Can I Learn It, Bro?

Elves?

Li Ziran's brow furrowed at once. If Red Soil Continent were to choose a race of magic, it would undoubtedly be the Elves.

This race was practically born for magic. Even the most ordinary Elves possessed multiple Magic Organs. Through them, they could frantically draw elemental power from the Elemental Tide and reach the level of High Mage in a mere dozen years.

Many could even become Magisters.

That alone would have been tolerable, but what people could not bear was that as Elves aged, their Magic Organs fused to varying degrees, forming unique hybrid magic.

For example, the renowned Moonlight and Eternal Light. The latter in particular was said to require the fusion of more than a dozen elements—earth, water, air, light, and more—to take shape. It was one of the most extreme forms of magic.

Besides the magical abilities possessed by Elves themselves, the Moon Elves also grew another special organ: the Moon Kidney.

This organ could absorb the unique Lunar Element, one of the rarest elements yet detected within the Elemental Tide. Spells formed from Lunar Power had a special calming effect and were the most practical type of meditation-support spell.

Their rarity far surpassed even Medusa.

"Has a new space appeared nearby?" Li Ziran asked despite himself. That was the only possibility. After all, the tropical rainforest inhabited by Elves was extremely far from the Wasteland, and these were rare Moon Elves, who almost always lived in the deepest parts of the forest.

One appearing in the Wasteland was already extraordinary. Yet from the Minotaur's tone, there seemed to be quite a few.

"No." The Minotaur gave him an honest answer.

Li Ziran could not help mocking himself. Derivative Spaces were exceedingly rare. A living space like that of a Swamp Dragon might only be encountered once every few centuries. How could he be so lucky as to find another right after finding one?

If they really were Elves, he could hardly wait any longer. Ignoring the Minotaur's attitude, he thudded into the basement.

But the moment he saw the scene before him, he was completely dumbfounded.

Dozens of corpses lay piled together in a chaotic heap. If not for the corpse stench filling the entire room, he would have thought they were stacks of autumn straw.

One corpse was piled atop another, their skin split open and their flesh rotted. Other than the pointed ears that identified them as Elves, they were no different from ordinary rotten meat.

"Were they already like this when you got them?" Li Ziran asked unhappily.

"At first, they were laid out one by one. Later, they became like this." The Minotaur looked confused. "Can they still be used?"

Li Ziran wanted to cry.

Brother, you were actually asking whether they could still be used? Did you not know corpses should be separated in an orderly manner? Did you not know what refined processing meant? Did you not know that different corpses placed together would cause cross-infection? Could you not even sprinkle a little lime powder on the ground to preserve them?

Li Ziran truly wanted to curse him viciously. This was fucking trampling treasure beneath one's feet.

Moon Elves!

The occasional Shadow Crescent Moon markings flashing from the corpse pile made Li Ziran certain these were the legendary Moon Elves. But what fucking use was that now?

"Um, honored guest, can you take them?"

Li Ziran waved his hand and took a deep breath. "Let me calm down!" He had to calm himself. This fellow was simply not suited for the corpse business.

Yet he had to admire the other man's luck. Such corpses were rarely seen even once in a hundred years, yet there were more than a dozen here.

Who knew what backwater corner he had found them in? Why did Li Ziran never have such luck?

"How much do you want?" Li Ziran tried hard to keep his voice calm.

"Fifteen silver coins," the Minotaur asked tentatively.

Li Ziran said nothing.

The Minotaur grew a little frightened. "How about... ten silver coins?"

Li Ziran could not help laughing. "Five. And you have to let me pick through this pile of junk some more. You... I really do not know what to say about you. Fine, fine, fine. Next time you go to the market, whether it is a library, a bookstore, or even some random bard, buy yourself a book on corpse preservation and read it properly, all right?"

The Minotaur could not understand why Li Ziran was so worked up. He merely wanted to sell corpses, yet the other man was telling him to read books.

What a baffling person.

"All right, but isn't five silver coins too little?"

"Hmph, you still have the nerve to ask? If you knew even the tiniest bit about preserving corpses, this stuff could make you rich overnight. But now, this is rotten meat! Rotten meat! Rotten meat! Understand? Five silver coins—I do not even want to give you one!" Li Ziran roared outright. He truly could not control himself.

These were Moon Elves! With one of these corpses, he could swagger into the Undead Nest and casually ask any Necromancer whether he would teach him Corpse Witch Summoning.

If they refused, hmph, he would find another.

Now, this match made in heaven had vanished.

