This Heart Is Yours on the Cheap

In the hollow underground space, Li Ziran's heart pounded wildly.

Hanging from the right side of his belt was the Corpse Witch inhabited by Karen's soul. Karen's body dangled from the undead skeleton, and within the frog whose chest had been cut open lay a yellow-and-black Dragon Heart.

A rich swamp aura continuously sprayed outward, bringing rare moisture to this dry space.

Even Li Ziran had not expected that, through a twist of fate, he would gain control over everything in this swamp.

Fate truly was something difficult to comprehend.

Staring at the Dragon Heart, he could not help but laugh.

Even now, he found it hard to imagine that a mountain-sized dragon would leave behind only such a pure fragment after dying of old age.

He gently stroked the patterns on the heart, feeling its ceaselessly surging aura. It was as though endless moisture and earth elements flowed through his palm into his body, gathering into a swamp.

This Dragon Heart, like a sapphire, was an absolute treasure dreamed of by every water mage and earth mage.

He could now understand Karen's urgency. With such a Dragon Heart, there would be no need to painstakingly extract elements from the Elemental Tide or train with bitter diligence.

With one simple transplant, one could reach the realm of a legendary Archmage.

Apprentice, ordinary mage, junior mage, intermediate mage, senior mage, Magister, Archmage, Titled Archmage.

The harsh magic ranks were trenches that could not be crossed, leaving every living being in the magical world standing at the edge and shrinking back.

Yet now, all it took was one opportunity to soar to the heavens in a single step.

Unfortunately, surgery was no joke. Every organ had its own unique laws of operation.

Even with something as simple as a pore, he would never make an incision before understanding its exact function.

Karen was formidable; Li Ziran had to admit that his talent in magic was unstoppable.

Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong target.

Li Ziran fundamentally knew nothing of magic. His surgery was entirely built upon another system.

He glanced at the completely unconscious Karen and let out a soft sigh.

He pulled a red cord from his pocket and looped it around Karen's neck, applying gentle pressure with his fingers.

The blade-like red cord tightened around his neck to the limit. With a light twist, the head and body smoothly parted ways.

He took out a thumb-sized bottle containing formalin solution, tossed the head inside, then tightly sealed the cap.

After removing the head, he let out a slight breath before slowly peeling off the black frog skin and placing it into another preservation bottle.

Then he took out surgical scissors, cut open the belly, and used tiny tweezers to remove the internal organs one by one, placing each into separate thumb-sized bottles containing formalin solution.

Li Ziran's movements were practiced. He had done this kind of work many times.

These organs came from a Corpse Witch. Though they were not magical organs people coveted, they possessed death affinity and were best suited for prolonging the lives of elderly necromancers.

As for Karen's life, there was no need to spare it. Having one's mind controlled by another was a nightmare just to imagine.

He admired Karen, but that did not mean he could let him go.

Only after tidying everything up did he turn to the frog on the undead frame.

Naturally, the most valuable thing was the Dragon Heart in its chest. However, Li Ziran did not touch it immediately. Instead, he first used a small knife to open the frog's head, then used tiny scissors to sever the neural network between the brain and body bit by bit before carefully placing the head into a thumb-sized bottle.

Human heads possessed unique wisdom, and many living beings coveted their brains.

Demons in particular stubbornly believed that humans could interpret the elements within the Elemental Tide because of their special brains.

Thus, many demons liked replacing their own brains. When the time came, this frog head would recover to normal with only a drop of blood.

Only after everything was dealt with did Li Ziran place his attention on the most important object: the Dragon Heart.

It was a priceless treasure.

Li Ziran did not intend to sell it. He wanted to preserve it until he learned some necromancy, then imitate Karen and transplant the heart into himself.

At that time, he would become a peak swamp Archmage.

Li Ziran was extremely careful with this item.

He gently gripped it with tweezers and placed it into the formalin solution he had prepared beforehand.

This was a specially formulated solution that had cost him dearly. An organ placed inside could probably be preserved for around three years.

Yet the instant the Dragon Heart entered it, a misty blue-green beam instantly filled the entire thumb-sized bottle. Only through the glass did Li Ziran see clearly that the Dragon Heart was continuously radiating blue-green light.

At some point, this underground space had already filled with a great deal of moisture, and droplets had even condensed overhead.

This was highly abnormal.

This was the Great Wasteland.

At a glance, the heart was expanding, but to Li Ziran, that was the worst possible sign.

The Dragon Heart was losing control. The heart before him had been compressed from Black Nightmare Power that Karen had transformed through sacrifice.

But now, without Black Nightmare Power suppressing it, it was dispersing into nothingness in the manner of natural death.

Although its outward diffusion was not fast, by Li Ziran's estimate, this heart would turn into nothingness in about a month.

This was the price of natural death.

Li Ziran had no confidence in mastering the Corpse Witch and transplanting this heart into himself within a month.

