The Black Snake stared down at the two powerful Spirit Beasts, far beyond her in power, lying injured and depleted.
Titanoboa seemed to be the more spent of the two, yet the Colossal Spider did not seem to be doing much better; the Black Snake had to urge herself to hold back, seeing such a scrumptious feast.
Sun Yuying felt determined to grasp the opportunity before her, yet her instincts urged caution; rushing in foolishly might earn her nothing but a quick death.
The Colossal Spider is not foolish. It tricked the Titanoboa here and took severe damage to launch the perfect attack; it must have a means to recuperate.
Scanning her surroundings, the Black Snake waited patiently to see the Colossal Spider's next move.
It was then that she noticed the Colossal Spiders' plan involved their brood.
A Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider was soon revealed, and the Black Snake realised the Colossal Spider's intentions.
The Titanoboa is used to being a solitary hunter and an apex predator. Though it could command Snakes and did so, it did not utilise them as the Spider did. Sun Yuying noticed none of the Snakes were Nascent Spirit Beasts with budding Spiritual intelligence; the Colossal Spider knew this and took advantage of it.
I need to hurry, those Spiders are going to give the Colossal Spider the Tianoboa Spirit Core!
The Black Snake, forced into action, sneakily slithered through the trees, above the Spiders, as the devastated webbings from the Titanoboa rampage gave her both the opening and distraction she needed.
Sun Yuying found the Colossal Spider commanding its brood; though severely injured, it was capable of that. Yet at that time, an opportunistic Black Snake crept above the Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider and, in one swift motion, dropped from above.
The Colossal Spider was hissing and busily ordering it until a black blur dropped on the Large Spider, a Black Snake sinking her fangs into it and pumping it full of poison as the Spider staggered and stumbled.
Recognising the Snake, the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch screeched in rage.
You Brood Slayer! You think you can defy, interfere, and ruin the hope of transcending the shackles of our bloodline!
Sun Yuying ignored the screeches and rumbles from the Colossal Spider; the thing spoke bizarrely, and it was already calling more Giant Spiders.
It seemed the Colossal Spider had truly been prepared, even despite the Black Snake effectively disabling a Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider, her exceedingly potent venom crippling the beast, yet many more Giant Spiders came to its aid.
I already knew this would be difficult, even with the Spirit Beasts effectively out of the fight.
The Black Snake would disappoint the Colossal Spider, though, as she was an unusual Snake, such swarm tactics would usually overwhelm, yet Sun Yuying just needed to devour to recuperate.
In a whirlwind of action, the Black Snake moved through the dense vegetation; remnants of the webbing lay everywhere, yet she utilised her newly acquired trait to chomp down Spiders and continuously digest them, to the absolute shock of the Colossal Spider.
You have consumed Lesser Giant Forest Spider, gaining +6 Spiritual Energy…
You have consumed Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider, gaining +30 Spiritual Energy.
You have consumed Lesser Giant Forest Spider, gaining +6 Spiritual Energy…
Your trait, Robust Jaws, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
The Colossal Spider watched her devour the numerous Giant Spiders, whilst taking bites out of the Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider in an abnormal manner, the sheer amount of consumed beasts would create a turbulent amount of Spiritual Energy, which should be impossible for a Mortal Snake species to handle, yet not only could she handle it, the Black Snake received a boast from it, as the excess energies pushed her bodily limit above normal range.
The Giant Forest Spider Matriarch's shrill screeches grew louder.
What are you? Impossible. You are a mere Mortal, not even a Spirit Beast of a notable bloodline; you should not exist! All this time to use the blood of something more substantial to push past the boundary.
At that time, the Black Snake crunched down the last of the few Spiders.
You have consumed Lesser Giant Forest Spider, gaining +6 Spiritual Energy…
Your trait, Robust Jaws, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
Your trait, Robust Jaws, has broken its limit. The trait has evolved in grade from a mortal intermediate trait to a mortal upper trait.
Evolved already?
The Black Snake did not recall how many Spiders it devoured, yet it felt like dozens. She was bitten, injured, and poisoned over and over, yet the nourishment of Spiritual Energy restored her time and time; it seemed this type of swarm, though weaker, was ideal for her.
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It was then that the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, who was still struggling for life weakly, yet she dared not underestimate a Spiritual Beast.
Approaching it, she saw its eight huge eyes fixated on her as it hissed.
You still fear us? We sacrificed much to slay the dreaded serpent, we toiled to grow to this stage, yet now some mortal Snake that grew from a worse bloodline than us is the end.
The Black Snake stared deeper into its eyes and felt the sheer despair there. It was eerily intelligent; perhaps the human from her memories would even feel compassion for it, yet her instincts were cold: the Colossal Spider was prey, no matter how sentient it was.
Sun Yuying knew the Colossal Spider was clinging on because of its horde. Now that hope is gone, all it received was the crushing jaws and searing pain of venom from a Snake, which, though far weaker, had a Spirit Beast that had burned through a significant amount of its defences for the attack it made.
