Zhou Yang was crouching beside a wrecked car, exhaustion all over his face as he dug a crystal core out of a zombie's head.
He had just wiped the crystal core clean when his palm suddenly emptied.
The next second, a tuft of black hair landed in his palm.
Zhou Yang froze.
"Hair again?"
"What shameless bastard traded hair for my stuff again!"
Fang Xu nearly laughed out loud at the sight.
After the scene faded, a grayish-white crystal core appeared on the table.
[Obtained: First-Order Zombie Crystal Core.] [Notice: Can be absorbed directly to improve constitution and mental strength.] [Notice: Contamination risk removed.]
Fang Xu absorbed it on the spot.
The crystal core turned into a stream of cold energy that first rushed into his body, then surged into his mind.
The improvement was not particularly dramatic.
His constitution only increased a little, and his mind only grew somewhat clearer.
But the significance of this thing lay not in a single use's effects, but in the pattern.
Twice.
He had used Obito's hair for exchanges twice, and both times had connected to the apocalypse world where Zhou Yang lived.
The first time, he had traded for the Attribute Panel in Zhou Yang's system.
The second time, he had received a zombie crystal core.
Fang Xu sat at the table, tapping his fingers lightly against its surface.
"Items from the same series have a higher probability of being exchanged for things from the corresponding world."
"Obito's hair has already established a connection with Zhou Yang's side."
"Using something from the same source again will very likely connect there again."
This pattern was far too important.
Something like the Chakra Refinement Technique had broadly applicable value and could connect to different worlds.
But Obito's hair was different.
The very first time, the apocalypse world will had used it to screw Zhou Yang over.
Using it again afterward was like continuing to slip through that same crack.
Thinking of how Zhou Yang had lost his composure, Fang Xu grew increasingly certain.
The apocalypse world will very likely really was hostile toward Zhou Yang.
A transmigrator with a system was an invasive bloodsucker as far as that world was concerned.
And his exchange talent happened to give the world will a channel through which to act.
Fang Xu sent over a tuft of hair.
The world will casually pried something away from Zhou Yang and sent it over.
Zhou Yang took a massive loss, while Fang Xu made a massive profit.
What a sweet deal.
"I'll have to collect more of Obito's hair from now on."
Fang Xu rubbed his chin.
"If I get the chance, blood would be even better."
"Hair can get me a panel and a crystal core. Blood must be worth even more."
"I can't let a cash cow like Zhou Yang go to waste."
Far away, in a secluded courtyard in the Uchiha Clan Compound, Obito had just thrown a shuriken off target when a shiver suddenly ran through him.
He instinctively covered the top of his head and looked around.
There was clearly no wind, yet his scalp felt chilly, as though someone were standing behind him with scissors.
Obito swallowed, a strong sense of foreboding rising within him.
When the cooldown for his eighth exchange reached zero, Fang Xu did not touch the original scrolls his parents had left behind again.
Those were limited in number and too valuable to use up carelessly.
What he took out was a copy he had compiled himself.
The Lightning Body-Tempering Technique.
This scroll recorded some of the ideas he had developed for the Thunder Body Tempering Technique during this time.
Thunder Breathing handled the breathing rhythm.
Lightning Release Chakra stabilized the meridians.
The real lightning of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit tempered the flesh and blood.
Although it was only a simplified version, it was already quite extraordinary by most worlds' standards.
Fang Xu pressed his palm against the scroll and silently said to himself.
Exchange.
The scroll disappeared without a sound.
After the familiar tugging sensation, a scene appeared before his eyes.
In a dilapidated courtyard, a tall, powerfully built man stood bare-chested, veins bulging along his arms, his body covered in marks left by rigorous external conditioning.
Yan Zhendong.
He had originally held a yellowed martial arts manual in his hand, with a medicinal bath prescription beside him.
The next instant, the manual and prescription disappeared simultaneously.
A scroll bearing the words "Lightning Body-Tempering Technique" landed in his palm.
Yan Zhendong froze for a moment, then abruptly unfurled the scroll.
"Tempering the body with lightning?"
"Using thunder to temper the bones and stimulate the flesh?"
The more he read, the more excited his expression became.
But soon, his brow furrowed.
Chakra?
Lightning release?
Rumble-Rumble Fruit?
He had none of those things.
Clutching the scroll, Yan Zhendong's expression shifted repeatedly.
The corner of Fang Xu's mouth twitched at the sight.
"Just as I thought. He won't be able to use this anytime soon."
The scene faded.
An Iron Cloth Shirt cultivation technique manual appeared on the table, along with a matching medicinal bath prescription.
Fang Xu opened it and read through it.
Iron Cloth Shirt focused on externally training the sinews, bones, and skin while internally strengthening a breath of vital energy.
Striking the body, carrying weights, breathing, and medicinal baths gradually toughened the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones.
This path was crude, but practical.
That medicinal bath prescription in particular was very useful to him.
The problem with the Thunder Body Tempering Technique was that the tempering was too intense, placing a heavy burden on his body's recovery.
If he extracted the principles of promoting circulation, dispersing bruising, and strengthening sinews and bones from Iron Cloth Shirt's medicinal bath, then combined them with medicinal meals conjured by the Gourmet Tablecloth, he could raise his body-tempering efficiency even further.
"Good stuff."
Fang Xu closed the manual, but still sighed.
"But it's still a bit of a loss."
The core of his Lightning Body-Tempering Technique depended on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Lightning Release Chakra.
Yan Zhendong's world had neither a chakra system nor genuine lightning abilities, so at most he could draw on its ideas about breathing and exerting force.
Mastering it in the short term was basically out of the question.
Meanwhile, although the Iron Cloth Shirt he had obtained could fill gaps in his external conditioning system, it could only serve as a supplement.
"Never mind."
"At least I can use the medicinal bath prescription, and incorporate the external conditioning principles too."
Fang Xu put away the manual and prescription.
Whether it was a loss could not be judged solely by the immediate results.
As long as it could make the Thunder Body Tempering Technique more stable, the exchange would not have been for nothing.
Another week passed, and the cooldown for the ninth exchange ended.
This time, Fang Xu took a different approach.
He had tried scrolls, chakra, and hair.
He wanted to try a living creature.
For this exchange, he had specially procured a live wild boar.
Its four legs were bound with rope and its mouth was sealed shut as it lay in a corner of the courtyard, struggling incessantly.
Fang Xu reached out and pressed his hand against the boar.
"Exchange."
The wild boar disappeared instantly.
A scene unfolded immediately afterward.
On a bright, sunlit stretch of grass, various Pokémon gathered around fruit trees.
A boy carrying a backpack crouched on the ground, holding a bag of berry seeds, seemingly preparing to plant them.
The next second, a live wild boar abruptly crashed onto the grass.
"Oink!"
After landing, the wild boar frantically rooted about.
The surrounding Pokémon scattered in fright.
The boy was dumbfounded too.
"What Pokémon is this?"
He hurriedly took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the wild boar.
The Pokédex gave no response.
A girl nearby also came over, her face full of shock.
"The Pokédex can't identify it?"
"Could it be something other than a Pokémon?"
The bag of berry seeds disappeared from the boy's hand.
In its place was an actual, ordinary wild boar rooting wildly about.
The scene faded at that point.
A bag of seeds appeared on Fang Xu's table.
The bag was small and contained berry seeds of different colors and sizes.
Fang Xu picked it up and examined it, feeling a little regretful.
"No Pokémon."
"No special abilities like aura or psychic powers either."
"Just a bag of berry seeds."
It would have been a lie to say he was not disappointed at all.