The Black Snake reviewed her evolution options with clear focus.

  They ranged from the most basic mutated Common krait, which was the lowest evolutionary option; nonetheless, since the completion of advanced options, it had changed, offering benefits such as starting with a higher cultivation, in contrast to the other evolutionary options, which had both higher potential and stronger traits, yet would begin at the beginning of the first realm, utilising the foundations she has gathered to change her bloodline and race fundamentally.

  She found that if she did not acquire the core, other options would include changing the Snake species to undeniably superior ones, such as the King Cobra, and unknown Snake species that were clear Spirit Beasts in nature, such as the Silver-Scarlet Bane Serpent.

  A Spirit Beast Snake species was clearly superior to the general ones; for one, they were born as Spirit Beasts, and mortal snakes that had evolved into one seemed naturally viewed as inferior.

  However, though the Silver-Scarlet Bane Snake was a Spirit Beast species, it was not deemed the strongest option; the one that intrigued her the most was the Lesser Venom Wyrm.

  Focusing on it, she saw a description of the Species.

  Lesser Venom Wyrm: A large serpentine species with tough scales, physical strength and size. As distant descendants of Dragons, they are related, yet not considered True Dragons. Lesser Venom Wyrms are renowned for their extreme toxicity and potent venom, with their Spiritual Energy taking on a corrosive, sickly green hue. They possess stronger blood than their counterpart, the Lesser Wyrm, allowing them to partly inherit a Dragon high attunement for Spiritual Energy, with a particularly strong Venom Spiritual Qi Affinity, whilst simultaneously possessing the immense strength and size of a typical Lesser Wyrm. Feared predators, they are equally deadly physically and spiritually.

  That one feels right.

  It was instinctual; this was the strongest option, not to mention the species was related to Dragons. And what is a Dragon? An absolute Apex Predator among all Spirit Beasts, progressing along this path may even allow her to become one eventually.

  A real Dragon.

  Just the thought made her blood boil.

  And though she would start at the beginning stages of the first realm, instead of the peak that was offered as a Mutated Common krait, a Lesser Venom Wyrm had far higher potential, and she knew the opportunity to ascend species like this was not as easily achieved as acquiring Spiritual Energy to enhance her cultivation.

  And with that in mind, she decisively selected Lesser Venom Wyrm.

  A prompt appeared signalling her confirmation.

  You have selected Lesser Venom Wyrm, evolution commencing.

  The Black Snake found her vision swiftly descending into darkness after the last prompt.

  Sun Yuying would find, the next time she woke, that she would be no longer a Common krait.

  In her slumber, a cocoon began to form around her, and glowing intense energy flickered from it as rapid growth went underway.

  The discarded green Spirit Core of the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch lay at the end of the spacious cave.

  The Black Snake had enough foresight to leave it there before she evolved, yet as time went by, the cocoon grew as the Snake's serpentine body grew larger and larger, the spacious cavern seeming to shrink by the moment as the Snake's size continued to increase.

  An undetermined amount of time passed as the evolution continued, and the Black Snake underwent a qualitative change in her very being.

  The difference between a Common krait and a Lesser Venom Wyrm was momentous, considered almost impossible, yet with the system, Sun Yuying managed it.

  Eventually, the cocoon, which had been constantly expanding, reached its limit and, shortly thereafter, began to peel and crumble as a new form emerged.

  The Black Snake, or now the Lesser Venom Wyrm, opened her hypnotic gold serpentine eyes as she felt cramped in the formerly spacious cave.

  Sun Yuying flexed and stretched, feeling the complete metamorphosis.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm had effectively doubled in size, with her estimation now being around twenty-five feet, still smaller than the Titanoboa, yet when she reached a similar cultivation rank, she expected to rival its size.

  However, this wasn't even the most significant change.

  One Sun Yuying noticed immediately that her senses had enhanced substantially.

  Her vision was far clearer; though, as a Common krait, her vision in darkness was outstanding, as a Wyrm, she had even clearer night vision and could see the gloomy cave clearly, allowing her to see everything in high-resolution detail.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm's sense of smell was similarly enhanced; her Jacobson’s Organs seemed to have evolved with her, and her sensitivity to everything was improved. Flicking out her tongue in observation, she found her range of detection was broader and supernaturally enhanced.

  Finally, the most significant change to her senses was her hearing. Before, as a Common krait, her ear structure differed from humans, making her remarkably sensitive to vibrations rather than high-pitched noises, yet as a Lesser Venom Wyrm, her hearing felt exceptionally more sensitive.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Though not quite like a human from her scattered memories, her hearing was more sensitive and sharper than before, to both vibrations and sounds.

  Her bulk had also substantially increased; the weight and density of her flesh were another level entirely, and her scales were now deep forest green, with similar gold patterns to the Lesser Wyrm, Thalrax. She even felt the growth of the hard horn on her head as she flexed her serpentine head.

  ‘Status’, Sun Yuying thought mentally, instinctively wanting to view the new information from the system.

  Name: Sun Yuying

  Species: Lesser Venom Wyrm

  Cultivation: Low First Realm Refinement

  Spiritual Energy: 0/1000

  Spirit Qi Attunement: Venom Qi

  Traits: Venomous, Tough Skin, Adaptive Camouflage, Robust Jaws, Lesser Dragon Blood, Constrictor, Robust Physique, Venom Resistance

  Age: 1 year, 54 days

  Over half a year?