In a twist of fate, if the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch had received the Titanoboa Spirit Core, it would have recovered and more, yet now it was faced with death.
The Black Snake was now surrounded by dead giant insects and the ginormous, still bodies of the two Spirit Beasts.
Sun Yuying knew she had to bring the core somewhere else; she would evolve soon as she retrieved it, and felt it would be a long process. Remaining in the Colossal Spider territory would not be viable, as some of the insects may still be present.
The Black Snake stared at the two Spirit Beast bodies and felt it was a waste, yet a bright idea filled it.
What about maximising my traits before evolution? I have ample Spirit Energy here even before I retrieve the core.
Taking a bite out of the Colossal Spider, she felt a burst of pure Spiritual Energy that felt overwhelming.
You have partially consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, gaining +50 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Venemous, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
The Black Snake was amazed, only a partial amount of it had so much Spiritual Energy!
Therefore, it continued, consuming more and more of the Spider, soon it devoured around half, her bottomless stomach swiftly converting it to Spiritual Energy.
You have partially consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, gaining +50 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Venemous, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
Your trait, Venemous, has broken its limit. The trait has evolved in grade from a mortal upper trait to a mortal peak trait.
Sun Yuying felt a tremor through her body as her venom sac grew larger. Whilst she felt a warm energy through her, she instinctively felt her venom potency enhance.
The Black Snake felt delighted at the chance, but why stop here?
She continued to consume the Colossal Spider; eventually, she devoured a Spirit Beast many times her size.
Though she made sure to secure the Spirit Core, a small, sparkling green crystal located in the Spider's thorax, which contained a good deal of Spiritual Energy, with thought she decided to use it when she evolved.
Either way, the flesh was enough to push her traits to the limit.
You have partially consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, gaining +50 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Tough Skin, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
Your trait, Tough Skin, has broken its limit. The trait has evolved in grade from a mortal upper trait to a mortal peak trait.
Once again, her scales and skin strengthened, she swiftly shredded, moulting in supernatural efficiency for a Snake, revealing new, gleaming, hardier black scales behind.
With the Colossal Spider devoured, the Titanoboa, who had long stopped breathing, decides to eat her way to the core. She has an instinctive feeling about where it is.
The Black Snake felt fortunate that the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch's attack weakened the Titanonoa's flesh significantly, and she had the Robust Jaws trait that just about allowed her to consume it slowly.
You have partially consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, Lesser Wyrm, gaining +60 Spiritual Energy
Your trait, Robust Jaws, has slightly strengthened from Spiritual Energy nourishment.
Lesser Wyrm? It turned out that the Titanoboa was not one at all, but a Lesser Wyrm? What is that?
From her human memories, it was an enormous serpent related to Dragons; from the Colossal Spider's remarks, it must be nowhere near an actual Dragon. Yet the way the Spider referred to it, the Lesser Wyrm bloodline was well beyond it. It would not be able to beat it with normal means.
Either way, the Black Snake found it, even if it was not some Titanoboa; it was still the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.
With renewed vigour, she continued to devour it until she received another notification.
You have partially consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, and Lesser Wyrm, gaining +60 Spiritual Energy.
Your trait, Robust Jaws, has broken its limit. The trait has evolved in grade from a mortal upper trait to a mortal peak trait.
By now, all of her traits had reached their maximum; they could not go further in rank unless she evolved.
Sun Yuying felt pleased she had built a perfect foundation, and now she found the core was near.
The core of the Lesser Wyrm was even larger than the Colossal Spiders and was a deep, earthy colour with golden flecks.
Sun Yuying eyes it with greed, and she stores it in her mouth, ensuring not to swallow it; she needed to bring them somewhere safe, though she had to leave some of the remains of the Lesser Wyrm behind.
With her traits at their limit, there was nothing here, and she felt the area was too open for her currently.
I cannot be too exposed.
The Black Snake decided to find somewhere spacious, and as she slithered away from the remains, she searched and searched until she found a spacious cave by some undergrowth. It was empty, and Sun Yuying found she could cover the entrance to make it even harder to detect.
Curling up in a protective ball, the Black Snake felt secure, feeling the smooth rock and decided to finally bring up the notification she had been longing to accept.
Complete all three or one of the three options: Acquire surplus Spiritual Energy 250/250, Acquire 3/3 additional traits and Acquire a Compatible Spirit Core. Detected Compatible Spirit Core, would you like to use Peak First Realm, Refinement, Lesser Wyrm Spirit Core?
Would you like to evolve with 3/3 advanced options?
The Black Snake, without hesitation, selected yes, and all of a sudden, a myriad of evolution options emerged.
There were various types of Snake Species, and the typical evolutionary paths she would have followed if not for the advanced options.
Though at the bottom, there was a unique evolution due to the Spirit Core, additional Spiritual Energy, and the traits she had acquired.
A Lesser Venom Wyrm?
What is that?
