Tang Xi widened her eyes as she sehe immi danger.— "The snake in the hole has made its move."

  Her heart pounded as she realized that the venom from the sed snake was about to seal all her escape routes. Without hesitation, she activated [Phoenix Wings], and a fiery explosioed arouhe thermal shock burned aart of the airborne venom, creating a narro for her to move through.

  Some drops iably nded on her, but she felt the pain and ig. With a swift spin, Tang Xi shot out of the deadly encirclement.

  Behihe sruck the fming traces left by her skill and hissed in agony:— "Shhh Mmm!"

  The starfire quickly spread across its bd-red scaly skin, turning into a fierce bze. The creature thrashed violently, knog over bushes and kig up dust as it desperately tried to extinguish the fmes. The putrid stench of burning flesh filled the air, making the enviro even more suffog.

  With o spasm, the snake colpsed. Its body stopped moving, and only the crag of fmes echoed through the devastated clearing.

  — "Crack!"

  A nearby tree, corroded by the venom spilled during the battle, gave way with a loud crash, toppling over and raising a cloud of dust.

  Tang Xi exhaled in relief and thought to herself: 'One down.'

  But then...

  What should have been an unmoving corpse began to stir.

  The charred skin started to fade and peel away, revealing a fresh yer of dull scales beh. Tang Xi's eyes widened in disbelief.

  — "You've got to be kidding me..." — she muttered.

  The damn snake had just shed its skin!

  A chill ran down Tang Xi's spine. Before she could react, another deadly presence revealed itself.

  From within a hole hidden among the tree roots, the sed snake finally struck. It lunged out with a ferocious bite, its jaws wide open, and white fangs dripping with corrosive venom. The lethal gleam in its eyes made its i clear—to kill ond for all.

  Tang Xi, however, noticed something crucial at the st sed.

  She pivoted on her heel and dashed straight toward the shat had shed its skin. With the Lunar Umbrel in front of her, covered in a thick yer of metallic star aura, she mentally activated her ability:

  "Weight Amplification!"

  The sharp tip of the umbrel gleamed intensely before sshing downward.

  The bde cut through the snake like butter, slig it in half. Bck blood spttered onto the ground, melting the earth as the severed body vulsed before finally falling still.

  Tang Xi smirked internally.'The fire burned away its venomous protective yer, making it vulnerable to cutting attacks.' — she cluded.

  However, her victory sted only a moment.

  The sed snake, enraged, hissed with hatred. Its eyes burned with fury and vengeance as it wits panion's death.

  It lu Tang Xi with terrifying speed.

  Tang Xi tried to retreat, but the creature was too fast. Her heart pounded as she realized this was no ordinary level 5 snake.

  — "Damn… this is a level 6 snake!"

  Now it all made sehe sed snake had remained hidden until now because it was severely injured. Part of its tail was missing, expining its hesitation to engage directly in battle.

  But now, with no other choice, it was going all in.

  Tang Xi could barely keep up. Even with [Phoenix Wing Step] activated, the snake refused to let her escape. Its movements were precise and calcuted, relentlessly pressuring her.

  'It wants to close the distand force me into direct tact…'

  Then, suddenly, the snake spat a jet of venom at point-bnk range.

  Tang Xi sehe impending danger. Her body reacted before her mind could even process it.

  She couldn't just dodge—it was too close.

  But she still had a trump card.

  — "Open!"

  The Lunar Umbrel instantly spread open in her hand.

  Tang Xi i with stelr fire aura. The opy fred brightly, enveloped in a yer of shimmering fmes that looked ready to take flight. The heat was so intehat it distorted the air around it. She focused, preparing to unleash the fiery aura.

  The approag venom evaporated instantly.

  The snake abruptly halted, startled.

  Tang Xi, pale and slightly breathless, seized the ce. She twisted in midair and nded with a firm impa the ground, stopping the flow of aura just before releasing it.

  The fming aura around the Lunar Umbrel flickered before partially dissipating, some of the energy being reabsorbed into her body.

  The sed snake, caught off guard, writhed violently. The lingering fmes from Tang Xi's previous attacks g to its oily yer, spreading rapidly and ing its body.

  — "THUD!"

  The snake's heavy body crashed among the dry branches and leaves, shuddering o time before finally falling still.

  Tang Xi remained motionless for a few seds, her chest rising and falling with her rapid breaths. Just to be sure, she quickly stepped forward and used the Lunar Umbrel again, now coated iallic aura, for a finishing strike.

  "Weight Amplification!" — The strike met resista cut deep. Dark blood oozed out, and the creature stopped moving.

  'Just to be sure,' — she thought, recalling the first snake.

  After firming its death, she sighed. She had only a third of her energy left, so she took a Qi Pill and a Healing Pill. She then noticed that the venom-ied wounds were already healing—thanks to her lunar energy. She had spent the little energy she had just recovered.

