I pulled myself further away from the glowing pool, my claws clicking against the stone with a sharpness that surprised me. The air in this cave was completely different from the soggy, stinking swamp outside;
it was thick and vibrating with a heavy pressure that should have made it hard to breathe, but instead, it felt like the air itself was a liquid meal being pushed into my lungs.Every gasp I took didn't just bring oxygen, it brought a strange, chaotic energy that made my chest feel tight and powerful.
I dragged myself forward. Click. Click. Click.
The sound of my claws hitting the ground was sharp and clear, echoing off the high stone walls like a hammer hitting an anvil.
Back in the mud, my movements were always muffled, soft, and pathetic, but now, every step I took felt solid and grounded.
I felt heavier, like my bones had been replaced with solid granite, but I also felt a strange, humming energy in my legs that made it easy to move despite the weight.
I felt like an old, heavy armored tank that had just been fitted with a brand-new, high-tech engine that wanted to roar.
I looked back at the glowing pool behind me, watching the water swirl with deep blue and purple light like a piece of the night sky had fallen into a hole in the ground. I didn't know where I was, or how deep I had fallen, and that jagged rip in the ceiling far above looked like a distant, fading memory.
All I knew was that the air around the pool was misty and cold, and for the first time since I woke up in this body, the "fog" in my brain was gone. I could think just as clearly as I did back when I was a human.
"The energy here is a complete mess," I thought, squinting my eyes. Because the pool was so rich with power, the air itself was shimmering. Different types of energy were clashing and crashing into each other. I could see wisps of frost bumping into warm, red glows, creating tiny sparks that fizzled out in the air. It was a chaotic mix that I didn't understand yet, but I could feel it buzzing against my scales.
I saw a beautiful flower growing right out of a crack in the solid rock near the edge of the water. It looked like it was carved from thin, blue glass.
"I need to check that out," I thought. I willed my legs to move, expecting a quick walk. But this is where the reality of my life hit me.
The struggle began.
I pushed my front right leg forward. Scrape. Then the left. Scrape. In my mind, I was shouting at my body to hurry up, but the tortoise nature is a stubborn thing. I was pumping my legs as hard as I could, my little heart was thumping with effort, and I felt like I was putting in enough work to run a marathon.
But when I looked at the ground beneath me, I had only moved a few inches.
I kept going. My neck was stretched out, my eyes were locked on that blue flower, and I was giving it 100% of my strength. I crawled past a small pebble. Five minutes later, I looked back, and that same pebble was still only a foot behind me.
"Is this some kind of sick cosmic prank?" I groaned internally. "I can feel this massive surge of energy inside me—this pulse of power that wants to roar—and yet I'm being outpaced by a drifting cloud! I have the mind of a man who wants to run, but I'm trapped in a body made of lead and molasses.
This is pure torture!
My human mind was screaming with impatience. I was used to walking on two legs, crossing a room in three seconds. Now, every single step was a calculated, slow-motion event. I had to lift a heavy claw, swing it forward, plant it, and then heave my massive shell forward. Then I had to do it three more times just to move my whole body.
Ten minutes passed. My legs were warm from the effort, and I was huffing air, but the flower still looked miles away. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. I was starting to get a cramp in my neck from keeping it extended. My human ego was taking a massive hit. I was a cultivator beast, a legendary reincarnated soul, and I was struggling to cross a distance of maybe fifteen feet.
"If a human saw me right now, they wouldn't be scared," I thought bitterly. "They'd just stand there and wait for three days for me to finally reach them. I'm basically a high-speed engine trapped in a body made of lead and molasses."
Finally, after what felt like an eternity—nearly thirty minutes of pure, sweating effort—my beak was within reaching distance of the blue petals. I was exhausted. I was panting. It took me half an hour to walk a distance a toddler could jump.
Tick.
The mechanical sound echoed in my ears as the system reacted to my focus.
[ Item: Glacial Heart Rose ]
[ Type: Ice Qi Plant ]
[ Grade: High ]
[ Warning: Energy Density is Extreme. Your current "Vessel" cannot process this. If consumed, the Host's internal organs will freeze and shatter. ]
I stared at the words, my heart thumping. "Glacial Heart Rose," I whispered. It sounded exactly like the treasures from my favorite stories. I moved my head closer to sniff it, and it smelled like a deep freezer. Suddenly, a strange hunger hit me. My Beastbody saw the energy and wanted it. My neck lunged forward, my beak opening to snap at the glass-like petals.
"Stop! What are you doing, you stupid tortoise!?" I screamed at myself.
I jerked my neck back just in time. My animal instincts were totally reckless; they didn't care about "freezing," they just saw power. I realized I had to stay in control, or my beast half would kill me.
Right next to the flower, hanging from a low ledge near the pool, were those red vines. They weren't far away at all—everything valuable seemed to be crowded around the pool like they were fighting for a drink of that blue water. The vines looked like they were pulsing with a faint, rhythmic light, as if they were full of glowing blood.
Tick.
[ Item: Red Bone Vine ]
[ Type: Body Strengthening ]
[ Grade: Mid ]
[ Warning: Current Cultivation Stage is too low. Attempting to consume will cause the Core to explode from over-saturation. ]
""Of course," I grumbled, feeling the weight of the cave's treasures. "The blue flower turns me into an ice cube and the red vine turns me into a grenade. It's like I'm standing in a treasure room where 90% of the gold is rigged to explode."
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
Everything here was a death trap for the unprepared. I turned my head away from the tempting, dangerous vines and focused on a patch of simple, deep-green grass growing nearby.
Tick.
[ Item: Spirit-Gathering Grass ]
[ Type: Basic Energy Plant ]
[ Grade: Low ]
[ Info: Safe for consumption. Gradually strengthens the "Body" and "Core" over time ]
I felt a surge of excitement. This was safe. I reached out and took a small bite of one leaf. It didn't taste like the bitter weeds from the marsh; it tasted sweet, crisp, and cold, exactly like a fresh apple. The moment I swallowed it, a warm, pulsing feeling spread from my stomach to the knot of power in my chest.
Then, the hunger truly woke up.
The moment that first drop of energy hit my core, my animal instincts took over again—but this time, I didn't fight them. This grass was safe, and my body was screaming for more.
It was as if a dam had broken inside me. I began to tear into the small patch of Spirit-Gathering Grass with a desperation I hadn't felt before. One leaf, three leaves, ten leaves. I was snapping my beak down on the emerald blades as fast as my slow neck would allow.
The "warm feeling" from the first bite quickly transformed into a roaring bonfire in my gut. I ate until this specific patch of grass was completely gone, leaving nothing but the cold stone beneath. My stomach felt heavy and tight with the sheer volume of concentrated energy I had just forced into it.
I wasn't just "full"; I was vibrating. My scales felt hot, and the humming in my legs grew into a thrum that echoed in my ears. I looked at the other patches of grass further away, but I couldn't move another inch.
A massive wave of heaviness suddenly slammed into my brain. It was a deep, thick, and irresistible sleepiness that felt like my blood had turned into warm honey. My heart rate began to drop, slowing down to a heavy, rhythmic crawl.
"Wait, no, not now... I just... ate too much..." I tried to fight it, but my eyelids felt like lead.
The world went black.
Tick.
[ Notification: Forced rest initiated for digestion. ]