  That was a significant amount of time, though she supposed she should not be too surprised; the sheer change of species was drastic.

  She discovered that enhancing her traits to their peak rank also provided benefits.

  A notification from the system indicated.

  Due to enhancing all traits to peak mortal, all acquired traits are enhanced by an additional rank.

  Sun Yuying discovered that not all traits were affected by her evolution, though Venemous, as a Lesser Venom Wyrm, was.

  Evolution broke the limit of these traits, now the new rank was Earth, and her Venemous trait was already at the Upper Earth rank.

  The other traits were all at Intermediate Earth.

  That was already relatively strong for a Spirit Beast of her rank, which she knew because assimilating the Lesser Wyrm core alongside her evolution had also provided her with inherited memories.

  In doing so, she now had general knowledge of Spirit Beast cultivation.

  For one, she discovered that there are humans in this World, and their means of cultivation differ from Spirit Beasts'.

  The first realm of human cultivation is Qi Refinement, divided into 9 stages.

  Spirit Beasts, however, have the first realm of refinement, divided into low, intermediate, upper, and peak.

  Sun Yuying, for instance, being a Low First Realm Refinement, would be the equivalent of a Qi Refinement human cultivator in the third stage.

  Nonetheless, she would actually be stronger than most humans at the same stage, since Spirit Beasts usually are, and Lesser Venom Wyrm, though not the upper echelon among Spirit Beasts, is well above average and would usually acquire six or more typical human cultivators at the identical rank to challenge it on even footing.

  Yet, even though Spirit Beasts were generally stronger, there was a reason her inherited memories included them as a reference point. Like the world in her human memories, humans were a dominant species and populous everywhere. Human cultivators posed a common threat to Spirit Beasts, as they were valuable resources for them.

  However, Spirit Beasts similarly viewed them as valuable tonics for their cultivation, predatory beasts often devouring them if they had the opportunity.

  Reviewing her memories further, she even discovered exactly how the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch tricked the Lesser Wyrm, which held a superior bloodline.

  It seemed the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch had awakened an inherited trait not natural for its species, though considered abnormally rare, like a Lesser Wyrm possessing an insignificant fraction of blood from a Dragon, a Spirit Beast can, at times, awaken a trait not natural for their species by possessing a portion of their blood.

  For instance, the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch displayed a trait belonging to the Abyss Curse Spider, a formidable Spirit Beast in the Lesser Wyrm memories, one met in the Lesser Wyrm long life by coincidence, leaving a deep impression since she partly inherited the memory.

  An Abyss Curse Spider was a far stronger Spidit Beast species than the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, which made sense that utilising the inherited trait severely depleted itself to do so.

  The Lesser Wyrm did not expect this, and paid the price for underestimating the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, who displayed abilities beyond its bloodline.

  It reminded the newly evolved Lesser Venom Wyrm never to underestimate another and be overconfident in her bloodline like the Lesser Wyrm had been.

  However, regardless of the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch's inheritance of a potent trait, Sun Yuying knew it had likely pushed its blood to the limit and had required a stronger Spirit Beast bloodline as a catalyst to spur its own breakthrough.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm knew to Spirit Beasts that a bloodline was vital, and often was a harsh limit to a Spirit Beast's cultivation.

  It is no wonder mortal beasts are viewed as inferior.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm felt relieved that she had taken the Lesser Wyrm core, as the knowledge from it she inherited was invaluable.

  The system imparted a general understanding of manipulating spirit energy and seamlessly integrated it into her evolution.

  She now acquired a spirit sense that had various uses, one of which was projecting her thoughts for communication, as the Lesser Wyrm and Giant Forest Spider Matriarch did to her.

  At that time, she was reminded of the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch discarded Spirit Core, which remained where she had left it, in the far corner of the cave.

  She had spat it out before assimilating the core of the Lesser Wyrm; now it pulsed with Spiritual Energy, beckoning to her enhanced senses.

  Well, there is no point in delaying it.

  Approaching the core, she swallowed it, finding it swiftly melting in her body.

  An intense wave of energy filled her, the most pleasurable warm sensation of Spirit Energy she had ever felt, one that far eclipsed the taste of the flesh of the two Spirit Beasts she had consumed.

  You have consumed Peak First Realm, Refinement, Giant Forest Spider Matriarch Spirit Core, gaining +750 Spiritual Energy

  That's so much Spirit Energy!

  She was already three-quarters of her way to meeting the acquired units of Spiritual Energy.

  Though, as a Peak First Realm, Refinement Spirit Beast, she could imagine the sheer amount of Spiritual Energy that the Spider possessed.

  She felt even more determined now; her demands for Spiritual Energy had risen, and a Lesser Venom Wyrm's need for prey was far more substantial than a Common krait's.

  Receiving the benefits of devouring Spirit Beasts has lit up a desire in her, and she knew the Lesser Wyrm and Giant Forest Spider Matriarch were not the only Spirit Beasts in this Forest; there were more.

  Making her way out of the cave, she slithered with sheer unrestrained power, with deep desire in her gold serpentine eyes.

  She hungrily flicked out her tongue, the few remaining Spirit Beasts lighting up like a beacon to her senses.

  Time for some revenge.

  A large crocodilian awaited her. And this time it would be the prey.