Deities: Rulers of Nature

Thick-skinned brown bear

[Rank: Iron]

[Information: Viviparous, reproducing once a year, with 1-2 offspring per litter. Adults are 4-5 meters long. A mid-level predator in the Qingling Mountains, omnivorous, and extremely defensive.]

While bravery is an essential quality for a warrior, wisdom should not be overlooked.

The thick-skinned brown bear has a tough hide and thick flesh, and it's not without a chance of winning in a head-on confrontation, but he has other targets and can't afford to waste too much effort on it.

Crimson silently followed a beast trail and quickly left, and soon the river came into view.

Swinging its tail, the crimson snake entered the water, washing away the last trace of its scent, and swiftly caught three blue-backed carp.

I casually broke off a sturdy blade of grass and let it pass through three fish.

Crimson found another beehive in a tree not far away, borrowed some honey from the bees, and then turned back to the vicinity of the cave.

A claw shot out, releasing a drop of dark red venom – this was the venom of the Blood-Burning Snake.

This toxin is not immediately fatal, but it can make the blood in the victim's body boil, gradually drying out their strength and sanity.

The venom of the burning snake cannot be digested; it takes effect as soon as it enters the body.

Red injected a lot of venom into the three fish, worried that the thick-skinned brown bear was too big for a small dose to be effective.

The carp was coated in honey, and the sweet honey aroma masked any unpleasant odors.

After doing all this, Chi Hong returned to the area around the cave, placed the fish on an open ground a dozen meters away from the cave entrance, and immediately scrambled up a large tree to wait patiently.

Bears have a very good nose. Before long, Crimson saw the head of the thick-skinned brown bear pop out. Its nose twitched and quickly locked onto the direction of the fish. Then, its eyes lit up and it swayed out of the cave.

The thick-skinned brown bear walked to the open space and stared at the suddenly appearing blue-backed carp. A hint of doubt flashed in its small eyes, but in the end, the temptation of honey was too great, and it lowered its head and ate the fish in a few bites.

After finishing the fish, the brown bear licked its paws and prepared to go back to its cave to sleep.

But it hadn't gone far when it suddenly trembled, sat down on the ground, and growled while patting its chest with its paws.

The venom of the burning snake has taken effect.

The brown bear felt as if a fire had started burning in its stomach, gradually spreading the heat throughout its body. It wanted to vomit, but couldn't.

In its crimson eyes, the brown bear, after a moment of fussing, immediately got up and ran along the trail it used to catch fish.

The brown bear, which had seemed clumsy just moments before, suddenly became incredibly fast, and Crimson immediately caught up.

The brown bear came to the river and drank water, but this did not relieve the burning sensation. However, the brown bear accidentally drank too much water and vomited, bringing up everything in its stomach.

Unfortunately, it was too late; the venom of the burning snake had already spread.

The brown bear roared in agony, startling all the fish in the river away.

It started spinning in place, bumping its body against the tree next to it. It didn't know why it was feeling so bad; all it wanted to do was try to make itself feel better.

The brown bear didn't notice that its eyes were gradually turning red and its rationality was slowly disappearing.

At this point, the best approach is to lure over a few wild animals to continuously deplete the brown bear's stamina, allowing Crimson to finish it off.

But this would take too long, and after all, it's a trial.

Seeing that the brown bear had already broken open his shoulder, Crimson knew the time had come.

Crimson emerged from the bushes where it was hiding, its fingertips flashing out sharp claws, purple venom flowing from them.

The venom of the blood-dampening snake caused Chi Hong a great deal of suffering.

Fortunately, it was all worth it. The venom of the blood-sucking snake could keep the wound bleeding. Burning blood plus blood oozing was the combo that Crimson had prepared for this brown bear.

The brown bear also spotted Crimson. It roared and charged at Crimson, its large paw slapping down with a gust of wind.

Crimson was prepared; with a forceful push from its tail on the ground, it slid sideways toward the brown bear.

The brown bear's paw slammed into the ground, creating a shallow crater. Its crimson claws sliced ​​through the wound, injecting venomous snake blood.

It struck and retreated, moving swiftly in crimson.

If the brown bear had any sense left, Crimson might not have landed that attack.

But now brown bears are only becoming more and more ferocious and reckless.

Crimson yet extremely agile, it maintained its own rhythm, leaving wounds on the brown bear little by little.

With repeated injections of venomous snakes that caused bleeding, burning, and even paralysis, the brown bear's dark brown fur gradually turned red.

Once again dodging the charging brown bear, Chi Hong slashed its hind leg hard.

Actually, Crimson originally intended to attack the brown bear's anus, but unfortunately, it was too late.

As time went on, the effects of the snake venom on the brown bear grew stronger. The paralyzing venom gradually stiffened its movements, the ulcerating venom caused it to bleed continuously, and the burning venom made its blood boil constantly. Coupled with the wounds left by the red venom, its condition was now less than half of its peak.

The brown bear finally collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, the redness in its eyes gradually fading.

Crimson didn't come over immediately; he wasn't sure if it was a brown bear in disguise.

I picked up a rock and threw it at the brown bear. It let out a low growl and put force on its four paws, but it couldn't stand up.

This time it's confirmed; the brown bear really couldn't hold on any longer.

Crimson quickly reached the brown bear's side, darted onto its back, and then, without hesitation, plunged its fingers into the bear's eyes, piercing through a membrane before its claws moved forward again, injecting venom into the brain.

The brown bear struggled a few times, then finally stopped breathing.

The bright red finger was pulled out, bringing with it a mixture of red and white liquid.

"Phew, this guy's skin is really thick," Chi Hong remarked after wiping away sweat.

Unfortunately, the bear caused the accident himself, and the value of the bear skin was greatly reduced due to what he left behind.

"Is anyone here? Come help me take this guy back to the tribe," Crimson shouted.

As the crimson voice faded, a golden figure rushed over from afar—it was Jin Sha.

The tribe would certainly not allow these trial participants to venture into the Green Ridge Mountains alone. Each trial participant would be accompanied by a temple guard, both to supervise and to provide insurance for the trial participants.

When a trial participant is in a life-or-death crisis, the temple guards will intervene in time to save them; in return, the trial participant will fail the trial.

"You're pretty good, kid. You took care of a thick-skinned brown bear so quickly and easily," Jin Sha said with a smile.

"I didn't expect it to be you supervising me." Crimson smiled as well. "It wasn't easy either, you know. I almost got scratched by bear claws several times."

Despite being larger than Crimson, Gold Sand loves spending time with the little snake people outside of hunting and missions. Whether training them or telling them stories, he's a true king of the kids.

Chi Hong was naturally very familiar with Jin Sha, and he got a lot of information about the hunting teams from Jin Sha, of course, none of which involved keeping secrets.

"I bet you're planning to continue, kid?" Jinsha asked, though his tone was quite certain.

"You guessed right. Your reward is to bring this brown bear back."