Tara found herself full of ambition tress further now.

  She had increased her level, improving her cultivation and traits, and now she felt more fident handling more dangerous oppos.

  Though she was still wary of those turtles, she might have tried something if they had not been in a group. Yet they showed intelligence, and if she revealed her poison, her ce of beating the others would be slim.

  She was not foolish enough not to realise that she could only fight above her current level by using underhanded means such as poison.

  Perhaps when she enhanced her traits further, this would be different, yet she khat Iron Samanders were by no means sidered a strong species based on what she had seen.

  Therefore, in a fair fight against magical beasts that are many times strohahere would be no fighting on even grounds with her crossing cultivation levels anytime soon.

  Only through trickery and adaptability would she be able to defeat them, as the physical gap between them would be massive unless she had weakehem beforehand.

  Perhaps she achieve such things when she evolves her species or something. Still, right now, she knows just how close she came to being killed, even with the advantages she had over the Earthray utilising her poison.

  She did not enjoy the close brush with death and would prefer a more stable means of taking down magical beasts. That would mean the use of poison in a way that does not require her to get a rge portion of her body bitten off, yet maybe with {Metal Manipution}, she try a more direct means.

  Wheried to use the trait, she closed her eyes, feeling an instinctive urge to use it like her other traits.

  {Metal Manipution} seemed to allow her to trol her own Qi that beforehand was attributed less, yet now the pathways the mutation introduced seemed to attu to metal. It also allowed her to manipute metals in general, yet this was far more taxing than using her own Qi. Through the adapted pathways in her body, she ow form metal bdes and reinforce all areas of her body with Metal Qi.

  She figured the mutation might have e about through her evolvied traits such as {Iron Bones}; perhaps Iron Samanders always had an affinity for Metal Qi, but the newly formed mutation has allowed her to harness it.

  However, she quickly realised that the ent from the system about it being rare for Qi gatheris for a reason, sinbsp;{Metal Manipution} exerted much Qi and seemed to be usual for beasts of a much higher rank than her, which is why it seemed so costly to her.

  She seemed too weak in cultivation to exploit its potential fully. Yet, she was still satisfied because it would allow her to i early in an evident ability that would follow her through her asding ranks.

  Feeling reinvigorated by the increase in level and all its bes, she decided to tinue expl and finding more magical beasts to hunt.

  Giving the carcass of the Earthray a fleeting gnce, she felt full from the influx of energy from the fruits, so she decided to ighe corpse, already fully healed from the ordeal with the Earthray.

  ‘Thanks fuarding the fruits, big guy.’ Tara thought, still a bit shaken by the ordeal from the thing almost killing her ie.

  Still, the Earthray guarded and protected the fruits that gave her so many bes, so she had mixed feelings towards the beast.

  Deg to leave before any sgers, who will sooner or ter detect the death of the previous guardian, show up, she leaves the area after searg around thhly, disc nothing of value other than the fruit she already ed.

  After leaving the area, she soon entered an oddly familiar target.

  ‘You again. Or one of you.’ She thought, seeing the same shark-like fish that tried to swallow her in one gulp when she was retly born.

  Deg to identify it, she saw its information.

  [Species: Sikeake

  Cultivation: Qi Gathering 4]

  ‘Not as strong as I figured you would be,’ She thought, seeing the rge fish snap its head around to her shortly after that.

  The fish seemed far smaller than before, or perhaps that just demonstrated her growth; it seemed insurmountable when she first saw it, well over three times her size, yet now it was barely rger than her current form.

  Its red eyes looked at her dangerously, revealing sharp, dagger-like teeth. Its rge, long, torpedo-shaped body tensed, and its rge fins started to build momentum.

  Now that she was on a far more even footing with the fish, with it barely having the edge in size, she would not run away scared for her life like st time.

  She would not be the same fused, terrified girl; it was time to show this fish who the true predator was; she was not prey, and it would learn from its mistake.

  The fish seemed uurbed by her bravado as it tio make its way to her, its speed astonishing as it stalked towards her.

  It suddenly ged dire as it swerved to go under her before its rge mouth opened impossibly wide. Its sharp teeth gleamed with it, trying to bite through her torso.

  Though Tara wao experiment with {Metal Manipution} and seemed to sehe perfect opportunity, she waited for the fish to swerve under as she directed her cws towards it and, not knowing the result, pumped all her Qi as her nails suddenly elongated as rge spikes of metal formed so abruptly appearing right in the fishes path with it having no time even to ge dire as it smmed head first into twe spikes of metal that skewered through its head with ance as the momentum from the fishes charge halted as it remained motionless.

  Oher hand, Tara felt ridiculously empty as she bottomed out her Qi for su attack, though at least it succeeded, with the notification soon sounding.

  [You have defeated {Sikeake}, gaining 20 EXP. You are now 27/1000 intressing to Level 4.]

  ‘Gd that worked. Maybe that be a solution for attag fre.’ Tara thought, relieved she pulled that off.

  She knew she could create spikes of metal from her Qi, so she used her cws to direct them in the fish's path, which remained unprepared for su attack.

  Though she still o refine her use of the trait, sihe impact was mainly caused by the fish's momentum from charging her, resulting in it skewering itself, she could not expect all oppos to atta such a way. It also wholly drained her Qi, showing its impracticality, but she could still work on adding it to her means of attack.

  Looking at the spears of metal formed from her cws, she found that she could detach the lumps of metal as she willed. Knowing she would o recover from the exertion of using her Qi to form them, she knew she o e the fish to speed up her recovery.

  Though the system seems to strip most of its Qi and vitality as fuel for her upgrades, the remnants of the corpse still proved helpful in fuelling her body.

  Detag the metal spears from her cws, she approached the fish and started taking bites to recover her energy.

  As she tinued her meal, Tara decided she needed some practice with {Metal Manipution} on magical beasts and also wao find more fruits that could enhance her traits whilst she was at it.

  With much to do, she could not afford to be idle and wished her Qi would recover fast.

  After a while, her Qi recovered to a suitable standard, and she felt prepared to move out again.

  ‘Now let’s find some more targets; I’m curious how much adaptability this has…’ Tara thought as she went off looking for more targets.