of her Spiritual Beast aura did not stop the predatory instincts of the crocs, which fiercely protected the Lillies, yet they were outmatched significantly.
Entering the river, her large serpentine body began making her way, as the large crocodiles' powerful bodies erupted towards her.
The Crushing Iron-Bone Crocodile in the river was huge and terrifying. If she remained a human, the sight of them powering through the water at alarming speeds would frighten her to death.
However, she was undeterred; the crocodiles were highly saturated with spiritual energy from the pink lilies; they’d likely have consumed more of their bodies could have handled it, yet they could not digest it like her.
Some had perhaps stated to gain spiritual intelligence like the Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider, unrestricted by the Spirit Beasts, that devoured animals on the brink of Spiritual Intelligence, animals that ate potent Spirit Plants would have the chance to become Spirit Beasts, yet, unfortunately, for these crocodiles, they encountered Sun Yuying.
In a whirlwind of action, the Lesser Venom Wyrm painted the murky waters a crimson red as she bit, crushed and spat breaths of venomous gas that slaughtered the crocodiles.
She was violent and aggressive, not backing down an inch, as the crocodiles used their robust jaws to bite into her thick, serpentine flesh, finding her scales were as hard as steel, with her draconic heritage and defensive traits showing their might as the crocodiles a faced one sided massacre, unable to inflict significant damage and was met by a ferocious ginormous serpent in return.
Losing a good deal of their numbers, the crocodiles eventually wisely backed off, though due to their opportunistic nature, they dragged chunks of meat and the carcasses of their fallen to consume.
Sun Yuying did not mind; though she could gain some spiritual energy from their carcasses, she wanted to devour every last one of the more valuable Pink Lillies before even thinking of eating the less valuable crocodile meat.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm began approaching the beautiful pink lilies, which, though fewer in number, many remained for her to consume.
I have no idea why the Crushing Steel-Bone Crocodile left them, yet it benefits me.
Sun Yuying did not know the Crushing Steel-Bone Crocodile had long received the full benefits of the lillies; it had allowed them to grow, as Spirit Plants strengthened with age, and it hoped their increase in potency could allow it to improve further, yet now Sun Yuying would be the one to devour them.
The giant lily-like flowers smelt delicious, and up close she realised the beautiful pixie-like dust they emitted was silvery and shimmery.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm could not hold back her appetite and ate the large pink lilies that were the biggest flowers she had ever seen in one big gulp.
She instantly felt a warmth spread through her body, tingling in her bones.
You have consumed Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus, gaining +10 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Steel Bones, has slightly enhanced in strength from the Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus.
Her serpentine body shivered in excitement at seeing another route of progression so soon.
A useful spiritual plant sounded delightful, and the serpent eyed the remaining Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus with greed as she held back the desire to drool.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm began a spree of devouring them, as she chomped them down one by one, going through dozens, until the river saturation of the pink lillies grew less and less, until few remained.
You have consumed Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus, gaining +10 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Steel Bones, has slightly enhanced in strength from the Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus.
Sun Yuying must have eaten almost fifty of the plants until she received a final notification that made her quiver in delight.
Your trait, Steel Bones, has broken its limit. The trait has evolved in grade from an earth lower trait to an earth intermediate trait.
Sun Yuying felt the effect instantly; an intense itch ran through her bones as the dramatic effects took hold.
Though not as demanding as an evolution or enhancement in cultivation, the feeling was a mixture of wicked pain and satisfaction as her bones underwent strengthening, reforming and darkening a darker silver sheen of metal.
Her fangs and horns hardened, taking on a notably darker metallic sheen, and her entire skeletal structure adapted to the improved trait as she discharged a foul, black liquid, which she swiftly washed off in the river.
The Lesser Venom Wyrm was satisfied by the change, yet now the river was devoid of Pink Ferrous-Marrow Lotus; crocodiles eyed her with utter hopelessness as they saw the large serpent consume more than all of them combined in a matter of moments.
I should return to see if more grow later. Now, it's time to search the one territory I have yet to really explore—the Void-Striped Emerald Tiger.
Powering her way out of the river, she slithered with new purpose, and the crocodiles secretly glanced with relief that she did not seem to be remaining.
Sun Yuying found the Tiger region of Lingshou Forest was plusher, with denser vegetation than the rest, and the Spiritual Energy felt more vibrant.
She stuck out her tongue for further scents to find, yet to her shock, found something that was both familiar and foreign.
Slithering measurably, her large serpentine body crept eerily silent for a beast of her size as she stumbled upon a presence that caused her to pause.
Humans!
