Chapter 167 - 121: The Number of Parasitized Is in the Double Digits? Distributing the Gains! A Double-Edged Sword Ability

Chapter 167: Chapter 121: The Number of Parasitized Is in the Double Digits? Distributing the Gains! A Double-Edged Sword Ability

The value implied by this was frankly terrifying.

Among Transcendents, someone like him who reached this level purely through physical strength was an absolute freak.

But this was likely a limitation of the world he came from, which lacked shortcuts to becoming a Transcendent.

’If he’s nurtured in the future, and acquires other abilities to shore up his weaknesses, his potential for growth could be even greater...’

Using the Identification Skill four times in a row was giving Chen Chong a headache.

"It used too much Spiritual Power..."

"Looks like I can’t just use this thing carelessly."

After resting for a moment, he turned his attention to the main event of the day... the intelligence reports!

[D-Level Intelligence: A valuable item will appear 1200 meters west of the school.]

[C-Class Intelligence: Tomorrow, two factions within the school will have a small-scale conflict over resources, resulting in the deaths of several students.]

[B-Level Intelligence: The Bloodthirsty Vine has completely infiltrated the school through its initial hosts. It has not revealed its presence, only consuming enough nutrients to sustain itself and prevent the hosts from dying prematurely. The number of infected individuals has now surpassed double digits...]

Chen Chong didn’t care about the first two reports.

Judging by the usual pattern of the daily intelligence, reports that mentioned a distance and an "item" usually pointed to low-level Cards.

As for conflicts over resources, those happened every day at school. He was already used to it.

But that third piece of intelligence was about the Bloodthirsty Vine’s parasitic spread again...

In just one day, it had already exceeded 10 people?

That fast?

Chen Chong’s brows furrowed. The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became.

The most troublesome thing about this damn creature wasn’t its ability to parasitize human bodies, but its intelligence, which far surpassed that of the Blood-tooth Python and the Unihorn Catfish.

It actually knew how to lie dormant!

To ensure it could parasitize the maximum number of people, it wasn’t harming its hosts prematurely at all. Instead, it was quietly waiting for the perfect opportunity to spread...

Its thinking ability was practically on par with a human’s.

’What a pain...’

Chen Chong knew that after they returned, he had to find the infected people and completely eradicate the Bloodthirsty Vine hidden in the school.

Otherwise, if it was left unchecked, it wouldn’t be long before the entire school population was infected.

At that point, it would all be over...

...

An unknown amount of time passed.

Ning Yu slowly woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Chen Chong sitting beside her, Xu Jun chattering excitedly about something, and... a strangely dressed stranger?

Her expression faltered, especially when she saw the... strange black eagle squatting next to Chen Chong.

"You’re awake?"

Chen Chong looked over and pointed to a Card on the ground.

"This is the Card you received from today’s settlement."

Ning Yu looked beside her. A blue Card was lying quietly there.

"A B-Class Card?"

"You participated in the hunt for the Blood-tooth Python, so of course your rating wouldn’t be bad," Chen Chong said.

Ning Yu nodded slightly. ’That’s true...’

With a hint of joy, she put the Card into her bag.

"And this is..."

Chen Chong explained Qi Zhen’s origins, just as he had explained them to Xu Jun not long before.

He also briefly introduced the Lion-headed Goose, just casually mentioning that he had recruited it earlier.

He didn’t even mention that the Lion-headed Goose used to be just a goose...

"I see."

Ning Yu didn’t know that Qi Zhen came from an A-Level Recruitment Card. She just assumed the Card Chen Chong had gotten was B-Level, like hers.

As for the Lion-headed Goose, she simply regarded it as a special creature, like the Fear Wolf.

After all, in a world like this, nothing that appeared would be too surprising anymore...

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About two hours."

"You’ve been standing guard here this whole time? You didn’t head back to the surface first?"

Chen Chong smiled. "You and Ah Jun both passed out from exhaustion. While I wasn’t quite at that point, I wasn’t feeling great either, so I could only rest here."

"Besides, we’re a thousand meters underground, we haven’t even found the exit, and it’s the middle of the night. It wouldn’t be easy to get back up without resting properly."

"That’s true..." Ning Yu murmured.

Chen Chong rummaged through his bag. "Good, you’re awake. Let’s divide up the Cards."

With that, he placed eight Cards on the ground between the three of them.

"Time to split the Cards! Time to split the Cards!"

Xu Jun ran over, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Ning Yu, however, was a little surprised. She clearly hadn’t expected Chen Chong to do this.

"I... get a share too?"

Chen Chong replied, "You participated in the hunt for the Blood-tooth Python, so of course you get a share."

