Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower

Chapter 8: Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower

Late Post-Natal stage!

Chen Lin sensed the power surging within him and was suddenly shaken, his heart filled with shock.

He never imagined that a single bottle of Gene Optimization Serum could allow him to shed his mortal coil and undergo such a violent surge in strength!

If he had a few more bottles of this serum, perhaps he wouldn't even need two months to break through the Post-Natal stage, reach the Innate realm, and complete his main mission!

At this thought, Chen Lin grew excited. He hurriedly opened the item exchange system to look up the Gene Optimization Serum.

Sure enough, the exchange list contained the Gene Optimization Serum, categorized into four grades: low, medium, high, and supreme. However, when he saw that even the cheapest low-grade Gene Optimization Serum cost 500 Death Energy points, he gloomily closed the exchange system.

It seemed that taking shortcuts to complete his mission was impossible. Now, he had to consider how to rapidly increase his strength.

His cultivation of the Dao Heaven had reached a bottleneck. Chen Lin had already opened the Yin-Yang Meridians. Among the five meridians, the Yin and Yang meridians were the easiest to open; one only needed to draw in the essence of the sun and moon, circulate the Yin-Yang energy throughout the body, and balance hardness with softness to succeed. Only this Void Meridian, vast as the stars and spread throughout the entire body, was the most difficult to open!

Once the Void Meridian was successfully opened, he would instantly step into the Innate stage!

"Guide, tell me, how can I quickly open the Void Meridian?"

With no other leads, Chen Lin could only ask the Main God Coffin.

"The Dao Heaven is the most ancient and mysterious scripture, one of the most perfect cultivation techniques in the world for opening the sea of energy. The Void Meridian permeates the entire body; it requires constant tempering and refining with the Essence of Li Fire and the Mystic Yin Essence before it can be opened naturally."

Chen Lin was speechless. This was as good as saying nothing; it just required time and bitter cultivation, but time was exactly what he lacked.

Three months—how could it be easy to open the Void Meridian and charge into the Innate realm?

With no shortcuts, Chen Lin had no choice but to spend the coming days constantly battling fierce beasts to collect Death Energy.

This jungle was vast, seemingly endless. Most of the fierce beasts within hovered around the Post-Natal realm. Although dangerous, these beasts were all savage creatures that drank blood and lacked any intelligence, so Chen Lin managed to survive with narrow escapes.

After all, existences like the Silver Giant Sable that had crossed the Heavenly Tribulation or the Blood Python rarely came out to roam.

Those were beasts that had cultivated for a certain period, reached the Innate stage, and possessed a modicum of intelligence, understanding how to utilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate. They usually hid themselves away to cultivate day and night, rarely moving about the jungle.

Through his inquiries to the Main God Coffin, Chen Lin also learned that as long as a fierce beast broke through the Innate stage, survived the Heavenly Tribulation, and reached the Sea-Opening stage, its intelligence would be no different from a human's. At that point, such beasts were known as demons!

That day, at dusk, in a gloomy, desolate area of the jungle, Chen Lin stood in a standoff with a poisonous frog covered in eerie, phosphorescent patterns. The frog was a full zhang in size, its two ghastly-white, rolling eyes fixed on Chen Lin, looking exceptionally macabre. A massive, gaping wound had been torn into its throat, which pulsed incessantly, letting large amounts of strange black blood flow down. Any weeds that came into contact with its blood withered instantly.

Chen Lin felt a headache coming on. His own abdomen had also been slashed, and he truly did not want to fight such a highly toxic beast. If his wound touched even a drop of its poison, his blood would go numb, his strength would plummet, and he would risk losing his life if he were even slightly careless.

Just as they were locked in a standoff, the frog's throat suddenly stopped pulsing, and its entire body stiffened. Seeing this, Chen Lin instantly tensed, holding his two sickles in front of his chest while keeping a close watch on the creature's movements. But the frog seemed not to care about Chen Lin at this moment; its pale eyeballs rolled back and forth, and its nostrils twitched slightly. Then, it completely abandoned Chen Lin and leaped away, vanishing from the spot.

Chen Lin was stunned, feeling confused, but he did not pursue it.

"What is that? It smells so good..."

Before he could think further, a strange scent wafted over. Chen Lin's eyes gradually grew hazy, revealing a look of intoxication and delirium. His body swayed from side to side like a drunkard, and he unknowingly began to follow the scent.

It was a muddy swamp.

The swamp was shrouded in gray mist, as if it never saw the sun, making the place appear eerie and sinister.

The ground was covered in withered branches and rotting leaves, with countless poisonous insects and reptiles crawling in and out, a sight enough to make one's scalp tingle.

