The days that followed returned to tranquility.
Hong Yuan spent his days forging first-order weapons to earn Energy Stones in preparation for exchanging for a Cultivation Technique. During the evenings, he practiced the Five Tiger Breaking Gate Sword and fed the Sting Bee Worm and the Tiger Head Bees. His sleeping hours were spent controlling the Mysterious Water Snake to consume and devour.
In such fulfilling days, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this half-month, Hong Yuan had earned 120 Energy Stones. If he wished, he could go to the Book Pavilion and exchange them for a complete second-order Martial Arts Skill.
But Hong Yuan was not satisfied with this; he decided to wait a few more days. Then he would exchange for a fifth-order Martial Arts Skill!
Even just the initial layers of a fifth-order skill are much better than an entire second-order skill.
Hong Yuan had plenty of time; there was no need to be impetuous.
Three days after that half-month, Zhu Wushang suddenly visited him.
Zhu Wushang said, "Yuan, you haven't met Master's daughter, Xiaoru, have you? She recently broke through and became a first-order Alchemist.
"For some unknown reason, she concocted a large batch of pills, but this batch isn't selling. I will give you 100 Energy Stones, and you can go and buy the pills from her.
"Remember, never reveal that I asked you to help buy them; just say you need them for yourself. Xiaoru is a bit stubborn; if she knows the truth, she won't sell them to you.
"Also, after buying the pills, never take them. You have a Class A Aperture, and taking inferior pills would undoubtedly hinder your Martial Arts path. These pills are useless to me, so you can handle them as you see fit. Selling them at a low price to the Martial Artists of Phoenix River Town below the mountain is also an option."
After hearing his Senior Brother's words, Hong Yuan felt a touch of emotion. No matter where one is, the children of wealthy and influential families always seem to advance much faster than ordinary people.
"Senior Brother, rest assured. I know what to do!" Hong Yuan replied solemnly.
"Mm," Zhu Wushang nodded lightly, quite confident in Hong Yuan.
He then turned towards Zhao Gonghe. However, halfway there, Zhu Wushang stopped and returned to his small house.
Zhu Wushang did not trust Zhao Gonghe with this matter.
He felt Zhao Gonghe would try to be clever and end up exposing the situation.
Unknowingly, Zhao Gonghe had lost an opportunity.
「By evening」
Hong Yuan's storage bag contained 100 more Energy Stones. They would be in Xiaoru's hands the next time he paid his respects to the Master.
Upon returning to the courtyard, Hong Yuan reviewed the Five Tiger Breaking Gate Sword as usual, and then switched his main perspective to his Mysterious Water Snake Avatar.
After he brought his mastery of the Five Tiger Breaking Gate Sword to the Great Achievement Realm, its proficiency growth had slowed compared to before, which dissatisfied Hong Yuan.
Hong Yuan knew this was because his innate talent had not increased, so he had recently been focusing more on his Mysterious Water Snake Avatar.
「Primitive Forest」
At the large pond, Hong Yuan opened his eyes languidly. His tail lightly slapped the ground as he uncoiled and swam towards the shallow waters.
Empty, utterly empty!
Due to Hong Yuan's unrestrained predation over the past two months, the entire shallow area of the large pond was now deserted.
The remaining fish and shrimp were either tiny minnows or incredibly fast arrowfish.
Hong Yuan paid no attention to those annoying arrowfish. He moved slowly to the area near the deeper waters, silently observing the scene within.
The largest fish in the shallow waters were about three meters long, but here in the deep water, fish were easily over three meters. Hong Yuan had even seen a terrifyingly large octopus about ten meters long!
His Mysterious Water Snake form was a little over five meters long with a considerable girth. He could be considered a giant beast, yet in the deep waters, he was hardly worth mentioning.
DRIP. DRIP.
As Hong Yuan watched those large fish and shrimp, saliva involuntarily dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
Supreme delicacies. How I wish I could sink my teeth into their throats!
But no matter how greedy he felt, Hong Yuan did not venture into the deeper waters.
