Using Predation Evolution to eat stones was not easy. First of all, finding 'edible stones' was a problem.

  '...My teeth won't penetrate the stone.'

  While my Red Dragon Centipede brothers and sisters who had reached the Qi Condensation Stage could completely shatter the surrounding terrain, I couldn't even break a small stone.

  It was a moment when I truly felt the gap between Qi Condensation Stage and No Realm Stage.

  In the end, I had only one choice.

  'I need to find stones small enough for me to eat.'

  Stones small enough for a newly born Red Dragon Centipede like me to eat.

  My body size wasn't that small, but because my head part was like a centipede, my mouth was small. If I were just a snake, I could have picked up and eaten stones as I passed by.

  'Oh, found some.'

  After about 30 minutes of walking around, I finally found two pieces.

  [Predation Evolution is activated.]

  [You have consumed 'Shattered Stone Fragment'.]

  [The target is not in a complete state. The probability of acquiring characteristics decreases.]

  'What!!!'

  It's hard enough to find edible stone fragments, and now the acquisition probability is lower too. I feel my blood pressure rising.

  I ignited my will.

  Right, if it's too easy, it's not fun.

  'Alright. Let's see who wins...'

  I frantically searched for stone fragments.

  Three hours later. I was able to find a total of 10 stone fragments. I consumed all the fragments I found at once.

  A gacha pull is best when done as a 10-roll.

  [The target is not in a complete state. The probability of acquiring characteristics decreases.]

  [The target is not in a complete state. The probability of acquiring characteristics decreases.]

  ......

  ......

  [Characteristic, acquired.]

  'Finally!'

  It was an achievement made after three and a half hours.

  In the end, I won.

  [Characteristic] : Lightness (10 stars), Hardness (1 star)

  ───────────────

  [Characteristic] : Hardness (1 star)

  ?Content : Your body becomes harder.

  ───────────────

  '...But isn't 1 star in three and a half hours a bit disappointing? It's good that the effect is as expected. Sigh. That's a shame.'

  Lightness reached 10 stars in less than 2 hours, but Hardness is at 1 star after three and a half hours.

  I fell into contemplation for a moment.

  Should I look for something else instead? But I couldn't think of anything else edible besides stones.

  "Keeee—"

  Simple calculation means I would need to invest 35 hours to reach 10 stars. It could take even longer with bad luck.

  Considering my constantly growing hunger, 35 hours was simply impossible. This wasn't a matter of willpower but of survival.

  '...My hunger is endless. Do demons die if they don't consume spiritual energy?'

  The survival difficulty is truly extreme.

  I wonder what happened to the Red Dragon Centipede siblings who emerged into the world with me? They probably all died.

  And only those who survived would have reached the realm of Qi Condensation. The Red Dragon Centipede siblings who came into the world with me must be going through the same process.

  I'm in a slightly better position.

  Because I have the supernatural power of Predation Evolution. By accumulating characteristics through this and challenging the demons in the spirit herb field, I would have quite a good chance.

  Even with just Lightness at 10 stars, I can feel a significant difference, so I couldn't imagine how strong I would become if I had Hardness at 10 stars as well.

  'I need to change my approach.'

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I changed my plan.

  Instead of mindlessly picking up stones, I decided to use my modern human brain.

  First, I recalled my past actions.

  'I picked up 12 stones in three and a half hours.'

  210 minutes. Calculating simply, I picked up one stone fragment every 17.5 minutes. Of course, that wasn't actually the case.

  'Sometimes I couldn't find any for over an hour, and other times I found 4 in 10 minutes.'

  The reason for this was that there were 'places where stone fragments were clustered.' I focused on this aspect and observed my surroundings.

  As a result, I was able to find a helper that would quickly help me reach 10 stars in the Hardness characteristic.

  ───────────────

  [Demon] : Stone Mountain Otter

  [Realm] : Early Qi Condensation Stage (1 star)

  ───────────────

  'This is it.'

  The target I found was a demon named Stone Mountain Otter.

  It was carrying a pile of sharply trimmed stones. Such refined stones are not common in nature. Not unless someone deliberately crafts them like that.

  And in the process of shaping stones, there are inevitably fragments created. I aimed for those.

  'Let's follow it.'

  I carefully followed the Stone Mountain Otter.

  I was prepared to flee at any moment just in case. With Lightness (10 stars), there was no problem with escaping. Still, just to be safe, I followed from a considerable distance.

  Whether it knew I was following or not, it wandered around the mountain almost in circles with an indifferent expression. Then suddenly it stopped and picked up a stone rolling nearby.

  Whisk- Whisk- Whisk-

  After repeatedly picking up and throwing several stones, it finally picked up one that was close to oval-shaped.

  Crack- Crack-

  Perhaps the stone it found was decent, as the Stone Mountain Otter began striking the stone with its claws. After about 10 minutes, it nodded in satisfaction and put the stone into its leather pouch.

  After confirming the Stone Mountain Otter had left, I headed to the place where it had been shaping the stone.

  [Shattered Stone Fragment] x8

  'Great...!'

  There were quite a few edible stone fragments.

  I immediately swallowed the stone fragments and followed after it.

  Ding- Ding-

  Messages kept appearing.

  I decided to check them all at once later, focusing on following the Stone Mountain Otter for now.

  I repeated this sixteen times over a total of seven hours.

  And the result was...

  [Shattered Stone Fragment] x121

  Great success.

  Of course, since I ate them as they accumulated, I couldn't eat all 121 at once.

