A Massive Haul

"Not going back?"

"No. We'll press on and find the source, before something else happens."

After injecting himself with a vial of medicine, Su Ren showed no intention of leaving.

Looking at the black giant wolf's corpse nearby, Su Shijie felt a lingering chill in his heart. Even a low-level Contamination Source carried enormous risks.

"This was a level-nine Spirit Beast that got contaminated. Going by its overall stats on paper, it was probably comparable to a Transformation Tier level-one warrior."

Hearing Su Ren's words, Su Shijie suddenly felt a wave of delayed fear.

A contaminated level-nine Spirit Beast?

Still, judging from the way his old man had fought it earlier, perhaps all that bragging about being able to smash a commander's head in hadn't been just bragging.

Without Power Armor, Sergei, whose profession was worker, really would not have been able to beat that black giant wolf.

It was true that Su Shijie had landed the crucial blow that helped his father, but if his father had had enough bullets, he would not have been at a disadvantage in the first place. Human bodies did not have the defense of a Contaminated Beast and could not withstand that many hits.

No wonder he had fought his way through so much.

Actually, if everything had gone smoothly, Su Shijie could have kept using this Contamination Source to farm monsters until it was discovered. Sooner or later, he would have found more contaminated Spirit Beasts.

Once contaminated, the rewards were multiplied tenfold.

But after going through this, he abandoned that idea.

There was far too much uncertainty surrounding a Contamination Source. Even with his father around, there was no way to keep it under control.

Besides, the Spirit Deer migration was likely to expose it anyway, so there was nothing much to regret.

"Once we're done, I'll report it to Prosperous City, using the discovery of the Ghost Mushroom and this Contaminated Beast as an excuse. They'll send people over for a more thorough investigation, rule out human involvement, and make sure nothing was missed."

Su Ren immediately decided how to handle it. We only discovered the problem; whatever conclusions you people come to are your own business.

Though he was not weak, he was still a crippled Awakened Rank. The big shots up there should not expect too much from him.

"Then let's get this over with and head back."

Su Shijie fully agreed with his father. Then he saw his old man looking upward. His heart stirred, and he looked up as well.

But apart from the faint outlines of several thick branches, there was only pitch-black darkness. Dense leaves blocked the starlight.

Huh?

Right. Projections of evil gods usually came down through starlight, so it was quite possible that it was up there.

That black giant wolf had also leaped down from above earlier. It had probably been wandering near the Contamination Source all along.

"Let's go up."

"Okay."

Climbing a hundred-meter-tall giant tree was not easy. Fortunately, Su Shijie had become one of the noble Awakened Rank. Using the city-wall-like trunk and the cracks in the bark large enough for his fingers to grip, he climbed straight up as though scaling a cliff.

As he gradually approached the treetop, Su Shijie smelled that sweet fragrance again.

That was right, the Contamination Source was nearby!

Pushing aside layers upon layers of enormous leaves, Su Shijie climbed to the top of the canopy and saw the brilliant starry sky, untouched by optical contamination.

So beautiful...

The star-filled sky was mysterious and profound.

Beyond the stars, he could vaguely make out the ring-shaped orbital zone around Earth, dotted with lights. It was said to contain spaceports and space cities, serving as Earth's gateway to the outside world.

Three Space Elevator routes also connected separately to Africa, Indonesia, and South America.

Tonight there was only a crescent moon, but even the moon's dark side was densely dotted with lights. From space, it looked much like the Suhu District at night. Those were the space cities on the moon.

It was also one of the Solar System's free-trade zones!

It was said that the true body of the Dawn Goddess was within the moon. Taking advantage of the fact that few dared attack artificial intelligence connected to the Radiant God Race, the Earth Federation had cleverly developed the moon into a free-trade zone.

They were living quite the prosperous life...

From this far away, it really did seem bustling...

"Your first time coming up here at night, huh?"

"Yeah."

Su Shijie withdrew his gaze and calmed his thoughts before replying evenly.

He had come up during the day to clean the solar panels and had seen the sun, but this truly was his first time seeing the night sky.

After generations of evolution, the leaves at the top of these hundred-meter Giant Brown Iron Trees had become extraordinarily tough and sturdy.

