"What!"
"A demon beast is rapidly approaching?"
Chen De immediately thought of the field mice that had suffered heavy casualties while searching for food these past few days.
Originally, he had only guessed that some demon beast might have appeared nearby.
Now, there was no need to guess.
Chen De had encountered it directly!
Honestly, this was the first time Chen De wished his predictions weren't so accurate.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as he wished…
The moment he heard the system's prompt, Chen De took off running.
He wasn't a protagonist; facing a demon beast, the only outcome was becoming feces, no exceptions.
But Chen De didn't run aimlessly, blindly, or carelessly; he ran with a plan, with a direction.
Chen De knew very well that the opponent must have already locked onto his aura.
Don't question it, demon beasts are that formidable.
In this situation, detours were no longer an option.
However, a demon beast's speed far exceeded that of a wild beast, and if Chen De only focused on fleeing, being caught was only a matter of time.
So Chen De's choice was to let a demon beast deal with a demon beast.
Who could Chen De find then?
Undoubtedly!
Although Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) had once given an order that when searching for food outside,
if they encountered other demon beasts, they absolutely must not run back to the nest.
They should try their best to lure it away from the nest.
If it were an ordinary field mouse, even if it died, it would never disobey the order.
But unfortunately, it encountered Chen De!
Who is Chen De!
In his previous life, he was known as the man who was the ceiling of human morality.
To better align with his morality,
he even went to a blind fortune-teller to change his name to the current one.
So that when people heard this name, they could instantly see through Chen De's essence.
Morality!
And it was precisely because of this that Chen De could not die!
If he died, what a loss that would be for all living beings.
Bearing such a heavy responsibility, Chen De absolutely dared not entertain such cowardly thoughts of suicide.
Seeing the demon beast behind him getting closer and closer, Chen De exerted all his strength and charged forward.
I cannot die yet, I cannot die yet!
I still have living beings to benefit, I still have peace to maintain, I still have morality to spread.
I, Chen De, will never fall.
Three…
Chen De felt he had gone off on a tangent.
But in this situation, Chen De was moved and just wanted to say that.
As he ran, Chen De saw a field mouse ahead, also out foraging like him.
It was holding some dark, indistinct objects, which Chen De knew were food.
It should have finished finding food by now and was on its way back to the nest.
It was moving forward, Chen De was running behind it, and hearing movement behind it, it was about to run away.
This was the field mouse's way of survival; there were too many predators for them in this forest.
When they encountered any movement, they would just hide, no matter what.
But at this moment, a familiar field mouse squeak from behind made it hesitate; it was the call of its own kind.
The meaning in the other's call seemed to be asking it to stop for a moment, so it slowed down its leg movements.
Chen De's eyes lit up when he saw the field mouse ahead.
He quickly called out to it, then sped up and ran to the field mouse's side.
The field mouse still didn't understand what was happening, but Chen De didn't hesitate, pushing it behind him.
Then he continued on his way without looking back; the distance to the nest was already very close.
Not long after running, Chen De heard a tragic squeak.
The sound had barely begun before it abruptly stopped.
Then, rustling sounds came from behind again.
Clearly, that demon beast didn't linger too long but continued to pursue.
The distance between them closed again, getting closer and closer.
Finally, just as the demon beast was about to catch up, Chen De finally returned to the nest.
This time, it was truly thanks to Chen De's idea of slacking off and lingering around the nest.
Otherwise, if Chen De had run to some slightly distant place, this time he would have been truly finished.
Also to be thanked was that field mouse brother who voluntarily stayed behind to cover Chen De's retreat.
Don't worry, I will live well with your hopes.
Without daring to waste time, he returned to the cave and immediately went to Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s side.
Now, perhaps only Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) could give Chen De a full sense of security.
However, at this moment, Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) was still toiling away, working hard for the field mouse clan's grand plan of reproduction, deeply immersed and unable to extricate himself.
But such a large commotion still woke him; the demon beast's realm gave him sharper senses than ordinary wild beasts.
He first looked behind Chen De, then at Chen De, who had run in front of him, his eyes filled with shock.
"Do you know you brought a ghost home?"
"Just wait and see how I'll deal with you later!"
A subordinate like this appearing in the clan, this was a rat traitor, he absolutely could not be kept.
But Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s gaze, when it reached Chen De, seemed to be saying,
"Run!"
"Run!"
"I'll hold them off here!"
Having received Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s reminder, Chen De didn't stop and immediately took off running.
Before leaving, Chen De also took the opportunity to see what kind of creature had been chasing him all this way.
It was an ant-shaped demon beast, about half the size of Chen De currently.
Its body was covered in pitch-black armor, with faint blue patterns permeating the armor, faintly glowing.
Chen De hadn't run far when Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) and that demon beast were already fighting.
The field mouse clan's cave system was intricate, and Chen De quickly escaped through another passage.
Chen De swore that Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) was so good to him, he definitely didn't want to leave.
