Egg Pancake squatted to the side, watching eagerly.

"Don’t worry, Egg Pancake. You were a great help too, you’ll get your share in a bit." Han Ning smiled, took out a few fiery red stones from his waist pouch, and handed them to Egg Pancake.

These stones were different from the Crystal Stones that formed inside Soul Beasts; they were more like ores. He didn’t know if Egg Pancake could still increase its Fire Element Affinity after absorbing the Energy inside them.

They had a relative abundance of Energy at the moment, so he might as well just let Egg Pancake eat them.

"Squeak!"

It cradled the red stones and ran off to a corner to slowly digest them.

[Energy +3.21] [Wood Element Affinity +0.15]

...

They had obtained over 200 Wood Attribute Crystal Stones from killing the insect swarm. Han Ning gave the bag a quick glance and saw that it contained at least eighty or ninety of them.

He took them out one by one, absorbed them, and handed them to Yin Yi.

He repeated this action over and over.

After the 59th Wood Attribute Crystal Stone was consumed...

Yin Yi’s Wood Element Affinity successfully rose to 110 points.

After the difficult battle with the insect swarm, its Soul Technique Skill Levels had also reached their current limits.

The moment its Wood Element Affinity hit 110, tiny green specks of light, shimmering faintly, began to precipitate from the lush green grass and the white, swirling mist.

The rows of tender green leaves on the surface of its vines rippled like reeds swaying in a riverside breeze, despite the complete absence of wind.

Motes of misty green light gathered on it from all directions.

Before long, Yin Yi was covered in a thin, green membrane of light. It flickered and shone, making Yin Yi look like an elf in the dark of night.

Suddenly, the white mist within a radius of several dozen meters began to churn, with Yin Yi at its center. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

As the green light grew more intense, it painted the surrounding mist with a dreamlike, illusory quality.

Another ten seconds passed. The brightness seemed to reach its peak, then contracted as if alive, growing smaller and smaller.

Yin Yi’s body, originally just over 60 centimeters tall, began to stretch upward again.

It only stopped growing when it reached a height of about one meter.

This scene continued for a few more seconds until Han Ning caught the fresh scent of plants after a rain, at which point the light slowly faded.

A slightly different-looking Yin Yi appeared before Han Ning.

The frost-white flower on its head had completely transformed into a crystalline ice form, its petals standing upright.

Hard Ice Crystals had formed on the surface of the blooming petals. The dozen or so petals clustered together, resembling a white crown wreathed in a chilling aura.

Its once pale, wooden cheeks had turned a light yellow, and two motes of green flame burned quietly in its pupils.

The biggest change was to Yin Yi’s body. Its Emerald-green torso now featured faint, silvery veins that shimmered weakly in the darkness.

The two long, narrow green leaves on its back had become four curved leaves, growing out from the center of its back in four directions.

And at the center of the four leaves was a ring formed by faint, silver patterns, with green light flowing across its surface.

Its limbs were still made of roots and vines; no other changes were apparent for now.

At the same time, a familiar warmth once again flowed through his body.

Han Ning felt his Power slowly increasing and his cardiopulmonary function gradually strengthening. He subconsciously threw a punch.

WHOOSH~

His fist tore through the air, creating a low whoosh.

’I’m stronger, sure, but only by human standards. Compared to a Soul Beast, I’m just a slightly larger ant.’

Han Ning sighed. He felt that his Spiritual Power had also increased to some extent.

[

Spiritual Power Level: Tier One (23%)

Current Spiritual Power: 12.1

]

His current Spiritual Power was the level he had reached after absorbing the pungent liquid and all the Spiritual Energy from the black worms he had collected.

Tier Two was still a long way off.

’However... I still haven’t touched that bag of weakened black worms I got from the Insect-man’s pouch.’

The worms seemed to be in hibernation. Although they looked weak, they appeared capable of surviving for a long time.

At this moment, Yin Yi’s panel had changed to:

[

Race: Cyan Jade Wood Demon

Gender: Female

Talent: D+

Level: Extraordinary I (1/2000)

Talent: None

Acquired Soul Techniques: Frenzied Growth I (1/1000), Cyan Wood Radiance I (1/1000), Emerald Sword Stab I (1/1000), Frost Crystal Shield II (13/500)

Power: 26.2

Body: 26.5

Agility: 27.7

Spiritual Energy: 136.7

Elemental Affinity (Wood): 112

Ice: 32.2

]

[Frenzied Growth]: Controls vines and nearby plants, causing them to grow frenziedly to entangle enemies within attack range, draining their Spiritual Energy to replenish its own.

When used on an ally, it restores some of their injuries and dispels the effects of some negative Soul Techniques.

[Cyan Wood Radiance]: Condenses a high concentration of Wood Element to form an energy beam with a destructive aura. The moment it touches an opponent, the Wood Element will inflict additional explosive damage.

[Emerald Sword Stab]: When a Cyan Jade Wood Demon’s control over Wood Element and Spiritual Energy reaches the Entry Level, it can manipulate Spiritual Energy to form an incredibly sharp elemental sword to defend against enemy attacks in close-quarters combat.

"Ling~"

The evolved Yin Yi was in a good mood. It floated gracefully in front of Han Ning, hopping about on its root-like feet.

"How do you feel?" Han Ning had wanted to touch the flower on Yin Yi’s head, but seeing its chilling aura, he couldn’t help but lower his hand and gently stroke its cheek instead.

"Ling!"

Yin Yi copied Egg Pancake’s example and struck a very strong-looking pose.

"Squeak squeak?"

Just then, Egg Pancake ran over, clutching the last red stone, and stared blankly at Yin Yi.

’What happened?’

’Big Sis Yin Yi seems to have suddenly changed.’

’An evolution, as expected. Its three Soul Techniques have changed again.’

Han Ning stared at Yin Yi’s first Soul Technique on the panel—Frenzied Growth. He looked at a patch of dense weeds not far away, pointed in that direction, and said, "Try using Frenzied Growth. See if you can absorb their energy."

"Ling~"

Yin Yi let out a nimble cry and flung its vine-like hands forward.

In an instant, the vines shooting from its "hands" split into hundreds of slender tendrils, binding the patch of weeds ahead.

At the same time, under Yin Yi’s control, other green plants on the surrounding grass and near the weeds began to grow wildly upward. They quickly formed thick, dark-green vines that coiled, ring by ring, around the poor clump of weeds.

A green light swept over the surface of the vines.

The entangled patch of green weeds instantly withered, collapsing to the ground as a pile of yellowed, fragmented leaves.

’It looks like a powerful control ability. It should be quite effective for either restraining strong enemies or clearing out cannon fodder. If I add its Ice Type Frost Freeze to the mix, the control effect might be even stronger.’

Han Ning nodded, considering it a successful preliminary test. He then looked at the second Soul Technique—Cyan Wood Radiance. The description, with its mention of a "destructive aura," sounded very impressive.