In the center of the swamp, a plant emitting an eerie, ghostly glow swayed slowly in the breeze. Wisps of gray gas drifted along the wind, spreading in all directions.

The plant was rooted in the swamp, only a few feet tall, with four leaves. The four leaves emitted a ghostly green light like corpse phosphorus, and in their center, they cradled a flower bud that had yet to bloom.

Attracted by the scent emitted by the plant, many fierce beasts appeared one after another. By now, these beasts had lost their usual ferocity; their gazes were dull and vacant, yet beneath that emptiness lay a faint, fanatical intoxication and longing. They moved slowly, like bewitched walking corpses.

Plop!

A gray giant ape several zhang tall was the first to step into the swamp. Its body was quickly and slowly eroded by the mire, but it did not struggle or resist even as the swamp mud submerged it completely.

Plop, plop, plop!

Several more powerful beasts stepped into the swamp, and two fierce avian creatures flapped their wings, whipping up a gust of wind before diving headlong into the swamp without hesitation.

Even as they died, their expressions remained filled with confusion and longing.

Chen Lin's eyes were vacant; he was one of the many beasts, and at this moment, he had no consciousness left.

Every time a beast nearby died, a wisp of black gas would burrow into his body.

Just as Chen Lin was about to step one foot into the swamp, a strong sense of crisis erupted from the depths of his heart!

Advanced Perception!

Life-or-death crisis!

Chen Lin's eyes instantly regained clarity, just in time to see a giant wolf the size of a millstone being swallowed by the swamp in front of him. Thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. Terrified, Chen Lin hurriedly stopped his half-stepped foot and retreated rapidly, watching the eerie plant in the swamp with vigilance.

"Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower discovered."

"Side mission: Harvest the Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower."

"Mission rewards: 1. Three Foundation Strengthening Pills. 2. A random high-level martial arts manual. Failure penalty: None."

The Guide's cold voice rang out. Chen Lin was startled, looking at the strange plant in the middle of the swamp; he instantly knew this was the Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower the Main God Coffin had mentioned.

When Chen Lin heard the rewards, his heart couldn't help but leap.

The Foundation Strengthening Pill was a medicine that enhanced spiritual energy; a single pill was worth two months of bitter cultivation and could also make one's bone density much tougher.

Chen Lin had checked at the time, and a single pill required a staggering 125 points of Death Energy to redeem; he simply couldn't bear to spend it. As for the advanced martial arts manuals, they were dispensable. After all, he was currently cultivating the mysterious ancient scripture, Dao Heaven, and he understood the principle that one should not bite off more than one can chew.

However, Chen Lin did not act rashly to harvest it, as he vaguely felt that this place was somewhat eerie. Moreover, the fact that the Main God Coffin offered such generous rewards only served to prove that the mission was not simple.

After a moment of thought, Chen Lin performed another search.

"Rotten Bone Corpse Phosphorus Flower, mid-grade spirit herb. Generally grows in burial grounds; it is highly toxic and feeds on corpses and venomous insects. Extremely rare. Efficacy: Uses toxins as nutrients and can continuously grow and evolve into the high-grade spirit herb, Rot-Bone Jade Phosphorus Flower. It is one of the primary ingredients for concocting the Crossing Tribulation Heavenly Palace Pill."

The Main God Coffin provided no further information regarding this flower, perhaps due to insufficient clearance, but its utility was clearly of immense value.

Chen Lin pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly narrowed as he gazed toward the center of the swamp.

By now, all the ferocious beasts had sunk into the swamp, and the strange plant seemed to have received sufficient nourishment. Its flower bud bloomed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The flower was as pure white as brocade, with red spots the size of dragon eyes dotting its petals, resembling droplets of fresh, crimson blood rolling and dancing upon it, filled with a bewitching, eerie beauty.

"Gulp!"

Even from a great distance, Chen Lin could not help but swallow hard. The scent of the plant had become increasingly intense, making one yearn to devour it in a single bite. An indescribable, complex sensation permeated his heart; it was simply too tempting.

Resisting the urge, Chen Lin shifted his body, intending to move forward and find a way to harvest it, but at that very moment, a certain spot in the swamp suddenly swayed gently.

"Splash!"

Immediately following, a sharp, mud-caked head emerged from the swamp. The head was gargantuan and hideous, with rows of razor-sharp teeth glinting with a chilling, cold light, as if it hungered to devour any prey.

It was a giant crocodile. On both sides of its head, two eyes flickered with ghostly light, radiating ferocity. Its dark green back resembled the gnarled, wrinkled bark of an ancient tree, clinging to its body like a suit of armor.

"Postnatal peak!"

Chen Lin looked on, activating Advanced Perception, and his heart could not help but sink.

Indeed, with such generous rewards, how could there not be any risk?