She tries to stand up to leave the den, but her unfamiliar legs refuse to cooperate with her.

  ‘I know I said I was going to go hunt, but I'm struggling to even walk!’ Frustrated with her new body, she continues trying until she manages to stand on all 4 legs. ‘Okay! Step 1 is complete. Now to get out of this den.’

  She unsteadily walks out of her den, and the light from the world outside shines down directly into her eyes, causing her to squint. As her eyes adjust, she decides to take a look around. The entire forest is covered in pristine white snow and tall evergreen colored trees as far as the eye can see.

  ‘Wow, everything in this world is huge! The trees are so tall. Or maybe it's just because I'm so small.’ She starts walking straight, away from her den and looking around the forest. ‘There sure is a lot of snow here. This is probably going to make survival even more difficult. The snow is halfway up my body!’

  ‘First, I need to come up with a pn, as I am probably too weak to fight anything head-on right now.’ She sits for a few moments to think about what course of action she should take when, suddenly, she hears screeching nearby.

  ‘What is that?! It sounds like a fight. This might be my chance to steal a kill! System, what are these skill points that are in my status? Please tell me they are to buy new skills.’

  [Yes, Skill Points can be used in the system shop to acquire new abilities and combine existing ones.]

  Her eyes shine at this revetion. She might not possess the ability to steal anyone's kill right now, but if she had a skill or two to help her, that might be a different story!

  ‘Okay, I can probably just open the shop by willing it, just like my system status.’ As she wills it to open, the system shop opens in front of her eyes.

  ‘Let's see... I need something that will help me escape and help me hide.’

  [Sprint]Increases the user's agility stat by 1.5x while the skill is active. Increases stamina consumption.Cost: 5 Skill Points

  [Hide]Decreases the user's presence while the skill is active, making it more difficult to sense the user. Uses stamina while active.Cost: 5 Skill Points

  ‘Yes, these two will do! It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best I can come up with given I have so few skill points.’ She taps her paw on the two skills and purchases them from the store.

  [Thank you for your purchase. Would you like to sign up for a rewards card today?]

  ‘Rewards card? What kind of benefi- hey, hey, wait a minute! Is this another one of your jokes?’ She curses the creator of the system for turning her tragic situation into a punchline.

  ‘Well, whatever, I have more important things to do than cursing my system. These two new skills require exerting additional stamina. I wonder how much extra they take? Well, there's one way to find out!’ She starts walking towards where the screech came from, each step becomes steadier as she proceeds forward. ‘This whole walking thing isn't too bad once you get used to it.’

  She lowers her body, partially burying herself in the snow, trying to blend in as she sneaks closer to the source of the screeching sound. She peers over a small hill and sees a rabbit caught in a trap, its injured leg staining the snow a deep crimson.

  ‘Score! I found a rabbit, and it's trapped, so it can't get away. There don't seem to be any predators nearby, so this should be a piece of cake.’ Despite thinking this, her head tilts sideways, making a confused look. ‘Though… something doesn't seem right here. Isn't this an immortal world? Why would anyone need a basic hunting trap to capture a rabbit?’

  She ponders this question for a few moments. ‘Wait a second… the fact that there's a hunting trap here means there are likely humans nearby!’ This realization lets anxiety seep into her heart. ‘If there are humans nearby, I might be in danger! I need to get this rabbit and get going.’

  [Sprint activated]

  She starts running as fast as she can towards the rabbit and uses [Bite] on its neck. The rabbit screams in agony as it attempts to break away from the trap and escape the little fox, but to no avail. She uses [Bite] once more, finally causing the rabbit to bleed out, and securing her first kill.

  [EXP gained!][Level Up! You have reached Level 3! +1 to all stats.][You have gained 5 stat points and 2 skill points.][Skill [Bite] has leveled up to level 2!]

  ‘Alright! Another level up! Looks like skills are also able to level up the more you use them. That's good to know. Now, I need to get out of here.’ She tugs on the rabbit as hard as she can, unable to break it away from the trap. ‘Come on, you stupid rabbit, just get free so I can bring you- I mean me, to safety.’ She tugs on it harder until she hears a sound behind her. She stops tugging for a few moments to look back at what made that noise, just to see a human with short brown hair and brown eyes cautiously hiding behind a tree, observing her.

  ‘SHIT! I've been spotted! I have to get out of here!’ She runs away as fast as she can with her [Sprint] skill and dives into her den not too far away and activates [Hide] to minimize her presence.

  [Skill [Sprint] has leveled up to level 2]

  ‘Did he see me dive into my den? Am I safe?’ she thinks to herself, panting from exhaustion. The distance from the trap to her den is not very far, however, due to her low stamina stat, using both of her skills is extremely tiring.

  She stays in her den for 30 minutes and then slips her head out of it to look for danger. ‘I don't see or hear any danger outside. Maybe the human took his rabbit and left?’ She deactivates her [Hide] skill, panting heavily after using it for 30 minutes straight, nearly passing out from exhaustion. ‘These skills take WAY too much stamina to use. I am going to need to focus on increasing my stamina stat.’

  [Skill [Hide] has leveled up to level 2]

  She ys down for about an hour to recover her stamina and then stands up to leave the den. ‘Okay, I'm going to go check out that trap one more time. I hope the human has left that area by now.’

  She walks towards where the rabbit was stuck in the trap and sticks low to the ground, her white fur blending into her surroundings well. She peeks over the same hill she looked over earlier and finds the rabbit still there! ‘Yes! The rabbit is still there. But does that mean the human is still around?’ She scans her surroundings but finds no one in sight.

  ‘Well, as they say, finders keepers. Maybe this wasn't that human's trap.’ She walks towards the rabbit and notices that the rabbit's leg is free from the trap. ‘Wait, its leg is no longer stuck. Someone must have moved it… but why?’ She grabs the rabbit by the neck and starts dragging it back towards her den. Little does she know, the very human she ran from earlier is still observing her — this time, more carefully from another hill nearby.

  ‘That little fox is so cuuute~. I really want to stare at it all day. Though, I just lost my dinner for the day. Lei Yue is going to be furious with me.’ He shudders with fear thinking about what awaits him at home. He cautiously follows the little fox, making sure to make as little noise as possible to not spook it, noting down where its den is located.

  ‘I hope I can make friends with it. It would be so nice to have a hunting partner!’ He thinks as he starts walking back towards his vilge.

  Meanwhile, back at the den, the little fox lies down munching on the rabbit she brought back with her. ‘I must say, the texture of the meat is revolting, but the taste is actually quite delicious! I bet it would be even better cooked~’ She thinks to herself while salivating over the rabbit's corpse. She continues eating the rabbit until there is no meat left on its bones.

  [EXP gained!][EXP gained!][EXP gained!][Level Up! You have reached Level 4! +1 to all stats.][You have gained 5 stat points and 2 skill points.]

  ‘Leveling up almost feels too easy. I wonder if everyone gains strength this quickly in this world.’ She rests her head on her paws, pondering the strength of the average cultivator.

  [Most cultivators do not gain strength as quickly as you do.]

  ‘Really? Why am I gaining strength faster than them? Is it because of you, System?’

  [That is correct. When a being dies, some of their energy seeps out of them. The energy usually integrates with the environmental Qi around us. This system purifies and absorbs it, converting it into experience to advance your cultivation.]

  ‘I see, so you're actually pretty amazing, System! Now, let's allocate the new stats I got from today's leveling up.’ She wills her status window to appear in front of her.

  AnDwHaT5