2: Chapter 2 The Green Snake's Attack
Xu Qing stared with his large, nearsighted eyes, seriously looking at the panel.
"Ignore things like meat quality for now."
"Hmph, I actually have some offensive power now."
Seeing the System's description, he happily shook his head.
Then his whole body stiffened, and he shook his head vigorously.
"No, I've been a snake for too long; my thinking has become too simple."
"I won't get happy over something like this."
Xu Qing continued to check the panel.
Compared to a Emerald-Green Snake, the Green Snake seemed a bit more ferocious, and its potential might have increased as well.
In addition, he had gained the skill Wind Blade and the innate Divine Ability, Great Strength.
His means of attack had greatly improved.
"Let's first test the power of the Wind Blade skill."
Xu Qing flicked his tail and aimed at a stone wall.
Then, with a forceful flick of his tail, his green scales shimmered, and a transparent Wind Blade shot out.
The stone wall made a soft sound as a crack split open.
"The power seems pretty good!"
Xu Qing moved closer to the stone wall, looked at the crack, then turned his head to look at his green tail.
"As expected of This Snake's tail, well done."
After the praise, his tail wagged happily.
"Next, let's expand the cave first."
Xu Qing didn't want to get stuck in the cave after his next evolution.
He first flicked Wind Blades at the cave walls with his tail, then used his head to push the dirt out of the cave.
Shaking the dirt off his head, he crawled back into the cave.
"Wind Blade!"
[Ding, proficiency has reached the requirement]
[Wind Blade Lv1 upgraded to Wind Blade Lv2]
"Hmm?"
"The skill's Rank has increased?"
Xu Qing flicked his tail and looked at his panel.
After confirming the skill had upgraded, Xu Qing flicked out another Wind Blade with his tail.
Compared to the previous Wind Blade, the power of this one was greatly increased.
Furthermore, the Mana consumption had also increased significantly.
Previously, Xu Qing would be exhausted after twenty Wind Blades, but with the new one, he could only manage about ten.
"This Snake's Dao Cultivation is still too shallow."
"This world is too dangerous. A little snake like me might turn into snake soup after just a few steps outside."
A seed of wanting to become stronger was planted in Xu Qing's heart.
After finishing the cave expansion, Wind Blade did not continue to increase in Rank.
However, Xu Qing was prepared for this.
As an otaku who had played many online games, he naturally understood that the higher the Rank, the harder it was to level up.
After coiling into a snake pancake in the cave, he raised his upper body and began to Cultivate his Cultivation Technique.
After all, he often saw protagonists in web novels using Cultivation to replace sleep.
[Ding, Dao Cultivation +0.01...]
As time passed, a large number of green light specks gathered around the Green Snake.
Until sunrise.
Xu Qing slithered out of the cave and began his breathing exercises toward the sun.
However, there was no effect.
"Novels are all lies. That 'Purple Qi from the East' thing has no effect at all."
Xu Qing flicked his tail angrily.
Then, he slithered toward the river.
The river wasn't far from his cave; he had discovered it while hunting yesterday.
He took a sip of river water, rinsed his mouth, and washed off the dirt on his body.
The scales stained with dirt became clean and shiny again.
Glancing at his scales with satisfaction, he slithered toward the depths of the forest.
"Hiss."
"There's Demonic Qi, such a pungent Demonic Qi."
Xu Qing's eyes sharpened.
He lowered his body slightly and stayed close to the ground, approaching the source of the Demonic Qi.
Why approach so boldly?
Because he could feel that this Demonic Qi wasn't as strong as his own.
And having mastered the Wind Blade, he was feeling a bit overconfident.
As he got closer, a Red Fox appeared before his eyes.
The Red Fox was posturing provocatively in front of a human dressed as a scholar, while the scholar seemed completely unaware that he was facing a fox, groping the air in front of it.
He had a lecherous look on his face.
