Chapter 258 - 158: Security Guard Teacher Parasitized! Sima’s Gamble! I’ll Eat Vine Fragments Like a Meal

Chapter 258: Chapter 158: Security Guard Teacher Parasitized! Sima’s Gamble! I’ll Eat Vine Fragments Like a Meal

Before long, the door opened again.

The three of them walked out together and knocked on the door of the adjacent room.

The parasitic spread of the Bloodthirsty Vine was quietly advancing through the apartment building.

Meanwhile, in the traditional Chinese medicine room, Ning Yu was surrounded by an overpowering mixture of herbal aromas and the reek of blood. As a Transcendent, her keen Perception was severely weakened.

She was completely oblivious to the strangeness unfolding around her.

Her gaze remained fixed on the two injured members of the Swordsmanship Club, utterly unaware of the danger closing in...

...

[Name: Avian]

[Type: Extraordinary Creature]

[Rating: B+]

[Abilities: Split Body Control (Lacking Integrity), Assimilation (Incomplete)]

[Description: An avian creature with a very special bloodline that became an Acquired Extraordinary Creature by devouring the power core of an Extraordinary Creature. Its strength has undergone another sharp transformation after devouring fragments of a powerful Extraordinary Creature’s core for a second time, allowing it to inherit the target’s abilities to a greater degree. Perhaps by devouring more of the same fragments, this mutation will become more pronounced until the inheritance is complete.]

’A B+ rating...’

The blue light in Chen Chong’s eyes slowly faded.

He had absorbed all the information from the Identification Skill about the Lion-headed Goose.

He vaguely recalled that the last time, back in the Underground Cave when he had just acquired the Identification Skill, the Lion-headed Goose’s rating was only a B-.

It seemed that devouring the Vine Core, which had been formed from the fusion of over fifty Parasites, had helped it immensely. It had jumped two sub-levels at once, all the way to B+.

What surprised Chen Chong the most was the change in the Lion-headed Goose’s abilities.

Split Body Control seemed to have been further inherited.

Although it was still labeled "Lacking Integrity," that was a significant improvement over the previous "Incomplete." It was clearly becoming more developed.

More importantly, it had awakened a second ability... Assimilation!

At first, Chen Chong was completely baffled by this ability. Fortunately, the Identification Skill could also analyze abilities in detail, though it consumed more Spiritual Power.

As he activated the Identification Skill a second time and read the information about Assimilation, he finally understood that this ability also originated from the Bloodthirsty Vine!

It was through Assimilation that the Bloodthirsty Vine was able to absorb energy from its various hosts to nourish itself.

Chen Chong was a little surprised to learn this.

He had initially assumed that the Bloodthirsty Vine’s ability to drain energy was just a side effect of its parasitic nature.

Now it seemed that being parasitic was merely about occupying a creature’s body and controlling its actions; it didn’t include the ability to drain energy.

The ability to drain power came entirely from Assimilation!

Only by combining its parasitic nature with Assimilation could the Bloodthirsty Vine control a creature while simultaneously absorbing its power to strengthen itself.

In that case, his Lion-headed Goose truly was an extremely special anomaly, just as the identification description had said.

After devouring the vine fragments just twice, it had already inherited two of the target’s abilities. Though they were still incomplete, he imagined that, just as the description said, devouring the same fragments again would surely make the mutation more pronounced and the inherited abilities more complete.

Suddenly, an interesting thought occurred to Chen Chong.

The Tiger Striped Dog had only gained a higher concentration of Extraordinary Power in its body from the vine; it hadn’t reaped any other benefits.

But the Lion-headed Goose grew faster each time and could even inherit abilities. It was so compatible with the Bloodthirsty Vine. ’Could it be because... the Lion-headed Goose is a natural herbivore?’

’First, it devoured the vine and gained Split Body Control.’

’The second time, it gained Assimilation.’

’At this rate, will it awaken a new ability the third time?’

He didn’t know how many abilities the Bloodthirsty Vine actually possessed, but there were at least three known so far.

’The next time it devours vine fragments, it won’t awaken the Bloodthirsty Vine’s parasitic ability, will it?’

’If the Lion-headed Goose really did get that ability, how would it even use it?’

’It can’t just pluck its own feathers and use them as parasites, can it?’

After thinking for a long time, Chen Chong couldn’t come up with a plausible answer.

In the end, he could only chuckle and push the strange thought to the back of his mind...

...

Meanwhile, in another part of the campus.

Inside the Survival Association’s base... 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Sima was squatting on the ground.

