"Xiaoxiu, promise your master that you will never reveal this ability to anyone again." Sheng Qingyang squatted down, took Zhao Xiaoxiu's hand, and solemnly instructed her.

The little girl thought about it seriously for a moment and nodded: "Okay."

But Master doesn't count as 'anyone'. Zhao Xiaoxiu pointed to the archway made of plants in front of her, "Master, let's begin. The sun is almost overhead."

After saying that, he added, "The early bird catches the worm; we must not waste precious time."

Sheng Qingyang shook his head, both amused and exasperated. He was truly defeated by this energetic little apprentice.

"Sister Monkey, keep up!" Zhao Xiaoxiu reminded him.

Sister Monkey had already climbed to the top of the treetop to raid the mutated bird's nest. She had a big bird egg in each hand, cracked the shell, and poured it directly into her mouth. She slurped it down, enjoying her breakfast immensely.

After eating the bird's egg, it threw away the shell and then roared as it caught up with the master and apprentice.

The cliff edge was covered with mutated vines. Zhao Xiaoxiu beckoned with her finger, and two vines as thick as arms stretched up, tied around the waists of the master and apprentice, and steadily carried them down to the valley below the cliff.

With two leaps, Sister Monkey landed and followed behind the master and apprentice. When she saw something delicious, she would lick it and then slap it to death if she found any that had ill intentions towards her!

It scratched its head and looked at Sheng Qingyang in confusion, wondering why these mutants weren't bothering her.

Of course, it's because she possesses the ability to hide her evolutionary potential, making her 'invisible' to the mutants.

However, there's no way to dodge one that charges straight at you, like the black-horned viper with a flower-backed back that suddenly leaps down from the vines.

Sheng Qingyang pressed down on the little yellow hat behind him with one hand, and quickly drew his knife with the other. In a flash of light, the snake's body was instantly severed in two, and the rotten flesh fell to the grass with a "thud".

Thick, dark blood flowed out, and the ravenous mutated weeds immediately transformed into scavengers, absorbing it until only bones and skin remained.

The entire process, from the snake's appearance to its disappearance, took less than a minute, but it was enough for Zhao Xiaoxiu to clearly see the process of a mutated flower-backed snake dying.

"The mutant species here are all below Grade B in mutation level. Large animals rarely come here, but small snakes, insects, and hidden man-eating plants are even more difficult to guard against. We must be extremely careful and constantly observe our surroundings..."

As Sheng Qingyang walked forward, she explained the essentials of wilderness operations to her young apprentice, and she would promptly deal with any sudden attacks that occurred.

After the master and apprentice reached the stream in the middle of the valley, they each drank a bottle of nutrient solution to replenish their strength before letting Zhao Xiaoxiu try it on her own.

She herself, along with the worried Monkey Sister, hid a hundred meters away to keep watch.

Sheng Qingyang deliberately tried to hide, and Zhao Xiaoxiu quickly lost track of her presence.

However, she quickly came up with a way to cheat. By communicating with the surrounding plants, she soon noticed the anomaly.

Instead of going directly to her master, Zhao Xiaoxiu's idea was validated, and a new world suddenly opened up before her—she could use plants to build a network to capture the movements of mutated animals within the field.

Without further ado, Zhao Xiaoxiu had been looking forward to this day for a long time. After suppressing her emotions all morning, she was now completely letting loose.

He drew his twin swords, bent his head, and darted into the dense, mutated grass. He ran all the way, covering a straight distance, and when he encountered obstacles like rocks, he flipped over them in a few quick movements.

Soon, the target appeared in her sight. A C-level mutated gray lizard, about the same length as her, was lying on the trunk of a fallen tree with its back to her, staring at a swarm of rustling crustacean mutated insects not far away, waiting for its chance to strike.

Because of the surrounding plants providing cover, the gray lizard was completely unaware that someone was approaching from behind.

Only when the surrounding weeds and saplings closed in, forming a circular wall and blocking its view with green branches, did it swiftly crawl forward. Then it turned around and raised its head to face the unidentified yellow object that was rapidly approaching it.

With a "clang!" the mutated lizard slashed down, opened its mouth wide and bit down, then used all its strength to swing it violently. With a "thud," Zhao Xiaoxiu fell to the ground on the grass.

I was careless; I didn't expect the lizard's mouth to be so tough!

Zhao Xiaoxiu scrambled to her feet, raised her knife, and charged again at the gray lizard that was also swishing its large tail as it ran toward her.

The surrounding greenery encircled her and the gray lizard, serving as both a cage for the lizard and a protective wall for Zhao Xiaoxiu to prevent other mutated species from breaking in during the fight.

The target Zhao Xiaoxiu chose for herself was just right. It had high defense, which made it easy for her to practice her sword skills, while its attack power and mutation level were not that high, so its lethality was not great.

But were there absolutely no surprises?

No, that's not the case.

Just as Zhao Xiaoxiu was fighting the gray lizard with a knife, the gray lizard's previous target actually bit through the protective green wall and climbed in.

Hundreds and thousands of black dots rushed toward Zhao Xiaoxiu at an extremely fast speed, densely packed, and she could hear the "crackling" sound of many legs crawling, which made Zhao Xiaoxiu's hair stand on end.

The enraged gray lizard paid no heed to the dangerous mutant insects; it only wanted to kill the wretched human cub in front of it that had hurt it.

"Sigh~" Zhao Xiaoxiu sighed helplessly. It seemed she would have to resort to some extreme measures.

He directed the mutated plant to stir its roots to slow down the swarm of insects. Then, he casually pulled out the nearest vine, quickly made a loop, and snagged the gray lizard's wide-open mouth.

Zhao Xiaoxiu had already mastered the skill of ring tossing while catching floating fish. The gray lizard, completely unaware of the dangers of humans, charged straight at her. She immediately caught the ring, and with a pull of the vine, its sharp, long beak was forced to close instantly.

The gray lizard was clearly stunned for a moment, probably still wondering why its mouth had closed uncontrollably.

The next second, Zhao Xiaoxiu suddenly pulled up the vine and used all her strength to flip the gray lizard over with a "bang," leaving it upside down with its four legs in the air.

"Haha!" Zhao Xiaoxiu excitedly raised her twin swords, leaped into the air, and with a powerful downward thrust, plunged both swords deep into the gray lizard's belly.

Scalding hot blood gushed out, splashing all over Zhao Xiaoxiu's face. It wasn't the metallic smell of human blood, but an indescribable stench that nearly killed her.

Zhao Xiaoxiu suppressed the urge to vomit, quickly wiped her face haphazardly with her sleeve, turned around and directed the mutated plants to make way, then ran away.

Just as the mutated insect army was about to climb onto the hem of her clothes, Zhao Xiaoxiu ran away in the blink of an eye.

The corpses of the gray lizards slowed their advance slightly, but Zhao Xiaoxiu's body was covered in the scent of the mutated gray lizards, and the mutated insect army found the aroma enticing and quickly caught up.

From a tree far away, Sheng Qingyang watched with satisfaction as his little apprentice successfully dealt with a mutated gray lizard, when he noticed her suddenly running away.

Its small body moved incredibly fast, like a spinning top, sometimes heading east, sometimes west, sometimes north, and finally rushing south towards the stream, leaping over stones until it reached the other side of the stream before stopping.