Yuan Ye rushed back to her tree hollow in excitement, quickly shouldered her portable pack, grabbed her light bowgun, and leaped without hesitation from the tree—which stood dozens of meters high. With her nimble movements and superhuman physical capabilities, she moved more gracefully than a monkey. Using the thick branches as leverage, she performed several skillful leaps and landed steadily on the forest floor.
As a researcher passionate about exploring monster ecology alone, Yuan Ye was not a professional hunter, yet her physical fitness was in no way inferior. Even with a pack weighing dozens of kilograms, she could run as if she were flying, weaving rapidly through the dense jungle.
Her long legs moved in a blur, and in an instant, her speed broke forty kilometers per hour. The headwind whistled against her short hair; to keep her vision clear, she had to pull down her goggles.
Ten minutes passed as she maintained this high speed. Her expression remained calm and her breathing steady, with only a thin layer of sweat beading on her forehead.
If this were Logan's past life, such a feat would be impossible for a human. But the humans of this world were fundamentally different from ordinary people; otherwise, how could they swing weapons weighing over a hundred pounds, or dare to walk over lava just by drinking a "Cool Drink"?
Along the way, she pushed forward at full speed, occasionally stopping to adjust her direction. After another ten minutes, Yuan Ye approached the source of the noise. Drawing on her rich experience, she did not rush in blindly. Instead, she found a towering tree, climbed up, and hid within the lush canopy, observing from a distance with her monocular.
A pure white behemoth entered her view. Its body was covered in soot and scorch marks, clearly the remnants of a fierce battle. Yet, this did not diminish its presence. Its burly frame, powerful limbs, agile tail, and majestic head seemed like a collection of the best traits from many creatures—as beautiful as a fantasy creature carved from white jade by a master sculptor.
"So beautiful! A species I've never seen before... I want to know everything about it."
Logan was completely unaware that someone was already obsessing over him. He lowered his head and began to eat. After eating his fill, he rested comfortably for a long while until Zhu Peiniang finally caught up, her tongue lolling out. It seemed she was still too young; she would definitely need more training in the future.
He handed the leftover Kestodon to Zhu Peiniang. Once she had finished her meal, Logan led her to the site of the battle with the Rathian. He gathered some broken tail spikes from the ground and let out a low growl.
Zhu Peiniang understood. She stepped forward, sniffed the scent lingering on the spikes carefully, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
What? It wasn't this one?
Zhu Peiniang's reaction momentarily stunned Logan. Only then did he realize he had picked a fight with the wrong opponent.
But then, he dismissively waved a claw. He had already fought it, so what if he was wrong? As a creature of the wild, he didn't need to worry about morality or law—biting whoever he wanted was his prerogative.
He turned and led Zhu Peiniang back. Having filled his belly, he felt sleepy; furthermore, his singed fur and shattered scales needed time to recover.
During the hard clash between his forepaw and the Rathian's tail, several puncture wounds had been driven into his forearm. Fortunately, his high-speed regeneration had already kicked in; the bleeding had stopped, and the wounds were now covered in a transparent, scab-like film.
Walking leisurely through the forest paths, Logan no longer felt the need to be as cautious as he was at the start. With his current size and strength, very few monsters posed a threat to him, aside from those at the very top of the ecological ladder or rare Elder Dragons. Naturally, he let his guard down.
Consequently, he didn't notice that a "tail" was quietly following behind him.
After all, in his past life, he was just an ordinary person whose most eccentric hobby was keeping venomous insects and reptiles. He lacked any sense of counter-reconnaissance and didn't keep his infrared vision or echolocation active 24/7—the sensory feedback would be overwhelming and eventually exhausting for his brain.
Returning to the nest, Logan first checked the humus culture medium he had built for the Fulgurbugs. It felt a bit dry, so he sprinkled some nutrient fluid on it.
The Rathian's breath attack today had singed off a lot of his fur, and some unlucky Fulgurbugs had not been spared, falling to the ground half-cooked. The survivors were his only stock; he had to care for them diligently. Once they laid eggs and the larvae emerged, the population would recover quickly.
Having finished his chores, Logan found a flat spot in the cave and lay down comfortably, intending to take a nap before heading out with a bucket to collect fresh water.
As he slept, the food in his stomach was rapidly converted into nutrients and transported by his blood to every corner of his body. The more severely damaged scales began to loosen. The capillaries and neurons within them retracted into his body. Once the detachment was complete, the old scales fell away.
A tough membrane grew in the place of the shed scales, with new capillaries and neurons spreading through it. They began to secrete a large amount of transparent fluid, causing the membrane to bulge outward. Soon, the membrane reached its limit, the fluid solidified, and as the outer film peeled off, new scales were formed.
In the scales that were only lightly damaged with small cracks, the same transparent fluid was secreted, slowly filling the gaps and performing repairs.
With high-speed metabolism and recovery, Logan's injuries healed rapidly as long as he had sufficient nutrition. Even the curled, yellowed fur began to straighten and regain its luster under the steady supply of nutrients.
It wouldn't be long before the marks left by the Rathian vanished completely. However, this battle served as a wake-up call: it was time to evolve heat resistance.
Fire is the most common form of energy release in nature, and a vast number of monsters utilize it—those that fly, those that run, and even those that swim. This Rathian would certainly not be the last fire-breathing opponent he faced; he had to be prepared.
The battle also highlighted a weakness: he lacked a "finishing move" that could settle a fight instantly.
As his size increased, his opponents were becoming massive beasts. A large body meant thick scales, tough hides, and tenacious vitality. Ordinary scratches and slaps only caused surface wounds. Killing them often required a long, drawn-out struggle.
When a battle is dragged out, accidents are prone to happen. Therefore, he had to master a high-lethality method capable of dealing a fatal blow in one strike.
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