Xu Jun chimed in, "My Brother Chong is a man who keeps his accounts clear. As long as you contribute, you get a share of the rewards. That’s the principle of our team. Last time we hunted the Unihorn Catfish, the Fishing Club also got two Cards."

Ning Yu fell silent. It was a long while before she spoke again.

"Tha... thank you."

Chen Chong just smiled without saying much and pointed directly at the Cards.

Just like the last time they killed the Unihorn Catfish, the number of Cards that dropped was eight.

Among them were six regular Cards and two Secret Cards.

It was just that the Card ratings were different.

Excluding the Secret Cards, the six Cards from the Unihorn Catfish had been one A-Level, two B-Level, and three C-Class.

But this time, after successfully hunting the Blood-tooth Python, they got two A-Level, three B-Level, and one C-Class.

It was safe to say the overall quality had gone up a notch.

There was a reason the Blood-tooth Python was a higher level and harder to kill than the Unihorn Catfish.

Looking at the haul of Cards, which was far better than last time, Chen Chong suddenly felt that all his hard work had been worth it...

"Among these eight Cards, two are Secret Cards. The information from those will be shared among us. The other six will be distributed according to each person’s contribution to this hunt."

"Secret Cards?"

Ning Yu was a little confused. It was obviously the first time she’d heard that name, and she had no idea what kind of Card it was.

Chen Chong patiently explained.

Ning Yu’s eyes widened in realization, but what she felt more than anything was shock.

"There are actually Cards like this?"

"At first glance, I was just shocked that killing an Extraordinary Creature would drop so many Cards—way more than I imagined. I can’t believe there are also Cards that hide secrets. It’s too amazing..."

Chen Chong replied, "They’re amazing, alright, but they’re also very important. They’re related to whether we can survive better in the future. Let’s divide the Cards first. After that, we’ll use these two Secret Cards together..."

As Chen Chong introduced them, the two learned the details of the Cards.

The six Cards were as follows...

A-Level Recruitment Card: Blade-Limbed Assassin Insect.

A-Level Ability Card: Self-Heal.

B-Level Resource Card: Refined Steel Splitting Axe.

B-Level Ability Card: Scent Tracking.

B-Level Ability Card: Frenzy.

C-Class Building Card: Farmland...

Six Cards, and three of them were Ability Cards.

Even Chen Chong found it incredible.

After all, Ability Cards were considered extremely rare among all Card Types, yet the drop rate was this high.

Chen Chong guessed that hunting Extraordinary Creatures might increase the probability of Ability Cards appearing.

Perhaps these Ability Cards were derived from the abilities possessed by the hunted Extraordinary Creatures themselves.

Or perhaps they were abilities similar to those of Extraordinary Creatures...

After all, besides Frenzy, the other two abilities, Self-Heal and Scent Tracking, were clearly ones the Blood-tooth Python itself possessed.

The process of dividing the Cards went exceptionally smoothly.

Originally, Chen Chong had been pondering how to distribute them.

Xu Jun was easy; he was on Chen Chong’s side, so he wouldn’t get the short end of the stick no matter how they were divided.

Ning Yu, on the other hand...

Her contribution to hunting the Blood-tooth Python was significant. Her attacks had caused the creature immense trouble several times.

Especially when she leaped down from the deep pool, and during the final killing blow—if she hadn’t acted, the Blood-tooth Python would have definitely struggled for much longer.

Based on her merits, she deserved to take an A-Class Card.

But Chen Chong wanted both of those Cards for himself and was reluctant to part with either.

’Should I compensate her with other Cards, just like the deal with Zhong Fang last time...?’

Just then, Ning Yu made the first move.

She picked up the B-Level "Frenzy."

"I’ll just take this one. The rest are yours."

"Frenzy?"

Ning Yu nodded.

Chen Chong wasn’t surprised by Ning Yu’s choice.

[Card Type: Ability Card · Frenzy]

[Rating: B-Level]

[Description: Upon use, the user enters a frenzied state for a period of time, blocking all pain. Physical strength and all other attributes are greatly enhanced. After the ability ends, the user will experience double the pain they received during its duration and enter a state of extreme weakness.]

[Note: The ability’s duration is determined by the user’s own power. If the pain taken exceeds the user’s tolerance limit, there is a high probability of instant death when the ability ends. Please use with caution.]

The Frenzy ability was definitely the one among the three Ability Cards that provided the most obvious boost to combat power.

But it was also a double-edged sword.

If used properly, it would cause a massive, short-term spike in combat power, granting strength far beyond one’s normal state.

At worst, the user would only be weakened for a while after it ended.

But if used improperly...

It could very well become an ability that burned away one’s life force.

All the pain, fed back all at once—and doubled!

It was definitely not something an ordinary person could endure.

It was highly likely that the moment the ability ended, the user would be ended along with it...

...