Chapter 5: The Monster Silkworm Larva Gains the Skill of Identification Eyes
Without hesitation, Su Bai stepped into the Misty Forest.
The moment she entered, a mechanical electric buzz suddenly echoed in her mind.
[Beep! Player has entered the Misty Forest area.]
The sudden sound in the silent environment made Su Bai shudder.
“This won’t do. I can’t be so jumpy; such reactions could have gotten me killed many times over.”
Su Bai was acutely aware of her own fragility. To survive in this dangerous world ahead, she needed to become stronger.
“If I don’t understand something, I’ll learn it. Su Bai, you can do this,” she encouraged herself silently.
She understood one truth clearly: relying on others was never dependable; one could only rely on oneself.
The Misty Forest lived up to its name, shrouded in fog.
Though it didn’t completely block vision, lingering too long could cause one to lose their way.
Not considering herself formidable, Su Bai immediately summoned Pearl.
With a flicker, Pearl appeared beside her.
In a low voice, Su Bai said, “Pearl, from now on, I need you to protect me.”
Pearl nodded, her eyes suddenly serious.
Su Bai noticed how different Pearl was compared to before. Since her mutation, Pearl, already intelligent, had grown even wiser.
“I wonder if the monsters in the Misty Forest are like Pearl,” Su Bai mused wryly. Wild beasts were cunning; the jungle’s law was survival of the fittest. She could not underestimate their intelligence.
Why didn’t Su Bai summon a Beast Spirit to protect herself? The “Beast Spirit Summon” skill consumed energy continuously, lasting only thirty seconds at most, and had a long cooldown.
Therefore, she reserved that move for dire emergencies.
Su Bai gripped a chopper-like axe, a tool left by her landlord grandmother, originally meant for chopping bones, now her means of defense.
Pearl hovered above Su Bai’s head as she cautiously moved deeper into the Misty Forest.
The digital city of Wuhe was now enveloped by this misty forest, but the old houses still stood, now abandoned overnight.
Suddenly, Pearl fluttered onto Su Bai’s shoulder and chirped, clearly sensing something.
Alert, Su Bai glanced where Pearl pointed.
“Monsters?”
Hiding behind a giant tree, Su Bai saw three plump, wriggling insects inching toward fallen leaves ahead—silkworm-like creatures, pale gray and fist-sized.
Though not afraid of insects, Su Bai found their size repulsive.
Yet perhaps by instinct, Pearl’s eyes gleamed brightly at the sight of the worms.
A suspicious drool appeared at the corner of her beak. Since becoming a songbird, Pearl had not only grown smarter but more wild.
Su Bai did not stop her; she welcomed these changes.
“Pearl, use your singing skill to lull them to sleep. We can act once they’re asleep.”
Pearl nodded.
Then the quiet Misty Forest was pierced by a unique call. Though called “singing,” Pearl couldn’t truly sing; she used vibrating sounds to perform the skill.
When Pearl activated the skill, her body glowed faintly, musical notes of special power swirling toward the target.
Upon touching the three insects, the notes dispersed instantly, transforming into energy particles that entered their bodies.
Soon, the writhing worms fell silent—Pearl’s singing had succeeded.
“Yes! Pearl, you’re amazing!” Su Bai praised.
Hearing her master’s praise, Pearl joyfully fluttered, determined to grow stronger to protect her, and flew to the sleeping worms.
Su Bai no longer hid, approaching the three unconscious insects with her axe.
Without hesitation, she swung hard.
With a “splitting” sound, one worm was cleaved in two.
Her mind chimed with a system prompt.
[Beep! Congratulations! You have slain a Silkworm Monster! Experience +1!]
“Huh? Only one experience point?” Su Bai was puzzled, then reasoned that the worms weren’t strong, so the reward was small.
Without delay, she moved to finish the other two.
Pearl prepared to assist and swallowed one worm whole.
Su Bai’s axe came down again.
The familiar system prompts sounded twice in quick succession.
[Beep! Congratulations! You have slain a Silkworm Monster! Experience +1!]
[Beep! Congratulations! Your beast Pearl has slain a Silkworm Monster! Experience +0.5; Player experience +0.5!]
Su Bai immediately grasped the significance: “Pearl’s kills share experience points with me?”
So, if she had more pets, she could send her beasts to fight while she gained experience safely from behind.
“This Beast Tamer profession suits me perfectly.”
But her attention was soon diverted.
“What’s this?”
By the silkworm corpses lay a faintly glowing card.
“Is this equipment dropped from monsters?”
Recalling the Beast Tamer profession card she had obtained earlier, Su Bai quickly picked up the card.
It was a special platinum color.
Opening it, her eyes were drawn to the card’s inscription.
[Skill Card]
Quality: Ultra Rare
Skill: Identification Eye
Effect: Can identify data of monsters or items no more than 10 levels above the player.
Class Restriction: None. Usable by any profession!
“Identification Eye skill card?” Su Bai was astonished.
“Rare quality and no class restriction—this shows some skills are limited by profession, and of course, skills have varying ranks.”
Without hesitation, Su Bai learned the skill from the card.
[Beep! Congratulations! You have learned the skill—Identification Eye!]
Her skill bar now displayed the Identification Eye.
A streak of platinum light flickered in her eyes.
The world around her seemed subtly transformed.
Before she could rejoice, movement arose nearby.
Turning around, her hair stood on end.
She saw countless silkworms swarming around her.
“Could it be that Pearl’s singing attracted them?”
Su Bai realized her mistake: using a sound-based skill in a quiet forest naturally drew attention.
But there was no time to dwell on that.
“Pearl, attack!”
Musical notes swirled in Pearl’s mouth and swiftly penetrated the insect swarm.
Su Bai quickly retreated, putting distance between herself and the creatures before activating her newly acquired skill.
“Identify!”
[Monster: Silkworm]
Talent: Silk Spinning—Able to produce extremely sticky silk threads.
Skill: Silk Spinning—Entangles the target with silk threads.