On the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
A mass of black liquid crawled out of a meteor crater, cursing under its breath.
"Damn it... One second I was on a rooftop talking a girl out of jumping, and the next I got hit by a speeding car and launched off the building? What kind of international joke is this?"
"Do you have to get elbowed by a truck-driving Superman just to transmigrate? And from a rooftop, no less?! Could it get any more ridiculous?!"
After ranting for a while, Jiang Ce accepted his fate.
"Fine. At least my body turned into Venom, even if the process hurt like hell."
He wobbled his viscous body, getting used to his new symbiote form.
Sensing a human-shaped heat source a hundred meters away, he quietly slipped over.
The person lay face-down, black hair spread across the dead leaves. Her clothes were charred and torn, exposing a stretch of snow-white back.
"...Even face-down, she's got a figure like that. Could she be an E cup?"
Without hesitation, he slipped into the snow-white valley between her breasts and carefully took her measurements.
"Bust: 105 centimeters. 38E."
"Spacious and comfortable inside, with excellent shock absorption. You'll do."
The stronger his host's base abilities, the greater the boost he could provide. But who wouldn't want a beautiful woman for a mount?
Venom began seeping into her body. That was when he discovered—
Six of her ribs were broken, her left arm was fractured, and she had widespread internal bleeding.
"Damn, did I shake her into this state when I crashed into the crater?"
"Running into me means it's not your time to die."
He immediately unleashed Venom's powerful healing ability, stabilizing her vital signs, repairing her organs, and reconnecting her broken bones. At the same time, he began reading his host's memories.
Jiang Ce froze.
"Yan Lingji?"
"She's only recently joined the Baiyue prince's forces, and hasn't been locked in a water prison? Could this world be The Legend of Qin?!"
"But there are plenty of beauties here... Zi Nu, Nong Yu, Hong Lian, the Tide Enchantress... Heh heh, so many gorgeous mounts!"
As soon as he finished speaking,
Yan Lingji's lashes suddenly fluttered. She rolled over and warily scanned her surroundings.
"Not bad. She's alert."
At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Yan Lingji pushed off hard with both feet,
leaping dozens of meters in an instant and landing on a branch. A ball of flame coalesced in her hand as she warily swept her gaze around.
"As expected of a core member of the Baiyue Assassin Group."
The moment he finished speaking, a great mass of black liquid suddenly surged out of her body and wrapped around her.
Her clothes were devoured, leaving her in a black bodysuit that perfectly outlined her tall, curvaceous figure, with its full breasts and rounded hips.
Then her usual black-and-red dress appeared over it once more.
Venom symbiote state.
Base attributes multiplied; multiple additional abilities unlocked.
Yan Lingji felt deeply uncomfortable, as if countless hands were touching her at once.
She reached to pull off the Venom suit, but it was like tugging at a sticky blob. She couldn't get it off at all.
"What are you? Get off me!"
"Stop struggling. It's no use."
To her horror, she found she couldn't move.
"And this is how you treat your lifesaver? You're really heartless."
"My lifesaver?"
She thought back to before she'd passed out. She'd been carrying out a mission when a shooting star suddenly streaked across the sky. She'd looked up at it.
Then the world around her changed, becoming an unfamiliar forest.
The terrifying shock wave from the falling star had gravely injured her and knocked her unconscious.
"You can call me Venom, or Jiang Ce. I need a mount now. In return, I'll give you power."
"A mount?" Yan Lingji's lips curled into a dangerous, seductive smile. "You want to be my new master?"
"Who wouldn't want to keep something this wonderful?"
The black liquid formed tentacles and bound her tightly.
The seductive smile on her face instantly froze.
"You don't get to refuse."
Yan Lingji gave a soft snort.
The moment this thing possessed her, she'd known the days ahead were likely to be rough.
"All right. Feel the power I'm giving you."
Jiang Ce released full control of the Venom symbiote and shared its abilities with her.
Yan Lingji could clearly feel—
Her innate early-stage internal energy suddenly tripled.