Strands of Yang Qi were emerging from the scholar's seven orifices, absorbed by the fox who looked quite pleased.
"Three years of Dao Cultivation, an Spirit Opening Demon Beast."
Xu Qing accurately judged the fox's Dao Cultivation.
"What a disgrace to humans. Can't you smell such a strong, pungent scent?"
Xu Qing glanced at the scholar with disdainful eyes.
Then, he restrained his Demonic Qi, held his breath, and slowly approached the fox.
"I bite!"
Turning into a green blur, he lunged out and bit the fox's tail firmly.
The Red Fox let out a scream, its face turning ferocious as it turned around to bite back.
"Tail, whip it to death!"
His large green tail whipped toward the Red Fox with a whistling sound, and a Wind Blade shot straight at the fox's head.
The Red Fox's head was split clean in half, splashing blood all over the ground.
"Ah! A monster! There's a monster!"
The scholar finally snapped out of it, pulled up his pants in a panic, and scrambled away from the scene.
"I'll let you off for now."
Ignoring the scholar, Xu Qing slowly straightened his body and fired another Wind Blade at the corpse.
[Ding, killed a Red Fox]
[Dao Cultivation +1, evolution pointss +4]
[Obtained item: Red Fox Pelt]
[Achievement unlocked: First Yao Beast Kill]
[Reward: flood dragon scale ×1]
[Obtained item: Storage Function unlocked]
The fur on the fox's corpse vanished into thin air, revealing red muscle and flesh.
"flood dragon scale?"
Xu Qing opened the panel and found a new [Items] tab.
In it were two slots, containing a complete Red Fox Pelt and a black scale.
The scale shimmered with a faint light, looking as if it were forged from pig iron.
Trying to take it out, a scale the size of a millstone appeared out of nowhere, smashing a pit into the ground.
"It's huge!"
"Based on this proportion, how big must a Flood Dragon be?"
"If I evolve into a Flood Dragon, I probably won't have to worry about being boiled into snake soup anymore."
Xu Qing looked at the Flood Dragon, his eyes full of longing.
Trying to coil up on the scale, a cool sensation came from beneath him.
[Ding, detected dense Flood Dragon Qi in the surroundings]
[Cultivation speed increased]
[Bloodline improving]
[New evolution path unlocked—Green Water Snake]
[Green Water Snake] Spiritual Yao, a rather rare green snake demon with a trace of Water Flood Dragon Bloodline, possessing Wood, Wind, and Water attributes. Its snake blood has Body Tempering effects, its snake meat is full of Spiritual Qi, delicate and refreshing, super delicious, and its snake skin... whether as a Spiritual Pet, food ingredient, or Artifact Refining material, it is very rare and loved by many Cultivators.
"Good stuff!"
Xu Qing's eyes shone, and he looked around shiftily, afraid someone would steal his things.
Then, he quickly put the scale into his item inventory and breathed a sigh of relief.
It's decided, this scale will be my bed from now on.
"Continue hunting to see if I can unlock any more achievements."
He glanced at the remaining fox meat but ultimately didn't eat it.
The smell was too pungent.
If I eat it and end up smelling like that too, who would I complain to?
As a snake, he had no scent at all and was very hygienic.
Recently, his diet had consisted of sparrows, Frogs, and the like.
They all tasted quite refreshing.
Especially the Frogs—they were exceptionally delicious.
Flicking his tongue, he sensed the heat sources around him.
...
He caught several sparrows.
After evolving, using Wind Blade on sparrows was basically one shot, one kill.
But the Dao Cultivation and evolution pointss they provided were greatly reduced, making them better than nothing.
"It seems I can only evolve quickly by killing Yao Beasts now."
Xu Qing raised his head and looked south, toward the depths of the forest.
He could sense intense Demonic Qi deep in the forest.
It wasn't emitted by a single Yao Beast, but was woven from the Demonic Qi of multiple Yao Beasts.