Surprising Evolution

A baby silkworm wriggled its way out of the vine-constructed box. It was blue and semi-transparent, and looked quite pretty.

"This is the tenth berserk mutant. Eat this berserk iron bug before you; if you do, you, my blue crystal bug, will be able to become a sacred-blood creature," the spirit said to the bug as she let it out of the box. Then, blue crystal bug crawled over to the iron bug.

Wherever the blue crystal bug writhed, a vibrant scorch mark was left in its wake. It looked poisonous.

When Han Sen heard the spirit speak, he thought to himself, "This spirit must have done a lot to ensure the evolution of this creature of hers. She used mutant bugs to create a berserk mutant bug, so she could then feed it to the blue crystal bug? Wow. Perhaps she will succeed."

The blue crystal bug reached the iron bug that had just finished evolving. Due to the tiring process of evolution, it was now weak. It acknowledged what was happening, as well; it trembled at the approach of the blue crystal bug.

The blue crystal bug climbed atop the iron bug, as it had done many times before. Without reprieve or delay, it attempted to eat the iron bug from the front.

But the moment the blue crystal bug tried to eat the iron bug, the iron bug opened its mouth wide. Exceeding all expectations, its insectoid mouth became a gaping maw decorated with countless serrated teeth.

Katcha!

The iron bug was actually the one that ate the blue crystal bug. In one quick munch, the bug was gruesomely devoured. Where it once feigned fear and a look of apparent weakness, the iron bug now looked like a greedy devil.

The poisonous blue crystal bug was defenseless, it seemed. It had no chance to react to the sudden snap of the iron bug's jaws, and this surprised Han Sen and the spirit both.

No one had expected this to happen, and even the spirit was caught off guard.

The spirit lashed her rose whip at the iron bug. The bug didn't attempt to evade, however; it merely closed its shell and withstood the entire attack effortlessly.

Han Sen knew how much power was in her whip lash, and it was a terrifying amount. The whip had to be a mutant class, at least, and it was far stronger than what he and Little Wind could deal with.

Yet despite that, the whip could not damage the iron bug at all.

But then, curiously, the iron bug's shell broke again, and it started glowing blue. It was evolving once again.

"D*mn it! It's evolving into a sacred-blood." The spirit's face changed as she spoke aloud. In haste, she quickly hammered the white shell of the bug to break it.

From inside the white shell, a green iron bug came out. It looked like jade.

Without hesitation, the spirit continued to lash it with her whip. She wanted to damage the iron bug before it completed its new process of evolution.

When it finished evolving into a sacred-blood creature, the spirit would not be able to fight it.

Whoo-pa! Whoo-pa!

The whip was like a fearsome snake, lashing out at the iron bug. The monstrously powerful attacks made the evolving creature squeal in pain.

But then, a green flame burst forth from the iron bug and enveloped the whip. It wasn't exactly like fire, though; it was more like a corrosive substance that moved under conscious control. It was like a flame composed of liquid acid. And against this, the whip stood no chance. The spirit's weapon quickly corroded into a toxic-smelling puddle of goop.

The spirit dropped the whip, not wanting the acid to touch her body. Then, she used a stalk's thorn to pierce her skin and allow the rose to absorb her blood.

As the rose absorbed the spirit's blood, the rose suddenly let out a powerful fragrance. It was so strong, it could literally be seen as a mystic haze.

The iron bug smelled the flower and was hypnotized. Without resistance, it began crawling over towards the rose.

The spirit suddenly summoned a red dagger, and when the green iron bug came closer, she stabbed it in its mouth with the power and speed of a sudden flash of lightning.

Boom!

The iron bug snapped out of its daze as the dagger lodged in its mouth. Its anger was unleashed, and it squirted its corrosive liquid all around it. The ground and soil all around were ruined, and when it was done, the iron bug launched itself towards the spirit.

But the spirit was quick to fall back. She tried using her rose bushes to trap the bug and stop its advance.

But the iron bug had become a sacred-blood creature, and the attacks it unleashed were frighteningly powerful.

The rose vines lashed the iron bug by themselves, but it was all to no avail. Against its impenetrable shell, all attacks simply bounced off and at the same time melted into nothing but drops of its wretched liquid.

The roses that sought to trap the bug were all burnt away, and it seemed likely that the bug was going to catch up with the spirit.

The spirit's face changed, but she did not look scared. Instead of a weapon, she summoned a shield this time. With it, she tried to deflect the charging bug.

Katcha!

She propped the heavy greatshield up against the frenzied bug. The force of the bug was so strong, it knocked the spirit a good distance back and smashed her into a wall. So much was the power in that hit, there was a gaping hole left in the side of the cliff she was thrown into.

"Whoa! That is so powerful. Sacred-blood creatures in the Third God's Sanctuary are terrifying. That little thing hasn't even completed its evolution, and yet it has so much power." Han Sen watched the iron bug with greed in his eyes.

Although the bug was strong, the dagger was still lodged in its mouth. Strangely, it hadn't been melted—it looked special.

The iron bug's mouth had bled slowly ever since the oral strike. Han Sen was able to watch its lifeforce slowly drain around the knife in its mouth. Still, that did not allay the bug's desire to chase after the spirit that had inflicted such damage upon it. But the spirit knew she had injured it, and she knew victory would only be a matter of time because of it.

As the two continued to fight, Han Sen decided to sneak into the valley. He wanted to steal the kill from the spirit, as it was a sacred-blood creature. He believed this was an opportunity from God, as God only knew how long it would take for him to reliably be able to take down sacred-blood creatures on his own.