But he also didn't want to let down Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s painstaking efforts.
Under duress, Chen De could only leave.
But Chen De's departure was forced, it was righteous, it was full of morality.
Everything was out of helplessness!
Finally, Chen De, following the system map, found a safe place to rest his feet.
Chen De looked at the system map, thinking about how to proceed in the future.
At the same time, he was paying attention to the two demon beasts fighting in the field mouse nest.
The two red dots frequently collided and then separated.
This process happened countless times.
After one such separation, one of the red dots went out, and the other red dot also stopped moving.
Seeing this, Chen De immediately realized his opportunity had come.
During his escape, the system had issued him a quest.
Killing a demon beast for the first time would grant him three attribute points.
Chen De felt that attribute points should be used for leveling up.
So, if Chen De wanted to level up in the future, he absolutely couldn't do without attribute points.
A complete demon beast, Chen De was definitely not a match for it.
But an incomplete demon beast, well, wasn't there one right now?
In a struggle between two parties, the winning side didn't go over to eat the other's corpse to replenish its strength, so it was probably either dead or severely wounded.
Of course, it was also possible that Chen De was mistaken.
If the opponent still had the strength to fight, Chen De going back would be walking into a trap.
But still, as the saying goes, with Chen De's strength, it would be difficult to get such an opportunity again.
The bold survive, the timid starve.
Thus, Chen De immediately opened the map and returned the way he came.
When Chen De quickly advanced to within a hundred meters of the red dot, out of caution, he stopped and observed from a distance.
Chen De also hadn't expected that Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King) wouldn't be the one to survive.
It was also good that it wasn't Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King), otherwise Chen De would have had to do this against his conscience.
Even better, this demon beast was already on its last breath, clearly not long for this world.
Most of its pitch-black armor was damaged, and the light blue patterns were dim and lifeless.
At this moment, Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s corpse lay nearby, and the cave was filled with the bodies of ordinary field mice.
Dismembered limbs and broken bodies spoke of the brutal battle that had just occurred.
Under these circumstances, quite a few field mice had still survived.
They formed a circle around the ant-like demon beast, but none dared to approach.
It was clearly breathing more out than in, on the verge of death.
Seeing this, Chen De's eyelids twitched.
He took big strides, moving faster than when he was fleeing for his life.
He pushed aside the field mice surrounding it and rushed in front of the ant-like demon beast.
Just as it was about to breathe its last,
he landed a fierce punch on its body, successfully delivering the finishing blow.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the quest! First time killing a Demon Qi Realm Level One demon beast, reward: Three attribute points."
"After this, each time you kill an existence of the same realm, you will receive one attribute point!"
Hearing the system's quest completion sound, Chen De finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at these newly acquired attribute points, how should they be used?
So, after some experimentation and thought, Chen De had some conjectures about how to use attribute points.
Speed, Defense, and Strength each had a (1:1) indicator next to them, meaning one attribute point could upgrade one of these attributes by one level.
When all three attributes reached a certain level, he could increase his realm level.
The current attribute point limit was three, and it might increase in the future.
With a try-it-and-see mentality, Chen De tried to silently chant in his mind,
"Strength increase by one level!"
Strength: 0.1 (1:1) --> Strength: 1.1 (1:1)
Attribute Points: 3/3 --> Attribute Points: 2/3
Chen De immediately felt a great increase in strength and looked at a stone nearby.
With one claw strike, the stone instantly shattered into pieces.
Chen De looked at his claws in surprise; his guess was indeed correct.
So his current Level 1 attack power, translated, was the standard attack power of a Demon Qi Realm Level One.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
I am indeed a genius!
But a human-like smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Then, without further hesitation, he used the remaining attribute points to upgrade Speed and Defense by one level each.
"Ding! Host's Speed, Defense, and Strength have all reached Level 1. Your level can be upgraded to Level One! Do you wish to upgrade?"
Indeed, as Chen De expected, after all attributes were upgraded, he could advance his realm.
"Breakthrough!"
Thus, Chen De broke through to Demon Qi Realm Level One.
At the same time, a new system prompt sounded.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for reaching Demon Qi Realm Level One, you have gained your first Devour Evolution qualification!"
"Please select a target!"
Devour Evolution?
How long would it take? What kind of environment was needed? Could it be interrupted?
Chen De pondered, then looked at the field mice gathered around him, watching.
These field mice now looked at Chen De with awe, adoration, and admiration.
Because Chen De dared to act against a demon beast, and it was the demon beast that had killed their king.
Among them, there were also many female field mice, including those who had just been discussing the clan's reproduction plan with Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King).
They also made enticing gestures towards Chen De.
To be on the safe side, Chen De cleared the area.
He went to Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s side and casually wiped the blood from his claws on Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King)'s body.
The moment Chen De's hand touched Tian Shu Wang (Field Mouse King).
"Ding, a devourable evolution target detected."
