C7 Do I Have Poison??

Lin Yuan was indeed drawing closer to her, even setting aside the purple ginseng he had been holding in his mouth.

He crawled up to the woman and lifted his head to examine her closely. She was truly beautiful, appearing to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. Despite her tears, her beauty was unmistakable.

"What a shame, she's not very bright," Lin Yuan murmured to himself.

Naturally, the woman couldn't hear him. She simply gazed at Lin Yuan with wide, nervous eyes, too frightened to even breathe for fear of provoking him and becoming his next bite.

"I'd like to help you, but I have no idea how to restore your movement. You'll have to fend for yourself," Lin Yuan muttered again. He then turned, picked up a piece of clothing from the ground, and gently laid it over the woman. Afterward, he grabbed the purple ginseng and swiftly darted into the underbrush, vanishing from sight.

"Did it just cover me with clothes?" The woman's eyes bulged with incredulity.

She had just been through a harrowing experience with her cousin attempting to harm her, and she had braced herself for the worst. Yet, in an instant, her cousin was dead, dispatched by the snake. She had expected to be the snake's next victim, but instead, it had not attacked her and had even humanely covered her with clothing before slipping away.

Could this really be a snake?

How could a snake possess such sentience?

The woman was astounded, but even more so, she was relieved.

She was grateful that she had not suffered a terrible fate. Though still trapped, she knew the acupoints would be unsealed by the Genuine Qi within her body in at most an hour. If her luck held and no demonic beasts attacked her in the meantime, she might just survive.

Unaware of the woman's amazement, Lin Yuan was contentedly nestled in the branches of a nearby tree, ready to savor the purple ginseng.

Indeed, he hadn't strayed far.

For one, the vicinity seemed safe for the time being. Moreover, he was curious to see what would become of the woman. Would she manage to leave alive? If she were to die here because her acupoints remained sealed, that was simply beyond his control.

Lin Yuan paid no attention to his surroundings as he opened his eyes and intently examined the purple ginseng before him. It resembled a carrot in size, yet it was entirely purple, from its stem to its leaves. A subtle, alluring scent wafted from the ginseng, tempting anyone to taste it.

Convinced it was indeed purple ginseng, Lin Yuan didn't hesitate. He opened wide and activated the Infinite Evolution System to consume it. As he did, the familiar sensation washed over him—the ginseng transformed into a pale green speck of light and vanished into his mouth.

A wave of warmth spread through him, prompting Lin Yuan to stretch contentedly. Seizing the moment, he engaged the Golden Body Technique, and the warm current within him was swiftly harnessed, circulating rapidly to refine and merge with his flesh.

Simultaneously, the system's prompt chimed in:

"You have acquired and ingested the hundred-year-old purple ginseng from the enemy! Mission completed. You have earned a reward of 0.5 Available Attribute Points!"

"Successful ingestion of the purple ginseng has granted you an additional 0.5 Available Attribute Points!"

"Can devouring a natural treasure also yield attribute points?" Lin Yuan was astounded. His astonishment quickly turned to elation. He had labored to slay a level 1 demonic beast for a mere 0.5 attribute points, yet here he was, effortlessly gaining the same amount. Including the system mission's completion, he had secured a full attribute point today—a significant gain!

But as Lin Yuan reviewed his attribute panel, ready to allocate his points, he was taken aback to find not 1, but 1.1 Available Attribute Points.

"What's happening here?" Lin Yuan was perplexed. He hadn't done anything else today—or had he?

Then it clicked. The additional 0.1 attribute point was the system's reward for killing that man earlier. Lin Yuan recalled the system's notification, which he had previously overlooked.

Earning attribute points from hunting wild beasts was an unexpected boon—one he hadn't anticipated.

He didn't dwell on it, though. The guy had it coming, and Lin Yuan felt no remorse for killing him.

What bothered him was that the man was a level 1 wild monster, yet the system had only awarded him 0.1 attribute points.

"Is it because I leveled up that the system's rewards have diminished?" Lin Yuan wondered, feeling a twinge of concern.

He couldn't verify this at the moment; allocating his attribute points was the priority.

In the perilous Demon Beast Forest, only formidable strength could provide a sense of safety.

Ultimately, Lin Yuan assigned 0.3 attribute points to speed, 0.5 to attack, and 0.3 to defense.

Now, his attributes were updated.

Host: Lin Yuan

Status: Big Black Snake (Evolving)

Level: 1 / 10

Talent: Detect enemy location by scent

Speed: 2

Defense: 1.3

Attack: 1.5

Available attribute points: 0

Martial Arts: Golden Body Technique

"System, am I poisonous?" Lin Yuan suddenly inquired.

His reaction had been unusually strong when he attacked the man earlier.

"Host, you are a Big Black Snake and possess a certain level of toxicity," the system responded.

Lin Yuan paused, but despite further questioning, the system remained silent on any other inquiries.

"Well, I guess I can now claim to have the speed of a Level 2 Demonic Beast, right?" Lin Yuan chuckled, testing his agility by twisting his body in the tree.

He was noticeably quicker than before.

Just then, a rustling noise arose nearby.

Lin Yuan sharply turned his attention and saw the girl whose acupoints he had sealed earlier, now regaining movement.

Her first act was to hastily stand and dress herself before turning her gaze to her cousin's dead body.

She spat out angrily, "Damn you, I never thought you'd be such a sicko, lower than a snake!"

She scanned her surroundings, seemingly searching for something.

But she found nothing out of place, nor what she sought.

Considering the dangers of the Demon Beast Forest, she didn't linger, dashing towards the edge of the woods and vanishing in an instant.

Lin Yuan concealed himself within the canopy, casting a fleeting glance toward the path the woman had taken, etching the bearings firmly in his mind.

That route could very well be his ticket out of the Demon Beast Forest, leading him straight to the realms of human civilization!