  Her gaze swept across the area, assessing the destru arouhe stench of corrosive venom still lingered in the air, and the fiery traces she had left behind carved a crimson path into the bed ground.

  She then looked at the charred snake corpses aantly stored them away.

  — "What troublesome creatures to deal with…" — she muttered.

  Even with all her strength, the battle had not been easy. One mistake, and it would have been fatal.

  She took a deep breath and allowed herself a moment to rex.

  — 'I'd rather fight a brute than a ing, treacherous beast like these snakes…'

  She smiled slightly but quickly reposed herself.

  The fight was over, but the reason she had e here was still unresolved.

  'It's uhe hole the snake came from, isn't it?' — she asked the Lunar Umbrel hesitantly, sensing the dire it pointed.

  Her eyes settled on the hole from which the snake had emerged.

  That was the true reason she was here.

  She approached, notig that the entrance was narrow but the passage widened just ahead.

  With a motion, she used the Lunar Umbrel to clear the way.

  A silvery glow emanated from the on, illuminating the dark tunnel.

  — "This had better be worth it..."

  She ched her teeth before taking her first step forward.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Cave

  Tang Xi moved cautiously through the narrow tuhe acrid, pierg st of snake venom thi the air. Her muscles were tense, ready to react at the slightest sign of danger. Any pse in attention could be fatal.

  The tunnel was short, and she could see its exit just a few meters ahead, but her focus remained razor-sharp. The snakes had been treacherous—she couldn't rule out the possibility of another one lurking in the shadows.

  As she advanced, she noticed that the dirt and stone walls were covered with thick, iwined roots, as if the very earth were trying to block her path. The space gradually widened, allowing her more freedom of movement. The humidity in the air increased, making the atmosphere slightly sticky.

  After a few more meters, the tunnel curved to the right. Tang Xi slid silently to the side, pressing herself against the wall as she peeked ahead.

  What she saw made her raise an eyebrow.

  Before her, a small cave opened up, its ceiling twice her height. At its ter, an irregur hole allowed a faint greenish light to filter through, softened by the leaves of the trees above. The dim glow illumihe damp, moss-covered walls, casting elongated shadows that shifted gently as the leaves rustled in the wind.

  But it wasn't the cave's atmosphere that held her attention.

  In the middle of the space, a small tree grew.

  Tang Xi narrowed her eyes, examining it carefully. Its twisted, slerunk supported a modest opy, from which hung several green and yellow fruits, each about the size of a grapefruit. The fruits' glossy skin reflected the sparse light, giving them a slightly translut appearance.

  — "A Lesser Qi Tree…" — she murmured to herself, reizing the pnt almost immediately.

  The sap of this tree was one of the main ingredients for Qi pills, a valuable resource for cultivators. Its fruits took ten years to mature, and those that hadn't reached that stage carried aremely potent poison.

  Tang Xi g the remnants of battle iunnel and quickly ected the dots.

  — "So this is where the snakes' venom es from…"

  They had fed on the unripe fruits, abs the poison and strengthening their toxins. The symbiotic retionship betweeree and the serpents made perfect sense.

  Even so, somethi off.

  Tang Xi furrowed her brows.

  The tree before her didn't quite match the descriptions she had read. Its trunk seemed thinner, its leaves slightly yellowed, and its spiritual energy weakened.

  She hesitated, w if she was mistaken, but then she felt a subtle vibration in her hand.

  The Lunar Umbrel reacted.

  It was as if her on was responding to her doubt, silently firming that, yes, this was indeed a Lesser Qi Tree.

  Tang Xi o herself, her expression softening slightly.

  — "That makes sense…"

  The tree was hidden ihe cave, far from direct sunlight and with little circution of spiritual energy. Its growth had been stunted, resulting in weak and uneven development.

  At the same time, this secluded location expined why no one had cimed it yet. If it had been in a more exposed area, some cultivator would have taken it long ago.

  Tang Xi observed the tree for a few more seds, sidering her options.

  — "This is much better than a single-use herb… A tree like this provides a steady stream of resources."

  She weighed her choices, but a small irritatio into her mind.

  Ever since she used [Stelr Dete], she had noticed various lrade spiritual herbs along the way. Herbs that might be useful to others, yet her Lunar Umbrel had simply ighem.

  She narrowed her eyes at the on in her hand.

  — "You're pretty picky, aren't you?" — she thought, almost in a scolding tone.

  The response was a faint tremor, as if the Lunar Umbrel were silently ughing at her pint.

  Tang Xi sighed, but a thought formed in her mind.

  'I should be careful when using this ability. If this was the chosen resource among so many, it only mean that the resources it points to iure will likely have an equivalent level of da least in most cases.'

  She set aside those thoughts for now and turo a more pressing question.

  How would she take the tree with her?