The Black Snake awoke with newfound strength as she flexed her jaws.

  It was a peculiar feeling; generally, snakes did not have strong crushing jaws like some reptiles, such as crocodiles, but rather incredibly flexible ones that allowed them to swallow much larger prey.

  Yet, now Sun Yuying found herself stretching her serpentine neck as the muscles around her neck and jaw felt reinforced, denser and far stronger than before.

  Stronger jaws brought about a structural change; her fangs felt sturdier and more durable, allowing them to handle the force of her new bite.

  Initially worried about the change affecting the advantageous nature of her flexible jaws, the Black Snake quickly found that, despite the drastic change, she suffered no disadvantages from the change and only gained a newfound advantageous trait with no drawbacks.

  It was something that, from a biological standpoint, made no sense, yet the Black Snake did not question the change after witnessing the mysterious nature of this world.

  The Black Snake did not query further; she prioritised her efficiency in hunting prey, and her newfound enhanced jaws gave her another weapon in her ever-increasing arsenal.

  I should check the time difference.

  She wanted to review her status after the latest change.

  ‘Status’, Sun Yuying thought mentally.

  Name: Sun Yuying

  Species: Common krait

  Cultivation: Mortal

  Spiritual Energy: 100/100

  Traits: Venomous, Tough Skin, Adaptive Camouflage, Robust Jaws

  Age: 181 days

  181 days? Not long has passed then.

  It had only been a few days since she acquired her latest trait. The Black Snake knew it was less demanding compared to when her body met a growth milestone, yet she would no longer do so due to meeting the limits of her species.

  The Robust Jaws trait was of similar rank to her lowest Tough Skin, and she became curious if traits could be improved by devouring species with a stronger version of the same trait.

  Would those large crocodiles have a similar trait to Robust Jaws I can acquire?

  The Black Snake also felt a deep, sated curiosity about whether it could conjoin the advantageous nature of all Snakes' varied species, such as the bone-crushing grip of constrictors.

  She had already discovered her body was capable of such adaptability, yet her main obstacle was the Titanoboa.

  If it were before I met it, I would be more daring, yet the mysterious nature of it being a Spirit Beast makes me hold back, since I have no idea what it is capable of. Given how it commands Snakes, would I offend it if I started devouring them?

  The Black Snake found the thought of devouring its own kin as natural; her instincts drove her to be opportunistic, and she viewed them as high-value sustenance for both traits and spiritual energy, yet she decided she would not risk preemptively triggering the Titanoboa.

  She was not afraid of it, yet she knew her limitations when it was the clear Apex Predator, and she needed to evolve before even considering challenging it.

  Focusing back to the Titanoboa. It was time to put her scheme into action; she had a giant spider to find.

  The advanced evolutions were close, and were as follows.

  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.

  Would you like to evolve with 2/3 advanced options?

  Delaying the notification, she had two out of three now, and the only one remaining was the most challenging of them all.

  The Black Snake did not have to go after the Titanoboa, yet she felt drawn to it.

  I need its core.

  That drive in her, her instincts were telling her it had the perfect core for her, and those instincts had not let her down.

  Slithering out of the temporary shelter, the Black Snake moved with clear focus and a destination in mind.

  I will find that Giant Spider.

  The Black Snake knew she could not delay this further; otherwise, she risked the Titanoboa's ire.

  Retracing her way through the Forest, she actively avoided the denizens of the forest, no matter how tempting the prey was.

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  With her powerful camouflage capabilities, she was remarkably swift as she made her way to the last area she had seen the Giant Forest Spiders.

  The Black Snake had an excellent memory, and spiritual energy enhanced her more than just physically. It made it rather strange that her human memories remained sketchy.

  Nonetheless, she was able to recall notable landmarks and, after a period of time, slithered her way back to the location where she had the altercation with the Nascent Spirit Giant Forest Spider.

  The Black Snake found the vicinity where the dense trees remained covered in thick webs. After a period of observation, Sun Yuying noticed that the webbing had expanded even further, and as the spiders' territory continued to grow, her suspicion grew.

  Didn't the Titanoboa have a similar goal? To seize and expand territory, what is going on here?

  The Forest was not calm. Sun Yuying knew the Spirit Beasts were the clear local hegemonies of the Forest; they ruled their lesser kin and extracted everything of value.

  Yet, from the Titanoboa thoughts, it seemed the desire to expand and conquer had grown; the previous splitting of the territories no longer satisfied the greedy Spirit Beasts.

  Is the Spider the same?

  The Black Snake felt cautious. If it were anything like the Titanoboa, she felt far more wary of treating the Spiders as prey than before.

  Looking around her surroundings, the Black Snake knew she had to sneak her way through past the webbing and move further into the territory to find the Spirit Beast that led them.

  Knowing Spiders were sensitive to the vibrations of their webs, the Black Snake slithered her way through the trees until she found interconnecting branches high up that allowed her to bypass the dense webbing.