He waited right there for some oblivious creature to stumble into his path.
An hour later, he finally found an opportunity.
[Tiger Shadow]!
Three black, ominous tiger shadows suddenly split from Hong Yuan's body, each pouncing from a different angle towards a three-meter-long, carp-like fish.
"WAHH!!!"
With a cry of pain, the three-meter carp's eyes rolled back, and it fainted on the spot.
Hong Yuan hurriedly opened his massive jaws and began to suck in the direction of the three-meter carp.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.
The water current changed direction, and the three-meter carp quickly drifted towards Hong Yuan, a delighted glint appearing in his eyes.
However, Hong Yuan had not completely relaxed yet; he vigilantly watched his surroundings.
During his previous hunting attempts, a large green crocodile would often appear and steal his prey.
That large green crocodile had thick skin and flesh, able to withstand multiple [Tiger Shadow] attacks without any effect. This left him frustrated and helpless, forced to labor in vain for another.
To think that I, a dignified Blue Star Transcender, am being toyed with by a mere beast! The humiliation was unbearable; Hong Yuan wished he could swallow it whole on the spot.
Fortunately, the large green crocodile did not appear this time.
Hong Yuan would be able to safely devour this three-meter carp.
SNAP!
Hong Yuan bit into the carp's gills, killing it.
He dragged the carp back to his cave.
「After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, inside the Mysterious Water Snake's cave.」
Hong Yuan opened his huge mouth and began to swallow the three-meter-long fish bit by bit.
The large fish quickly entered Hong Yuan's belly, causing his serpentine abdomen to swell considerably.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
His snake stomach worked overtime, helping Hong Yuan quickly digest the large fish.
As enlightenment struck him, Hong Yuan gently closed his eyes.
Before him was a vast expanse of white. He seemed to have entered an Icy Pole World, where he saw a huge White Python, clad in armor-like white scales, coiled around an ice peak.
Before he could observe closely, he was expelled and returned to reality.
"..."
Hong Yuan's gaze grew profound as he looked at his own status panel.
[Avatar: Mysterious Water Snake (Blurred)]
[Level: Second Order Primary Class]
A Second Order Primary Class Demon Beast. My Mysterious Water Snake Avatar has advanced to the Second Order!
Through his continuous effort, it had only taken him a little over two months to advance the Mysterious Water Snake Avatar from its juvenile stage to Second Order Primary Class. His hard work had truly paid off.
The only regret was that he had completely exhausted the species potential of the Mysterious Water Snake.
I need to evolve it, to significantly raise the species potential of the Mysterious Water Snake. Is that white, armored giant python the evolutionary path for the Mysterious Water Snake? Hong Yuan had a realization.
Demon Beasts value their bloodline above all. They rise because of it, and they are also limited by it.
It was not unheard of for low-order Demon Beasts to reach the sixth-order Desolate Beast rank, but that required immense effort and was highly impractical.
What Hong Yuan envisioned now was to complete a metamorphosis, evolving the Mysterious Water Snake Avatar into a different, higher-order Demon Beast species.
Perhaps into a Big Python, or a large anaconda...
This was the growth trajectory for most Demon Beasts: if their bloodline offered no further aid and instead became shackles, they would evolve towards a higher-order species.
In an instant, Hong Yuan buried the thought of evolving into a white, armored giant python deep in his heart.
He began to swim leisurely, heading towards the deeper waters.
Standing before the deep waters, Hong Yuan keenly felt that layer of fatal threat.
As he grew, that sense of fatal danger, though still present, had diminished considerably. It had gone from almost certain death to a slim chance of survival.
Should I go in? If I do, I could definitely hunt a large school of fish and shrimp, which would increase my [Talent] and [Life Span], Hong Yuan mused, a hint of wishful thinking in his eyes.
But in the blink of an eye, Hong Yuan turned around and left, intending to return to his cave.
Why rush this moment? I'm not one of those short-lived species. With Longevity Martial Arts, why risk my life? Seriously. Lie low, keep lying low. I have plenty of time!