Back to Steel Armor Shelter
After a couple of days Bian met a squad hunting some rock worms, he waited for them to conclude before going to greet them.
'What should I say?' Bian walked up to them cleared his throat and spoke.
"Hey, nice skills" the look in their eyes gave him the chills.
"What do you want" A hulk of a man came forward and said to Bian directly, the sun shine on his bald head was blinding
"I'm looking for directions" Bian said not bothering to go into details.
"Go in this direction until you come across the shelter, beat it!" He pointed in a specific direction and yelled at Bian.
Without saying a word, Bian rode on in the direction he pointed to. After a few hours he heard a faint sound like hissing from his side.
He went to check on it and saw a snake and a fox fighting, the snake bit the fox severally and tried to strangle it, the fox slowed down and couldn't offer much resistance before it died.
Watching this from the side Bian remained impassive as these were just primitive creatures, then he saw the snake dragging the fox somewhere, he summoned a spear and tied a blanket to it, he rolled the blanket round it twice and stuck the spear deeply into the sand.
He summoned another spear and pierced the tip of the blanket opposite the tied end, he also stuck this spear deep in the sand. There were two spears stuck in the sand, with a white blanket between them looking like a needle with a fat ending and a thin mouth. It pointed in the direction he needed to head in.
After doing this he kept an eye on the snake from a distance, after following the snake till the next day he saw it slither into a cave in a hill. He walked up to the entrance, it was wide enough for for a person to crawl in.
"This must be its nest" Bian thought as he crawled through the opening, as he came through an empty cavern greeted his sight. He spotted hundreds of snakes present, he saw at least four hundred primitive snakes and two hundred mutant snakes.
The mutant snakes were larger than the primitive snakes their black fang glistened like metal. Alerted by the danger Bian transformed into a five meter tall giant tiger.
Within the vast, dimly lit expanse of a colossal cave, the golden-furred Giant Tiger stood poised for battle. Its emerald eyes glinted with an unyielding resolve as a horde of primitive and mutant snakes slithered forth, hissing with a cacophony of menace.
The cave's walls were adorned with glistening stalactites that dripped with moisture. The ground was uneven and rocky, creating a treacherous battleground. Shadows danced ominously as the cave's only source of light, a distant opening, cast feeble rays into the abyss.
With a thunderous roar that reverberated through the cave, the Giant Tiger lunged into the fray. Its massive paw struck the ground with earth-shaking force, sending rocks and dust scattering. Primitive snakes were crushed beneath its paws, while mutant snakes recoiled in surprise.
[Primitive creature black fanged snake killed. Beast soul was not gained. Eat the black fanged snake to gain zero to ten primitive geno points randomly]
The Tiger moved with blinding speed, its powerful tail whipping through the air, knocking snakes aside like leaves in a tempest. Fangs and claws gleaming, it tore through the primitive snakes, leaving a trail of defeated foes in its wake.
[Primitive creature black fanged snake killed. Beast soul was not gained. Eat the black fanged snake to gain zero to ten primitive geno points randomly]
[Primitive creature black fanged snake killed. Beast soul was not gained. Eat the black fanged snake to gain zero to ten primitive geno points randomly]
...
Mutant snakes, with venomous fangs and hardened scales, proved to be more formidable adversaries. They lunged and coiled, attempting to strike at the Tiger's exposed flanks. However, the Giant Tiger's agility was unmatched. It dodged and parried their attacks with precision.
The Tiger's roars filled the cave, reverberating off the walls, and something extraordinary happened. The cave's acoustics magnified its roars into a deafening, terrifying cacophony. The primitive snakes, disoriented and writhing in pain, fell to the ground in droves.
[Primitive creature black fanged snake killed. Beast soul was not gained. Eat the black fanged snake to gain zero to ten primitive geno points randomly]
Bian ignored the messages as he focused on the fight. He began to feel exhausted meaning his transformation would soon wear out. The he made his final assault. With a majestic leap, he pounced upon the remaining mutant snakes, jaws snapping shut around their throats. One by one, the mutant snakes were vanquished.
As the final mutant snake fell, the cave fell silent once more. The golden-furred Giant Tiger stood victorious amidst the stillness, its chest heaving with exertion, having triumphed over the combined forces of primitive and mutant snakes.
Bian transformed back and lay on the ground panting heavily. It took him five minutes to regain his calm, he looked at the mess around him. He summoned the lion and it began to chow as he smoked huge portions of the mutant snakes. He packed them quickly with a beast soul blanket and kept them in his bag, he tossed out some stuff like the lamp and cooking utensils. He filled the bag to the brim with mutant meat and ate the rest.
[Flesh of black fanged snake eaten. One mutant geno point gained]
[Flesh of black fanged snake eaten. One mutant geno point gained]
...
As Bian sat on the floor waiting for the lion to finish its meal, he noticed a snake slithering into the cave, it was just a primitive black fanged snake. It lunged at him but he sidestepped and dodged its assault.
He gained five additional mutant geno points bringing his tally up to seven from two. With seven sacred geno points to boot, the others being maxed out. Bian easily subdued the primitive snake.
[Type of beast soul of mutant black fanged snake: weapon]
The beast soul of the black fanged snake was a one edged dagger whose side was curved like the fangs of a snake. It gleamed with poison. Bian kept this snake, he would feed it the black crystal to gain a super weapon.
Bian checked on the black-beetle, it's golden shell no longer looked metallic and was starting to take on a darker hue. It began to look like a dull golden marble, the injury on its stomach still exposed by the clench.
Once the lion ate all the snaked in the valley it began it's evolution.
"About time" Bian was getting more and more elated.
Type of beast soul of sacred-blood feral manticore: pet (transformed and evolved)
A menacing black manticore stood before Bian, the spikes on its tail ready to deliver the most lethal of poisons. Its wings unfurled and released a powerful gust of wind.
"Whoa!" Bian couldn't shut his mouth. He told it to strike a wall and the tail moved faster than the eye could see. In the wall was a deep hole which sizzled due to the poison. 'If I had to fight this beast, I wouldn't even know how I died' Bian thought.
Well it's time to leave the manticore disappeared as Bian returned on the path back to the spears. He held some meat in his hands, since he made space for the snake in his bag.
He got to where he struck the spears and unsummoned all the beast souls, he continued to travel in the direction they pointed to.
Upon leaving the desert, Bian witnessed the shelter from afar and searched for a reasonable place to secure the cage with the black-beetle. He couldn't teleport it out of the sanctuaries, he avoided the shelter and searched for a good spot to keep the cage.
After several days of searching, he found the perfect spot, a waterfall was present 500 meters from Black Armor Shelter. By diving into the waterfall and followings it's downward trajectory, you would be led into an underwater pocket of air in the form of a cave. The pressure ensured most creatures couldn't swim under the waterfall, while the pocket of air prevents aquatic animals from inhabiting the cave.
He transformed into a giant tiger and carefully dug out a rectangular stone pillar he measured the height of the cage and broke the corresponding piece of the slab. He placed the cage into the pit and put the pillar un top. It fit perfectly and nothing looked out of shape except the square carvings.
Bian put some cave powder between these gaps and filled it up. Now the ground looked completely natural. He summoned the manticore and ordered it to take care of the cage.
He made his way back to steel armor shelter.