C29 Dragon Grass!

"So, your sandstorm is a combination of flying sand and rolling stones?" Nuo Juan pondered for a moment before speaking with a hint of hesitation.

The Sand-Eating Bird and the small Rock Lizard share a high similarity in their skills.

"Clap! Clap!"

Golden Hair applauded: "You're quite clever! Too bad... there's no reward~"

"Exactly~ No reward!" Green Hair chimed in with a huff.

"Oh!" At this point, Nuo Juan's face remained calm; she was too indifferent to bother with these two anymore.

After all, she was beginning to feel the effects of poison, her head swimming with dizziness.

Oh! That's right, the poison from Caw doesn't discriminate!

Having succumbed herself, it was inevitable that Golden Hair and the others would be affected too.

Sure enough...

"Blondy... I... I think I'm feeling a bit dizzy... How about you?" Green Hair swayed, speaking with a thick tongue.

"Of course... I... I..." Golden Hair began, only to suddenly feel the world spinning, the scenery before him warping into distortions.

"You're... all... poisoned, aren't you?" Nuo Juan managed to say, albeit with a bit of a stammer, laying bare the situation at hand.

"You... did this?" Golden Hair asked, his hand trembling in astonishment.

"...Yep~" Nuo Juan nodded affirmatively.

"But you... you're poisoned too?" Green Hair asked, equally shaky and utterly bewildered, "That's... pretty ruthless?"

"That's... right!" Nuo Juan declared with pride.

Golden Hair and Green Hair: "..."

"But..." Nuo Juan quickly shifted gears.

"I have... an antidote... You... you don't..." With that, she pulled out a green pill from her pocket, flaunted it briefly, and then popped it into her mouth.

"!"

Are you even human?

Golden Hair and Green Hair: "(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"

"Now, do you think you can still catch me?" Nuo Juan taunted, having ingested the antidote.

Luckily, Yi had given me some antidote pills earlier.

And they're quite effective, too. Nuo Juan could feel her body recovering and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Meanwhile, Golden Hair felt his strength fading rapidly, his heart sinking into despair.

With the last ounce of energy, he pointed a trembling finger at Nuo Juan and tried to speak, "... Ah... You... M..."

"Thud!"

Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed to the ground.

Nuo Juan's heart skipped a beat at the sound.

"This is... success!" Nuo Juan was ecstatic.

But despite her excitement, Nuo Juan didn't act rashly. She recalled only hearing the thud of Golden Hair hitting the ground, but not a sound from Green Hair.

Thankfully, the swirling air was calming, the sand particles were diminishing, and her blurred vision was slowly clearing.

After several minutes, Nuo Juan's visibility gradually improved, and she could see the state of both Golden Hair and Green Hair.

Golden Hair was sprawled face-down, half-dazed, with one side of his face slightly swollen from the fall. His Sand-Eating Bird lay on his neck, its scattered feathers indicating the poison had hit it hard.

Green Hair, who had been silent, hadn't escaped his unfortunate fate either. He was lying atop his little Rock Snake, seemingly sleeping peacefully, though his face might suffer for it.

"Hey, hey! Are you still alive?" Nuo Juan called out cautiously.

Silence.

"Then I... I'm off ~" Nuo Juan called out again, testing the waters.

Just then, the little Rock Snake, pinned under Green Hair, twitched its head slightly.

"!" Nuo Juan jumped.

"Hiss..." The snake's head lolled, and it passed out again.

"Phew~" Nuo Juan patted her chest in relief.

It was just a scare, thankfully.

...

After a while, once the sand had completely settled.

Seeing no response from the two, Nuo Juan took off running.

Caw's poison was potent, but its effects were probably limited by strength. At most, it could only keep the two men dazed and paralyzed for a short time.

Figuring they would wake up soon, Nuo Juan knew she had to make a quick getaway.

"Caw Caw! Time to bolt!"

"Squeak!" Caw Caw cocked his head, puzzled.

Watching Nuo Juan hurry away, he quickly followed with his uneven gait.

"Weren't we heading home? Why? Where are you running to?"

Indeed, it was best to head home first, especially since Nuo Juan had become a target and it wasn't safe outside.

However, Nuo Juan herself was thinking, 'Now I finally have a reason to go see Yi. Let's see if he dares to send me away again.'

The journey back was enveloped in darkness, with only a few aging street lamps casting a dim glow.

Despite some close calls, Nuo Juan made it back to the entrance of Crunch Souls without incident.

"Huff... Huff..." Nuo Juan arrived drenched in sweat, bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping, "Huff... Finally... made it!"

Caw Caw lay on the ground, tongue out, looking utterly spent.

After catching her breath, Nuo Juan climbed the stone steps and, pressing against the transparent glass door, called out, "Yi, open the door!"

Inside the training field at Crunch Souls, Fatty was sprawled on the ground, fast asleep with his pig's head resting beside him.

They were all worn out from the day's activities.

Elsewhere, Lin Yi leaned against the wall, resting. In his arms, he held Stone, which had grown longer after a month of training.

Name: Mutant Water Snake

Species: Reptilia

Attribute: Water

Level: Bronze One Early Period

Status: Growth Stage, Tired

Quality: Perfect

Potential: Four Stars

Skills: Entanglement, Abyssal Stare, Icicle Spike

Evolution Route: 1. Common Evolution: Crystal Snake (Not satisfied) 2. Reversion Evolution: Anaconda (Not satisfied) 3. Mutated Evolution: Rock Snake (Not satisfied) 4. Epic Evolution: Feathered Serpent (Not satisfied) 5. Bloodline Evolution: Woodland Serpent (Not satisfied)

Introduction: Within Tiny lies a mysterious bloodline. Listen, it seems as if a mysterious force is calling out...

Over the past month, everyone's familiars had undergone significant changes, with nearly all of them evolving at least once. However, the changes to Lin Yi's Stone were minimal. Its strength had just managed to break through to the early Bronze One period, and its skill had advanced to Abyssal Stare. The others had seen little to no change.

"Fatty mentioned that Stone is only missing one last evolution material," Lin Yi mused silently. "The rarer the evolution type, the more precious and scarce the required materials. This is especially true for the materials needed for bloodline evolution, which are exceedingly rare. Fatty has had people searching for two months, yet we're still missing a Dragon Grass."

Lin Yi let out another sigh, "I'm not sure if I'll have the chance to get it before the joint examination."