A D-Rank Adventurer's Bizarre Reincarnation

Chapter 13 - Vile Nightviper

"I guess this is far enough."

Zheng Jin thought as he stopped on a nearby clearing, checking the area around it. The sounds of twigs breaking alerted him as he immediately saw a demon beast lurking nearby. He then decided to stop here, although the distance he traveled before seeing a demon beast today was not even half of what he had to travel to see one last time. He was now certain that some drastic changes had occurred at the deeper parts of the forest, sending all these weaker demon beasts this close to the city.

Upon closer inspection, the demon beast was a Gloomtalon Hare, a Level 4 Mortal demon beast, which according to the book he had read, were the most common beasts in the forest alongside the Five-tailed Crimson Rats. Though they are still herbivores, they are extremely territorial and more organized than any other demon beasts in this forest.

"Even hares are dangerous in this world. What's next, can a chicken kill me too?"

Though the statement was far-fetched and laughable, Zheng Jin wasn't laughing. At this point, nothing will surprise him, really.

Fortunately, the hare did not attack Zheng Jin and only appeared to be scouting the area. He must've been standing just outside of their territory. After seeing Zheng Jin, the hare made an uncharacteristically scary growl, warning Zheng Jin to leave, or else.

On a normal day, a Gloomtalon Hare would've attacked without a second thought. But one thing about these hares was that they never attack without at least three of them in one area, even to the extent of quickly escaping when they were attacked alone. This trait made them difficult to deal with, as they utilize their numbers far better than the Five-Tailed Crimson Rats.

With the warning, Zheng Jin slowly backed off and simply walked away from the hare. He did not come all the way here for the small fry after all.

"If these Gloomtalon Hares are here, then surely they would be too..."

What Zheng Jin sought was a much more challenging prey. Specifically, the Level 1 Awakened Mortal demon beasts, Vile Nightvipers!

Known for having bright violet scales which makes them easy to spot from afar, Vile Nightvipers makes up for their easily-noticeable appearance by having an incredibly fast striking speed and extremely lethal venom. So lethal, in fact, that even an early-stage Spirit Enforcer demon beast would have trouble recovering from it, even with the abundance of spirit energy in their body.

Zheng Jin thought that the Vile Nightvipers were indeed here, simply because they are the natural predators of the Gloomtalon Hares, as they rarely confront stronger demon beasts and chooses to hunt weak ones, no matter how deadly their venom was.

Zheng Jin's future steps relied heavily on killing a Vile Nightviper, as he needed its venom sack to hunt a much stronger demon beast. With his strength, he could only rely on small factors like this, though it doesn't mean that he would let his cultivation stagnate, as he also planned to continue his physical training in this forest.

"Well then, time to get my hands dirty..."

After making use of his attribute [Expert Trapmaster], Zheng Jin thought of and started to prepare a simple minnow trap for catching a Vile Nightviper. A minnow trap is a simple trap that is very efficient to use against snakes. He designed it as a cylinder, with a funnel-shaped entrance so that, once a Vile Nightviper entered one, it won't be able to escape. And seeing that the trap aimed to restrict and not kill, Zheng Jin made a little alteration with its design. He also decided to hunt other demon beasts to use as bait, so that the trap would be more effective.

Though he bore in his mind that even the simplest of traps can kill even the strongest of enemies. The only question is whether you are smart enough to make them fall for it, or if they are foolish enough to fall for it themselves. Fortunately for Zheng Jin, he was just dealing with a beast with limited intelligence.

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...

Six days had passed since Zheng Jin ventured into the forest. He had been training his body ever since, and he continued on making other traps for the Vile Nightviper. Not only that, but he had also killed quite a lot of the demon beasts that dared to attack him during his training.

Though he had not caught a Vile Nightviper yet, his training had given him a stat boost in terms of strength, speed, and agility. Even his cultivation had been raised a level.

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

Name: Zheng Jin

Class : Level 6 Mortal Realm Cultivator

Strength : E-

Agility : E

Speed : E-

Vitality : E-

Intelligence : D-

Endurance : E+

? : ?

Skills

°God's Generosity

Exp:4/5

°Puke Blood 1★

Level 10/10 •Max

Attributes

°Expert Trapmaster 3★

Level 10/10 •Max

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

"This is great. I just have to kill a few more demon beasts, and I'll have enough points to use the skill."

Zheng Jin smiled as he looked at his status window. At the rate that he's going, he would be able to reach the peak level of the Mortal Realm!

"Is it supposed to be this easy?"

Though he had not cultivated before, he thought that the rate at which he was progressing was a bit fast. It was as if his body was just recovering its original strength, rather than gaining it...

...

