Chapter 184 - 183: Foundation

Chapter 184: Chapter 183: Foundation

Dog Curse had just finished introducing the four Minions when a rustling sound came from the edge of the Withered Wood Forest.

Gu Su looked up and saw two figures in tattered robes walking from the direction of the Dark Erosion Cave. It seemed the Corpse Witches Gu Su had summoned on short notice had arrived.

They walked up to Gu Su and bowed, the Yin Fire in their hollow eye sockets flickering faintly as they awaited his command.

Gu Su didn’t waste any words. He turned, picked up the apple—half green and half red—from the counter of the Yin Soul Shop, and casually tossed it to the leading Corpse Witch.

The Corpse Witch reached out with a hand of clearly defined bone joints, catching it. It then held the apple up to its eyes, examining it closely.

"Examine the poison on this," Gu Su said.

The Corpse Witch brought the apple to its nose and sniffed, then gently scraped the green side with a fingertip. It dabbed a bit of the powder on its tongue to taste it, the motion so natural it was as if the creature were still alive.

And this was the first time Gu Su had seen that a Corpse Witch actually had a tongue.

Gu Su blinked. ’Are all High Tier Undead like this?’

Before Gu Su could study the situation further, the Corpse Witch looked up, its voice hoarse yet clear:

"My lord, this is a rare suspended-animation poison."

Gu Su raised an eyebrow. "Suspended-animation?"

"Yes." The Corpse Witch turned the apple over, pointing to the green half. "This side contains a special toxin. After ingestion, a living being will enter a state of deep poisoning. Their breathing and heartbeat will cease entirely, making them appear dead.

But in reality, they are only temporarily dormant."

It then pointed to the red side. "And this side is the antidote. After taking it, the poisoned individual can be awakened from the suspended-animation state. Other than this specific antidote, no other method can revive them."

The Corpse Witch paused, then continued its explanation. "This state of suspended animation has a very particular use.

During the period of suspended animation, any toxins or injuries will not worsen, nor will the poisoned person experience any pain.

In other words, it can buy someone enough time. For example, if emergency surgery is needed but there are no anesthetics, you could use this poison to put the injured person into suspended animation first, then awaken them with the antidote after the surgery is complete."

After hearing this, Gu Su nodded thoughtfully.

"Is this stuff valuable?"

The Corpse Witch nodded. "Yes, valuable.

My lord, in the hands of us Undead Mages, it might not be of much use.

We’re not particularly afraid of poison, nor do we perform much surgery.

But for other professions, this is a real treasure. Priests, Holy Knights, even those who specialize in Alchemy—they would all be scrambling to get it.

It can be used as an anesthetic, which is far superior to those crude methods of inducing unconsciousness."

Gu Su’s eyes lit up. "Then can we cultivate it ourselves?"

The Corpse Witch was silent for a few seconds, then looked down at the apple in its hand and spoke slowly. "I’m not certain. My lord, this involves not only Undead Magic, but a combination of Witchcraft and Poison Techniques.

We will need time to study it and see if we can extract the toxin or find a way to cultivate it.

But the outcome is uncertain. This thing probably can’t be produced just by planting it."

Gu Su waved his hand. "It’s fine. Just do your research. It would be best if you succeed, but I won’t blame you if you don’t."

The Corpse Witch nodded, carefully tucked the apple away, and turned to walk toward the Dark Erosion Cave. The other Corpse Witch followed behind, not having had a chance to say a single word. Gu Su had no idea what it had even come for.

Gu Su watched their figures disappear into the shadows before turning to pick up the last item from the counter: a thoroughly unremarkable frying pan.

The bottom of the pan was still covered in black soot, retaining the marks of being scorched. The nicks along the rim felt rough to the touch. Overall, it looked no different from an old pan that an ordinary family might have used for years.

He tested its weight, thinking about what he might cook with it back in his room, and started walking toward his living quarters.

As he passed the Deceitful Tree, he suddenly felt a strange stirring at his feet.

Without warning, several grayish-white roots shot out from the soil like startled snakes, instantly wrapping around the frying pan in his hand.

Before Gu Su could react, the roots had already tightened their grip on the pan and were pulling it down with force.