As long as one stepped on the support points in the middle of the leaves, it was possible to move across them without worrying about falling.

Actually, there was no need to move at all.

The moment he came up, Su Shijie saw a huge patch of strange black markings on a giant leaf not far away.

It was neither a symbol nor a pattern. In any case, just one glance made a person feel an intensely uncomfortable, discordant sense of distortion. It was enough to drive anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies mad.

"This is the Contamination Source, a projection of an evil god. Normally, you need to continuously scour it with spiritual energy to wash it away. Even low-level Contamination Sources usually require two or three Transformation Tier warriors working together to cleanse them quickly."

"Otherwise, if they stay near it for too long, even the people doing the cleansing may become contaminated."

Su Ren explained the characteristics of the Contamination Source. There was nothing he could do to help Su Shijie with this; Su Shijie could only judge for himself.

"I think I can do it."

Su Shijie sensed that sweet fragrance and seemed to swallow.

If not for the contaminated level-nine Spirit Beast earlier, Su Ren would have told Su Shijie to hold back and take a safer approach.

But after that encounter, he had realized something.

His son had grown up...

"Go on."

Whatever you do, I'll support you from behind...

"Oh, right, Dad. If I absorb the Contamination Source, will your report cause any trouble afterward?"

"What trouble could there be? I'm just a crippled Awakened Rank. Who knows what happened? Besides, people seeking redemption sometimes quietly clear Contamination Zones in the wilderness. The investigators will pin it on them themselves."

Su Ren clearly already had a contingency plan.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Shijie extended the tentacles that had become thicker and longer from his body and thrust them toward the mark.

Unlike the previous times he had absorbed something, this time Su Shijie vaguely sensed a faint connection between the mark and the sky—or rather, some mysterious entity among the distant stars.

But as his tentacles wrapped around it, that connection was severed.

A mass of Soul Power even more abundant than that of the black giant wolf surged into his body, making Su Shijie roll his eyes and convulse.

If he had not been letting out some rather indecent sighs, Su Ren might have suspected that he had been contaminated outright.

The absorption lasted even longer than it had with the black giant wolf. Speechless, Su Ren sensed another gathering of spiritual energy.

Had his bloodline transformed again?

Just what the hell was a Contamination Source to you?

By the brat's own earlier calculations, the second transformation had required two and a half times as much as the first. Even assuming the third needed a similar multiplier, it was enough to show just how rich this Contamination Source was.

But thinking about it, both the evil spirit that had caused his first transformation and the black giant wolf earlier were products of this Contamination Source's influence.

It was only natural that the source itself would be even more nourishing.

"Evil spirits are Spiritual Creatures whose souls were contaminated after death due to powerful obsessions. Does that make the Soul Power they contain purer?"

Based on his son's descriptions, Su Ren began summarizing the patterns according to his own understanding.

But then he took out a Rubik's Cube, intending to have his son solve it after he was done.

No matter what his son had become, he was still his boy. But at least Su Ren needed to know what was going on...

Whoosh, whoosh~

Watching the Rubik's Cube tumble through the air on its own before swiftly restoring itself, even Su Ren could not help staring blankly.

"Did your telekinesis get strengthened again?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe because there wasn't any fighting involved."

If Su Shijie's telekinesis had previously been one percent of his physical strength, it was now two percent!

In the future, the amplification from gene fragments meant specifically for the Transformation Tier would also be twenty times as efficient as for ordinary people!

If gene fragment implantation did not require balance and stability, he could simply stack telekinesis amplification and soar straight into the heavens.

"And I feel like I'm not far from the next transformation either. This Contamination Source was seriously packed."

Su Shijie made a rough estimate. Using the evil spirit from last time as a unit, this Contamination Source contained the equivalent of forty evil spirits!

He now estimated that he only needed the equivalent of three or four more evil spirits to transform again.

Moreover, aside from the innate strengthening of telekinesis, this transformation had also provided a twenty-percent overall boost!

That was the characteristic of a Bloodline Transformation. It advanced almost in sync with Gene Evolution. Every two ten-percent boosts would be followed by one twenty-percent boost.

After transforming by absorbing the black giant wolf, he had been considered to possess a baron-level bloodline. Another transformation would make it a viscount-level bloodline, theoretically a true noble rank.

