C8 Cloud Rain Flower

The girl had left the Demon Beast Forest, and it was likely she would never forget the day a snake came to her rescue.

Perhaps one day, she might even recount this tale as a legend.

But for now, Lin Yuan also had to depart!

Whether to stay alive or to seek vengeance, Lin Yuan needed to become stronger.

Only with enough strength could he dare to make contact with the humans of this world.

And only through such contact could Lin Yuan begin to grasp the true nature of this world!

His immediate task, however, was to continue his hunt for prey.

From that day forward, the edge of the Demon Beast Forest was home to a small black snake on the prowl.

This little black serpent roamed the forest, attacking and devouring any Level 1 Demon Beast or wild animal it came across.

When faced with a Level 2 or higher Demon Beast, he would cleverly use the system map to evade their pursuit.

As time swiftly passed, Lin Yuan lost track of how long he had been meandering through the Demon Beast Forest.

He faced numerous perils, even a close call with a Level 3 Demon Beast that he narrowly escaped.

But his efforts weren't in vain.

He had ascended from Level 1 to Level 2, his body stretching from five to nearly eight feet, the golden stripe on his back growing ever more pronounced.

Another day dawned.

Lin Yuan, as was his routine, slithered through the forest in search of his next meal.

Suddenly, the system chimed in with an alert:

"Seven Level 1 Demonic Beasts located one kilometer to the southeast!"

"One kilometer and one hundred meters to the southeast, a Level 2 Demonic Beast detected!"

"To the southeast, a kilometer and one hundred meters away, several unidentified ordinary beasts have been spotted by the system!"

The alerts came in rapid succession.

Without a second thought, Lin Yuan instinctively turned tail, ready to slip away in the opposite direction.

With so many Demonic Beasts nearby, he wouldn't dare approach.

But then, in the very next moment, he came to a rigid halt.

"One kilometer to the southeast, the system has identified a Grade 3 Cloud Rain Flower!"

"A Grade 3 Cloud Rain Flower?" Lin Yuan's head whipped around as he looked off toward the southeast.

He had long since adapted to life here and knew exactly what a Grade 3 Cloud Rain Flower signified.

The purple ginseng he had once ingested was merely a Grade 2 spiritual herb. Now, to his surprise, a Grade 3 spiritual herb had emerged!

It made sense why so many demonic beasts had flocked in that direction—they must have been drawn by the Cloud Rain Flower.

Should he venture there?

Lin Yuan felt a twinge of hesitation.

After all, it was a Grade 3 spiritual herb. Securing it would guarantee him at least one attribute point, an allure he found hard to resist.

By now, hunting ordinary beasts no longer yielded any attribute points for him. Killing a Level 1 Demonic Beast granted him a mere 0.1 attribute points.

Even taking down demonic beasts of his own level only netted him 0.5 attribute points. Only by defeating Level 3 or higher demonic beasts could he earn more than 1 attribute point.

As his power grew, so did the challenge of leveling up.

He had once believed he could level up swiftly, but now he realized how naive that thought was.

Level 3 Demonic Beasts were notoriously tough to kill.

Yet, acquiring this Grade 3 Cloud Rain Flower could instantly give him the equivalent benefit of slaying a Level 3 Demonic Beast.

"There are no Level 3 Demonic Beasts in the vicinity, and I can handle a Level 2. I should at least check it out," he reasoned.

With a stroke of luck guiding him, Lin Yuan turned on his heel and made a beeline towards the southeast.

One thousand meters!

Five hundred meters!

Three hundred meters!

Drawing closer to the Cloud Rain Flower, Lin Yuan's innate abilities kicked in, allowing him to effortlessly discern the approximate locations and numbers of demonic beasts nearby through their scents.

Currently, eleven Level 1 Demonic Beasts were congregated close by.

Thankfully, there was just a single Level 2 Demonic Beast.

The ordinary beasts mostly kept their distance, too intimidated by the Level 2's dominating presence to come any closer.

As Lin Yuan neared his target, a delicate fragrance wafted to him, confirming he was on the right track.

The subtle scent wafted from the southeast, relentlessly tantalizing Lin Yuan's sense of smell. Even without any system prompts, he was certain it signified something valuable.

Lin Yuan advanced until he was 300 meters away, then paused rather than proceeding further. Instead, he found a large tree nearby and silently scaled it to the very top.

From there, he deftly navigated through the canopy of the towering trees, drawing closer to the scene of the incident. The Demon Beast Forest's sky-high trees, with their interlocking crowns, provided a safe passage. Walking atop them, Lin Yuan had no fear of plummeting to the ground.

He managed to get near the cluster of Level 1 Demon Beasts with ease. Upon arrival, he refrained from any further bold movements. Staying still, he observed the creatures below in silence.

The eleven Demon Beasts were a diverse group, each remarkable in its own way. Among them were species so rare that Lin Yuan couldn't even recall their names, having never encountered them before.

But Lin Yuan's interest had shifted from these Demon Beasts to a more pressing concern—the Level 2 Demon Beast.

This creature posed the greatest challenge of his mission.

Before him was a solitary wolf, a meter tall and two meters in length, its body cloaked in a coat of blue-gray fur. It crouched low, snarling at the Level 1 Demon Beasts opposite it.

"A cyan wolf this massive?" Lin Yuan felt a tingle of apprehension.

Though he himself had attained the stature of a Level 2 Demon Beast, his own length was a mere ten feet, no thicker than his wrist. In contrast, this wolf was as large as a small calf.

Swallowing hard, Lin Yuan redirected his attention to the object that had lured him here.

A small stream flowed gently by, and on a sizable stone at its edge grew a plant with just two leaves. Atop the plant bloomed a pristine white flower, which, from a distance, seemed like a cloud floating serenely above.

The elusive fragrance he had been following emanated from the flower's pistil.

In that moment, the Level 2 cyan wolf stood to the southwest of the Cloud Rain Flower, while the eleven Level 1 Demon Beasts positioned themselves in various other directions, nearly occupying the entire area surrounding the stream.

Despite the full bloom of the Cloud Rain Flower, the Demonic Beasts appeared to be wary of one another, holding back from making any moves. Perched high in the treetops, dozens of meters above the standoff, Lin Yuan watched the scene unfold with a growing sense of urgency.