Reincarnated as A Bamboo

Chapter 11: Stage

In the dead of night, the valley was sent into a complete frenzy!

The constant chirping of birds and the sound of howling echoed in the night sky.

Giant insects were coming from all directions of the valley flying and crawling about, rushing madly towards the small lake right at the center of the valley. 

The loud rumbling from the earthquake-like tremor from before still reverberated throughout the valley. 

Lin Ming paused for a bit until he was sure his culm and roots would not be growing anymore. He calmed down.

The great changes brought on by his evolution made him feel a boundless energy coursing through his body, as if a heart was pumping racing blood around his veins.

Adorable Little Snake and the seven wolf pups had immediately rushed back to his side when the transformation began. Now that Lin Ming knew it was safe, he lifted them safely up to a top branch.

"Check the personalized dashboard." 

Lin Ming summonsed the System, only to find that it had also changed with this latest evolution.

[Lineage: Mutated Moso Bamboo]

[Evolution Points: 20]

[Stage: Rank-1]

[Abilities: Level-2 Razor Leaves (300 daggers). 100-meter Area of Effect Range, 30 Attack Effectiveness (evolvable), 200-meters/second Attack Speed (evolvable), can be deployed at the same time, can deal either single-target damage or ranged damage. 

Level-2 Mutated Bamboo Whips (100 whips). 20-meter Area of Effect Range, 100 Attack Effectiveness (evolvable), wherever the whip points will become barren!

Spiritual Fluid: Boosts the evolution speed of dependents.]

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[Learnable skills: 

Ultimate Regeneration: Able to recover completely even when severely injured. Evolution Points required: 1000

Aura Concealment: Hides own spiritual aura and blocks aura detection. Evolution Points required: 2000]

Oho. 

Lin Ming did not expect such a tremendous change from the dashboard he previously had. That old thing had three lines that barely even covered ten words.

Now, he could properly quantify his own strength and not simply rely on speculation or estimation.

As for the new words like 'Stage' and 'Rank-1', this explained why the man-eating catfish had been labeled with similar words after he killed it.

That Colossal Man-Eating Catfish was 'entering Grade-2'. If he were to theorize this on a ten-point scale, it made sense to think that for Rank-1 he would be at Grade-9 just before the evolution, and now had increased to Grade-10. At Grade-2, that fish was simply no match for him.

Taking this all into account, would there be a Rank-2, Rank-3, and so on in the future? 

Before the evolution, he only knew his own levels and the levels of others through System notifications.

Did this now mean he had been given a clear goal of working towards achieving immortality?

If that was the case, then he could have some fun with things. 

In terms of his abilities, it seemed both the power and attack ranges of the Razor Leaves and Bamboo Whips could still be increased. The dashboard even used the word 'Level-2' to describe it, like in video games.

Lin Ming knew that if he was to maximize his abilities to the highest skill levels, they would become unstoppable lethal weapons.

The description of the ability of Spiritual Fluid confirmed what Lin Ming previously suspected as well.

Looking up at Adorable Little Snake, its own personalized dashboard soon popped up.

[Lineage: Albino Bamboo Viper]

[Stage: Entering Grade-2]

[Ability: Lethal Venom Level-1. Fangs can instantly kill opponents several times larger than oneself.]

[Special Ability: Charm Fragrance Level-1. The body will emit a wonderful fragrance that can incapacitate enemies. However, it may occasionally cause some trouble.]

Adorable Little Snake was unexpectedly a good venom user, but it was only at Grade-2 and still quite weak. Even when comparing him to the giant catfish which was also Grade-2, it wasn't much of a match.

Its special ability did explain why the hunters had previously mentioned a fragrance the snake was giving off, but couldn't see any of its effects yet.

After all, the little guy was currently still barely holding his own with some small animals. If this Charm Fragrance ended up provoking any large enemies, Lin Ming would undoubtedly have to step up and deal with them. 

Glancing at the little wolf pups, he eyed one of the larger ones amongst the pack.

[Lineage: Wild Forest Wolf]

[Stage: Entering Grade-5]

[Abilities: Diamond Fangs Level-5. Their toughness can crush rocks with just a bite.

Howl Level-2. Used to call for companions or to intimidate enemies. Its sound is capable of rupturing eardrums, but its effect is limited.]

[Special Ability: Wolves of Septenary Level-5. When operating jointly with companions, combat effectiveness is increased by 50%.]

Looking at the other wolf pups, they all possessed more-or-less similar strengths. Their ability to crush stones with their fangs definitely confirmed they were not ordinary animals. When compared to Adorable Little Snake, these little wolf pups were even 'transcendent', with their increased abilities.

If they fought collectively, it would increase their combat effectiveness. That was quite a good skill to have.

However, honestly speaking, both the pups and the snake were still very limited in what responsibilities they could take on.

With this in mind, Lin Ming rolled the bamboo branch with Spiritual Fluid over and placed it by  Adorable Little Snake and the little wolf pups. Now that the System had confirmed it would help them evolve faster, the more they drank, the better.

Looking once more at his personalized dashboard, he was contemplating between the two new skills presented to him.

Both 'Ultimate Regeneration' or 'Aura Concealment' allowed him to do things he previously desired to do.

He still had self-awareness, after all.

He knew that there was no other creature as conspicuous as him standing in the center of this valley beside the Spirit Lake.

Especially after the recent evolution, he had grown even taller and loftier. It was as if his presence had been exaggerated, and he stuck out even more like a sore thumb when no other bamboo trees were nearby.

If human beings like those hunters came by again, they would unquestionably be interested in a gigantic mutant bamboo like himself.

How should he protect himself, then?

In the face of humans wielding either cold weapons or hunting rifles, Lin Ming was a thousand percent confident that he could win by a landslide. 

However, if they came in with a flamethrower or another lethal weapon, there was simply no mutated plant that could withstand that.

If the time came for him to face such a weapon, even a Superior Level Razor Leaves and Mutated Bamboo Whip ability would probably still be of no use. 

That made the two new skills he could learn all the more useful.

Ultimate Regeneration. Just from the name itself, one could perceive the nature-defying uses of the ability. 

The explanation that came with the ability made it sound all the more powerful. Just think about it! Even if he were to be completely decimated, with just one lowly capillary root left of him, he could still restore himself to his original, current state.

Aura Concealment, on the other hand, was much more low-key. As the saying goes, 'the best disguise is no disguise'. In this valley full of spiritual auras, he could conceal his own, leading any humans that found him to believe he was just a larger-than-average mutated bamboo.

If this plan worked out and he was careful to not draw much attention to himself, all would be well!

However, the most pressing issue now was that a relatively large number of Evolution Points would be needed to learn these two abilities a thousand for one, and two thousand for the other. 

Killing an insect would grant him 1 Evolution Point, basking in the sun for ten minutes would earn him another 1, and killing large creatures like the man-eating catfish could earn him 50 points.

How many other mutated creatures could be in the lake, though?

It seemed to him like it would not be quick to learn these two skills.

Until, that is, he received a blessing in disguise.

A ravaging swarm of insects was rushing towards him at top speed!