When Kaelen arrived at the grassland, everyone present was pressed flat to the ground by the overwhelming pressure radiating from the third-level warrior. Even the beasts that had been captured for taming lay trembling in a heap, some coughing up blood and dying on the spot.

At the scene, the only ones still able to stand were Jaxon, Zale, and a few warriors who were on the verge of breaking through to the third level.

However, even at the same level, Sane’s pressure still forced Jaxon to cough up a mouthful of blood.

The beastman carrying Kaelen could not advance any further. Kaelen jumped down and used his special ability to urge vines to wrap around Asher and the two children he was protecting, pulling them out of the range of the oppressive force.

Just like the previous outburst, Kaelen seemed completely immune to the pressure emanating from Sane. He forced himself forward with a tense scalp, approaching the massive snake writhing on the ground. Sane had bitten his own tail to stay conscious and had coiled himself tightly to avoid harming those around him.

The fear in Kaelen’s heart was soothed by the sight of blood-stained scales scattered across the ground and his mate injuring himself. He carefully used his special ability to stimulate the grass beneath Sane, channeling his gentle energy through the plants to comfort him.

In his previous life, Wood System Mages and Healing System Mages often used their abilities to soothe the demonic nature of Knights, though it consumed a great deal of strength. Kaelen had only transmitted a small amount of energy, yet his body was already nearly drained. Moreover, he had expended some energy that afternoon to make the gardenia bloom, and it had not yet been replenished.

Fortunately, under his mate’s soothing presence, Sane gradually calmed down and stopped rolling on the ground. He still dared not release his tail, fearing he would lose control again. With the pressure reduced, Jaxon, Zale, and the high-level warriors finally relaxed a little and hurriedly carried away those who had fainted, moving them out of the attack range.

Kaelen slowly approached Sane. The snake’s pupils contracted, staring fixedly at him and making Kaelen’s scalp tingle. He could not collapse; he had to keep moving forward.

Trembling, Kaelen placed his hand on Sane’s head, pressed his own forehead against the snake’s head, and urged the magical energy at the center of his brow to flow directly into Sane’s core. Sane’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, his snake mouth slackened, and his tail immediately dropped. His forked tongue flicked out, touching Kaelen’s hand. Kaelen’s body shivered slightly, but he continued channeling his energy to comfort Sane.

Gradually, Sane could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep. Before losing consciousness, he did not forget to coil his body tightly, gently enclosing his mate within his protective embrace. Kaelen was trapped inside the snake’s coils, with only the upper half of his body from the chest up exposed. Confined within the cold, scaly loops, Kaelen’s entire body stiffened. The instinctive chill made his legs go weak; if not for the massive snake’s body as support, he would have collapsed.

He tried to push aside a section of the tail to slip out, but the seemingly loose cage was impossibly sturdy and could not be budged. Unable to get free and touching a blood-covered hand, Kaelen took a deep breath and chanted to himself: [This is my mate, this is my mate, this is my mate!]

Thinking this way, his heart gradually calmed, and his mind grew clearer. The wounds on Sane’s body were mostly superficial, caused by rolling across the rough, rocky ground. The most serious injury was the bite on his tail, but it could still be treated with medicinal herbs. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Nearly everyone had been evacuated. Jaxon approached the man and snake pair, stopping at a distance and using hand signals to ask Kaelen what was happening. Kaelen replied with hand gestures as well.

Jaxon: [How is he? Is Sane alright?]

Kaelen: [The situation has stabilized, but this outburst was too severe. He won’t wake up anytime soon. What happened?]

Jaxon: [There was a beastman from the snake clan with deformities. Half of his body had been skinned alive. The moment Sane saw him, he lost control.]

Kaelen’s hands froze in mid-air. He bitterly hugged the snake head resting against his shoulder and rubbed his own head against it. Being skinned alive was an indelible nightmare for Sane. Seeing that beastman was like seeing himself; how could he not lose control?

Jaxon: [What should we do now? Can we bring him back to the tribe?]

Kaelen tried pushing the snake’s tail again, but Sane unconsciously tightened his coils. He shook his head at Jaxon: [No, we can’t. Uncle, please have someone set up a tent here. I will treat him slowly. Ask Nordhal and Barton to help Sane handle the tribe’s affairs for now.]

