Chapter 112 Seed of Life

Chapter 112: Chapter 111: Seed of Life

Han Ning once again transformed into his complete Molten Gold Battle Tiger form. He had discovered from previous battles that the complete form granted several times more Skill Level increases than his half-human, half-beast state. Although it consumed a massive amount of Spiritual Power, it was much more cost-effective. Therefore, whenever a battle broke out, Han Ning would shift into his complete form. Once the fighting ended, he would find a place to rest, wait for his Spiritual Power to mostly recover, and then strike again. Overall, his growth rate was much faster this way.

In his complete form, Han Ning continued to cast Rapid Growth.

"ROAR!" Snow Cake’s four limbs stomped fiercely on the water’s surface, and the earthen-yellow light at the center of its brow flared brilliantly. Several brick walls, structurally weakened from being soaked in the floodwaters, violently crumbled and smashed into the snake swarm.

Han Ning leapt into the air. The number of vines surrounding him surged, shooting down simultaneously like a torrential downpour.

[Beast Form (Basic Level) Skill Level +27. Current: 1652/2000]

[Rapid Growth (High Level) Skill Level +15. Current: 392/500]

[Druid Growth Progress +12. Current: Level 6, 2986/3000]

[Three-Color Gemstone Crocodile Lizard Growth Progress +320. Current: Level 6, 2482/2500]

Han Ning wildly reaped the lives of the Black Snakes, causing his Level progress and various Skill Levels to continue rising. Faint streams of Energy Flow gathered together, transforming into a surging, warm current that washed over his entire body.

The quantitative changes finally triggered a qualitative leap.

After killing five Black Snake Monsters in one breath, Han Ning felt as if some sort of shackle within his body had been violently shattered. His bones cracked loudly, his muscle fibers tore and rebuilt, his Dark Gold fur swayed in the wind, and the fiery light within his Molten Gold Eyes flickered slightly.

[Earth Druid Level 6 -> Level 7. Current Progress: (1/4000)]

[Mental Power +0.5. Current Mental Power: 3]

[Spiritual Power Cap +30. Current Spiritual Power: 58/150 (100)]

[Unlocked Earth Druid Exclusive Skill: Life Seed (Basic Level)]

[Unlock Requirement for ’Seed of Life (Basic Level)’: Vine Technique (Perfection) -> Completed]

[Seed of Life (Basic Level)]: Gathers the essence of nature and Life Origins, merging them with the Plant Spirits of the natural world to create a Life Seed unique to the Druid. Successfully condensing a Life Seed will increase the Druid’s lifespan to a certain extent. All of the Druid’s plant-related Skills will manifest the traits of the Seed of Life.

A flood of information regarding the [Seed of Life] Skill poured into Han Ning’s mind.

On the other side, Snow Cake, who was endlessly slaughtering the other Black Snake Monsters, let out a succession of roars. Earthen-yellow glimmers shot out from the gaps in its grayish-white scales, and the core of the Tri-Colored Crystal Scale on its forehead accelerated its rotation.

[Three-Color Gemstone Crocodile Lizard Level 6 -> Level 7. Current Progress: (1/3500)]

"ROAR!" The surging power from leveling up made Snow Cake feel exceptionally invigorated. With a sweeping strike of its thick tail, it snapped the last few paralyzed Black Snakes in half.

[Druid Growth Progress +1. Current: Level 7, 2/4000]

[Druid Growth Progress +1. Current: Level 7, 3/4000]

...

In the pitch-black night, Han Ning stood among the building debris piled high with snake corpses.

"Oh? Could it be... this is a plant version of the Transformation Technique? It can turn a Druid into a ’Plant Man’?!" he thought. "No wonder it requires Vine Technique as a prerequisite. This is basically an enhanced version of the Vine Technique."

He pondered over the information regarding the [Seed of Life], his eyes growing bright.

Snapping back to reality, Han Ning realized that after reaching Level 7, killing these Black Snakes only yielded a single point of experience. Some of the smaller Black Snakes gave absolutely no experience at all.

