Even though he had fulfilled the quota of woods for the entire week, Shen Yuan chose to go to the forest again.

He was about to do something he did not want others to see. So he decided to pick the only stop he knew people were likely to come after him.

But...

Much to his displeasure, the moment Shen Yuan stepped out of the servant district, he felt eyes on him.

Even as he discreetly looked back, he could see the feet of the man hiding behind the tree, trying to hide himself.

’What should I do about him? Kill him, lose him or let him watch?’

After some deliberation, Shen Yuan decided to let whoever it was follow him. It would be difficult to lose a tail out in the open, and killing him would only draw more eyes on this area.

It would also be a waste of him for him to kill someone and then spend all his efforts on removing his traces, hiding the body...

’Ah, I can shove it down the cliff, and no one will know,’ Shen Yuan, if someone else were to hear his thoughts, they might piss themselves from sheer fear. He just continued to wonder about various ways he could use to dispose of a body while walking into the depths of the forest.

In the back, the person who had been following Shen Yuan suddenly paused. Hesitation flickered on his face. "Why is he going deeper than usual? Does he not know that even though this is the demonic cult, there are still some beasts always roaming around in this area?"

Even though he hesitated, Shen Yuan continued to walk as if he were having a walk in the park.

"Fuck it, I am not getting paid enough to follow him to my death." Clicking his tongue, the young man turned around and walked away.

***

’Did he decide to leave?’ Shen Yuan could feel the presence of the stalker withdrawing from the area.

He also knew how dangerous this area was.

But Shen Yuan felt that doing this might shake off the tail.

And his idea worked.

But unfortunately...

Just as he was about to turn around to leave, Shen Yuan froze. He could feel another presence in the area.

A sharp gaze, locked on to him.

’It’s a predator,’ Shen Yuan realised it instantly. ’Who is it? Another stalker?’ No, this feels more primal and unrestrained.’

Without wasting any second, Shen Yuan jumped from where he stood and landed on a tree closest to him.

Hiss!

The moment he jumped from the ground, a shadow jumped out from behind a bush and attacked the spot he once stood.

Shen Yuan looked down from the thick branch he was standing on.

Under the light of the two moons, he finally saw the attacker.

It was a ten-foot-long Rattlesnake.

But it was different from the ones he knew from the memories.

This one was bigger, had thicker skin and also thick spikes coming out from the head to the end of the tail.

The end of the tail looked like a porcupine with the number of needles sticking out of it.

It was a yellowish snake with dried blood trailing all over its body.

The snake looked around, not able to find Shen Yuan instantly.

’What a beast.’ Even though this was his first time coming across such a huge beast, Shen Yuan felt as calm as he was moments ago.

His eyes trailed all over the beast’s body, searching for weakness.

While at the same time, he did not move an inch.

Since the beast had yet to notice his presence, he decided against revealing it.

’The question is. Should I engage or leave?’ From the presence of the beast and the things he had read about them in the book, Introduction To Immortal Realm, Shen Yuan made a decision. ’No ethereal glow around the chest or lower abdomen. No sign of any unnatural mutations. Yep, this is an unranked beast.’ 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Unranked beasts were lowly animals who were stronger than Tigers and Lions from the mortal world, but they were weaker than any Spirit Beast, which had fully evolved under the presence of qi or was born that way.

Spirit beasts have dantian-like cores, but they cannot cultivate normally.

’There is no need to hesitate. I can use this beast to get used to my strength.’ Shen Yuan thought as he finally moved.

The Rattlesnake was a peak-ranked beast who was about to evolve.

Ordinarily, it would have no problem tracking a prey.

But Shen Yuan was different. He had the ability to hide his presence.

Under the effects of [Silent Steps and Soulless Killer], it had a hard time detecting his presence.

That was until Shen Yuan actively revealed himself.

’No point in fighting if I can kill it in one move.’ Shen Yuan moved his axe to the side and ran straight at the beast.

Finally seeing the prey, the Rattlesnake flicked its forked tongue and swatted its tail.

Woosh!

Shen Yuan felt air brushing against his face.

Even though it looked like a casual swing, the power behind the attack was nothing to scoff at.

Shen Yuan ducked down and rolled on the ground, barely dodging the attack.

But even then, the nails on the corner of the tail grazed his cheeks, drawing blood.

"Oh, this is great." The slippery tail did not let Shen Yuan rest. It was like a whip, unpredictable and Sharp.

If that wasn’t all, the snake also tried to bite him in between the attacks.

Hisss~

Bang!

Missing the human, its sharp fangs bit into the stone like it was a biscuit, crumbling upon light touch.

Shen Yuan noticed the poison slipping down the stone and blackening the ground, destroying the grass and soil where it touched. "Yeah, I am not getting poisoned again."

Shen Yuan flipped back, which was hard to do with the axe in his hands.

But somehow he managed to create some distance between him and the snake.

The time seemed to slow down in his eyes as...