Eternal Here X Three Bones

In the untraceable past.

During that period when the exact time was uncertain.

A pool of blood appeared in the forest at some unknown time, and white bones emerged from its surface.

The origin of the blood pool is now unknown.

Perhaps it has always been here, or perhaps it was a creature that died here and turned into the pool water.

Regardless.

It's all here now.

It's called a pond, but it looks more like a puddle.

The small area exuded an enticing aroma.

The surrounding creatures were attracted and began to fight over it.

Until the strongest one takes over.

Time is the most ruthless and fairest thing, until the creature feels death and aging.

This pool, however, is helping it, hoping it will live longer.

Until a stronger creature takes over, or it eventually dies out over time.

To seize, occupy, or possess.

This cycle repeats.

One corpse after another lay dead in the pool, and one powerful figure after another, their remains becoming tombs in the erosion of time.

The stronger the deceased, the greater the legacy they leave behind.

The pool expanded again and again, and bones piled up again and again.

This attracted even more powerful creatures.

It's like this, constantly accumulating and improving step by step.

The swamp, formed from flesh and blood, has persisted despite the passage of time.

The stronger and smarter a person is, the more they yearn for life, and the more they will struggle in the final stages of their life.

The more adept they are at seizing, the more they are at fighting.

The victors occupy this place, while the dead leave their bodies in the pool.

This swamp of flesh and blood needs to do nothing; it only needs to wait quietly.

Time has no meaning for it.

The passage of time will not kill it, but only make it grow.

It is the earth, the pool water, the environment here, the nature here, and a part of this place.

All you have to do is wait.

Men Qi looked at everyone and murmured these words.

Yes.

This is the symbiotic relationship they suspected was caused by that pool.

"It does sound very logical, but it's too logical, which makes it seem abnormal."

Qi sat next to Men Qi and made a comment.

"You brat, it's none of your business!"

Men Qi was somewhat dissatisfied; didn't she know that?

This is called making a simple story interesting and expanding simple information.

Add a touch of humanity.

What an uncultured brat.

When Men Qi called him a brat, Qi just rolled his eyes and ignored her.

"Old woman."

"What! What did you say?!"

Buhaci suddenly grabbed Men Qi from behind, causing her to flail her arms in mid-air.

Kevin thought for a moment and then nodded.

He agreed with Men Qi's conjecture.

"Based on the current information, that is indeed the case. As long as the central Bone Tower can continue to exist, countless struggling strong individuals will naturally flock to it."

"Bloody battles will forever accompany the birth of the pool of flesh. It needs to do nothing but provide what it can, and countless corpses will naturally be delivered to its doorstep."

If that swamp of flesh and blood possesses life, then this is the best means of perpetuation.

How wonderful!

You don't need to do anything.

When the powerful figures of the previous generation enter the final stages of their lives, their strength naturally declines. At this time, they are no longer able to leave the pool of flesh and blood to fight, and can only fight against those who would plunder within the pool of flesh and blood.

We won.

The bodies of the robbers would naturally remain in the pool, becoming nutrients.

It failed.

The corpses of the deceased previous owners would naturally remain in the pool of flesh and blood.

There were no robbers.

The increase in lifespan will eventually have its limits; even if it continues for several hundred more years, it will eventually reach the limit of lifespan.

Because of the continuation of life, even the elderly and dying owner may not ultimately leave that place.

We're just waiting for the final moment to arrive.

Naturally, corpses would also be left there.

It does not compete for the moment when life is still alive, but only provides for that moment.

It receives payment after death.

What they collected were the deceased's belongings.

What a great deal!

Or rather, for those powerful life forms that are still alive, this is a completely acceptable deal with no cost involved.

As for the Blood Pool, it offers nothing; it's just there.

Win-win.

The blood pool does not have any symbiotic relationship with any life form, but countless life forms will attempt to form a symbiotic relationship with it.

Or rather, only the strong can coexist with the pool of flesh and blood.

"Where else outside the Dark Continent can you see such an ecological connection? If Koto and Jin knew about this, they'd come running over."

