Taking Whale Rubber

Chen Yumo had to admit that his impulsive idea had indeed been far too poorly thought out.

He had only considered how to evolve the abilities he needed, without considering how difficult it would be to obtain the resources required during the evolution process.

But then—

How could anyone reach the summit on a smooth, effortless road?

The path to success was one of constant trial and error, constant correction. This temporary mistake did not frustrate Chen Yumo in the slightest; it only filled him with even greater fighting spirit.

"If Basalt Transformation won't work and I can't take the defensive route, then I'll take the warrior route." Chen Yumo quickly opened the Encyclopedia and eventually stopped at a certain page.

"Sword Bamboo is named for its leaves, which are as sharp as sword edges due to their metal attribute. It's a standard pure metal-attribute plant. Its market price is three to four times that of Cold Mulberry, but it's still within what I can afford right now."

"Feed Sword Bamboo to accumulate metal-attribute energy during Cocooning, then pair it with a Spirit Ring from a metal-attribute tiger-type Spirit Beast to solidify the second transformation into the heavily armored warrior form, White Tiger Transformation!"

Since defense would not work, then he would take offense to the extreme and use attack as defense!

The Golden White Tiger, master of slaughter, was undoubtedly the most suitable path available to him besides Basalt Transformation!

Moreover, according to the Five Elements, metal generated water, and ice was also a type of water. Choosing a metal attribute for his next transformation would not conflict with his own ice attribute.

It would just mean putting his Martial Soul through some hardship. Sword Bamboo was ridiculously tough; without good teeth, there was no way to bite through it...

When he returned to Baicao Hall, Chen Yumo paid a deposit to order a large batch of Sword Bamboo.

Based on the amount of Cold Mulberry Leaves he had previously fed the Ice Silkworm, Chen Yumo purchased fifty percent more. It should be enough to support his cultivation until he became a Soul Grandmaster.

After ordering the Sword Bamboo, Chen Yumo also bought several pieces of Whale Rubber from the shop.

It was convenient, after all.

Speaking of Whale Rubber, it was about time for Chen Yumo to take some himself.

The system was still suppressing the additional four hundred or so years of Spirit Ring age that he had not absorbed. It was waiting for his physical fitness and Martial Soul strength to improve, making this the ideal time to consume Whale Rubber.

The Sword Bamboo he had ordered would take several days to arrive, and Chen Yumo happened to have time to consume Whale Rubber during those days.

This time, he did not buy any Hundred-Year Whale Rubber. Everything he bought was at least a thousand years old: one Ten-Thousand-Year piece and two Thousand-Year pieces. Added to the one Ten-Thousand-Year piece and four Thousand-Year pieces he had saved earlier, Chen Yumo now possessed two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and six pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber of varying ages.

It was not that Baicao Hall had no other Whale Rubber. Rather, Spirit Masters could develop tolerance to the stuff.

Once he swallowed those six pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, Whale Rubber of that age would basically cease to have any effect on him. Whale Rubber older than ten thousand years was uncommon, and despite trying his luck several times, Chen Yumo had only managed to obtain the two pieces in his possession.

According to the plot of Peerless Tang Sect, Whale Rubber had to be softened with fire before consumption.

Chen Yumo returned to his dormitory, locked the doors and windows, then took out the Red Pine Wood he had prepared long ago. He set up a pot and lit the fire.

This type of wood burned at an extremely high temperature, surpassing even many fire-attribute Spirit Masters.

Chen Yumo did not know whether the flame temperature affected the efficacy of Whale Rubber, but higher had to be better. He just needed to pay attention and not burn the Whale Rubber dry.

He stared intently at the Whale Rubber in the pot. Once it gradually melted from a pale yellow crystal-like substance into a semi-liquid jelly, Chen Yumo decisively extinguished the charcoal fire. While the Whale Rubber was still scorching hot, he tore it apart bit by bit and stuffed it into his mouth.

The first thing that hit him was an intense fishy stench that rushed straight to his head, followed by a rich, fresh aroma. It was soft, sticky, and smooth.

The smell was strange, but the flavor itself was merely lightly salty and not particularly bad.

Chen Yumo swallowed an entire half-fist-sized piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber in a few bites, then rushed straight into the bathroom. He soaked his increasingly overheated body in a wooden tub that had already been filled with ice water.

People on Douluo Continent generally matured early. Coupled with the nourishment of Spirit Rings, they could basically be considered adults by the age of twelve or thirteen.

Although Chen Yumo had also absorbed a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring, he was not yet nine and his body had not begun developing. The highly nourishing Whale Rubber did not give him any powerful urge to mow the lawn.

Instead, it felt a little like when he got so furious while gaming that he overheated. His blood pressure surged toward his head, while his entire body burned and his vision swam.

After the ice water chilled him, his condition visibly improved. The external cold suppressed the heat generated by the Whale Rubber within his body, and amid that alternation of ice and fire, Chen Yumo gradually absorbed its medicinal effects.

As the ice in the wooden tub slowly melted from Chen Yumo's body heat, the warming ice water began to lose its ability to suppress the fire raging inside him.

At that moment, the Frost Illusion Butterfly unexpectedly appeared on its own and used the Ice Mist skill it had learned not long ago to cool Chen Yumo down.

Throughout the process, Chen Yumo did not control it. Every action was its own.

What he did not know was that even the master of this Martial Soul was stunned beyond words.

The Whale Rubber's medicinal effects only left him dizzy and muddleheaded; they did not make him lose consciousness outright. How could he fail to notice his Martial Soul acting on its own inside his body?

He was simply curious. Moreover, Chen Yumo could sense that the Martial Soul remained within his control. With a single thought, he could make it stop moving, so he calmly waited to see what it wanted to do.

Then it gave him something huge.

A Martial Soul could automatically protect its master?

"This is gonna blow my mind for the whole damn year!" Chen Yumo could not help exclaiming. Then he closed his eyes and continued circulating the Bloodline Secret Art, absorbing the Whale Rubber's medicinal effects to strengthen his body.

The Frost Illusion Butterfly tirelessly flew around him. With every beat of its wings, it scattered a cloud of Ice Mist to lower Chen Yumo's body temperature.

With this seamless cooperation, the entire afternoon passed quickly.

Night fell.

The intense hunger rising from his stomach woke Chen Yumo from his slumber.

In the end, he had still fallen asleep, but only because he had been too comfortable.

Once the alternating heat and cold inside and outside his body reached equilibrium, all Chen Yumo could feel was the comfort of his body being strengthened by the Whale Rubber. The sensation of every cell in his body cheering with joy had made him drift off without realizing it.

If not for the tremendous energy expenditure, and the fact that the Frost Illusion Butterfly had been continuously using Chen Yumo's Soul Power to release Ice Mist, nearly draining him dry over the afternoon, he could have slept even longer.

After climbing out of the wooden tub and stretching lazily, Chen Yumo could clearly feel that his body had become much stronger.

It was his first time consuming Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, and since his body had not yet developed any tolerance, he had gained considerable benefits.

"Brother System, what age has my first Spirit Ring reached now?" Chen Yumo asked the system while getting dressed.

[The host's current first Spirit Ring age is 716 years.]

The system's calm voice rang beside Chen Yumo's ear.

"Seven hundred and sixteen years... It increased by nearly a hundred years!"

Looking at the Spirit Ring before him, whose color had deepened considerably, Chen Yumo nodded in satisfaction.