Not just the amount, capacity, and quality of her internal energy, but also her physical strength, reaction speed, and mental power—all surged threefold.
Whoosh—
Venom Yan Lingji turned into a chain of afterimages, darting hundreds of meters in an instant.
With a casual punch, she smashed a boulder nearly two meters across to pieces.
She flicked her left hand, and dozens of black strands pierced more than a dozen trees in front of her. With another flick, the strands whipped through the air.
Dozens of trees ahead were instantly reduced to chunks.
A Fire Charm Technique Fireball coalesced in her right hand.
It was three times larger than her usual fireball.
Not only that, its temperature and power had also tripled.
She sent it scorching toward another boulder, four or five meters tall.
In an instant, the boulder melted into lava.
Every ability was three times stronger. With most of them stacking together, her overall combat strength had increased by far more than threefold!
"This power... is wonderful."
"Come on. Let's take care of your old master now."
"Master really is domineering." Yan Lingji's lips curled. "But he saved my life. If Master dares to make me kill my old master today, aren't you afraid I'll betray you one day too?"
"He saved you because he wanted your abilities. That wasn't your fault. You were innocent. You worked for him all these years; you've repaid what you owed. And now I've saved your life—your life belongs to me."
"You have no choice."
Yan Lingji might well have been injured because of him, but it wasn't as if he'd done it on purpose.
Yan Lingji's lips lifted slightly. "Yes, Master."
This new master was really domineering.
"By the way." Jiang Ce suddenly realized that something was off about Yan Lingji's memories. "You saw the shooting star in a city in Baiyue. So why are you in a forest now?"
"That is what puzzles me too, Master."
Just then, screams and the roars of beasts came from the distance.
They exchanged a glance and hurried over.
Two lizard-like creatures with thick limbs, scales all over their bodies, and horns on their heads were chasing four armored people who were fleeing in disarray.
One lunged forward and swatted two people away with a claw, killing them on the spot.
The other opened its mouth and spat a fireball, burning the remaining two into human torches.
A short distance away lay several mangled corpses, their blood still fresh.
"Are these... strange beasts?" Yan Lingji furrowed her brows.
"I don't know. But they're weaker than you. Kill them."
"Yes, Master."
Yan Lingji smiled seductively and darted forward.
The black liquid in her hand instantly transformed into a long sword.
Whoosh—the black blade flashed.
The huge lizard that had just been spitting fire suddenly stopped moving. A red line appeared around its neck.
Then its head slid off, and blood gushed out.
"They really aren't strong."
Yan Lingji shook the blood off her sword. "But this blade is as sharp as one of the Ten Great Swords."
"I can evolve and give you even more power. What can those junk swords do against me?" Jiang Ce scoffed.
He was a newly born Venom. Even at the beginning, he could grant a threefold boost, and he'd only get stronger.
But Venom had weaknesses too—fire, sound waves, and strong electric currents.
Yet after copying Yan Lingji's abilities, he discovered—
He had somehow gained 30% resistance to fire and could control flames.
He figured that came from her fire-attribute constitution.
It seemed he could deal with his other weaknesses in a similar way.
Seeing its companion killed, the other lizard turned and spat a fireball at Yan Lingji.
Yan Lingji formed a black sword in her right hand. Flames roared to life along its blade, and with one slash, she split the fireball in two.
The sword's momentum didn't falter. It carried straight through and cut the monster in half.
"These strange beasts really aren't strong."
"Mm. But I can sense something stronger in the distance."
"Do creatures like these exist in Baiyue?"
Yan Lingji looked around. The plants and scenery here felt unlike anything she'd ever seen.
"No."
"Then we'll have to investigate."
Jiang Ce extended several tentacles from Yan Lingji's chest. They stretched toward the corpses on the ground and began drawing out their memories.
These people had died only moments ago, so their memories could still be extracted.
But the instant the memories flooded in, Jiang Ce's tentacles stiffened.
"This place is... Douluo Continent?!"
Before you continue