Chapter 108

This is the influence of receiving honors.

*

The next moment, a translucent insect carrying a golden seashell and a C-grade Empowerment Stone appeared in the lower level of the giant tree.

In a thick fog with very low visibility, most of the once enormous trees have disappeared, leaving only their roots that stretch to who-knows-where.

This is the result of Wen Jing's dedicated efforts over the past two months.

Having already exhausted all the potential value of this place as her first source of wealth, she has now fully realized its potential.

Wen Jing's original plan was to conduct a non-localized shuttle after the Freshman League, and go to a new world for in-depth exploration and development.

However, since she wanted to bring treasures from the material universe to use in the Ancient Wilderness world, she definitely needed to choose a safe place, so she entered this place anyway.

The golden seashell exudes an alluring energy aura; it's clearly Ancient Wilderness treasure capable of enhancing the strength of Awakened. Since Dean Ailin didn't specifically mention it, the most direct way to use it is simply to consume it.

"Let's eat!"

The tiny insect used its limbs and mouthparts to pry open the golden shell.

"Click!"

Instantly, a rainbow of light flowed out from behind her.

"Such amazing special effects..."

Looking at the clam meat inside the shell, which emitted various colored halos, Wen Jing couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

Immediately following was an intense feeling of hunger and thirst, a thirst that was not only for the Wilderness Body's need for energy, but also for pure food.

The latter even surpassed the former.

Don't be fooled by Wen Jing's life of eating all the time; it's all about the attraction of energy, the deliciousness itself. She hasn't had that in a long time; the last time was when she was hallucinating while eating mushrooms.

The next moment, she lowered her head and bit into the clam meat.

With just a touch of its mouthparts, a piece of clam meat the size of her body slid directly into her mouth like water, truly 'melting in her mouth'.

"..."

"..."

Is this paradise for the taste buds?

The delicious taste was indescribable; even the tiny insect, whose eyes had no tear ducts, shed tears of emotion.

Life: 220

Strength: 217

Speed: 186

Spirit: 199

[Gained the trait ' Sharpness ']

The rare treasure given by Dean Ailin boosted Wen Jing's overall attributes by 20 points.

Additionally, after the Strength stat exceeded 200 points, a new trait was added.

Even when his Compulsive Eating kicked in and the panel popped up, interrupting his immersive experience, Wen Jing still couldn't help but stare blankly, lost in thought.

Since we don't know the real name of this golden seashell yet, let's just call it Delicious Seashell! It's a fitting name!

"Clatter..."

Just then, a soft sound came from the side.

Wen Jing turned his head and was shocked to find that what he had just shed was not a 'tear of emotion,' but a golden pearl.

"Tears turn into pearls... Eating this golden seashell will turn you into Mermaid?"

She used the Gravity Silk to pull the obviously extraordinary golden pearl over, and stared in astonishment.

As the little insect thought of all sorts of sad things, its six limbs and antennae twitched around its eyes as if it were trying to squeeze out more tears.

The result was naturally a failure. Wen Jing's Wilderness Body simply does not have the tear gland organ; it was abnormal that he shed tears while eating the shellfish.

"It seems that eating the small pearls is the special effect of the delicious seashell..."

"Furthermore, if a new feature has been added, the panel should also indicate this."

Wen Jing muttered to himself, then picked up the golden pearl and popped it into his mouth with a 'crunch'.

Except for the first bite, the golden pearls also melt in your mouth.

Will it also add attributes or characteristics?

With this expectation in mind, Wen Jing looked at the control panel.

The next moment, the little insect shuddered.

Because what grows is not an attribute or a characteristic, but...

[Skill Points: 245]

After checking several times, Wen Jing confirmed that she hadn't misread it—100 points! The golden pearl had actually increased her Skill Points by 100! This was the first time she had ever received a treasure that could increase Skill Points outside of the spiritual realm!

What kind of rare treasure is this? Dean Ailin is so generous! Can we ask her to buy some more?

It was only then that Wen Jing truly realized how much influence a teacher had.

No wonder Dean of Azure Jade gave a secret technique that costs over 10,000 Integral in the Integral mall. Although he is the author, the fundamental value of the secret technique will not change because of that. And the gift given by Dean Ailin is probably even more valuable.

It seems she underestimated it before. Although she didn't know the exact Geometry of a C-grade Empowerment Stone, the value of these two gifts seemed to exceed the reward Integral of the Freshman League, and was probably not much different from all the rewards.

Wen Jing was so excited that she wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She could only bury her head and chew the remaining two empty golden shells into her stomach.

The shell is quite hard, but with her current mouthparts and Digestion system, it's about the same as a biscuit.