He was surrounded by over twenty members of the Survival Association—all of them his trusted confidants and the core of the association’s leadership.

On the ground before them was a pile of plant fragments resembling withered branches and dead leaves.

They looked like rotten plants dug up from damp, dark soil, on the verge of being decomposed by microorganisms.

But a closer look would reveal that they were all fragments of the Bloodthirsty Vine.

They had turned gray, withered, and decayed only because the Vine Core had been shattered, causing the Bloodthirsty Vine to lose its vitality...

During yesterday’s events in the plaza, the countless fragments of the Bloodthirsty Vine had been snatched up by the students in a mad scramble.

Almost everyone had managed to grab a few pieces.

The larger the group, the more they had managed to get.

And the Survival Association, boasting the largest number of members, had claimed the vast majority of them.

They had even managed to get many fragments of the Vine Core itself!

It had taken several trips to haul everything back to their base.

They had managed to get their hands on it, but how to use it had become a problem.

Now, everyone had fallen silent.

The twenty-odd people, Sima included, stared at the large pile on the ground with furrowed brows.

After a long while, someone was the first to speak.

"Chief, how are we supposed to absorb the Extraordinary Energy from this stuff?"

Sima pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"To be honest, I don’t know either. But we’ll figure it out through trial and error. If we try one method after another, we’re bound to find a way that works."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone began to chime in.

"You don’t think we have to grind it into a paste and apply it to our bodies, do you?"

"Is this stuff even edible? It’s all dried out and as hard as wood. If you take a bite, won’t you break a tooth?"

"What if we stir-fry it in a pan with some oil? Would it be edible then?"

"I doubt we could chew it even if it’s fried. If all else fails, let’s just make a soup. We can boil it down to a pulp, like making congee. We should be able to drink that."

"Damn! Won’t drinking those wood dregs scrape up your throat?"

"I think we should brew it like traditional Chinese medicine, into a broth, and just drink the liquid."

"Are you sure the Extraordinary Energy in this thing can be boiled into a broth? You think this is bone soup? What if we boil it and all the effects are gone? Then we’d have suffered for nothing, right?"

"That’s a good point. So how should we eat it? Don’t tell me we actually have to eat it raw?"

"Forget about whether we can even get it down. Even if we do, can our stomachs even digest it?"

"I doubt it. This stuff is like super-hot peppers. It’s an ordeal going in, and it’ll be another ordeal coming out..."

Sima didn’t join the discussion, merely calculating silently in his mind.

Although he was reluctant to believe Chen Chong’s claim that there were only two paths to becoming a Transcendent—Ability Cards and Extraordinary Flesh and Blood—

he still gave the two methods some credit.

After all, Chen Chong wasn’t an idiot. He had announced it in front of so many people. If it was a lie, wouldn’t he also be deceiving those who wanted to join his team?

Since the method was real, they had to give it a try.

Chen Chong had eaten the flesh of a Blood-tooth Python. This Bloodthirsty Vine, however, was a split body from the Bloodthirsty Vine King, and its power even surpassed that of the Blood-tooth Python. The Extraordinary Energy contained in its fragments was surely more concentrated than that in the python’s flesh.

Naturally, the chances of becoming a Transcendent by relying on it were much higher.

However, Chen Chong had eaten meat, while they were faced with a plant. This stuff was far trickier to handle than ordinary vegetables.

Never mind humans; even herbivores would probably refuse to touch it.

But Sima had no other choice. This was his only chance to become a Transcendent.

He knew full well that even if Extraordinary Flesh and Blood could help him step onto the path of the Extraordinary, he lacked the ability to hunt Extraordinary Creatures himself.

He had gotten all these Bloodthirsty Vine fragments thanks to Chen Chong.

If Chen Chong and his team hadn’t killed it, he would never have had the chance to get his hands on them.

If he gave up on these fragments, he would have no other way to obtain the flesh and blood of an Extraordinary Creature.

Therefore, these Bloodthirsty Vine fragments had to be used.

And he had to maximize their effect, to push his chances of becoming a Transcendent to the absolute limit!

After a long time, Sima shot to his feet and slammed his palm on the table.

"I’ve decided! As long as I can become a Transcendent, any price is worth paying!"

"This stuff... whether we brew it into a soup, boil it into a broth, or apply it to our skin, none of it is a sure thing."

"What if the method is wrong, or the Extraordinary Energy completely evaporates during the cooking process? Wouldn’t all our effort be for nothing?"

"So, to absorb the maximum amount of Extraordinary Energy from it and step onto the path of the Extraordinary, I’ve decided..."

"We eat it raw!"

...