My dreams are filled with scenes of myself dying under claws or being smashed to pieces.

I don't want to die, I can't die, I won't die!

With a muffled groan, Wu You woke up on a riverbank downstream.

The excruciating pain all over his body indicated that his limbs and nerves were still in relatively good condition. Wu You tried to stand up, but even the slightest movement caused him to wince.

His body was covered in bruises and fine bite marks, and the claw marks on his back were numb and swollen and white from being soaked in water.

At this moment, system prompts kept popping up.

Hint: Capture successful, obtained material: female electric eel

Hint: Capture successful, obtained material: male electric eel

...

Hint: Capture successful, obtained material: Male Arapaima

...

Hint: Successfully captured! Obtained material: Angelfish

...

Hint: Successfully captured! Obtained material: Guppy

...

The long string of prompts left Wu You feeling both lingering fear and relief.

The watch is gone, perhaps somewhere at the bottom of the river. I don't know how much time has passed, but it's already getting dark.

Now, with no food, no clothes, and covered in wounds, he is almost at his wit's end.

Wu You glanced at the alchemy material warehouse. There were quite a few aquatic species, and with the giant python from before, he could finally start alchemy.

He shakily stood up, trying to move to a slightly safer place.

But before I could even stand properly, I heard the sound of a large reptile crawling.

Wu You paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed, muttering to himself, "Looks like fate is against me! But it's worth it. I just don't know if Garuru, left at home, will go out of control."

In this situation where they can't even stand still, even a crocodile wouldn't be able to escape.

But when he turned to the side, he discovered that it wasn't a crocodile that had come, but a giant monitor lizard that had been tracking him in the rain earlier.

The 2.5-meter-long water monitor lizard gracefully crawled to the riverbank, searching for crabs and small fish, ignoring Wu You not far away.

I searched for him a thousand times, and suddenly, turning around, I found that damned lizard lying there on the riverbank.

While the giant lizard was foraging for food, Wu You was conserving his strength. Now that they had come this far, he had to give it his all to increase the success rate of the mission.

In this situation, getting close to it to deceive it is pointless, and you might not even be able to stay awake until it falls asleep, nor will you be able to follow it back to its nest.

When his strength had almost recovered, Wu You walked to a large rock with gritted teeth.

He used all his strength to lift it up.

The stone weighed about 20 pounds, but it felt incredibly heavy when I held it in my hands.

"I must succeed! This is my only chance!" Wu You screamed inwardly.

Quietly approaching the swamp monitor lizard, Wu You suddenly threw a rock at it while the lizard was on guard.

But as soon as his finger hurt, Wu You knew he had thrown it off target.

Before he could even feel regret, the giant lizard instinctively tried to run away when it saw Wu You's actions, but unfortunately, it ran in the direction where the rocks had fallen.

The rock was now directly above the swamp lizard's head, in its blind spot.

And so, Wu You watched helplessly as the boulder's parabolic trajectory perfectly collided with the giant lizard's head.

"Bang!" The stone hit him.

But such a blow wouldn't seriously injure the swamp monitor lizard; it would only stun or knock it unconscious.

Seizing the opportunity, Wu You stumbled and ran over, stomping heavily on the swamp lizard's head with his right foot and its body with his left, pressing his entire 130-pound weight onto it.

Then he pulled out one of his last remaining tools, a Swiss Army knife, from his coat's breast pocket.

The sharp military knife plunged deep into the lizard's neck, then was pulled out, drawing a trickle of cold blood.

Poke again, pull out again, poke again, pull out again...

Wu You only slumped onto the lizard when he saw the bloodied and mangled giant lizard only twitching occasionally.

Select capture.

Suddenly, the space beneath him vanished, and the giant lizard disappeared in a shimmering light.

Hint: Capture successful, obtained materials: Male Water Monitor Lizard

...

Wu You had no strength left and sat there, covered in blood on his body and on the ground.

He knew this would likely attract predators, so he immediately activated the system.

Choose Level 2 bio-alchemy.

Note: The alchemy materials selected are female anaconda, male electric eel, and male monitor lizard. Confirm?

Sure.

The moment the system's alchemy canvas unfolded, consciousness began to draw without pause.

As the description deepened, Wu You's head began to throb with pain, but he knew he absolutely could not faint at this moment.

He bit his tongue hard, and blood spilled from his mouth.

...

Its head is as broad and bulging as an electric eel, yet slightly triangular like a snake. Its huge mouth and long snout are filled with sharp teeth. Several long whiskers are scattered under its head like flowing ribbons. Its eyes, covered with a water film, are devoid of warmth. Its body is slender yet strong and powerful. Four ferocious giant claws are located under its front and back bellies. Short, finned spines begin to grow on its back, extending all the way to its vertical tail fin. Its entire body is covered with dense, blue scales that shimmer with moisture.

This is a creature that should only exist in mythology!

System evaluation: Body arrangement accuracy is 96%, alchemy success rate increased by 9.6%.

The current success rate is 50% + 9.6%.

When a resonance of wills occurs, the success rate of alchemy increases by 10%.

The system suddenly played a clip of Wu You roaring at the sky as he fell down a waterfall.

Current success rate: 50% + 9.2% + 10%

Is it alchemy?

Wu You was not distracted by the prompt of the resonance of wills and chose alchemy.

Three beams of light from the material warehouse were projected onto the alchemy canvas, making the alchemical creatures on it appear to grow flesh and blood from within.

A moment later, amidst Wu You's unspoken anticipation, the creature on the canvas grew long, spiraled, and its whiskers danced.

Hint: Alchemy successful. Please name it.

Wu You held his head in his hands, his mind pierced by pain as he looked at the beautiful and awe-inspiring creatures that had been taken into the beast pen space.

Choose a name: Thunderous Azure Dragon, Ao Guang

The name has been confirmed.

Alchemical Creature: Thunder Azure Dragon, Name: Ao Guang

Talents: Lightning, Water Splitting, Immense Strength

Abilities: Tail Whip, Entanglement, Ionized Dragon Ascent

Basic rating: Advanced Bronze (Critical)

System Description: This is an ancient and ferocious beast that is about to transcend the mortal realm.

Hint: Complete the quest: Advanced Alchemy

Receive mission rewards

Alchemy Energy +20, Current Total 34

Alchemy creature storage slots increased by 2, current total 5

The mission was rated excellent, granting an additional 30 Alchemy Energy, bringing the current total to 64.

Should we leave Mount Ten Thousand Beasts immediately?

In her fading consciousness, Wu You chose to leave.

...

In Wu You's room, a battered and mangled body lay on the bed.

Garuru, who was stirring chicken feed in the yard, suddenly roared and rushed into the house, running wildly upstairs.

"Roar~" The ferocious lion's roar startled Bai Yanxi, who was carefully grinding herbs in the backyard.

Just as Bai Yanxi, filled with suspicion, reached the door, Garuru rushed up to him carrying Wu You.

"This! Young Master Wu?"

"It's only been a few minutes, how did it get like this?"

While Bai Yanxi was shocked and stunned, he saw that Garuru was still holding Wu You, and immediately shouted at him, "Quickly put him on my bed in my room!"

...

Bai Yanxi was temporarily staying in a guest room on the first floor. He looked at Wu You, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and then at Garuru, who was staring intently at him and would only move when ordered to bring him hot water to wash a towel.

My mind is filled with a myriad of thoughts that I can't quite put into words.

Wu boy, who exactly are you?