Unfortunately, compared to clam meat and pearls, shells are just shells, roughly equivalent to a grain of Emerald Crystal Rice Grain of similar weight—better than nothing.

After finishing the delightful seashells, Wen Jing turned his gaze to the nearby Grade C Empowerment Stone, a new sense of anticipation rising within him. "I wonder what kind of superpower I can gain?"

Just as she was about to take a bite, she suddenly stopped, realizing, "Oh wait, I forgot to use the teacher's luck!"

It's a bit unnecessary to go back and try to piggyback on metaphysics now.

"But our relationship has become closer now, so I should be able to get some freebies, right?"

So, after visualizing Dean Bai's image in his mind like a Pagoda Secret Technique, the little insect bit into the Empowerment Stone.

Chapter 108

"Click, click..."

The C-grade Empowerment Stone, resembling a dazzling crystal, disappeared from Wen Jing's mouth.

In terms of hardness, it is much harder than an F-grade Empowerment Stone, but for her current mouthparts and Digestion abilities, it is actually easier to eat than when she first used an F-grade Empowerment Stone.

Life: 220 → 320

Strength: 217 → 317

Speed: 186 → 286

Spirit: 199→299

[Gained the trait ' Extreme Speed ']

[Gain the trait ' Calmness ']

Under the [Complete Empowerment Stone Digestion] property, the energy of this Empowerment Stone, which would inevitably cause some energy leakage when used by other Awakened —even high-level Awakened— is completely absorbed.

Wen Jing 'Wilderness Body energy surged wildly, his attribute panel skyrocketed, and a series of new characteristic notifications appeared on the panel.

The little insect shook its wings, sensing the changes in its entire body.

Her body size had only increased by one size, but her sense of gravity told her that her mass had increased a hundredfold!

However, for Wen Jing, who possesses the Gravity Silk, her own mass is not reflected in her weight, so she did not sink into the ground like a heavy lead weight.

All attributes increased by 100 points! No wonder it's a high-level Empowerment Stone! An F-grade Empowerment Stone only increases by 5 points!

"All basic attributes gained new characteristics after breaking through 200 points..."

"What kind of special talent is contained within this Empowerment Stone?"

Wen Jing finished consuming the last of the Empowerment Stone and waited for the panel to display a message.

However, one second, two seconds... and even tens of seconds passed, and still no feature notifications were given.

"No?"

"How could there not be?!"

Wen Jing stomped on the tree root in disbelief, completely unprepared for this situation.

Because she didn't control her strength, her kick created a small crater.

Because she's an F-rank, she can't obtain the talents from the C-rank Empowerment Stone?

Wrong!

If that's the case, then her ability to evolve all the way to where she is now wouldn't make sense.

To deny this point, one must first deny herself, which is a clear paradox.

Wen Jing fell into thought, gazing at the [Complete Empowerment Stone Digestion] trait in her consciousness. At least for now, traits don't lie, and she had indeed obtained traits from the former F-grade Empowerment Stone.

If we rule out the problem being with her personally, then the problem can only be with this C-grade Empowerment Stone.

Information about the Empowerment Stone flashed through her mind—

It was extracted and collected from the residual Superpower Core of those Awakened Genetic Collapse. With the Federation's current technological level, the highest level of Empowerment Stone that can be extracted is only C-grade.

What if the reality is different?

Leaving aside the question of what would happen if B-level and A-level Awakened experienced Genetic Collapse, and who would retrieve their genes, the highest level known to be extractable is C-level... Does this mean that someone or some organization already possesses the means to extract supernatural talents from the Empowerment Stone?

For others, the benefits they gain from the Empowerment Stone depend entirely on luck.

If they didn't acquire superpowers, it was just bad luck, and no one would doubt that.

If Wen Jing hadn't independently evolved a targeted Digestion characteristic, he would never have discovered the secret that the Empowerment Stone in his hand was actually an 'empty shell'.

If this is indeed the truth, then the question arises: where did those extracted talents go?

The most valuable use of the Awakened's special abilities is to let others 'inherit' them, thereby ensuring a stable mass production of Awakened!

"So it's highly likely that the Federation's current highest level of technology in this area is only capable of extracting talent, but not transferring it to other people?"

Having reasoned to this point, Wen Jing concluded that this was the most likely possibility.

Because if the 'extraction-conversion' process had been completed, the Federation ecosystem would not be what it is now. School District Planet would most likely no longer exist, and Awakened not born into wealthy families would never have been born.

The top ten corporations or the forces that control this technology will become dictators of the Federation, keeping the Awakened confined to a small group for eternity.

However, the truth may not be so simple, because there are still some contradictions involved...