As Ren moved through the Secret Realm, he began collecting genetic samples from every plant and animal near him.

For common low-level materials like these, killing was usually unnecessary. A single leaf, flower, drop of sap, strand of fur, bit of blood, shed scale, or shell fragment was often enough to count as a usable genetic sample. These materials were common and had almost no money value, so most explorers ignored them unless they specifically needed them.

Ren, however, collected everything carefully.

Unlike the Bloodline Pathway and the Plant Pathway — which usually forced cultivators to choose a more limited future direction — the Bloodline Plant Lord Pathway was different. It could absorb a large number of genetic samples. That meant Ren did not need to decide his evolution path this early. The more samples he gathered now, the more choices he would have later.

He took out a special storage box from his ring — a box with a preservation effect that could stop materials from deteriorating too quickly after collection.

Then he started moving through the forest, using SCAN again and again.

The first plant he found was growing beside a tree root. Its leaves had patterns that looked like tiny flames, and its flowers were shaped strangely, almost like small bees.

NAME: Fire Bee Plant

DESCRIPTION: A plant with fire-shaped patterns on its leaves and flowers resembling bees. When stirred by wind or touched lightly, it produces a soft buzzing sound similar to a bee.

DANGER LEVEL: None (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

He carefully clipped one leaf and one flower, then placed them into the storage box.

A little later, he found another plant growing around a dark stone — pale blue stem, tiny droplets forming at the edges of its leaves even though the air around it felt dry.

NAME: Frost Dew Stem

DESCRIPTION: A low-level plant that naturally gathers cold moisture into dew-like droplets. Commonly found in shaded areas with rich energy.

DANGER LEVEL: None (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

Ren collected one droplet in a small vial and cut off a short piece of the stem.

Not long after, a thin purple vine wrapped around a tree caught his attention — its surface pulsed faintly, as if it were breathing.

NAME: Pulse Vine

DESCRIPTION: A low-level vine that absorbs ambient energy in slow rhythmic pulses. Its sap contains mild vitality properties.

DANGER LEVEL: Low (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

Ren cut off a small section, gathered a little sap, and stored both.

A few more plants followed in quick succession — Spark Reed Grass with silver-lined blades that gave off faint sparks when they brushed together, a Sleep Mist Blossom whose too-sweet fragrance he made sure to scan before approaching, and a Blood Vein Leaf whose dark green surface carried glowing red veins like little streams of blood.

That last one made his eyes linger. Blood-attributed energy. That sounded closer to his pathway than the others. He carefully harvested two leaves and moved on.

— • —

After collecting several plant samples, Ren shifted his attention toward the small creatures around him.

The first was perched on a branch above him — a bird-like creature with semi-transparent wings that mixed scales and feathers, eyes too round and too bright.

NAME: Glasswing Chirper 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

DESCRIPTION: A small bird-like creature with semi-transparent wings and a sharp territorial cry. Feathers contain trace wind energy.

DANGER LEVEL: None (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

Ren waited until it flew away, then picked up two feathers it had left behind.

Further ahead, a rabbit-sized beast with two tails and short horn-like growths near its ears was nibbling on a glowing mushroom — a Twin-Tail Moss Hare. Ren waited for it to hop away and collected fur stuck on a bush. A flat lizard-like body with four glowing blue lines running across its back — a Rippleback Lizard — yielded a shed scale near a shallow pool. A long-tailed squirrel whose fur stored weak lightning energy left a few strands caught on rough tree bark.

The fifth creature, a Shimmer Shell Beetle whose green-and-gold shell absorbed sunlight energy, left behind a small fragment of shell on a broad leaf.

The sixth was the oddest so far. He saw it drinking from a puddle between roots — a fox cub with no fur on its legs, thin vine-like growths curling around its tail. Ren immediately used SCAN.

NAME: Vine-Tail Ember Fox

DESCRIPTION: A low-level beast with mild fire and wood affinity. Tail growths allow it to sense ambient plant energy in its surroundings.

DANGER LEVEL: Low (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

Ren’s eyes sharpened. "That one’s interesting."

He didn’t try to get too close. Instead, he waited until it left and then found a few reddish hairs caught near the roots where it had passed. Those went into the storage box too.

By the time he finished, the box already contained a neat collection of low-level plant and beast samples. As he moved farther away from the safer route and deeper into the forest, he naturally found even more.

Ren stayed careful. He did not rush. Every few steps, he checked the surroundings, the ground, the branches, and the direction of nearby movement.

Even so —

The attack still came too fast.

— • —

The bushes on his left suddenly shook.

A blurry green figure shot out from inside them and rushed straight at him.

Ren’s pupils contracted. There was no time to step back properly. His body moved almost on instinct. He raised his arm and tried to parry with his fist technique.

The impact hit a moment later.

Bang!

Both figures slid backward. The attacking creature skidded around nine or ten feet across the ground. Ren himself slid back about five or six feet, boots digging into the soil before he finally steadied himself.

Only then did he see what had attacked him.

An oversized mantis.

It stood about four feet tall, eerie green in color, with a thin but hard-looking body. Its forelimbs were long, curved, and blade-like — and from the edges of those blades dripped a purple liquid.

Ren’s eyes immediately moved downward.

The liquid had landed on the grass and soil. It was hissing. The grass blackened almost at once, and the ground itself gave off a faint smoking sound as it corroded.

