The next day, Bai Chuan had just woken from a night's sleep when he impatiently opened the Panel.
He had waited far, far too long for this day.
As the familiar Panel opened, Bai Chuan immediately looked at the newly added model: the eagle.
'Species: Kite.'
'Ability Structure: Flight LV2, Claws LV2, Clairvoyance LV2, Digestion LV1, Strength LV1 (chest mutation), Avian Bone LV1 (flight mutation), Airflow Perception LV1...'
"Hm? So the bird I'd always called an eagle in my previous life was actually called a 'kite'?"
Bai Chuan murmured in surprise as he looked at the eagle model.
He didn't dwell on this little detour, instead turning his attention back to the eagle's—or rather, the Kite's—ability structure.
The Kite's abilities were clearly almost identical to those of the goshawk he'd preyed on last time.
That made sense. Both were eagles, and they were about the same size. At most, the goshawk might have been a little bigger, so it was only natural that their abilities were similar.
It was just like the snakes he'd eaten before. Many kinds of snakes shared the same few abilities.
If these abilities were described in the terms of cultivation or mythological worlds, Bai Chuan thought, perhaps they were the creatures' bloodline abilities or talents.
Looking at the abilities listed, he had long wanted the vision of an eagle. After all, as far as he knew, eagles had the sharpest eyesight, and they could see a world as rich in color as humans did.
But now, as he looked at the Flight ability, he suddenly felt an urge to find out whether a snake like him could evolve the ability to fly.
Having been human in his previous life, he knew all too well the importance of air superiority. If he could fly, wouldn't he be able to fight and flee with ease?
Then it would truly be a case of the sky being high enough for any snake to fly. His chances of survival would soar, and he'd never have to worry about being outnumbered by other creatures again.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. The next moment, trembling slightly, he selected the Kite model and extracted the Flight ability, placing it on his own snake-body model as he nervously watched for changes.
'Please select a placement location.'
A Panel prompt appeared.
Bai Chuan was already used to this. He examined his long, thick body and, after some thought, chose a spot just below his neck.
As soon as he placed it, he saw a pair of feather-covered wings sprout from the back of his snake-body model.
A pair of feathered wings on a long, serpentine body looked so jarringly strange that it seemed completely out of place.
It was as if someone had forcibly stuck a pair of wings onto a snake.
Anyone could tell without even trying that those wings couldn't flap. There was no room for them to move; they were scraping against the ground.
Bai Chuan saw the compatibility was 20%...
There was no doubt about it: he could forget about that compatibility.
He might succeed if he forced the evolution, but he had no idea what would happen afterward.
Some instinctive premonition deep inside him warned him: Don't. Whatever you do, don't!
So here was the question: could this situation be improved to raise his compatibility?
Bai Chuan had wondered about this before. Since the Panel required a high compatibility for an ability to evolve—at least 50%—could compatibility be increased?
If it couldn't, then what was the point of having a compatibility value at all?
The Panel might as well simply state that certain abilities couldn't be extracted or enhanced.
Instead, it let him extract abilities and place them on his own model to see what he'd look like after evolving.
If something existed, there was a reason for it. So was there some way to raise his compatibility?
Bai Chuan carefully studied the Kite's various abilities. He believed that birds didn't fly by relying on their wings alone.
And based on his earlier guess, these abilities might be species-specific. If so, they should work together as part of the creatures' bloodline.
Thinking of this, he fixed his gaze on Strength LV1 (chest mutation).
He vaguely remembered someone in his previous life saying that birds could fly not only because they had wings, but also because of their powerful chest muscles.
If he thought of the Kite as a whole—a flying machine—then the Flight ability would be its wings, and Strength LV1 (chest mutation) would be its engine.
After a moment's thought, he removed the Flight ability and placed Strength LV1 (chest mutation) on his model instead. Instantly, a large bulge rose from the spot where the wings had appeared on his snake-body.
It was like a tumor growing on his otherwise smooth body. At the same time, he noticed that his Agility LV2 had dropped to LV1.
"Hiss—abilities can actually decrease?" Bai Chuan furrowed his brow and examined his body closely. After a moment, it seemed reasonable enough.
A big lump of muscle on his smooth, streamlined body would inevitably affect his crawling speed.
He seemed to have discovered another rule of the Panel: if an ability evolved in an unsuitable way, it would inevitably affect his other existing abilities. Just as it had now, reducing his Agility.
Another thought suddenly struck him. What would happen if he added a pair of claws now?
On top of the muscle lump growing from his snake-body?
Or what if he stuck on a pair of wings too?
All kinds of ideas sprang into his mind.
He wanted to try combining two or more abilities to see what would happen, but he didn't have enough points. Reluctantly, he had to give up.
He studied the Kite model for a while. The Panel's evolution system was a lot like the character-creation system from his previous life, except that it required things to make sense.
If—he said if—
If one day he managed to collect the best abilities from all kinds of animals, could he really evolve into the legendary dragon?
No one knew.
But the thought had taken root in Bai Chuan's heart like a seed.
All it needed was time to sprout, take root, and grow into a towering tree.
For now, he set those thoughts aside and looked at Clairvoyance LV2.
You're the one!
As the Clairvoyance ability was extracted and the evolution confirmed,
the lifelike eagle model in front of Bai Chuan turned into Light Particles and vanished.
What a pity. If he wanted eagle abilities again, he'd have to catch another one.
That was Bai Chuan's final thought before he fell asleep.
The familiar secretions appeared again, slowly covering Bai Chuan.
Time slipped by.
"Such... such a beautiful world!"
The next day, he woke up.
As Bai Chuan slowly crawled out of his cave, he found that the world before his eyes had changed. It was no longer the monotonous, lifeless, colorless world he had known.
It was as if the whole world had come alive, every living thing brimming with vibrant color.
If his vision before had been like a black-and-white television from the early 1980s with an extremely low resolution, his vision now was like a 4K computer display with a wide color gamut.
And no matter how far away something was, it appeared crystal clear, as if it were right before him.
He could even make out every scale and hair on the tiny insects hopping on the ground in the distance, as well as the wings of mosquitoes flitting through the air and the way they warped with every beat.
At that moment, all he had to do was look, and he could see it.
No wonder these Overlords of the sky could spot a tiny rabbit hopping on the ground from thousands of meters above.
"Th-this is Eagle Vision? It's so, so beautiful!"
At that moment, all Bai Chuan could do was praise it. Anyone who had never experienced something like nearsightedness couldn't understand how astonishing such powerful vision was.
Now he could see even more than he had as a human.
Not only could he see the colors humans could, but he could even see ultraviolet rays and other unusual light that filled the air.
It was truly mysterious.
That day, Bai Chuan lost himself in the beautiful world of color. In high spirits, he slowly crawled around, taking in the sights as he toured his territory once more.
No wonder people said: "The world is never lacking in beauty; it is only lacking eyes that can see it."
He thought he was beginning to understand what those words meant.
Before you continue