"There’s no more experience. It looks like we’ve basically farmed these ordinary Black Snakes dry. From now on, we can only kill Elite Black Snakes or Black Snake Leaders," Han Ning said. "Snow Cake, let’s head back."

Upon returning to the Yun Valley Business District, Han Ning noticed a heavy atmosphere lingering in the third-floor office area of the commercial building as he passed by. Under the flickering candlelight, Chairman Wu squatted in a corner, sighing heavily at three young people lying side-by-side on the floor. The Awakened standing nearby also wore gloomy expressions.

Hearing footsteps, Chairman Wu looked up. Seeing it was Han Ning, he forced a slight smile. "Mr. Han, you’re back."

Han Ning gave a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over the bodies. Parts of their skin exhibited an unnatural bruised-gray hue, indicating they had clearly been dead for some time.

"What happened?" Han Ning asked casually.

Chairman Wu let out a heavy sigh, his voice laced with exhaustion. "They were a few brothers who hadn’t been Awakened for long. This afternoon, Old Zhao led a team back to the outskirts of the resort to scavenge some supplies. In the end, they were attacked by a small group of Black Snake Monsters.

"They lacked experience and their abilities were weak, but they charged in too recklessly and got hit directly by venom... We couldn’t save them."

Chairman Wu didn’t say anything more; he just let out another heavy sigh. Ordinary people becoming Awakened was highly random. Perhaps they would awaken some ability simply due to a violent emotional fluctuation at a given moment. Because of this, people in the group would occasionally become Awakened, but none of them were very strong.

Han Ning just replied with an "Oh," his face expressionless. Life and death were dictated by fate; this was not something he could help with at the moment. Perhaps his homegrown Jade Potatoes could help them improve their physical strength, but he barely had enough to distribute among his own two subordinates. How could he have any extra shares to give to outsiders? He would just have to wait a while until he could expand his farming scale.

"How large is the snake swarm over there?" Han Ning continued to ask.

"Not as many as we imagined. There were a few large snakes that were relatively strong, so we didn’t get too close. We just killed some Black Snakes on the perimeter," Vice President Zhao answered. "Many of the resort’s walls were knocked down by the snake swarm, but the main building didn’t seem to be affected much."

"Understood." Han Ning nodded and walked straight toward the adjacent area occupied by his own team.

In the corner, Xu Ming, Professor Ye, Yu Na, and Xu Yinyin were sitting together in a circle. Spread out on the ground in the middle of them was a small pile of food: a few packs of compressed biscuits, several bags of instant noodles, a few Jade Potatoes, and a couple of bottles of water. The four of them just stared at it longingly; no one reached out to eat.

Hearing Han Ning’s footsteps, Xu Ming was the first to look up, his eyes lighting up. "Boss, you’re back!" He pointed at the food on the ground. "We’ve been waiting for you to eat. We left in such a hurry yesterday that we just grabbed this bit of food on the fly. It’s only enough for one meal."

During the day, everyone had been busy overhauling the boats and tending to the crops, leaving them with absolutely no time to search for more food.

Han Ning picked up a pack of compressed biscuits and grabbed a bottle of water. "You guys can split the rest," he said, taking a bite of the hard biscuit and washing it down with a gulp of water. "Tomorrow morning, Old Xu, you guys are coming with me on a trip to the Biyun Resort to get back the supplies we left behind."

The fact that Vice President Zhao and his group had gone there in the afternoon meant that the Four-Armed Black Snake Monster leader was not nearby. The remaining Black Snake Monsters were all Little Kalamis.

Xu Ming and Professor Ye’s physical fitness already far exceeded that of ordinary people, allowing them to barely keep up with the pace of the Awakened. Han Ning planned to bring them along to kill some monsters and gain some Energy. This would prevent them from becoming a drag on the team in case they encountered any unforeseen accidents.

With that said, he walked directly to the corner where he slept, leaned his back against the wall, and began to study the uses of the Seed of Life.

***

Three more Chapters coming tonight.