Another Function of the Panel

The extreme cold, a cold that held no harm for him whatsoever, had coursed through his entire body in that brief moment.

The first effect it caused was to freeze or drive out the various parasites that had been living inside him all along.

After all, this intense cold was only harmless to him; for those disgusting creatures, it was a different story.

Not every parasite in nature can withstand such low temperatures.

Cold and heat have always been the two great enemies of all living things.

No wonder he felt so refreshed now. Instinctively, Bai Chuan opened his panel to take a look.

As soon as he entered the panel, the first thing that caught his attention was the lifespan that was still steadily increasing.

'Lifespan: 9 years 11 months +'

Before, his lifespan had been reduced to just 6 years and 10 months. At the time, he was somewhat troubled, wondering if he should find some exceptionally long-lived creature to see if there was any ability that could extend his life.

But he never expected that now, without doing anything at all, he had suddenly gained 3 years and 1 month, and this number was still slowly but steadily climbing.

This was directly extending his lifespan.

This ability evolution was absolutely worth it!

Even if it had no other effects, just the increase in lifespan alone would have been enough for Bai Chuan to accept.

Not to mention, he had also evolved the power of ice.

But the question remained: why did evolving just an ice power cause his lifespan to increase as well?

For a moment, curiosity got the better of him, and he even subconsciously ignored the urge to test out his newly acquired power.

He lowered his snake head and began to ponder.

Finally, he looked back at the parasites on the ground, and a flash of understanding struck him.

Perhaps, in a way, this increase in lifespan wasn't due to some external power being added to him?

Rather, it was the lifespan he should have had all along. The reason he had been so short-lived before was that his body was riddled with all kinds of parasites, constantly eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

Because the lifespan displayed on the panel was determined based on his current physical condition.

The lifespan shown was the specific length of time his body could survive under its current state, barring accidental death or other special circumstances.

In other words, it was the limit of how long his cells could endure under the erosion of various parasites.

Now that his body had been swept clean by the extreme cold, almost all the parasites inside him had been purged, leaving him free of any external burdens.

With no parasites eroding his cells at the cellular level, his cells would naturally no longer suffer damage from their infestation.

Thus, the lifespan that the panel had judged as lost due to parasitic infection naturally returned.

After understanding this, Bai Chuan became even more curious about the true nature of this ice power.

He turned his head to look at the white insect, now collapsed on the ground and no longer crystal clear. It seemed to have fallen from a lofty divine being back to an ordinary creature, utterly miserable.

Why had the source of this power appeared as tiny specks of light before, and why had there been no change at first when he strengthened the Ice Silkworm's ability?

But then, when he touched the box containing the Ice Silkworm, why did such a massive transformation occur? Judging by the Ice Silkworm's state, it was as if he had stripped everything from it.

So what was the true nature of this power?

Then he thought back to the ability he had strengthened, named [Symbiosis LV2 (Cryophilic)].

What kind of existence could be called symbiosis?

That was quite thought-provoking.

But for now, Bai Chuan just let the thought pass; he wasn't planning to delve into it deeply.

Or rather, he probably wasn't qualified to investigate it thoroughly yet.

Not to mention, as things stood, he had only gained benefits. He hadn't seen any drawbacks. Just being reborn, freed from the torment of various parasites, gaining a healthy body and an extended lifespan—that alone was worth it.

In fact, he wished for more of this, the more the better. Bring on a few more.

After weighing the gains and losses, Bai Chuan finally turned his attention to the little mouse. What should he do with this little creature?

At that moment, the mouse seemed to sense something too, lifting its clever little head and staring at him with hopeful eyes.

Killing it was out of the question. After all, it had helped him so much.

In truth, throughout the entire process, if not for this mouse's remarkable intelligence—not only did it not burden him like other mindless creatures, but it also gave him assistance—

He might not have been able to obtain the Ice Silkworm's power at all.

After all, suppressing the Ice Silkworm required a living, active being. If it had been a mindless creature that couldn't understand cooperation or follow orders, when he dove into the water to escape, he couldn't very well keep it submerged the whole time, could he?

If it had run around carelessly and knocked the wooden box open, one wrong move and the box would have been opened. Under the Ice Silkworm's outburst, everyone would have frozen to death together.

Thinking back now, Bai Chuan felt he had been far too careless.

Fortunately, the end result was good.

It could be said that without it, Bai Chuan would never have obtained this ice power.

He had to admit, the master who had raised such a clever rat was truly remarkable.

A creature with such intelligence—it would be a pity to kill it.

If I brought it along, that would be even more impossible, as I said before.

His own uniqueness, the existence of the Panel, destined him to be a lone serpent advancing toward higher peaks.

But leaving like this, Bai Chuan felt a bit uneasy.

After all, he wasn't some heartless being who would use someone and then abandon them. If he really just ran off like this, it probably wouldn't be long before that thing got caught by Zhang Daring.

If he was going to leave, he had to give it at least a little help.

"So what can I help it with?"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Chuan had a sudden idea.

His previous Panel abilities all seemed to be used on himself. Could the Panel help other creatures evolve?

Come to think of it, every time he chose to start evolving, how exactly did the entire evolution process of the Panel work?

He only knew that every time he woke up, he found himself wrapped in a hardened shell. Where did that shell come from, and how did he evolve his abilities?

If he could help other creatures start evolving, then couldn't he take this opportunity to observe clearly how he himself had started evolving?

Thinking this, Bai Chuan opened the Panel and glanced at how many Points he had left.

Points: 8 (7%).

8 points, completely enough.

Bai Chuan closed the Panel and looked back at the little mouse, approaching it as the small thing showed a panicked expression.

Then he stretched out a sharp claw toward the rat's tail, intending to lift it up and make it lose its ability to resist.

He paused his movement, looking at his own huge and sharp claws. If he lifted it with these claws, he'd probably sever the little mouse's tail directly.

So he changed from lifting to grasping, scooping it up in one hold.

Ignoring its panicked squeaks, his sharp serpent eyes focused entirely on it.

Before long, a message popped up on the Panel.

Target scanned. Editable.