Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Tang Yue looked at her stagnant stats and her stagnant cultivation base. She was not able to pass the trial ground and her overall progress had also come to a complete standstill. 

She was frustrated and paced back and forth angrily. Perhaps it was because of the dragon, the pressure its mere presence was exuding, somehow affected her mind?

Tang Yue had no idea how to overcome this obstacle.

"Old man… what should I do now?" 

"I am not sure, your highness. I have brought you here. The rest is up to you." 

"Hisss! How the hell am I supposed to get over this hump and take care of that damned dragon?" 

Her biggest advantage was her evolution ability and currently, that was almost completely sealed because she had no access to the higher tier beasts that were roaming outside. 

Even if she took a single step outside the palace, she would be instantly torn to shreds and blasted into oblivion.

Tang Yue considered sending the other snakes out to hunt. The dragon might instantly sniff out a high level beast like her, but the other spirit beasts were only Emperor tier at most. 

They wouldn't be detected by the dragon at least until it realized what was going on, which could be a while, optimistically? 

She chewed her nails and once again started walking back and forth. This plan wasn't too bad, but it would never work. 

The snakes were far too weak compared to the other giant, monstrous beasts that roamed the island. They would never survive if they come across something unexpected. It was too risky. They could be wiped out. 

In the worst case scenario, she wouldn't even be able to go out and rescue them if they were in any real danger. Then all of them would be wiped out by the damned dragon.

"It's just too dangerous. It won't work. How do I evolve further? How do I unlock the potential of my bloodline completely? How do I get more beasts?"

Just while she was breaking her head about this impossible problem, Little Plum popped out of the trial grounds, crying and writhing in pain. 

"Awooo~! Master!" Almost immediately, Little Blue popped out as well, wearing an equally pitiful face. 

The two looked like they would give anything to get out of the continuous training but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. They also wanted to become stronger so they kept going at it, taking Tang Yue as their role model.

The two wolves bickered with each other for a few seconds to let out their frustrations and were about to jump in again when Tang Yue suddenly stopped them. 

Everything in her mind suddenly clicked as soon as she saw them. 

A plan instantly formed and her lips curled upwards into a wide grin. The damned dragon had ruined her life enough. This time she was going to get the upper hand! 

"Little Blue and Little Plum. Get over here!"She waved her hand and the two beasts happily ran towards her, giving her hand a lick and then some more.

Tang Yue was always training and they had barely seen her these past few days, so they were extremely elated to see her. 

"Alright. Alright. That's enough." The three of them waited for Eleana as well to join and then Tang Yue addressed everyone seriously.

Beginning with, "I need your help; all three of your help." She told them in detail about everything and every small aspect of the plan from start to finish. 

"I am not going to force you. This is very dangerous. We will only go ahead with this if all three of you are completely willing, I am not forcing any of you." 

Even though this plan was a lot safer than the earlier one, it still had its own risks and drawbacks and she didn't hide it from her three pets.

However, before she could even finish her sentence, the three of them instantly nodded and agreed.

They didn't even bother asking her any questions or oppose any part of what she had said. 

"Your highness. We won't disappoint you. We will finish this successfully and come out victorious to once again serve you." Elena declared proudly.

The harpy was now looking a lot better and her full appearance was almost restored. She had a pair of magnificent feathered wings and her horns, and eyes were sharp with resolution in them. 

She has reaped the most rewards from the trial grounds. Tang Yue smiled and walked over before patting the harpy on her shoulder. "I will not forget this favor." 

"Kind words, your highness." Eleana bowed and kissed Tang Yue's hand. 

The group then quickly headed down back into the tunnels. 

But as soon as they reached halfway, Tang Yue went in another direction and the three beasts went in the opposite direction. 

In a matter of minutes, both the teams reached the tunnel's edge on diagonally opposite sides of the castle, putting maxim distance between their locations, and both of them stepped out.

However, Tang Yue quickly retracted her step, not even fully stepping out of the tunnel. 

But with just that one second exposure, a giant explosive sound boomed and the ground near the tunnel quaked. The thick dense earth was completely scooped out and instead, there was now a beast at the entrance of the tunnel.

A massive and ferocious beast! A dragon!

More specifically, the dragon that was scouring the island and waiting to tear apart Tang Yue as soon as it could get a hold of her.

However, only its eye was currently visible and the vicious slit-like eye stared back at her. "Pest. You dare step out again?" 

"Aha! Just the dragon I was looking for this morning. How are we doing today, big guy?" She leisurely replied, while sitting at the edge of the tunnel just an inch away from the terrifying beast. 

However, an invisible barrier made sure that the other party couldn't even touch her hair.