He was stunned for a moment and instinctively tried to hold on tight. But then a thought crossed his mind: ’That Deceitful Tree eats everything. It’s swallowed plenty of things before. If it wants this, then let it have it.’

Gu Su let go.

The frying pan was instantly dragged beneath the soil, leaving only a ring of churning earth in its wake.

A few shriveled leaves drifted down from the branches, landing on the disturbed soil as if to conceal something.

Gu Su stood there for a few seconds, making sure the Deceitful Tree wasn’t going to pop up again to ask for something else. Only then did he shake his head and continue on his way.

Gu Su didn’t dwell on it. His desire to return to his quarters had faded anyway; he wasn’t particularly hungry right now.

He turned and changed direction, walking toward the area behind the Yin Fire Heap. He stopped in the open space between the Yin Fire Heap and the passage to the Dark Erosion Cave.

He needed to place the Deserted Twisted Corridor first.

This open area was a little over five meters wide, not spacious at all—in fact, it was rather cramped. But available space within the Graveyard Demon was limited, and Gu Su had no better option. He could only build the Deserted Twisted Corridor here for now, mentally calculating that he could move and adjust it later when he found a larger plot of land.

Fortunately, the Deserted Twisted Corridor occupied an area of ten by ten meters—a hundred square meters. As long as the total area was met, it didn’t really matter if it was a square or a rectangle.

While the plot of land before him was irregular, its size was just barely sufficient. It wouldn’t be too late to move it later if he found a more suitable location.

He took the dusty gray handful of fine sand from his pocket, squatted down, and placed it in the center of the ground.

The moment the fine sand touched the soil, a strange transformation began.

The ground seemed to come alive. Countless fine particles of earth began to churn and flow, drawn toward the clump of sand as if controlled by some invisible Power. The sand clump itself was writhing, its once loose surface growing stickier and stickier, like melting wax, slowly spreading outward.

Then, an even stranger scene unfolded.

Some of the Wood, Stone, and Metal piled near the Yin Fire Heap unexpectedly rolled out and tumbled directly into the fine sand before him.

Before Gu Su could process this, even more things surged up from underground.

It was the fragments of flesh and blood that the Graveyard Demon had previously devoured: still-bloody chunks of meat, fractured bones, and fresh membranes squeezed out from the soil, plopping onto the sand one clump after another.

The moment they touched the sand, they began to melt, turning into a viscous, dark red liquid that seeped into the gaps between the grains.

The entire open area had transformed into what seemed like a gigantic mixing bowl.

Sand, Wood, Stone, flesh, bone—everything was churning, mixing, and fusing together.

A strange, sweet and coppery smell filled the air, mingled with the damp scent of soil and an indescribable odor of decay.

Gu Su took a few steps back, quietly watching it all unfold.

After about seven or eight minutes, the churning of the ground finally began to subside.

The once uneven, pitted clearing had now been completely transformed. The entire hundred-square-meter area was now covered in a layer of grayish-white fine sand.

The surface of the sand was smooth and flat, glowing with a faint luminescence as if it had been bathed in moonlight. Occasionally, a small bubble would rise from beneath the sand, burst with a soft POP, and release a wisp of dark red smoke that quickly dissipated into the air.

But that was all.

There were no buildings, no workshops, none of the facilities he had imagined—only this vast, empty expanse of sand, lying there quietly, waiting for something.

Gu Su was stunned for a few seconds, then he understood.

’No wonder the building Explanation only required 5 units of Stone and 5 units of flesh and blood materials. This is just a fucking foundation!’

’Ten units of materials could only build one square meter of the Mushroom Cave. How could I have believed that this Green Quality building material could create a hundred square meters?’

’What I got was clearly just a hundred-square-meter patch of sand. The actual Twisted Corridor will have to be slowly built through subsequent manufacturing and research.’

He squatted down and pressed his hand against the sand. It was cool and fine, with a damp touch. Pressing down left shallow imprints, but they were quickly smoothed over by the flowing grains.

Gu Su stood up, looked at the empty expanse of sand, and suddenly smiled.

’A foundation is a foundation,’ he thought. ’It’s better than nothing.’