The Lesser Venom Wyrm felt herself drawing on her adaptive camouflage trait as she felt her scales shift to match her surroundings.

  Sun Yuying felt the humans did not smell threatening; her senses were rather reactive to Spiritual Energy, and the humans seemed ordinary to her.

  Slithering closer, she hid her gigantuan form in the thick, dense vegetation; her adaptive camouflage had grown much stronger, enhancing in grade as she evolved, and the humans proved none the wiser as her serpentine eyes fixed on them.

  Sun Yuying studied the humans as they busied around the Forest in practised movements.

  There were three men, a woman and what appeared to be a young girl.

  They wore clothing resembling a zhijupao, with wide bamboo hats.

  Those course clothes and hairstyles appear to be ancient attire. Seems rather similar to the Qin or Han dynasties' styles, so it is easy to assume this is an ancient world.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm's human memories were rather distant, yet she could summarise that the world was rather different to the one shown in those memories.

  Sun Yuying found that the humans appeared Eastern Asian, and the men and women were in their thirties, whereas the young girl was the outlier, seeming barely an adult.

  Despite Lingshou Forest stretching over a great distance, it is especially treacherous, with venomous and fierce beasts and a perilous landscape.

  Despite the dangers, many herbs and plants thrive there, imbued with precious spiritual energy containing the essence of heaven and earth. Such treasures not only drew wild animals eager to devour them, but also humans.

  Though the Lesser Venom Wyrm was starting to outgrow her home, to the dirt-clad humans who were rummaging through the Forest for valuable plants and herbs, it was an essential source of income.

  Creeping closer, she listened as they began to talk among themselves. The dialect they spoke held similarities to Cantonese, though not quite; Sun Yuying was shocked to find she could understand them perfectly.

  “Min, look, another Azure Spirit Flower, our lucky day!” One of the men said as he carefully crouched to retrieve his prize from the dirt.

  He took out a small steel tool from a pouch in his clothing and began digging the flower out, before carefully placing it in a primitive bamboo basket he carried.

  Sun Yuying watched as the group clambered around in excitement at the find, all except the young girl, who mirrored her feelings.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm couldn’t help feeling a hint of disdain at their excitement, though it could be deemed hypocritical since, as a Black Snake, she was more greedy and jubilant than the humans over the flowers. Now, on the other hand, the weak Spiritual Energy emanating from the flower made her snort in dissatisfaction.

  Deciding to follow the humans, she watched as they carefully navigated the Forest and quickly found them uninteresting.

  Sun Yuying deemed them unthreatening despite the bows and knives they carried, and though they appeared rather agile and strong for the average human, to her, they seemed pitifully weak.

  These humans are a waste of time, or are they?

  Sun Yuying noticed the young girl at the back of the group, constantly pausing and looking around, as if searching for something.

  Can she detect me?

  That was when the woman of the group, tanned, with a lean, strong build, worriedly glanced back at her as she said, “Zhu, have you spotted anything? Is there something wrong?”

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  The young girl Zhu had a look of contemplation on her delicate features and seemed about to answer before one of the men interrupted brashly, “She is just overactive; she has only gone out with us a few times over the last few months. Qian, you need to stop fretting over her.”

  Qian seemed annoyed by the man and reported sharply, “You forget this young girl has allowed our profits to rise sharply in the last few months, because of her, we have gained a tidy amount of coins, and I’m no fool like you to ignore that. I trust her instincts, and if she feels something is up, then something may be off!”

  At that point, a man referred to as Min, the apparent leader of the group of herb gatherers, waved his hand, silencing the group as he said, “Silence. Zhu and Qian are right, everything is oddly calm, and I don’t like it.”

  The man who rebutted Qian turned pale as she upturned her chin in triumph, a condescending look in her gaze, yet the remaining man in the group, the one who picked up the Azure Spirit Flower earlier, shuddered as he said, “Do you think it is the Tiger, or worse? I thought those cultivators said that as long as we stay outside the boundaries, we are free to scavenge…”

  Sun Yuying found the group turned pale as a ghost at the mention of Void-Striped Emerald Tiger and other Spirit Beasts, and Sun Yuying felt her pride grow at their fear.

  They should be wary! In awe of me.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm felt the dragon blood in her veins boil, making her thoughts grow wild, and she suddenly shook herself out of it.

  What was that?

  It seems the rumours about a Dragon being overly prideful have some accuracy to them; even having Lesser Dragon Blood did not spare her from being partial to it.

  At that point, she awakened from her stupor to find herself staring directly into the young girl's eyes.

  Despite being inconspicuous among her surroundings, with her adaptive camouflage providing near-flawless camouflage, she felt the power of her gaze.

  What the?

  It was then that Sun Yuying noticed the oddity of the young girl; she could detect the weak Spiritual Energy pulses from the other four humans, yet the young girl gave off nothing, not a hint of Spiritual Energy, which is impossible for something native to this world.

  Interesting.

  The Lesser Venom Wyrm's instincts felt that the young girl may be her solution to the Whispering Spirit Beast Pavilion, and as she felt the young girl tremble from her intense scrutiny, she began to creep towards the humans, with a purpose in mind.

  Zhu Mei readied herself for another trip to the Lingshou Forest.

  It had taken her time to earn the trust of Min Feng, who was a well-regarded herb gatherer in Ironwood Village.

  Her village was located on the outskirts of the vast Forest, which many other villages in the Iron Willow Dynasty lay just beyond.

  She was an orphan; her Father was a herb gatherer of some reputation in the village who would frequent Lingshou Forest, yet one day he never returned, his trusted disciple claimed a poisonous beast slew him.

  Her mother died a few years later due to an unknown illness, leaving Zhu Mei behind.

  Zhu Mei was rather sharp from a young age, which allowed her to take on odd tasks around the village, and after inheriting her family home, she managed to get by in the last few years.

  However, in the last few months, she had changed drastically, managing to insert herself into one of the most successful herb-gathering groups in the village.

  Many did not think much about the change, attributing it to Zhu Mei being a smart girl who retained much of her father's knowledge.

  However, Zhu Mei held a secret. She was a regressor.

  Knowing the future, she knew in a matter of months, the Whispering Spirit Beast Pavilion would be sending disciples here for an assessment with the five Spirit Beasts in the Forest.

  She knew that one of the five beasts, the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, was overlooked, containing a sliver of Abyss Curse Spider bloodline.

  Zhu Mei Spirit Qi attunement was a good match for the Spider, and she knew she had the means and ability to convince it, ensuring the Spider could allow it to complete a metamorphosis, becoming an Abyss Curse Spider, improving its bloodline substantially.

  And after she secured the Giant Forest Spider Matriarch, the Whispering Spirit Beast Pavilion would accept her as an Outer Sect disciple far earlier than in her previous life.

  Nonetheless, she felt things drastically take a turn after her usual trip to Lingshou Forest with the group of herb gatherers. She noticed an oddity.

  Her soul was abnormally strong from her regression, making her sensitive to intent, and she felt the aura of something dangerous.

  The Void-Striped Emerald Tiger was shackled by the Whispering Spirit Beast Pavilion, which gave her confidence.

  Yet, now she felt that wavering as she noticed an anomaly in the Forest.

  Zhu Mei found her eyes meeting an impossibly large serpent, and felt her blood go cold.

  Is that what I think it is?

  What is that doing here?