Crystal in the Heart (Part 1)

As Zhang Chen's thoughts stirred, his spiritual perspective seemed to expand without limit. That single drop of Golden Blood instantly magnified a thousandfold, and when Zhang Chen saw the golden-yellow blood, he froze, his eyes filled with astonishment.

It truly was "a drop" of golden-yellow blood. Within that blood, a familiar "crystal" appeared in his Spiritual World. It was identical to the crystal he had previously consumed after it had broken away from the Stone Tablet. Even a blood-red shadow appeared within the crystal. That shadow possessed an added spark of spirituality, and with a thought from Zhang Chen, he could form an inexplicable connection with it.

He could sense that, somewhere in the unseen, he shared a strange bond with that shadow, as though the blood-red shadow were his own incarnation.

He suddenly understood the source of his third skill: it actually came from that transparent crystal. As long as the crystal was not destroyed, then even if his heart were pierced through, it would not be a fatal wound to him. This crystal could temporarily take the heart's place, controlling the blood throughout his body and supplying power to his entire body.

"What exactly is this crystal?"

Zhang Chen looked on in surprise as the crystal drifted through his body with the flow of blood, without any fixed location.

At Zhang Chen's thought, the crystal stopped circulating. It even flowed upstream and came to rest near his liver. Then, as his thoughts shifted again, the crystal continuously spun in accordance with his will, changing into all manner of forms.

"My thoughts can control the crystal's movement, and I can make it stop in any corner of my body. From today onward, apart from my head, I probably no longer have any fatal weak points." Zhang Chen's eyes brimmed with delight.

Of course, if the Fox Spirit tore out his heart and lungs, or if his five internal organs were punched through with a gaping hole that could not be repaired, he would still die.

"I can suffer fatal injuries, but I absolutely cannot lose any vital organs." Zhang Chen's gaze was filled with joy. Was there any better news in the world? His ability to survive had increased. At crucial moments, it could save his life. With such a wondrous transformation, no matter how great the pain, it had all been worth it.

"The only pity is that my strength hasn't changed much. My body hasn't transformed; it's still exactly like that of an ordinary person." Zhang Chen felt somewhat regretful. What he truly wanted was the power to uproot mountains and tread across seas. A support-type skill like this always seemed to be missing something.

"I wonder what unimaginable changes will occur if my blood-control skill keeps leveling up without end. Perhaps Blood Rebirth will no longer be a dream." Zhang Chen withdrew his spiritual senses, tidied up the room, then checked the gunpowder on his person. Only after confirming that none was missing did he head toward the mountains, his steps slightly unsteady.

He checked the traps and found two rabbits and a pheasant inside. Zhang Chen was not surprised by the two rabbits. In this era, rabbits were also flooding the land. Rabbits could breed six to eight times a year, producing four to eight young each time. One could imagine just how terrifying their reproductive ability was. Moreover, hunting techniques in this era were primitive, so rabbits ran everywhere in the mountains.

Zhang Chen picked up a rabbit. A savage mouth emerged in his palm, and two fangs viciously sank into the rabbit's body. In no more than a breath, all the blood in the rabbit's body had been drained away.

After Zhang Chen devoured the blood of the two rabbits and the pheasant, a glimmer lit his eyes. Blood began to form again in his liver. At this point, he had recovered roughly one-fifth of his blood, far better than yesterday.

"For me, devouring blood is probably the fastest way to recover." Zhang Chen directly skinned the rabbits and pheasant. He carefully sensed the difference and found that drinking a muntjac's blood seemed no different from drinking a rabbit's blood.

"It seems the only difference between drinking the blood of large animals and small animals is the quantity. I wonder what would happen if I devoured human blood?" The thought flashed through Zhang Chen's mind, and he swiftly suppressed the dangerous notion.

With no blood left in the rabbits and pheasant, skinning and plucking them was not bloody at all. Zhang Chen finished dealing with the two little treasures and headed toward the stream, intending to wash the grease from his hands. But when he reached the stream, he could not help but freeze. Why? Because the water level had already fallen by half.

"How could it have dropped so quickly?" Zhang Chen stared at the dry riverbed, disbelief in his eyes. "This Great Drought is worse than I expected!"

Zhang Chen crouched down and washed the grease from his hands. Once he was done, he headed toward the karst cave. His body had not recovered today, so he would not dig any graves for the time being. If some huge creature suddenly burst out of a grave, he feared he would not be able to deal with it.

After entering the cave, Zhang Chen inspected its arrangements. Only after seeing no footprints from outsiders did he relax. His eyes turned to the falcon trapped in the Back Basket. He took out a chicken breast, cut it into pieces, and carefully used wooden sticks to feed the meat into the basket. Yet the bird did not even spare it a glance, looking thoroughly proud and aloof.

The corner of Zhang Chen's lips curled up. Since he did not need to enter the mountains to gather honey today, he directly activated the Beast Control Technique and forced the falcon to eat the chicken. Then, wearing a smug expression, he was just about to take out the honey and smear it over the falcon again, using the falcon to spread the sharpness across the ceiling of the cave—when a familiar sound of beating wings came from nearby. Zhang Chen hurriedly followed the sound with his eyes, only to see several familiar figures in the air. The hornets were flying about inside the cave, and as though they had sensed Zhang Chen's actions, they landed directly on his shoulder in a show of affection.

"The hornets found their way here?" Zhang Chen looked at the hornets clinging to his shoulder, his hair, and his thigh, delight flashing through his eyes. He hurriedly looked up toward the cave ceiling and saw that where he had previously smeared honey, there were already faint traces of a hive being built. Propolis had begun to spread there.

After brushing the hornets off his leg, Zhang Chen looked toward the top of the cave, joy in his eyes. "The hornets are going to build a nest here. It looks like my plan to establish a branch hive has succeeded."

There seemed to be no better news than this!

Zhang Chen was not stingy. He directly cut up the chicken breast and began feeding the hornets.

He decided that from now on, he would not feed the hornets at the place where he had first discovered their nest. He would feed them inside this cave instead, drawing even more hornets here.

After feeding the hornets and the falcon in the mountains, Zhang Chen had nothing else to do. He lowered his head and looked at the falcon. "What a pity I don't have a skill that can control wild beasts. Otherwise, I could turn this falcon directly into my slave and have it do many things for me."