Bloodlines were classified by noble titles, and those titles themselves represented status.

However, Su Shijie would not rashly upload his information before reaching an Imperial Bloodline. If he reported being a viscount now, then later reported again after reaching Imperial Bloodline, how would that be explained?

Even two or three Bloodline Transformations were incredibly rare.

He would need to claim that he had inherited an ancestral bloodline before it would be convenient to act.

Thanks to the extra boost from the Bloodline Transformation, although he had only just entered the early stage of Awakened Rank level one, his stats on paper were already at the early stage of Awakened Rank level two. On top of that, he had the Tough Skin Bloodline Trait and telekinesis that had been strengthened once, along with a more solid foundation, greater potential, and faster cultivation speed.

A massive haul...

"If there's that much, try raising your telekinesis by another unit and see whether the consumption changes. How much energy will it take for the next upgrade?"

Even Su Ren was starting to feel unnerved by his son, so he had him test it.

Hearing that, Su Shijie began slowly injecting his surplus Soul Power.

After completing his Bloodline Transformation, he still had Soul Power equivalent to twenty-seven or twenty-eight evil spirits stored up. After slowly raising telekinesis by the amount of one transformation, he discovered that it still consumed only the equivalent of one evil spirit!

The effect of his telekinesis had now increased to three percent!

After estimating the next increase, he found that it would require roughly two portions, so he injected energy again.

The effect of his telekinesis reached four percent!

The next upgrade would require four portions, so he temporarily stopped there. He still had Soul Power equivalent to twenty-five evil spirits left, while the next transformation required another six or seven evil spirits' worth.

If he used it all to strengthen telekinesis, he could raise it twice more.

But then, on a whim, Su Shijie shifted his attention to Tough Skin. After consuming one portion, its effect doubled...

"Holy shit!"

Hearing the details of Su Shijie's enhancement, Su Ren was both shocked and speechless.

It had already been absurd enough, and now this was even more absurd?

What the hell was this?

"In that case, strengthen all your traits first. What happened earlier also showed that accidents can happen even when I'm with you. It's better to keep your overall strength steady."

Su Ren made adjustments on the spot according to the changes.

"The next transformation only gives a ten-percent overall boost. It's better to first improve the traits that require less. At the moment, raising them to roughly a multiple equal to your bloodline level seems the most cost-effective."

It was an unknown thing to begin with, so of course they could not set everything in stone from the start.

His son had such enormous potential that Su Ren had originally planned to guide him through leveling up, letting him quietly lie low all the way until he reached Imperial Bloodline.

But what had happened earlier also proved that his son had grown up...

And at least for now, Su Ren's advice was more reliable. Su Shijie chose to trust his father's judgment.

In one go, he used the remaining twenty-odd portions of Soul Power to strengthen his traits.

His telekinesis was strengthened to six percent! It could also be considered telekinesis level six: two levels from the initial Bloodline Transformation, plus four levels of separate enhancement.

The next upgrade would require sixteen portions of Soul Power.

Its range had surpassed twenty meters, and its force had exceeded twenty kilograms!

Tough Skin had also been raised to four times its initial effect. Although Su Shijie had only just entered the Awakened Rank, when he took out a dagger and lightly scraped it across his skin, it did not even leave a white mark.

Because telekinesis had gained an extra level from the Bloodline Transformation itself, Tough Skin was technically level four, but its next upgrade already required eight portions. It was equivalent to the original level one from the Bloodline Transformation, plus three levels of separate enhancement.

Directly strengthening traits did not require gathering enough energy all at once like bloodline strengthening did. The remaining six portions could have been directly poured into one trait for a proportional increase.

But Su Shijie, who had a bit of an obsessive streak, still left those six portions alone. The boost would not be large anyway, and this felt more comfortable.

Hadn't his dad said it? Only contaminated people liked discordant things.

I may be an evil god, but I'm not contaminated.

Slash~

Just as Su Shijie was feeling satisfied, Su Ren used his hook to cut another line across Su Shijie's arm.

This time, although it left a cut, it did not bleed. It had not even penetrated the dermis.

"Good lord. In terms of pure defense, you should be able to resist ordinary Electromagnetic Handguns to some extent now. You're about as tough as a standard Protective Suit. Not bad..."