After finishing his physical training, Zheng Jin bathed in a nearby waterfall, then went on to hunt more demon beasts for eating and bait.

Zheng Jin's time in the forest had been pleasant, as he had not only gained strength, but he also ate quite a lot these past few days. He even bought different spices in the city before, just to enhance the flavor of every food that he had cooked. His "experiments" were indeed bearing fruit, as he ranked every demon beasts that he had encountered...for the flavor of their meat.

...

"Hmm...a slow roasted Triple-tusked Boar...it's a seven out of ten..."

Zheng Jin was now walking with a cooked demon beast leg on his hand, "rating" the meat that he had just tasted. The sight of a boy walking with a huge demon beast leg in the middle of the forest is sure to confuse anyone that might see it to oblivion, though Zheng Jin didn't mind as he continued to walk towards each of the areas of the forest where he placed his traps.

"Ah! I've finally got one!"

After waiting for so long, Zheng Jin finally caught a Vile Nightviper! He had been visiting traps every day without fail, only to find it empty or that other demon beasts were caught in it. Naturally, after seeing the bright purple scales he had hopes on seeing every day, he was brimming with excitement!

Despite the joyous occasion, however, he immediately calmed himself down as he spotted a problem when walking towards the trap. The snake was about to break through it and escape! After all, the trap was made with flimsy materials like wood and ropes. After the Vile Nightviper had feasted on the bait inside the trap, it could not hold an Awakened Mortal demon beast for very long!

Zheng Jin then rushed towards the trap, when suddenly, the viper eventually got it's head free and lashed out at Zheng Jin with its fangs!

*Splat!

In a quick motion, Zheng Jin bashed the snake's head with the cooked demon beast leg he had been carrying all this time. After doing this, the leg was immediately reduced to smithereens.

"Ah...What a waste of good food!"

Slightly enraged by what just happened, Zheng Jin immediately circled around the trap where the snake's head couldn't reach him and unsheathed the two swords he had been carrying on his back. He then repeatedly stabbed at the small slit he had placed on the trap before, sending the Vile Nightviper into a furious rage as it thrashed around the trap.

...

By the time Zheng Jin stopped stabbing, the Vile Nightviper was dead and he was now covered with its blood.

"Ah, seems that I went a little overboard..."

Zheng Jin said as he looked regretfully at the mangled body of the Vile Nightviper. It seems that he had just lost an opportunity to cook an Awakened Mortal demon beast...

Though Zheng Jin was a bit disappointed, he eventually moved on and immediately cut off the snake's head. As to why they had "Vile" on their name is actually because many cultivators had died even after slaying a Vile Nightviper, as they could even attack after being killed! Dragging others with them to the death, it was the main reason why they were named Vile Nightvipers.

Having the knowledge to avoid the situation, Zheng Jin thanked the book that he had read back in the sect library. Perhaps it would be better for him to read some more after he got back after all.

"I swear, doing this never gets old..."

Zheng Jin said as he extracted the venom sac from the snake's head. As to how he knew how to do this, he, as an adventurer, had countless experiences regarding snakes. One particularly horrible memory he had about them was when he accepted a quest to kill 50 snakes and extract their venom sacs. Ever since then, Zheng Jin never took another quest like that again, as he hated the process of taking the venom sacs from the snake's heads. It really grew on him, he thought.

"f**k snakes...Ugh, now I have to take a bath again."

After looking at the bloodstains on his robe, he started to go to the waterfall once again, hoping to get rid of the stench of demon beast blood off his body.

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"Just where did you go, Zheng Jin..."

Bai Shuanyang looked at a nearby koi pond in her house with a worried expression on her face. It had been three days since she left Zheng Jin in the forest when he had regained his consciousness. She had been waiting for Zheng Jin to return all this time, only to no avail.

"No...did he return to the forest again?"

A speculation formed in Bai Shuanyang's head as she hoped that she was wrong.

"After all this time...why do you insist on doing this, Zheng Jin..."

Bai Shuanyang knew what Zheng Jin's purpose was in going to the forest alone. He was training. He was still training after all those years of failing to advance a level in cultivation, even after something had happened to him and he lost his memories; he was still trying.

Bai Shuanyang, after a moment of contemplation, decided to go and find Zheng Jin in the forest herself. She would not let her only friend be exposed to danger yet again, no matter how different their relationship was now.

She needed to act quickly and cautiously, while her father's informants within the city still haven't caught on to her actions yet. She then tried to obtain permission from the elders to train in the forest as an excuse, to which all the elders happily agreed to.

Bai Shuanyang understood why Zheng Jin would keep on thrusting himself into dangerous situations like these, especially if he lacked the power to do so; but she just can't bear to let him throw his life away like this...