Chapter 87
Not long after, amidst the hum of an intercity plane, Wen Jing left Xinpu City.
The city outside the porthole grew smaller and smaller, like another world receding into the distance.
She slowly closed her eyes, her mind flashing back to what had happened in the past half-day.
In a world without supernatural powers, such a society with such a huge gap between the rich and the poor would have long since seen people rise up in rebellion.
However, there exists a special class of Awakened in this world.
It not only possessed absolute suppressive power, but also gave people hope of escaping class restrictions.
Even if that hope is as slim as it may be.
*
Three days later, Wen Jing received another message from Xie Ming, informing him that Xie Ming had been discharged from the hospital and returned to his research post.
With the research data on common insects that she brought back, the final content of the Ancient Wilderness insect project was completed, and it was time to submit it for reporting.
"Come on, sign here as the second author, and leave your energy mark."
Apart from being a little pale, Xie Ming seemed to be in good health and said to Wen Jing.
The Awakened's powerful regenerative abilities were on full display at this moment; an ordinary scientist could never have resumed work so quickly.
Currently, only Xie Ming's name is listed as the first author. Wen Jing looked at the project report, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's write Xu Yin as the second author, and I'll be third."
She felt that she had only provided some data on the Wilderness Body and biological samples, and that the biological samples were also paid for. Compared with the data that amateur scientists had observed and summarized over many years, and had devoted a lot of energy and effort to, it was really nothing.
Xie Ming glanced at her. "If Xu Yin's name is written on it, that part will be classified as unreliable information during the initial review stage."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Wen Jing left his name and energy imprint.
When she looked up, her gaze fell on a concluding paragraph in the middle of the paper.
Unlike most animals, insects undergo a normal process of self-evolution during their growth stages, which is called --
[Abnormal development.]
Chapter 87
Half a month after submission, the Ancient Wilderness Insect Research Project was approved, and Wen Jing will receive a subsidy of 10 Integral per month from it.
There may be additional bonuses if new achievements are made in the future.
However, Xie Ming stated that scientific research results are not achieved overnight, and the current priority is to secure funding... cough, operations.
As the new month began, Wen Jing, whose class glory had faded, left the villa and headed straight for the shuttle registration center.
Because of the rapid pace of learning, Wen Jing had already completed all the elective courses that would normally take first-year students at the Red Earth Academy for six months.
The other courses were either useless to her or required her to take higher-level courses in her second year of university.
Therefore, during this period, she focused her energy mainly on the Ancient Wilderness Giant Tree Spacetime, maintaining a frequency of traveling through it every other day.
The staff working at the shuttle center became the people she was most often seen with in the college.
As the compatibility improves, the gap between connections is gradually shortening.
If the frequency is shortened to one day, Wen Jing will have to consider whether to carry out the 'unreported travel', after all, her current travel frequency of once every two days is already very hard-working among her peers.
"Whoosh!"
After greeting the familiar staff, Wen Jing disappeared from the platform. The next moment, a small insect appeared on the giant tree.
After more than half a month, a noticeable gap appeared in the upper part of the giant tree, which was as vast as a sea of green leaves.
Wen Jing carefully chose to start eating from the edge of the area, where birds and a few insects that used to live had been forced to migrate to other areas.
Upon arrival, the little insect didn't waste any time and continued to devour the giant tree, just like before.
"Click, click..."
As I ate, the consciousness panel reappeared.
Life: 138.78, 138.79...
Strength: 135.54, 135.55...
Speed: 103.17, 103.18...
Spirit: 116.35, 116.36...
After more than half a month of focused absorption, plus the use of an Empowerment Stone that boosted all her attributes by 5 points, all of her attribute values have now exceeded 100 points.
To her surprise, the 100 in all attribute values was not the point of qualitative change; after all attributes exceeded this value, no significant changes occurred.
Of course, she could feel her Wilderness Body strength steadily increasing every day.
Every bite taken yields a reward.
These enhancements, in turn, increased her absorption speed, creating a positive cycle.
"Puff..."
The sound of wings flapping had barely begun when silence fell. A red and white bird perched on a branch disappeared into Wen Jing's mouth without even uttering a cry.
She hasn't slowed down to become invisible yet, but because she's so fast and shows no sign of killing intent, the red and white birds often only realize her presence a moment before they're about to be devoured.
Unbeknownst to them, Wen Jing's former natural enemy, the Red and White Bird, had become a ' *** Calamity ' that could appear at any time and that they could neither resist nor resist.