Melusina chuckled beside her, already able to imagine the expressions on those people's faces when the news got back.

Qi ran over at that moment, looked at Kevin, and asked curiously.

"Kevin, if it were you, what would you choose?"

This is an interesting question, and it certainly piques everyone's curiosity.

Upon hearing this question, Kevin sat by the Bonfire, stroked his chin, and pondered for a moment.

"I am so young now, especially considering my current lifespan, I'm probably still an infant."

Kevin couldn't help but chuckle as he said this.

Then his expression changed.

"The future is unpredictable, but as I see it now, I'd rather die than stay there and prolong my life."

What?

You said that when a person is near death, they must stay in the middle of the pool of flesh and blood to prolong their life.

In a state of extreme old age.

To spend hundreds of years in the middle of a "cesspool"?

Are you torturing me?

I must have committed some serious crime to deserve this kind of detention, right?

Could this be a reward?

Kevin thought to himself, "This is what I'm thinking."

"Well, those of you who harbor fantasies about this kind of thing, you'll know once you go there for yourself. I believe that by then, you won't have such thoughts in your minds anymore."

The swamp, formed from blood and flesh, was viscous and stringy, covered with streaks of blood and bits of meat.

Oh my god.

This is a cesspool.

Perhaps for other life forms, this is nothing unusual at all, and they might even thrive in it.

But for humans...

It's still a bit too ahead of its time.

"Was it disgusting? That kind of environment?"

"I asked, "Buhaci asked, glancing at the bones piled up in the bubbles floating beside him.

Well, the environment in which something like this is located probably isn't very pleasant.

Kevin smiled.

He began to describe his feelings in detail to everyone, especially the feelings he had after receiving information from the Nen Beast and carefully retracing them.

Even if Kevin's words could only describe a tenth of what was said, it was enough to disgust everyone.

"Stop talking, stop talking."

Men Qi shook her head violently, saying she couldn't eat anymore.

What do you think are the functions of each of these bones?

Melusina immediately changed the subject and asked...

This is a topic that everyone is very concerned about.

Kevin walked over and reached into the last bubble, pulling out a long, thin bone stick.

Once freed from the confinement of the bubbles, the breath of life spread through the bones.

The expressions of the four people changed immediately upon smelling the strong aroma.

"It smells so good," Qi muttered to himself, his eyes shining as he stared at the bones.

"Your eyes look like a dog's."

These words instantly struck Qi, bringing him to his senses slightly.

She rolled her eyes and glared at Men Qi.

As Men Qi looked at the bones, she wondered how she could incorporate them into a dish.

Should it be made into a thick soup?

It seems there aren't many options besides these.

If it can be used to make soup base, then this is absolutely the best soup base.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound.

Kevin snapped it in two, and an even stronger aura erupted from it.

The group of people who smelled the odor couldn't help but step back and cover their noses.

It doesn't smell too bad.

It was just that it smelled so good that it triggered a stress response in them.

"My body is craving it; I feel like I could eat a hundred cows right now!"

The largest in size, and with the greatest thirst for life force and physical strength, Xiahara couldn't help but say.

He could certainly tolerate it.

But it smells so good!

"There's really no way to explain this smell; it's a sign of abundant life force. That's how it will be when you take it out."

To draw an analogy, it's like releasing a Pheromone in the air, and this Pheromone is incredibly attractive to life.

Kevin poured some into his hands.

Some small, round, white grains of rice, about the size of half a fingernail, rolled down.

"It really does look like rice."

Melusina nearby, curiously picked up a grain with her fingers and examined it closely against the sunlight.

The feel of rubbing it.

It does resemble rice, but it's noticeably harder.

I took a gentle sniff.

A pure breath of life, life is yearning.

"It's bone. Its structure is more like bone than rice."

Melusina drew a conclusion.

Kevin looked at the few grains of rice in his palm.

"Longevity Rice —according to Dong, this stuff can increase lifespan after consumption. What do you think?"

Several people came over, picked one up, and examined it carefully.

Although their bodies were craving it, they weren't actually controlled by the feeling.

The feeling is somewhat like being starved for three to five days and then seeing a delicious meal.