  During that time, she encountered dozens of Giant Forest Spiders, yet, with her near-flawless camouflage, she managed to escape their notice for now.

  Fortunately, the Spiders seemed fixated on other things; the insects had a zealous drive about them as they skittered through the trees, forming webs whilst their numerous red eyes constantly scanned for resources.

  The Black Snake took a ludicrous amount of time to escape their notice and find ways to get around the webbing. At times, it was unavoidable, yet she moved with such pace and strength that the Spiders that came to investigate found nothing.

  Sun Yuying knew it was deeply risky to continue doing so, though, and treated it as a last resort. If it became too repetitive, the thought of them alerting the Spirit Beast behind them was daunting.

  Feeling a chill run down her, the Black Snake eventually felt an instinctive trembling deep inside her blood.

  Similar to the Titanoboa, though sharper, more alien and hostile, she felt the presence of it. The Black Snake felt the presence of the Spirit Beast; its aura seeped into the nest of webs and grew denser as she moved closer, giving her a means to find it.

  Sun Yuying was curious about the Titanoboa not approaching it herself; she knew that as she grew and assimilated Spiritual Energy, her sensitivity to such energies would increase, so the Titanoboa must be even stronger as a Spirit Beast.

  There is something I am missing.

  The Black Snake found the intricacies of the Spirit Beasts more similar to humans than beasts; the Titanoboa needed her for some reason.

  Sun Yuying continued to move closer, and the webs grew so dense that the vibrant trees and vegetation became increasingly absent from her vision.

  Not absent, just covered in a sea of white, and the Black Snake grew concerned she would have to stop; she was very near the Spirit Beast, and she felt it.

  Eventually, she saw it.

  A Spider so large it made the Quasi Spirit Giant Forest Spider appear insignificant.

  Sun Yuying thought the Titanoboa was freakishly big itself, and it was. Yet the colossal spider must have been 35 feet long and almost 15 feet tall, and seeing an insect that large was more visually horrifying than the gigantic snake.

  The colossal spider had dense green fur and a thick chitinous exoskeleton, making it resemble a tank-like insect capable of withstanding great force.

  Its head was perhaps the most freakish sight she had ever seen; its furs, white and black, diverged around the nest of dark green hairs, resembling a giant human skull, whilst it had big, eerie black eyes with whitish flecks inside them. Additionally, it had huge, nasty-looking, pincer-like fangs that appeared remarkably lethal.

  Appearing before it, the Black Snake instantly felt something was wrong.

  Mistake. The Titanoboa misled me. I never had a chance of escaping its notice; a mortal trait is not strong enough!

  She knew this almost instantly, yet the eyes of the colossal spider had already fixed its gaze on her.

  Never has a brood slayer delivered itself to me like so. Inconsequential. Weak. You have come to meet your death.

  The Black Snake felt locked down as the Spider became hostile; the Titanoboa never utilised its Spiritual pressure like this, yet despite this, Sun Yuying found a deep resolve.

  Pride. I won't be taken down like this!

  To the amazement of the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, the insignificant Black Snake actually fought back against its spiritual pressure and defied the natural bloodline suppression of beasts.

  You dare to resist? Brood slayer, you dare?

  The Giant Forest Spider Matriarch quickly found that the Black Snake dared.

  It is metaphysical! Spiritual. A mere presence. It might be enough to suppress most animals, but I refuse!

  And with that, she felt the presence shatter, and no longer frozen, the Black Snake did not remain still idiotically; she began to make a mad dash for it, as she slithered away with all her might.

  The Giant Forest Spider Matriarch hissed and chirped in rage, its colossal legs flexed as it felt its state of mind disturbed.

  You dare mess with my ascension? I should pursue, yet I need something potent to break through.

  The Giant Forest Spider Matriach began to think. It was patient. It saw an opportunity.

  After deep thought, it screeched to call its brood to hunt the insignificant Snake. It needed to make a pretence of pursuit after all, whilst it continued the long process of building foundations for expanding its core to ascend.

  Furthermore, its cultivation; whilst disturbed by the snake, it was only delayed, and whilst the insignificant Snake was hardly worthy of its notice, it felt its presence was irregular.

  It needed more Spiritual Energy, and now an old foe has revealed itself. The brood slayer was inconsequential with such an opportunity.

  It was ancient and wise. It would set up the perfect trap.

  The sly old Snake would assume it was breaking through now, after all why else would it let an insignificant brood slayer survive?

  It recognised the arrogant old Snake scheme instantly. Ruthless. Sacrificing the brood so carelessly to investigate it. To see if it was weak and vulnerable.

  You finally made a move. Looks like you will fuel my ascension.

  At that point, Sun Yuying had no idea she had broken the balance of the pact of the Spirit Beasts of the Forest, putting in motion the inevitable confrontation between the Serpent and the Arachnid.