That was nothing more than a fantasy spun from thin air.

The best solution now was to immediately perform a heart transplant, or rather, have someone else preserve this heart.

"Are you there?" Li Ziran fiddled with the One-eyed Frog at his waist, but received no reply. The Medusa girl had fainted during the earlier tremors.

Li Ziran gave a bitter smile. This was not a bad storage box.

He untied the red cord from his waist and hung it upside down from the skeleton.

He spread canvas across the ground, took out frog sweat, and dipped a brush into it to write Tadpole Script.

Though he could now construct a magic array with his mind, he felt that this old-fashioned method was more reliable.

Supported by abundant spiritual power, he wrote swiftly and accurately. Before long, oily green specks of light appeared across the canvas.

Li Ziran pointed his wand at Annie. Though she was already a frog, he transformed her again for safety's sake, then took out anesthetic and smeared it across her body.

Only after all preparations were complete did Li Ziran turn his black Witch Doctor robe inside out and change into a white coat.

Various scalpels hung along the inner side of the white coat, while the other side held bottles of different solutions.

He first took out a bottle of fiery red potion and used a brush to paint a circle around the area. At once, visible streams of fiery red air rose up.

Volcanic Potion.

It came from dwarves and cost 0.5 silver coins. The sulfurous smell within the potion and the high heat it carried could kill all elemental insects nearby, forming a relatively enclosed surgical space.

Li Ziran was only willing to use potions for disinfection during the most delicate surgeries.

But he knew this expense could not be spared. A heart transplant was different from eyes or teeth.

The heart was inside the body, the area most susceptible to infection. Even if the surgery succeeded, neglecting these details could still lead to all kinds of complications.

Black specks occasionally surfaced within the fiery red currents, like grass ash from an autumn wheat field set ablaze.

Taking advantage of this time, Li Ziran began sterilizing the scalpels with high-proof rum. At this moment, he could not help thinking of magic. If he knew even the simplest spell to raise fire aura, he would not need to use such a clumsy method.

At that thought, he could not help looking at his waist. One frog had a Fire Element Gland. It seemed he needed to find time to transplant that frog's elemental gland into himself.

The black specks in the air gradually vanished, leaving behind only pure fire aura. Li Ziran knew the time had come.

He picked up a scalpel and cut along the frog's right foreleg. The scalpel sliced through skin and flesh, tearing open a wound half a finger long. Beneath the incision, a bright red heart thumped away.

When it came to frogs, perhaps no one understood them better than Li Ziran.

One cut, right on target.

He took out a Revival Potion and gently applied it to the opening, ensuring the flesh retained its basic vitality.

Picking up the scissors, he needed to sever the nerves and blood vessels connected to the heart. This was extremely difficult.

Especially the blood vessels. The heart had two arteries and veins; damage to any one vessel meant the surgery was completely ruined.

If the nerves went wrong, the brain would likewise be unable to control the heart.

This was the most crucial part of a heart transplant, the core where no mistake could be made.

He reached into his pocket and took out two thumb-sized bottles. These differed from the others: roots grew from their surfaces, and they held golden solution.

This was the blood of a Bolo Golden Tortoise, possessing vigorous restorative power and life force. Naturally, it was also exorbitantly expensive.

As for these special thumb-sized bottles, they were also called Root Vessels. They were modified from millipede stomachs. Their stomachs contained a thousand nerves, and bottles like these could meet Karen's needs during certain organ surgeries involving blood.

Li Ziran first connected the millipede roots into the blood vessels. Once the Bolo Golden Tortoise blood had taken over the original heart's function, he immediately picked up the scissors.

Crack!

The connection between the blood and heart was cut in two. At the same time, Li Ziran's other hand had already dipped into coagulant and brushed it over the opening. The blood vessel on the verge of rupturing healed at a visible rate.

Li Ziran wiped away his sweat. This should have been an assistant's work, but unfortunately, he had none.

He could not rest. He had to sever the nerves. This temporary blood substitute would give him at most one minute.

The nerves were cut, and the solution nourished the nerve endings. The process was easier than Li Ziran had imagined.

After both places were completely severed, Li Ziran used tweezers to remove the Medusa heart and place it in a preservation bottle. Then he quickly gripped the Dragon Heart and put it into the place that had belonged to the Medusa heart.

The Dragon Heart was bare and smooth like a gemstone, with no special nerves. Li Ziran directly and roughly pinched the nerve endings and inserted them into the Dragon Heart.

At once, misty blue-green specks of light wrapped around the nerve endings, condensing into a thin web-like network.

Sure enough, magical organs possessed an adaptability far more terrifying than ordinary organs. They seemed to possess intelligence, able to extend nerves on their own and adapt to the alteration of a new body.

Li Ziran picked up the tweezers and aimed them at the blood vessels. He needed to succeed in one go.