Chapter 184 106: Like Entering an Unmanned Realm, Harvest and Crisis

The burst of pure physical Power was not to be underestimated. Paired with its original core crystal, it could have probably shattered a Lv5 Elemental Shield with ease.

And that was without even considering the Power of its Elemental Runes.

Perhaps it had learned its lesson. Unlike the previous modified bodies, this chimera wasn't just blindly stuffed full of Runes. After suffering so many losses, the Bloodthirsty Fungus must have realized that sheer numbers were useless; the path of quality and refinement was supreme.

"It's not all bad news."

Three minutes later, Yan Ruoruo said calmly.

Shortly after she spoke, the corpse underwent a sudden, bizarre transformation.

Its once-firm muscles rapidly withered and softened. The tendons lost their tension, becoming as limp as water-soaked rope. Soon, the seeping blood grew thick and turned black.

The rate of decay was unbelievably fast.

"This type of chimera requires an extremely high concentration of Life Energy to sustain itself. Once that connection is severed, the inter-species fusion becomes fundamentally unstable, and its flesh can only collapse," she concluded, getting to her feet.

"Then the second-stage modified bodies are probably similar, though they wouldn't need this much Life Energy," Su Chen said instinctively.

Yan Ruoruo nodded. "It's highly likely. Without a more refined process, I doubt even a fully hatched chimera could sustain itself for ten days, perhaps not even a week."

It seemed the Bloodthirsty Fungus's Flesh Mill had its limits. Achieving such rapid evolution in a short time was a shortcut, one that perhaps even overtaxed its own creations.

Of course, forcefully injecting immense Life Force via mycelial grafts was a move that killed three birds with one stone. Besides granting Extraordinary Healing, it also greatly mitigated the effects of purification and sustained the unbelievably complex inter-species chimera body.

Even if this flesh-and-blood creation was imperfect.

Even if the Bloodthirsty Fungus couldn't produce a more perfect design or achieve iterative evolution, it wouldn't matter. By the most optimistic calculations, the people of Dongfu City couldn't last a week against them.

...

「10 minutes later.」

The two of them gave the canyon a quick sweep. After finding a few lost Runes, they also came across many discarded crystals of various attributes. One could only imagine the effort the Bloodthirsty Fungus had put in.

After leaving the canyon, they found a scenic, shaded spot among the trees to have a meal.

While they rested, Su Chen took stock of his haul: one Spirit Marrow Crystal, two Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and eight Runes. Four of the Runes were Lv5. In addition to a Thunder Element Lightning Shield, there were the Light Element Holy Light Skill, the Holy Blade Skill, and the Dark Element Shadow Jumping Skill.

The deceased must have been an expert from the city—and a rare one at that, with a Light-Dark Dual Element class Authority.

But no matter how high one's class Star Level was, physical frailty was the great equalizer.

'I wonder, after sacrificing so many cave-dweller corpses for research, whether the Magic Goddess—assuming she even exists—can decipher anything useful that might benefit us.'

He didn't dwell on it for long.

He proceeded to devour and absorb the Holy Light Skill and the Shadow Jumping Skill.

'Might as well upgrade them directly.'

Su Chen wasn't short on Spiritual Materials for the time being. After facing the threat of the human-beast chimera and the nearly unkillable giant insect, he had developed a bit of a complex about having insufficient firepower.

Having replenished his Spiritual Materials, especially with the two crucial Spirit Marrow Crystals, his two Core Runes were finally ready for an upgrade.

It was worth noting that thanks to his first Core Authority as a Grand Elemental Master, he had already unlocked the Divine Shockwave effect of the Lv6 Holy Light Skill ahead of time.

Now, the Lv7 effect was unlocked ahead of time as well. It introduced no new mechanics, just a massive boost in raw numbers, making its effect of purifying and smiting evil even more potent.

The Shadow Jumping Skill, however, was not in his current bonded sequence. Swapping it in would trigger a one-day cooldown, so for now, he was unaware of what its next-level effect would be.

The Lv6 Shadow Jumping Skill, however, had unlocked the 'Ghostly Traceless' trait.

This trait could be activated once every five minutes, allowing the Spellcaster to perform a completely silent and traceless jump. In layman's terms, it wouldn't create any spatial ripples or emit a flicker of Shadow energy at his departure or arrival points.

'Nice.'

Su Chen thought, 'The Shadow Leap's maximum range has already reached 150 meters. Paired with my Elemental Mastery trait, that doubles to 300 meters. With the Ghostly Traceless effect, it's enough for me to get in first and land a perfect opening strike.

'Even if it doesn't kill them in one hit, I can most likely paralyze a key enemy combatant.'