“Huh? What’s happening to me?” There was still a little snake’s blood on her lips. She felt a rush of warmth surge from her stomach straight into her back...

A sharp pain suddenly shot through Yueye’s back, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground. The pain came from within and spread outward, as if something were about to burst out of her body.

Yueye curled up, her whole body trembling with pain. Cold sweat poured from her snow-white forehead, and her consciousness began to fade.

A pair of pale blue, crystal-like wings quickly sprouted from Yueye’s back, like bamboo shoots after the rain. Sunlight shone through the newborn wings, making them as clear as crystal. Even the deep blue veins inside were visible, with blood slowly flowing through them.

Yueye’s breathing gradually steadied, and after the pain passed, her mind seemed to clear. She could feel that something had appeared on her back, along with an itchy sensation. Confusion showed on her pretty face, making her look utterly pitiful.

“What’s happening to me?” The wings on Yueye’s back swayed gently in response to her thoughts.

“Congratulations, Master! Your bloodline awakening is almost complete!” Baiyao rushed over and threw her arms around Yueye, gently stroking the wings on her back, which looked incredibly fragile now.

“D-don’t touch...” Yueye felt a numbing sensation like an electric current. Her blood suddenly began to flow faster, and her face turned as red as an apple.

“New wings really are sensitive...” Baiyao pulled her hand back. Seeing Yueye’s flushed face, she found it a little amusing.

“I said, don’t touch them!” Yueye said, sounding a little embarrassed and annoyed. Her voice was as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Oh, come on. A Dragon Clan member’s wings feel really nice when they don’t have scales.” Baiyao couldn’t help giving them a few more rubs.

“Don’t!” Yueye’s face was practically steaming. Her temperature kept rising, her voice grew quieter and quieter, and her breathing gradually became more rapid...

“What a shame, Master. You’re definitely never going to like a man in this lifetime. If some male took you as his mate, though, he’d have hit the jackpot!” Seeing that Yueye was almost at her limit, Baiyao finally let her go.

“Baiyao, you...” Yueye swallowed, about to fire back, but two white rings snapped around her and held her fast.

“Hehe, Master, you can forget about that for now, at least. You can’t beat me!” Baiyao looked smug, like some big sister throwing her weight around.

“Now, seriously. Your wings will probably need a few more days to grow. After that, you’ll have to learn how to fly, so take good care of them and don’t let them get hurt.” Baiyao’s expression turned stern in an instant, as if all her playful teasing had vanished.

“Okay...” Seeing how serious Baiyao was, Yueye agreed.

“But what if they get hurt?” Yueye asked worriedly. In a jungle like this, anything could happen.

“Then they’ll just need a few more days to grow. It’s fine,” Baiyao said with a smile. It was the first time she’d seen Yueye, after turning into a dragon, look so concerned.

“By the way, Master, are you still going to eat all that nutritionally worthless human food from now on?” Baiyao teased, glancing at the crumbs at the corner of Yueye’s mouth.

“Didn’t I say I was going to cut ties with everything connected to humans?” Yueye retorted. The meaning behind her words was obvious, even if she didn’t really want to admit it.

“Pfft! Master, earlier you looked like you’d rather die than eat anything raw!” Baiyao stared at Yueye, remembering what she’d said when she rejected Baiyao’s suggestion.

“Well, eating things raw... is hard to get used to.” Yueye pouted and acted coy.

A rapid burst of gunfire rang out through the forest as a young woman ran for her life through a storm of bullets.

“Guan Mengyao! Stop running! You can’t get away!” Yang Zhen’s voice rang out behind her, as menacing as a demon’s, as if he could catch up at any moment.

Two streams of tears ran down the young woman’s face. She’d never imagined the other side would refuse to let her go, even now. She’d been the one to lead the rebellion against Yang Zhen, but she really didn’t want to die.

In the depths of her despair, she seemed to see a huge figure approaching from the other side...

“ROAR!” As if drawn by the gunfire, a giant bear suddenly barged into the battle without warning.

“So Heaven really does spare the kindhearted?” Watching the giant bear charge into the crowd, Guan Mengyao thought this as tears streamed down her face. If nothing else, they could all die together.

Yang Zhen quickly dodged to the side as the giant bear lunged at him. He regretted ordering everyone to open fire in the heat of the moment and drawing such a powerful enemy to them.

“Damn it! Where did this bear come from?” The team hadn’t even processed what was happening before two of their members were swatted away.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” Muzzle flashes converged on the giant bear as it rampaged through the crowd, but they had no effect at all. Its skin was like steel plating, deflecting every bullet.

Yang Zhen gripped the magic blade in his hand. He couldn’t figure out how this monster had appeared here... The huge red dot on the tactical map was right in front of him. Yang Zhen’s heart sank to the bottom.

The giant bear charged through the crowd, attacking wildly and without any pattern. But that only made it harder for them to deal with. They were completely outmatched, toyed with like ants.

“How could I have been so careless... I didn’t even notice we’d entered this monster’s territory.” Yang Zhen was consumed by regret, but there was no undoing it. He should’ve paid attention to the markers on the tactical map while they were in pursuit.

“Help! Help!” Liu Na’s voice rang out nearby. The giant bear had seized her, clothes and all, in its jaws.

“C-Captain Yang, save me!” Liu Na looked at Yang Zhen, her eyes full of desperation, but his reaction left her hopeless.

All she got in reply was Yang Zhen’s cold gaze—and then the sight of his retreating back. She’d never imagined that the person she’d treated so badly would now turn his back on her so coldly...

She felt the giant bear toss her into the air. Below her gaped its bottomless maw. In that moment, she regretted it all: following the wrong person and betraying the one who’d trusted her. But there was no second chance. The giant bear swallowed her in a single bite.

“Retreat!” Yang Zhen shouted in a panic, ordering his team to fall back... only to realize it was already too late.

At some point, a circular wall of earth had risen around the entire battlefield, trapping them all inside. The giant bear showed no sign of stopping. One by one, the team members died, until Yang Zhen sank helplessly to his knees and gave up resisting.

The giant bear’s movements made the ground shudder with every step. Yang Zhen finally understood just how insignificant he was in this forest—and just how terrifying its most powerful creatures could be.