6: Chapter 6: Ten times the protein of beef

The ripples gradually became intense, causing waves to continuously lap against the shore.

Su Mo's pupils suddenly constricted. Under the reflection of the sunlight, he observed a massive dark shadow vaguely visible underwater, slowly rising to the surface.

That silhouette was definitely not an ordinary fish; it was long and slender, faintly resembling a giant snake.

"Splash!"

The lake surface erupted with a boom as a black figure broke through the water, sending up a massive spray.

A massive dark-green snake head appeared on the surface. There was a prominent bulge in the middle of its head, as if it might burst through the skin at any moment, and a faint glint of golden light flashed within its crimson vertical pupils.

In its mouth, it held a fat fish whose lower body was thrashing violently. The giant snake simply tossed its head back slightly, and the fat fish slid directly down its throat.

The giant snake narrowed its eyes in satisfaction. Just as its upper body was about to submerge again, it suddenly froze and slowly turned its head to look in Su Mo's direction.

Su Mo's fur immediately stood on end. Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, but he bit the tip of his tongue hard to force himself to stay calm. He held his breath and averted his gaze, watching only through his peripheral vision.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. His breathing and heartbeat became extremely slow. Just as he was about to reach his limit, the giant snake finally looked away and slowly sank beneath the water.

Seeing this, Su Mo hurriedly retreated, stopping only after he had sprinted about half a kilometer away.

He hid within a dense tree canopy, gasping for air, his heart pounding wildly.

"Was that a Flood Dragon?!"

Recalling the bulge on the giant snake's head, he couldn't help but shudder.

"No... it probably hasn't transformed into a Flood Dragon yet, but it should be very close."

"I don't know what tier that giant snake is, but just that one look at me made me feel like my life was under threat."

"There really are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in this forest!"

He shook his head to clear his wandering thoughts and, in his mind, marked this place with a danger sign.

“Sigh~ it's a bit of a pity about those fat fish. I really wanted to taste what they were like.”

Accompanied by the lingering smell of fish, he gulped down a large mouthful of white porridge to recover his strength.

He looked up at the sky; the sun was hanging directly overhead.

"It's still early, I'll go check out other directions. I haven't eaten meat today. If all else fails, I'll just catch two more Field Mice."

Su Mo shook his body and chose a direction leading away from the lake.

The trees there were even denser, blocking out almost all the sunlight, with only tiny spots of light filtering through the thick leaves onto the ground.

The lack of sunlight made the area very damp, and many mushrooms grew there. These mushrooms were all quite beautiful—some emitted a fragrance, and some even glowed with a blue light.

Su Mo didn't dare touch these mushrooms, let alone eat them. He could only carefully navigate around them. As he stepped on the soil covered in damp moss, his ears caught a faint rustling sound.

"There should be quite a few bugs in this soil, right?"

Speaking of bugs, a certain figure couldn't help but appear in his mind.

That famous person once said, 'Pinch off the head and it's edible; it has ten times the protein of beef.' These bugs must be quite chewy as well.

However, unless absolutely necessary, he still didn't want to eat bugs, even though he'd heard they were very nutritious.

The deeper he went, the denser the canopy became, the darker the environment grew, and the scenery before him became increasingly bizarre.

Su Mo even saw a snake as thick as a wrist with nine glowing blue rings on its body. He really doubted whether this thing was edible or poisonous.

"I won't mutate if I eat this thing, will I?"

But since he was already here, even if it were a rock, he'd have to taste how salty it was.

He summoned a clump of porridge the size of a sandbag above the Blue-ringed Snake's head to test it out.

The sticky white porridge coated the Blue-ringed Snake, and its body twisted frantically, letting out intense hissing sounds.

Clearly, it was dazed by this sudden attack and couldn't find what had struck it for a long time.

Su Mo tried summoning another clump of white porridge above the Blue-ringed Snake. Before it even fell, the snake seemed to sense something. It snapped its head up, and the nine blue rings flashed with a blinding light.

"Hiss—"

The snake's mouth opened wide, and a pale blue mist sprayed out, covering the white porridge that hadn't yet landed.

"Sizzle!"

The moment the blue mist touched the white porridge, the sound of something being corroded rang out. By the time the white porridge fell, it had turned into a blue liquid, and the rice grains within had vanished.

Su Mo's pupils constricted as he looked at the still-struggling Blue-ringed Snake with some surprise.

"This thing is quite toxic! Luckily I didn't engage in close combat; I probably wouldn't have been able to withstand a single spray."

He summoned another dozen clumps of white porridge and smashed them onto the Blue-ringed Snake. Its struggling became very weak, and the nine blue rings on its body dimmed significantly. That single breath of poison mist seemed to have exhausted all its strength.

Su Mo still didn't dare let his guard down. He found a palm-sized stone nearby and weighed it; it was about five pounds.

Carrying the stone in one hand, he climbed the tree in a few steps and picked a good spot, looking down at his prey from above.

Then he stood up, raised the stone high above his head with both hands, and with his waist and legs acting as one, his muscles tensed, and he threw it with sudden force.

"Whoosh!"

The stone shot through the air and, in the blink of an eye, smashed onto the head of the Blue-ringed Snake, which was lying in a puddle of white liquid.

"Crack!"

The dull impact was mingled with the sound of bones shattering. As pale blue blood flowed out, the snake's body convulsed violently a few times and finally went limp after a few breaths, showing no more movement.

Su Mo carefully jumped down from the tree, snapped off a sturdy branch, and used it to pick the snake's body out of the liquid.

By now, the blue light on the snake's body had completely extinguished. He tentatively licked a drop of the blue blood.

"Hmm?! It's sweet and icy-cool, a bit like ice cream."

After waiting a while and seeing no reaction, he began to tear into it. The snake meat, eaten with the skin, had a very firm and chewy texture.

Before long, the four-to-five-meter-long snake meat, as thick as a wrist, was in his stomach. A warm current, even more massive than before, spread from his stomach to his entire body.

He clearly felt his muscle fibers being constantly torn and reorganized under the surge of energy, and his size grew at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Once the transformation ended, he opened his personal panel and took a look, feeling somewhat surprised:

【Host: Su Mo】

【Race: Red Fox】

【Rank: Tier One (354/1000)】

【Skill: Infinite White Porridge (Never Expires)】

【Talent: Savage Growth】

A single Blue-ringed Snake had increased his progress by a hundred points; no wonder the change was so significant.

Looking at the numbers on the panel, his eyes gleamed, and his heart couldn't help but fill with excitement.

"If I eat seven more Blue-ringed Snakes, I'll be able to level up. After leveling up, I should be able to take on that Black Bear."

"Bear paws... slurp..."