"Five, um..." The Minotaur was still dissatisfied, but seeing the murderous look in Li Ziran's eyes, he could only nod. "All right, five it is. Can you give me the money?"

Li Ziran pulled out the silver coins and shoved them into the Minotaur's huge bovine hoof as though firing bullets. Perhaps still dissatisfied, he snapped, "You, stay and help me!"

"Me? Help?" The Minotaur pointed at himself. But looking at the pile of rotten meat and the still-furious Li Ziran, he could only nod. "All right, all right. I'll listen to you."

Li Ziran rolled his eyes. Only after composing himself did he walk toward the corpses.

He had already spent five silver coins. If he could not find any useful organs among this pile of rotten meat, he would lose his shirt.

Fortunately, the corpses on top had not decayed too badly yet. He and the Minotaur worked together to carry them down.

He took out a scalpel and cut into an Elf's skin. It was soft and mushy, like fatty meat steamed for ten hours. Before the blade even passed through, the skin split open by itself.

The rot was worse than he had imagined.

Elves were a race favored by magic, but precisely because of that, they were too pure, making them the easiest to infect with Elemental Bugs after death. An ordinary corpse could remain in the Wasteland for around five days, while an Elf could not last even one. This degree of decay would take seven days to appear on a Pigman.

Sigh!

Li Ziran sighed. Elf skin was completely useless now, and it had been the finest material for filtering the Elemental Tide.

Using tiny tweezers, he gently pulled apart the pale flesh. His scalpel carefully stripped away the meat beneath the skin as he searched for something.

A neural network.

This was an organ unique to magical races. It could accelerate the flow of elements within the body. It was extremely rare, yet every Elf possessed one.

In Li Ziran's view, these meridians had been soaked in elements year after year and should not have rotted away so quickly.

But the neural network was as fine as hair, making it difficult to locate within a pile of rotten meat. One careless stroke could sever it, and once the meridians were damaged, they were essentially worthless.

A complete set of Magical Meridians was worth at least fifty to ninety gold coins, so he had to be careful beyond careful.

The Minotaur and Horse Dwarf watched Li Ziran stare motionlessly at a pile of rotten meat, and the two nearly vomited.

Even they could not endure the stench here, yet this human seemed perfectly at ease.

The more flesh Li Ziran peeled back, the more careful he became, because he did not know whether his next cut would land directly on the neural network.

He quietly steadied his breathing as spiritual power flowed methodically into the scalpel. Through the spiritual power continuously radiating outward from the Mithril, a blood-red image formed in his mind.

It was somewhat like an X-ray image, only clearer.

That was the advantage of Mithril. It allowed his spiritual power to radiate outward, sensing what lay beyond the flesh.

Buzz!

At that moment, a flash of brightness suddenly appeared in his Spirit World.

Li Ziran's vision seemed to be seized by something. He abruptly opened his eyes and stared at the rotten meat before him.

He had sensed it. Beneath half a finger's breadth of flesh, there was a neural network.

He put away the scalpel and thrust his right hand directly into the rotten meat.

The Minotaur and Horse Dwarf closed their eyes at the same time. The bloody sight had exceeded the limits of what they could endure. They simply could not imagine a human possessing such a strange hobby.

Squelch, squelch!

Driven by curiosity, they opened their eyes again, just in time to see Li Ziran gripping a lump of rotten meat with both hands and kneading it like dough. The mass of flesh grew thinner and thinner between his palms.

Bleurgh!

The Minotaur finally could not hold it in any longer and vomited right in front of Li Ziran.

Yet Li Ziran's gaze remained exceptionally focused. A smile suddenly appeared on his long-serious face. One hand held the intestine-like flesh steady while the other swiftly grabbed the tweezers beside him.

The tweezers touched the surface of the flesh and pulled out a yellow strand as fine as a hair. With a gentle tug, half a finger's length had already emerged.

"Quick, pat the corpse for me!" Li Ziran pointed at the flesh above the strand and shouted. "At a steady pace!"

Slapping sounds echoed through the basement. The strand Li Ziran drew out grew longer and longer, and his smile became brighter and brighter.

Once the final section slipped free of the flesh, Li Ziran swiftly took out a Thumb Bottle, stuffed the strand inside, then pulled out a bottle of orange-yellow potion and filled the Thumb Bottle before sealing it.

Only when he saw the yellow strand floating in the solution like an earthworm, becoming increasingly transparent and gradually taking on the color of moonlight, did Li Ziran finally let out a long breath.

"Lunar Meridians, at least one gold coin! I'm rich!"