Chen Chuan had hunted quite a few Confluence creatures along the way, but setting aside the rust bees that numbered in the millions at every turn, he had not taken down many in terms of species diversity.
Yet anything capable of providing him with high-energy nutritional value sat at the top of the food chain, so when encountering creatures of scarce populations, he tried his best not to hunt the same kind repeatedly.
A fairly complex ecosystem had long since formed here. If a dominant predator like him barged in and struck out recklessly, it would certainly cause a major disruption in short order.
Although the Confluence's ecosystem could regulate itself, certain valuable species might disappear forever.
With these venomous ants, however, there was no need for restraint.
They were pure destroyers, like ulcerous sores festering on skin. The more he eradicated, the better off the local wildlife would be, allowing vegetation to recover as well.
After absorbing this spot, he pushed forward. Within the reach of his field, wisps and threads of white mist converged into his body. All the while, he continuously circulated the Heaven and Earth Furnace breathing technique, converting these nutrients into fuel for himself without pause.
Absorbing them directly like this was actually somewhat wasteful—the nutrients he could truly digest might be less than a third of the total—but their sheer abundance made up for it, compensating for the lack of quality with overwhelming quantity.
There were simply too many ant nests. Even after an entire afternoon of harvesting, he had only cleared out a corner of the periphery.
Considering the immense scale of these nests, he decided to continue through the night. And so, when darkness fell, he resumed cultivating the stance of the Grand Radiant Light Forms he had yet to master.
With his expenditure ramping up sharply, he had to accelerate his absorption of the ant eggs and constantly change positions. Chaoming could no longer sleep peacefully either, trailing alongside him the entire time. Fortunately, having gorged on honey earlier, the bird was full of energy, chirping encouragingly from the sidelines.
Only at dawn did Chen Chuan pause once more. Regulating his breath, he found that, barring any surprises, he should be able to master the stance he was currently practicing with just one more night of training. This far surpassed the speed of his cultivation back in Center City or even across the ocean.
Aside from the massive nourishment supplied by fresh, near-infinite ingredients, he had also realized that the Confluence itself seemed far better suited for a martial artist's cultivation. In particular, resisting the other world at night gave him a deeper understanding and expression of the Purist Faction's esoteric arts.
Viewed this way, although the former imperial house's Generals of State Subjugation had gained the ability to move freely in the Confluence at night, they had actually lost a portion of the advantages in cultivation.
Or perhaps they did not see it that way themselves.
Glancing behind him, he saw that vast numbers of ant nests had been emptied over the night. In those places, sparse vegetation was already sprouting anew, and small creatures were beginning to show themselves.
Even so, more than half still remained. Chen Chuan thought it over. Since he was already here, he might as well stay another day to clear out more of them and master this stance of the Grand Radiant Light Forms in the process.
Naturally, he did not intend to linger too long. After all, his ultimate purpose here was cultivation. The deeper one went into the Confluence, the greater the nutritional value of the creatures. A brief stay was fine, but a prolonged delay was unnecessary.
Thus, he stayed another full day and night, clearing nearly every nest visible to the naked eye. Yet these creatures were remarkably tenacious; while those above ground were gone, plenty likely remained beneath the soil. In time, they would multiply and flourish again, but he did not need to concern himself with that.
During this period, he successfully mastered that stance of the Grand Radiant Light Forms. Because it was best to progress in the Grand Radiant Light Forms and the Grand Firmament Forms side by side, he would next practice the corresponding stance of the Grand Firmament Forms.
After eating some honey in the morning, he continued forward.
To his surprise, less than an hour into his trek, he stumbled upon an unexpected boon—a ghost-face vine.
The trunk bore undulating ridges resembling ghostly visages, looking as if faces had been embedded directly into the bark. Hanging from its sprawling vines were hundreds of yellowish-green fruits, each plump, glossy, and bursting with moisture—a sight that immediately whetted the appetite.
In reality, however, these fruits formed from the secretions of the ghost-face vine. Beneath their hard outer shells lay a paralytic toxin. Once they dropped to the ground, they lured passing creatures into eating them; once paralyzed, the victims were ensnared by the vines and swallowed whole by the trunk, leaving not even bones behind.
According to the compendium, the vine was quite valuable. Among the fruits hanging from it, exactly one was edible, possessing extraordinarily high nutritional value.