Jaxon nodded and ran off to make arrangements. Jose, in Asher’s arms, looked toward the large snake coils with a mix of shock and curiosity in his eyes. The boy asked Asher:

"Brother, is that beautiful one also a deformed person like us?"

Asher stroked Jose’s head with a complicated expression and said, "You are not deformed. You are special, chosen by the Beast God. There are many like you in my tribe." Although there were not even ten yet, there would surely be more in the future.

The two children’s mouths hung open wide enough to fit a wild chicken egg, while the group of deformed people looked at Asher with expressions of half doubt and half joy.

The grassland was quickly cleaned up, and the collapsed enclosures were rebuilt. The newly captured wild beasts had lost all their ferocity and obediently allowed the beastmen to arrange them, none daring to resist. It had to be said that Sane’s outburst this time had greatly helped the livestock herding team.

Around Kaelen’s position, sturdy wooden stakes were driven into the ground to enclose the two of them, and animal hides were stretched over the top to form a roof. Several more tents were pitched around the area. By the time everything was done, the sky had already grown pitch black. Asher brought food for Kaelen and medicine for Sane.

Even in his coma, the giant snake’s territorial awareness was extremely strong. The pressure radiating from him made Asher’s face turn pale with fear. Kaelen gently stroked the snake’s head and transmitted a bit of soothing energy, causing the snake’s body to gradually relax.

Kaelen waved his hand: [I can eat by myself. Help me bandage his tail.]

Asher nodded, handed over the bowl of meat porridge, and then carefully treated Sane’s wounds. However, bandaging proved impossible because he could not thread the bandages through the tightly coiled tail. Kaelen checked for a moment and said: [No need to bandage. He won’t move, so the medicine won’t fall off.]

Asher packed the supplies neatly into the bag, took the empty porridge bowl from Kaelen’s hand, and asked, "Do you want to eat more?"

Kaelen shook his head. He could not move right now; eating too much would make him need to relieve himself, and he had no idea how he would manage that.

"But won’t you get sore standing like that? How are you going to sleep?"

[It’s fine. I can sleep leaning against him. Right, tell me about the situation with the group outside. There have been so many things happening that I haven’t had time to ask.]

"Yeah, you probably already heard Quinlan’s report. There are ten of them, including the two children. From my observations along the way, they are all honest people with a very strong sense of sacrifice for their companions. For example, the white lion beastman gave all his food and water to the two children; the snake clan beastman who grew legs was skinned alive by a magical beast while saving the three-eyed beastman; even the sub-beasts didn’t just enjoy protection from the beastmen—they stood up and fought to protect their companions in critical moments."

Kaelen nodded lightly after listening, silently calculating. From this perspective alone, the group had already passed the character test. What still needed verification was their loyalty to Crimson.

As for the orders issued by the Temple of the Gods, Kaelen curled his lips into a sneer.

Just genetic mutations—nothing unusual anywhere.

In his previous world, physical deformities often stemmed from chromosomal mutations. But on the beastman continent, these differences were very likely caused by conflicts in inherited genes. Normally, offspring would only fully inherit the structural characteristics of one parent—either the beastman (Daddy) or the sub-beast (Papa). These so-called "deformed" cases were exceptions: they either suffered from congenital defects or had absorbed dominant genes from both fathers simultaneously, resulting in hybridization and incomplete physical development.

To conclude that they were cursed simply because of their different appearances was truly foolish. Moreover, according to the information Quinlan brought back, those with special abilities were also considered cursed, even though the High Priest of the Temple himself possessed such power.

This proved that the Temple of the Gods did not allow anyone outside the High Priest to use Divine Energy. Their ambition to control the entire beastman continent was truly chilling. The training manuals issued by the Temple had surely been tampered with, which explained why, aside from Beast City and a few advanced cities under the Temple’s control, there were almost no beastman warriors elsewhere who had broken through the fifth level.

Kaelen suddenly felt that his reincarnation to this place seemed manipulated by the Beast God. Otherwise, why would he have been able to awaken special abilities in the body of a disabled sub-beast? And why, when he helped others awaken their abilities, had the world’s consciousness not struck him down?

Perhaps the Gods themselves were displeased with the Temple’s ambitions.