It is certainly very attractive.

But for them, willpower was enough to withstand it.

"To be honest, it's a bit like Thick White Milk, except that Thick White Milk is more about being rich in nutrients, which is different from this pure life force."

However, if one's strength hasn't reached its limit, these two things might seem similar.

Once one's strength surpasses its limits, one's perception naturally becomes more acute, and only then can one perceive the difference between these two things.

Kevin was able to directly see the fundamental difference between the two types of items.

He handed them the two broken bones.

Kevin then took out one of the bones that had accumulated the most from the bubble in the middle.

This is the smallest one inside; it must be the rib of some kind of giant beast. But even the smallest one is still up to Kevin's waist.

Find one end and break it open.

It's like opening up a white container.

It stretched into strings after being broken open.

The transparent liquid has a gel-like consistency.

"The flavor isn't as strong as before. How should I put it—if the previous rice aroma was like that of well-cooked fragrant rice..."

"The flavor is like steamed glutinous rice balls, equally fragrant, but with a delicate aroma rather than a rich, cloying fullness."

Taking a gentle sniff, Melusina and gave this impression.

"Hmm, that's a very accurate description."

Men Qi, also a culinary master, gave it a positive review.

Judging solely from the taste, that is certainly true.

"Because the fluid inside this bone is only B-Rank, while the valuable part is actually the outer bone, which is A-Rank."

Men Qi leaned closer to take a look.

It got wet with liquid.

"This kind of clear, fragrant liquid is generally the pure liquid left after some biological material has filtered out all the impurities."

"But if bones are of a higher grade, then fluids are of a lower grade; these fluids are simply the impurities left behind."

This shows that its original essence was of a very pure kind.

As they spoke, everyone looked at the bone that had just been broken.

"In other words, in that environment, the original Longevity Rice, which was located in the center of the bone, was gradually absorbed. So its substances eventually dissolved into the bone, leaving only some impurities, which were a transparent gel-like substance that remained in the bone cavity."

This judgment is logical.

But Kevin shook his head.

"That shouldn't be the case. First of all, these two things aren't related in any way; these aren't plants."

Kevin reminded them, and then everyone realized what was happening.

Larger bones were placed in the inner ring, while smaller bones were placed in the outer ring.

"Perhaps the real situation is that small bones can only absorb a limited amount of certain components, so after they absorb them, the nutrients cannot completely purify the entire bone into A-Rank material."

"That's why they grow from within, forming these rice grains; essentially, they are tiny, separated bones."

As he spoke, he tapped the large bone club in his hand again.

"As for the inner rings, perhaps due to some circumstances, they are able to absorb enough substances very well, so the entire bone can be purified, and even the excess can be left and concentrated in the cavity to form this gel-like liquid."

After saying that, he handed the large bone club in his hand to Qi, who was standing next to him.

He pointed to the smallest bubble at the very front, which contained only a bone the same size as Kevin.

Even without fully revealing it, just a glimpse of its aroma was enough to tell everyone its high quality.

"This thing is still A-Rank, it hasn't exceeded A-Rank, but it has indeed reached the Peak A-Rank."

"If anything is of a higher grade than what's here, it can only be S-Rank."

But that's not the most important thing.

"I can guarantee that this bone is absolutely solid, with no internal cavity, and even if it were solid, its weight would be several times greater than expected."

Following this process, these very central bones clearly absorbed an absolute excess of some kind of substance.

It is through the continuous purification of itself that this existence is formed.

After hearing Kevin's explanation, it does seem more appropriate, and may even be correct.

After all, Kevin's expertise in identifying materials is beyond question.

Men Qi frowned and asked, "If that's the case, then the three types of bones are essentially the same, only differing in quantity."

19

Kevin nodded.

"In my opinion, they are indeed related in some way, but each has its own distinct attributes."

Perhaps quantitative change led to qualitative change.

This possibility is actually not low.

The topic then shifted to how to use these three different types of bones.

Pure Life Energy is too general and too broad.

In other words, there are too many uses, making it difficult to choose.

"So, shall we go back now?"