  Not only could I not eat them all at once, but carrying them around was impossible from the start. Unlike the Stone Mountain Otter, I didn't have a pouch on my body. How could I carry around so many stone fragments?

  'This is the last of it.'

  I had to inevitably stop farming stone fragments because the Stone Mountain Otter left for its territory, an herb field. I thought about looking for another Stone Mountain Otter, but gave up.

  I should eat these first and then think about whether to continue or not.

  'Currently my Hardness achievement is at 8 stars.'

  Just two more increases and it's done.

  I ate the last remaining 14 fragments.

  'Please just two more...!'

  Since it reached 8 stars after eating 119 pieces, asking for two more increases might be a bit greedy... but what does it matter? There's no harm in hoping.

  Did my desperate prayer reach somewhere?

  [The target is not in a complete state. The probability of acquiring characteristics decreases.]

  [The target is not in a complete state. The probability of acquiring characteristics decreases.]

  ......

  ......

  [Characteristic, acquired.]

  [Characteristic, acquired.]

  The characteristic was successfully acquired twice in a row at the end.

  Whew, I was really nervous it wouldn't appear, but fortunately it did!

  ───────────────

  [Characteristic] : Lightness (10 stars), Hardness (10 stars)

  ───────────────

  "Keeeeee——!"

  I did it!

  I cheered as I looked at the characteristic window.

  I finally reached 10 stars in both Lightness and Hardness.

  I'd like to acquire other characteristics too, but... I couldn't endure the hunger any longer. Whatever the outcome, I planned to charge in.

  'Now, I'm going to challenge it.'

  Spirit herb.

  I'm coming to meet you now.

  ※※※

  "Pikyaak!"

  "Ssssisss—!"

  'Yes, it's been a while.'

  As soon as I entered the spirit herb field, the demons gave me a fierce welcome. I answered them inwardly and calmly assessed their condition.

  'Alright. Let's go.'

  ───────────────

  [Demon] : One-horned Rabbit

  [Realm] : Early Qi Condensation Stage (1 star)

  ───────────────

  ───────────────

  [Demon] : Red Jade Snake

  [Realm] : Early Qi Condensation Stage (1 star)

  ───────────────

  The information was the same as before. One-horned Rabbit and Red Jade Snake.

  This was a place teeming with these two types of demons. It felt strange that rabbits and snakes coexisted, but that wasn't what I needed to focus on now.

  'I'll focus only on the spirit herbs.'

  With Lightness (10 stars), my body had become faster.

  I should be able to quickly grab two spirit herbs and dash away.

  I rapidly approached the spirit herb field.

  Then, from all around, they revealed their hostility and rushed toward me.

  'Ugh—!'

  Some tried to bite me, others tried to stab me with their horns.

  Numerous demons rushed at me. Thanks to Lightness, I was able to avoid many attacks, but I couldn't dodge them all.

  This is where 'Hardness' came into play.

  'Whew, I can endure this...!'

  However, I thought that if I kept getting hit like this for even a few dozen seconds, I might be done for. How did the others survive without a realm?

  Were they born with Qi Condensation Stage?

  'There are some Wulong Herbs remaining over there.'

  In just a day, they had consumed so many that the number of Wulong Herbs had decreased to about one-third of what it was before. I quickly ran to where there were 2 Wulong Herbs.

  ───────────────

  [Spirit Herb] : Wulong Herb

  [Grade] : 9th Grade

  ───────────────

  From the smell to the information shown in the status window.

  Everything was certain.

  'Great.'

  I nodded in satisfaction.

  'Now I run.'

  I never planned to face the Qi Condensation demons from the start. I couldn't fight them 1:1, and how could I possibly deal with so many of them?

  I quickly grabbed two Wulong Herbs from the spirit herb field and made a run for it.

  "Pikyaaaaaaak!"

  "Ssssssssiss—!"

  Perhaps furious at having their spirit herbs stolen, louder screeches than before echoed through the forest. Of course, I didn't care either way.

  Because the spirit herbs were now in my possession.

  "Keeeeee—!"

  I succeeded.

  Spirit herb theft complete!

  Even after leaving their territory, they chased me for over ten minutes, but I finally managed to shake them off. I dug a hole under a tree, went inside, and camouflaged it with leaves.

  And I immediately swallowed the spirit herbs.

  'This kind of thing should be consumed in a safe place.'

  What if I suddenly evolved and became exposed in a defenseless situation? Of course, I didn't forget to activate Predation Evolution.

  The spirit herbs that went down my esophagus disappeared as if they were melting away.

  And then, numerous messages appeared before my eyes.

  [Predation Evolution is activated.]

  [You have consumed a spirit herb.]

  [You have consumed a spirit herb.]

  [Due to the supernatural power 'Predation Evolution', the absorption efficiency of spirit herbs increases.]

  [Spiritual energy interacts with the body.]

  [Entering Early Qi Condensation Stage (1 star).]

  'Oh, ohh!!'

  Did the spiritual energy permeate my body evenly?

  I felt overflowing with power.

  I thought I would need to consume several more spirit herbs to reach Qi Condensation, but it happened at once.

  The messages didn't end there.

  [You have reached Early Qi Condensation Stage.]

  [Predation Evolution's ability, 'Being Evolution' is activated.]

  [Please determine the direction of evolution.]

  ?[1. Green Red Dragon Centipede]

  ?[2. Black Red Dragon Centipede]

  The time for choice has come.