Poison.

Ren’s gaze flickered briefly to his gloves. The only reason his hand wasn’t already damaged was the protection from the gloves Alex had given him.

Cold sweat flashed down his back. If that thing had landed directly on his skin, this fight would have turned bad immediately.

Without wasting a second, Ren used SCAN.

NAME: Venom Blade Mantis

DESCRIPTION: A low-level ambush-type insectoid predator. Possesses sharp forelimbs coated in corrosive venom. Prefers sudden close-range attacks from foliage and brush. Fast initial burst speed. Weak endurance compared to sustained combat beasts.

DANGER LEVEL: Medium (Changes with Ren’s Pathway Stage)

KNOWN TRAITS: (Only displayed when Danger Level is Medium or higher)

Blends extremely well into green and dense forest environments. Possesses explosive burst speed during its opening attack. Blade limbs are coated with corrosive venom. Vulnerable to heavy direct impact if struck at the joints. Movement speed drops after its first failed ambush.

All of that took only two to three seconds.

And during those same seconds, the mantis had already recovered from the slide.

Its blade arms lifted slightly. Its body lowered. Then it rushed again.

Ren reacted faster this time. He used his Basic Footwork Technique to shift diagonally instead of retreating straight back. The mantis’s blade arm sliced through the space where his chest had been a moment earlier.

Too close. Way too close.

Ren twisted his waist and threw a straight punch at the side of its body.

Thud!

The hit landed, but the mantis’s exoskeleton was harder than he expected. The force still made it stagger sideways, but not enough.

Its other blade came up instantly. Ren barely pulled back in time. The tip of the blade still grazed the outer layer of his suit, leaving a thin smoking line on the surface.

Ren’s heartbeat sped up.

This wasn’t training.

The speed, the danger, the pressure — everything was different when the thing in front of him actually wanted to cut him open.

The mantis clicked its jawparts and circled.

Ren exhaled once, forcing himself to calm down. The scan result flashed in his mind. Fast first strike. Weak endurance after failed burst attack. Weak against direct heavy impact if timing is correct.

Good. That meant he didn’t need to out-slash it. He needed to survive its fast attacks, avoid the venom, and hit it cleanly.

The mantis moved again. This time, it didn’t leap straight. It darted to the side first, then lunged in at an angle.

Ren’s body reacted with the Basic Evasion Technique he had practiced in the room. Still only at Beginner, but enough to make him instinctively shift his upper body and foot placement instead of panicking.

The blade passed in front of him.

Ren stepped in immediately instead of away.

That surprised even him. His right fist drove forward with all the force he could gather. Waist. Shoulder. Leg drive. Impact.

Bang!

This punch landed harder than the first. The mantis’s body jolted. One of its feet left the ground.

Ren didn’t stop. He followed with another strike, shorter this time, aiming lower.

The mantis reacted fast and cut downward. Ren pulled his arm back and the blade missed by inches. The ground where he had been standing split and hissed from the venom.

Ren clicked his tongue and stepped back two quick times.

The mantis was slower now. Not slow enough to relax. But slower than that first burst. The scan had been right.

Ren changed his breathing. Steadier. Shorter. He adjusted his footing and started circling as well.

The mantis rushed again. Ren sidestepped. Blade. Twist. Counterpunch. The fist clipped its side.

The mantis turned sharply and slashed low. Ren jumped back awkwardly and almost lost balance. That would’ve killed him in a real chain attack.

He recovered just in time and forced himself to stay focused. No room to think about mistakes later. Fight first. Reflect later.

The mantis attacked one more time, slightly slower now, but still fast enough to be deadly.

This time Ren saw the opening.

He let the first blade come close. Then he shifted half a step inside the attack line instead of fully avoiding outward.

Risky. But it worked.

The mantis’s reach became a problem for itself at that distance.

Ren drove his fist straight into the joint area near the base of one blade arm.

A cracking sound followed.

The mantis gave a sharp screech and stumbled.

Ren’s eyes lit up. There. Now.

He stepped in hard and threw two more punches into its center mass before it could recover. The first staggered it. The second sent it falling sideways into a cluster of roots.

The mantis tried to rise, blade twitching wildly.

Ren didn’t let it. He closed the distance and brought his fist down with all his weight behind it onto the upper body where the head and thorax met.

Crack.

The creature jerked once.

Then stopped moving.

Ren stood there breathing hard, staring at the corpse. His arms hurt. His pulse pounded in his ears. For a few seconds, he didn’t move at all.

Then he slowly let out a breath.

"Damn."

That had been close. Closer than he liked. If he hadn’t trained those past few days, if he hadn’t had the gloves, if he had panicked at the first strike — this would have gone very differently.

Ren looked down at the dead mantis again. Then he opened his status screen.

Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Proficient), Basic Footwork Technique (Proficient), Basic Evasion Technique (Beginner)

No change yet. Fair enough. One real fight wasn’t enough to push a breakthrough by itself.

Still, the fight had shown him something important.

His training was real. It worked.

Ren crouched beside the mantis carefully. This time, killing was necessary. And unlike the harmless low-level samples from before, this thing’s materials should actually have some value.

He took out the storage tools again and looked at the corpse.

"Alright," he muttered. "Let’s see what I can get from you."