Furthermore, people of the old era were particularly fond of using it to craft shields. If the ghostly faces were peeled off, polished, and mounted onto a shield, striking them with a weapon on the battlefield would unleash a soul-shaking howl.
Moreover, the wood itself was exceptionally tough. Without mastering the flame of spirituality, even hacking at it with a mutated weapon would hardly split it open.
Yet it was not without weakness. For all the resilience of its trunk and branches, it had virtually no resistance against mental power.
Chen Chuan did not intend to destroy the ghost-face vine today; he only needed to find that single essence fruit. He took several steps forward, surging his mental power like a tide toward the trunk.
After just a brief moment, the ghost-face vine began to sway. Stirred by the intrusion, the fruits hanging from its vines dropped one after another, releasing waves of strange fragrance. Yet one fruit alone refused to fall, hanging steadily in place.
This was the true fruit condensed by the ghost-face vine. Walking over, he plucked it, causing the vine to instantly wilt. Still, given ample nourishment, it would recover within several months.
Holding the fruit, he tapped lightly on its top, cracking away the outer shell to reveal fingertip-sized, dark seeds that emanated a rich, enduring fragrance. He scooped a few into his mouth and chewed slowly.
Crisp and crunchy, they restored his spirit and stamina shortly after swallowing. He nodded in satisfaction.
The seeds of the ghost-face vine kept for a long time. High nutritional value was one benefit, but most importantly, they aided in recovering mental and physical energy. With these on hand, he could prolong his stay here.
After all, he could not rest at night, having to rely on various means to fend off the contamination. If he did not want to waste daytime hours, he had to push through without pause unless he set aside extra time to rest. With these seeds, he wouldn't need to worry about that in the short term.
Since the husks holding the seeds rotted easily once severed from the vine, he poured them out into a container. Once that was done, he resumed his journey.
From that point on, however, he grew vigilant, paying close attention to his surroundings and checking in with Chaoming from time to time.
According to the records, Wei Guochan and Gai Shuhe had stayed here for about ten days before leaving in haste. Discounting the time spent hunting and resting in between, they had most likely encountered something between the fourth and sixth day.
Given the abundance of benefits here, only a severe threat could have forced them to abandon it all.
Normally, anything capable of threatening a martial artist had to be at least of an equivalent level. Generally speaking, those that broke through to a higher level were the extreme few within a species, and they rarely stayed in their original grounds, preferring to push deeper or cross over to the other side of the Ring of the World.
Yet there was another possibility...
Whatever it was, if it still lingered here, he would likely cross paths with it before long given his current pace.
Throughout the morning, he encountered nothing. But toward dusk, Chaoming let out a sharp chirping alarm from ahead.
Hearing it, Chen Chuan immediately bounded up a giant tree, leaping straight to the highest branches. As he looked into the distance, his eyes narrowed. Upon the opposite hillside, the outline of a colossal figure had appeared, measuring seven or eight meters tall at a glance.
Because its body was covered in thick layers of soil and vegetation and it was seated, a casual look would make one mistake it for an ordinary knoll.
Was this... a mutated martial artist from the old era?
Or rather... a yaogui?
As he watched, the massive body seemed to sense something. It shifted, causing dust and vegetation to cascade down like rain, while countless bugs and small creatures leaped free and scattered in panic. It rose slowly from the ground and turned toward Chen Chuan with heavy, lumbering strides.
In that instant, Chen Chuan could clearly see its face. Numerous eyes resembling jagged scars studded its features, trickling thick, blood-like fluid. On either side of its neck were two jagged stumps, as though two other heads had once grown there.
From its back sprouted more than a dozen massive arms of varying lengths. One could still see that mutated tissue had grown into the shape of old-era armor across its torso, and in its grip was a colossal hammer. A cyan-crimson glow now rippled over its entire body.
Watching intently and feeling the waves of chaotic mental energy radiating from it, Chen Chuan confirmed his suspicion.
The further martial artists advanced, the more external contamination they endured. When this buildup became impossible to purge, they would completely lose their sanity, degenerating into another kind of mutated creature leaning toward the other side—the yaogui that Fenghe Shou had once spoken of.
From the looks of it, this creature normally remained in torpor for some reason, but once it caught the scent of a martial artist, sensed a biological field, or detected the arrival of someone who posed a threat, it would awaken.
Just then, the gigantic yaogui broke into a sprint. Despite its immense size, it was surprisingly swift, closing the distance in the blink of an eye to bring its hammer crashing down upon him!
……
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Chapter 881