Chapter Seventeen: Advancement

One, two, three...

Zhou Tian had already lost count of how many beastmen he had bitten. He wasn't greedy for credit; whenever an opportunity arose, he would immediately sink his teeth into a nearby beastman. No matter how the beastman reacted, Zhou Tian would always flee the scene at once.

Some beastmen, distracted by Zhou Tian, were shot down by the elves, but most of them simply ignored him after being bitten. Perhaps they had noticed Zhou Tian, but they never saw him as a real threat. After all, Zhou Tian's own strength was simply too insignificant. Even if he seemed to be fighting on behalf of the elves, none of the beastmen considered him worth their attention—compared to the elves, Zhou Tian was far less dangerous in every respect.

It was precisely this underestimation that allowed Zhou Tian to continue his attacks undeterred. Only after he had bitten more than a dozen beastmen did they finally realize that this unremarkable figure posed a substantial threat. Yet, by the time they noticed, they had already paid a heavy price for their mistake.

Indeed, Zhou Tian was not strong. But to say he posed no threat to the beastmen would be far from the truth. His own strength may have been lacking, but the snake venom he had obtained from the game system had felled many enemies since his arrival in this world. Back in the Magic Beast Forest, Zhou Tian had used his venom to kill numerous magical beasts. The beastmen were strong, but surely not more so than those magical beasts. If he could kill magical beasts, there was no reason he couldn’t deal with the beastmen as well.

At first, aided by their physical prowess or battle energy, some beastmen managed to suppress the effects of the poison when they realized they had been bitten. However, amidst the chaos of battle, they couldn’t afford to divert their focus to purge the toxin. Except for a few of the strongest, most of the beastmen who were bitten soon succumbed to Zhou Tian’s venom, falling one after another.

As the beastmen began to drop dead, Zhou Tian suddenly froze in place.

Since arriving in this new world, apart from his initial struggles in the Magic Beast Forest, Zhou Tian had spent most of his time accumulating magic cores after being captured by the White Tiger King. Though his game system had steadily increased his spiritual energy, the lack of actual combat had made him forget another major advantage that set him apart from other living beings.

The game system didn’t just provide a shop to help Zhou Tian become stronger; it also allowed him to grow by “slaying monsters.” While living among the White Tiger clan, Zhou Tian had hidden his abilities, never daring to reveal this method of gaining strength. But now, after killing those beastmen and gaining experience points, even if he hadn’t intended it, the game system had already begun upgrading him automatically.

“You have killed a beastman. Experience +10.”
“You have killed a beastman. Experience +10.”
“...”
“Experience full. Level up!”

The moment the first system notification sounded in his ears, all of Zhou Tian’s previous efforts began to bear fruit. As beastmen kept dying, every one who perished from his venom immediately granted him experience. And once the experience reached its threshold, Zhou Tian’s level was upgraded at once.

“Ah—so painful!” Though Zhou Tian had braced himself the moment he realized what was happening, he still couldn’t help but cry out when the level-up came.

This was no game—leveling up was not just a change in statistics. Here in the real world, though the system could quickly strengthen Zhou Tian, it still had to abide by some of the fundamental laws of reality. For instance, when Zhou Tian leveled up, his strength would indeed increase, but his physical body had to undergo a process akin to shedding skin. Although it was not a true molting, Zhou Tian was by no means exempt from the pain.

If he had a choice, Zhou Tian would never have chosen to level up at such a moment. Unfortunately, this was beyond his control, and as soon as his experience was full, he began to shed his skin right there on the battlefield.

The outer layer of snake skin withered and split in an instant, and Zhou Tian’s new body slipped out from the old shell like donning new clothes. Under the system’s power, a fresh layer of skin formed at once. When it was all over, Zhou Tian was noticeably larger and much stronger than before.

Naturally, such a transformation could not go unnoticed. In fact, Zhou Tian’s change happened right before the eyes of both beastmen and elves. So, the moment his level-up ended, Zhou Tian was beset by beastman attacks.

At first, the beastmen had ignored Zhou Tian, but after so many of their number had died from his venom, it would be sheer stupidity not to eliminate such a dangerous foe. Facing the oncoming assault, Zhou Tian cursed the system for its poor timing, even as he reacted without hesitation.

Although the upgrade had come at a bad moment, it was now done, and sooner or later the beastmen would have discovered him anyway. Now that his strength had increased so much, Zhou Tian felt confident enough to face their attacks head-on.