It was another morning, and the sun, in its struggle with the leaves, achieved a faint victory, successfully casting its warmth onto the trunk of the purple vine tree, scattering onto the ground covered with fallen leaves and bushes, creating dancing patches of light.
A bird resembling a sparrow, with purple feathers but only a single vertical eye, was foraging on the ground, emitting a unique call similar to a crow's.
Meanwhile, a white Worm was hiding in the grass, inching forward towards these little creatures.
The white Worm was Neva, and she had been eyeing this group of unfortunate birds since the sun first appeared.
Having learned enough lessons, and to ensure the safety of her food, Neva not only checked their stats but also specifically asked the crystal heart for more information about this type of bird.
They were called Purple Spirit Sparrows, weak Life Clans with no rank, non-toxic, harmless, and naturally unpolluted, so there was no need to worry about food poisoning.
However, they were too Agility, so much so that Neva tried to catch them several times in a row without even getting a single feather.
After several failures, Neva did not get discouraged; she hid in the grass, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike.
A plump Purple Spirit Sparrow hopped closer and closer to Neva's position, not at all as wary and timid as its companions, only focused on eating the scattered grass seeds on the ground.
So, is being carefree an important factor in gaining weight?
Neva couldn't help but complain.
The moment was ripe; Neva, like a deadly arrow, leaped out of the grass and bit the startled Purple Spirit Sparrow.
The other Purple Spirit Sparrows, seeing their companion attacked, flew away in a panic.
Finally, success!
In her exhausted, hungry, and aching state, she had been waiting for over an hour; if she couldn't catch any food, she might have to eat tree bark.
Life was truly too difficult!
Stopping her complaints, Neva quickly ate her prey.
This bird was only one-third the size of Neva, not enough to fill her stomach, only enough to slightly restore some of her strength.
By comparison, Neva estimated that her current body length already exceeded half a meter, and when curled up, she was larger than a football.
In her original world, she would be considered a giant among Worms, but here, this size was nothing; for example, smaller Glutton Worm Adult Forms were two or three times larger than her, and the size of a fully grown one was immeasurable.
The Purple Spirit Sparrow provided her with 0.2 Evolution points, as for the taste of the meat... Neva could only say it was really not good, like eating dirt and mud.
Do these Life Clans have to evolve to be so unpalatable just to survive?
This absurd thought appeared in Neva's mind, yet she felt it made a lot of sense... In the morning, Neva caught another Purple Spirit Sparrow and an Insect Bone Frog using the same method.
That Insect Bone Frog delivered itself to her while she was eating; this brainless creature, upon seeing her, rushed over without a word.
It actually mistook her for food; how could she tolerate this!
It was a miracle that this thing hadn't gone extinct; it was completely unable to judge the difference in strength between itself and other creatures... Neva felt both angry and amused, perhaps because the Insect Bone Frog had once caused her to be chased by Worms, so much so that she would get furious whenever she saw these strange-looking Insect Bone Frogs.
After easily dealing with this Insect Bone Frog that didn't know its place, Neva could finally enjoy her meal in peace.
The Insect Bone Frog was slightly larger than Neva, and its arrival perfectly solved Neva's food crisis.
Another 1 Evolution point was credited; back in the underground cave, it took many Worms to get 1 Evolution point, but now it was just a single meal.
Of course, this meal might be her entire day's harvest.
Bird flocks don't appear every day, nor do foolish Insect Bone Frogs deliver themselves every time.
This was not an underground cave filled with Worm eggs and wandering Worms; every weak creature in the forest would try its best to hide.
Therefore, hunting was not as easy as imagined; this time she was lucky to find edible prey, and the next meal might have to wait until tomorrow.
After eating her fill, Neva roughly explored the nearby area, centered around the tree she lived in.
She had to figure out the surrounding environment and any potential dangers.
When encountering danger, familiarity with the surrounding environment could increase her chances of escape and prevent her from blindly running into dangerous places.
Actually, more importantly, it was to prevent herself from getting lost! Neva's sense of direction had always been poor.
The forest environment was indeed more complex than imagined.
To the south of the tree hollow was the stream where the Golden Scaled Python lived.
And about a kilometer to the north, there grew a strange type of tree, with bare branches devoid of leaves, only soft, whip-like branches with black spots, and bark that was cadaverous grayish-white.
Neva originally wanted to observe these strange trees up close, but after witnessing a Purple Spirit Sparrow that had landed on a branch being torn to shreds, she decisively abandoned that plan.
They were clearly alive!
These strange trees swung their branches extremely fast, making her dizzy; it was only by asking the crystal heart that she learned they were actually a plant-type Life Clan.
Species: Demonic Tree
Rank: D (Medium Life Form) (Data Rating: 37.6)
Mana: 50
Soul Strength: 1.2
Abilities: Energy Absorption (2/10), Mana Control (1/10), Healing (3/10), Mana Contamination (1/10), Venom (2/10), Corrosive Solution (2/10), Splitting (1/10), Strength (3/10)
Resistance: Physical Resistance (2/10)
Title: Demonic Tree
She was very glad that these trees couldn't move; who would have thought these inconspicuous strange trees would be so powerful?
This was just the stats of one Demonic Tree, and there was a whole patch of similar Demonic Trees here!
Although the Golden Scaled Python was far stronger than these strange trees, it could only retreat in the face of such a massive number!
This should also be the reason why the Golden Scaled Python allowed these dangerous Demonic Trees to grow near its territory; if it couldn't defeat them, it could only coexist!
In the east and west directions, Neva didn't find anything noteworthy, or perhaps she hadn't gone far enough.
As for how she could accurately estimate the distances between these places and discern directions?
This was still the heart's doing.
Neva no longer had as many reservations about the existence of the crystal heart as she did initially, and she gradually developed its other functions.
Previously, Neva used it as a clock, asking for the time.
Now, Neva could use it to ask about the routes she had taken, acting as a GPS navigator.
Besides not being able to play games like Tetris, it was almost as convenient as a mobile phone!
Perhaps, this lifeless, strange prompt sound was actually an AI intelligent assistant?
Traversing the intricate forest, Neva carefully observed and memorized everything around her: giant blinking flowers, shrubs scurrying underground like earthworms, abnormally large fungi... everywhere were strange and peculiar things.
By the time Neva had roughly understood the surrounding environment, evening had arrived; a day in the forest was close to 24 hours in her original world, possibly with some slight differences, but not significant, and Neva didn't understand why, perhaps it was just a coincidence?
Before dark, she returned to the vicinity of her tree hollow home.
At this time, the tree hollow had been tidied up by Neva, returning to its previous clean "home."
Strange bird calls echoed from the depths of the forest, accompanied by deep beast roars.
The night forest became even more terrifying and eerie.
A huge bird's silhouette flashed across the sky, landing on the canopy of a nearby tree.
Several pairs of red eyes were sharp and keen.
She, who was originally outside the tree hollow, immediately ran back into it and used pre-prepared leaves as a cover to prevent herself from being discovered.
The night was indeed not a realm she could touch yet... Powerful hunters began their revelry, and the weak could only hide in corners, trembling.