In contrast, the red and white bird was merely ordinary food that she casually ate while devouring the giant tree.
"Splash splash splash..."
A gentle breeze rippled across the now-empty patch of green sea, producing a sound more distinct than ever before.
Wen Jing estimated that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would be able to devour most of the giant tree before the Academy League in a little over a month.
After finishing its main tasks for the day, the busy little insect headed straight for the lower level of the giant tree.
In the Chaos gray mist, Fluorescent Flower bloomed, and beneath the branches and leaves, a lizard flicked out its long tongue and swallowed a mouthful of nectar.
Suddenly, an invisible wind swept by.
The next instant, both the lizard and the Fluorescent Flower vanished.
Not only here, but wherever the 'wind' blows, all kinds of life disappear, whether animal or plant.
As you descend to the lower level, the newly grown crimson mushrooms disappear one by one.
Wen Jing sensed something and turned his gaze in one direction.
Beneath a patch of crimson mushrooms lay a lifeless white 'corpse'.
"Huh? It got eaten by the red umbrella?"
In the blink of an eye, the insect reached the corpse and saw that the soft, rotten 'corpse' was actually just a layer of skin.
"No, this is... molting."
After searching the vicinity for a while, Wen Jing soon spotted a light-colored, red-eyed poison frog among the lush red mushrooms, its gills bulging as it freely inhaled and exhaled highly poisonous spores from the air.
After shedding its skin, the white mutant poison frog's surface turned into a lustrous, jade-like color, very beautiful, so beautiful that one could immediately tell it was extremely poisonous.
Wen Jing's appetite was whetted, and she rushed over to start eating.
"Wow, the first dose reduced my health by five points and also had a hallucinogenic effect. This poison is pretty potent..."
Instead of being anxious, she was delighted, and her devouring motion was swift and decisive.
The mutated poisonous frog, which already possessed the strength of a lower-level BOSS, tried to resist at first, but it had no room to struggle against the speed at which the insect devoured it. Like a canvas being erased by an eraser, it was directly wiped out in this space.
The venom that the mutated poison frog was so proud of had no further effect on Wen Jing after damaging her by more than ten points of health. Instead, it merged into her blood in a special way.
On one hand, Wen Jing now possesses not only Intermediate Abnormal Status Immunity and Potent Poison Resistance, but also the supernatural ability she gained from the previous Empowerment Stone she devoured— Toxin Generation.
As the name suggests, this is a common talent among low-level Awakened.
For example, the Brown talent of the Wilderness Body, which is a lizard, is toxins.
Perhaps due to consuming large amounts of poison and his own extremely strong toxin resistance, Wen Jing, who originally had no talent for toxins, was able to generate toxins not only by consuming energy but also by consuming his own life points after acquiring this characteristic.
The toxin needs to be released through contact. In her Wilderness Body state, it has the same properties as the ' Lipid Isolation Layer ' used to resist the ant resin and slime, and is secreted all over her body. In her human state, it seeps out from the pores on her body surface as she wishes, and the toxicity is somewhat weakened.
The strongest toxin she could produce was the strongest toxin she had ever ingested.
The mutated poisonous frog that Wen Jing had carefully raised for half a month did not disappoint Wen Jing; she could sense that its venom was even stronger than that of the black snake she had once known.
The black snake was defeated by the crimson mushroom, and the mutated poison frog also possessed the hallucinogenic properties of the crimson mushroom. Wen Jing was immune to this hallucinogenic poison, others were not.
However, the most useful part of this ability for Wen Jing is its naturally occurring 'toxin storage' function.
In Wen Jing ingests poison, he can choose Digestion, storing the poison in his blood without consuming energy or life force, and releasing it all at once.
The biggest benefit of this skill is that it indirectly increases her poison resistance.
As an F-rank talent, it might have an upper limit, but it's good enough for now. If she encounters poison that can't be stored in the future, she can evolve it further.
After eating the mutated poisonous frog, the insect returned with its shed skin.
Another fruitful day has come to an end.
Time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, we've entered the final month of Wen Jing's sophomore year.
Meanwhile, the three most important Freshman League for first-year students will begin in about twenty days, when students from the Red Earth Academy and Azure Jade Academy will travel to Mystic Radiance Star to participate.
The league has always been held at the Mystic Radiance Academy because it has the best facilities and the fewest students.
"Beep, your profile has been updated."
[User: Wen Jing]
[Identity Number: 9407691]
[Compatibility: 34%]
[Wilderness Body Rating: F]