Before leaving, Lin Feng could not resist using the system's probe on Lanromo, the familiar face from the game. A neat block of data appeared:
[Individual Data: Aranara – Lanromo]
Level: 36 (Can manipulate elemental power and wields strength beyond ordinary people.)
Element: Dendro
Traits: Spirit of Plants and Trees, Rangara Fruit 3, Dream‑Walking, Growth
Mood: Happy
Affection: 70 (The little Nara stopped the monster and protected Lanromo. A good Nara.)
Most of it matched what he had expected. At this stage, Lanromo was not particularly powerful within its own people, so a mid‑range level felt normal.
What threw him was the seventy points of affection.
Nothing Lanromo "said" in the data was wrong, but a quiet ache still pricked at his conscience.
He focused on the traits, and further explanations unfolded:
Spirit of Plants and Trees: A favored child of the God of Wisdom, born from the greenery. Can draw information from nature's memories.
Rangara Fruit 3: Magic based on memory. Its strength depends on how rich those memories are.
Dream‑Walking: Can move freely between specific dreams and reality.
Growth: Every Aranara's fate is to grow from a seed into a Silapna Tree.
Reading through them, Lin Feng began forming a theory about the numbers that appeared after certain traits.
They most likely represented the strength of that trait; the higher the number, the more fully that power had been developed. Traits without a number were probably innate characteristics or passive effects.
If he were probing Lanromo after it had inherited Ranmu Hrunta's memories and was on the verge of becoming the Majestic Wisdom Tree, "Rangara Fruit" might well come with an 8 or even a 9.
He walked as he thought, but without any kind of transport, human speed was limited—especially in terrain as tangled as the rainforest.
He glanced at the Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel sleeping soundly on his shoulder and compared their sizes. That was enough to snuff out any idea of using it as a mount.
Dusk deepened. He had seen no sign of human activity along the way, only raindrops drumming against leaves with a steady, muffled patter.
Worried about catching a chill in the rain, Lin Feng had no choice but to stop and take shelter. Hugging the weasel, he squeezed into a hollow formed by the roots of a massive tree, planning to continue at first light.
As he stroked the quiet weasel in his arms, a memory surfaced of the mongrel puppy he had raised as a child—about the same size as Xiaobai. He had grown up; by the time he wanted to see that dog again, all he could do was pull out old family photo albums.
Knowing there was no going back now, a dull sadness weighed on him. He buried his face in Xiaobai's soft fur. For once, the unruly weasel did not struggle; it nudged its small head against his chest instead.
Cool air slid past his cheeks. Warmth pooled in his arms. Fingers tracing the pale grey fur on Xiaobai's belly, Lin Feng suddenly thought of Paimon. Maybe her importance to the Traveler far exceeded what he had imagined back in his previous life.
"From now on, I'll call you Xiaobai. Though honestly, Paimon would fit too, considering how much you can eat."
He looked down at the creature nestled against him, smoothing its fur as he spoke half in jest.
"Squeak?"
Eyes half‑closed in pleasure, Xiaobai squirmed deeper into his embrace, clearly raising no objections at all.
He had long since noticed that, despite its broken‑the‑game stats, Xiaobai's intelligence was not particularly high—about on par with an especially clever large dog back in his old world. It could understand his commands, but anything beyond that seemed to stretch its thinking.
There was a kind of mental link between them; they could roughly sense each other's intent. Even so, Lin Feng remained skeptical about whether Xiaobai could actually use the boss‑level skills on its panel.
For a weasel to draw a blade from some pocket of space and unleash a move like "Thoughtless Severance" was asking a bit much.
We'll test it later when we have the chance, he decided silently.
With a flat level of 999, even without the skills, it was more than enough to keep him safe on Teyvat.
The only real problem was his own body being too fragile. If a stray aftershock hit him, he might be gone on the spot. Maybe buying a little courtyard in Liyue and hiding away really was the best endgame.
Thinking about that future, his thoughts drifted.
"Ribbit."
A jungle tree frog glided between two enormous trunks, drifting neatly across his field of vision.
Snapped out of his reverie, Lin Feng suddenly realized that ever since he had crossed over, he had never actually checked his own stats. Curiosity sparked, he fixed his gaze on his palm and murmured in his heart, "Probe."
A detailed panel floated up before his eyes:
[Individual Data: @￥%& – Lin Feng]
Level: 19 (Conditions not met) (A very strong ordinary person. Among new recruits in the Treasure Hoarders, you would be a capable fighter.)
Element: None
Traits: [#%*&], Elemental Resistance 7 (Conditions not met), Elemental Affinity 6 (Conditions not met), Robust Physique 3 (Conditions not met), Dexterity 1 (Upgradeable)
Mood: Shocked
Affection: —
"!!!"
He really was shocked.
He had always felt that his stamina was much better than in his previous life, but he had chalked it up to Teyvat natives having good constitutions.
Seeing this panel—still far from Xiaobai's but impressive in its own right—finally gave him a clear picture of his own potential.
That alone was enough to make him happy. But what truly left him speechless was something else entirely.
"???"
"So in Teyvat, I don't count as human?"
That string of gibberish where his species should have been left him both elated and oddly resigned.
He had already taken a serious look at that so‑called "Primal Beast Cultivation System" in his body.
Just like the name implied, it could strengthen any lifeform that was not human—raising levels, adding traits, and increasing trait levels.
Using those functions, however, consumed the energy stored within his own body. Used too heavily, the light consequences were dramatic weight loss, dropping pounds until he was thin as a lightning bolt; the heavy consequences were dropping dead on the spot and starting life over. The one saving grace was that whenever he lacked sufficient energy, the system would flag "conditions not met" and refuse to proceed.
As for how he knew all this?
Because every trait on Xiaobai's panel was completely out of his reach. The moment he even thought about changing one, a suffocating sense of mortal danger would surge through him.
Up to now, he had considered the system annoyingly useless. With Xiaobai already at his side, nothing he upgraded could surpass that bug‑level existence—though its appetite was a bug in its own right.
But if he himself counted as a primal beast, everything changed.
Raising his level meant strengthening his body, which meant more energy capacity, which meant raising his level again.
For a moment, Lin Feng felt there was nothing wrong with being a primal beast. So what if he did not count as "human" anymore?
He turned his focus to the only trait currently marked as modifiable: Dexterity 1. Heart pounding, he asked Xiaobai to keep watch for the night, then decisively chose "Enhance."
Darkness swallowed his vision.
One moment, he was buzzing with excitement; the next, he was experiencing sleep as deep and peaceful as a child's.