Giant Tree Fragment

Is that the benefit you were talking about?

Zhou Rihui's attempt to blast insects in the lake went unnoticed, but pulling out something unusual from the water was another matter entirely.

Even though Badun had given up on refining his control over 'fast and slow', Zhang Xuezhou and the others still ran to the only body of water.

A deep hole appears in the knee-deep lake, while a giant black rock with a shimmering gem-like luster stands upright on the surface.

"What's this?"

Like Ren Anran, Badun and the others also failed to recognize him, instead cautiously observing from nearby.

The discoverer, Zhou Rihui, had countless tiny holes in his hands, as if he had been pierced by steel needles. The holes were bleeding continuously, and he kept crying out in pain on the shore.

"Brother Zhang, Zhouzi, Brother Zhou, take a look at me first! My strength level isn't above the limit, so I can accept the Tuer Divine Art!"

Zhou Rihui stomped his feet in pain, and his way of addressing Zhang Xuezhou changed almost three times in a row, all in the hope that Zhang Xuezhou's miraculous healing of his hands would come back to life.

"Don't worry, you won't die!"

Zhang Xuezhou, who was whispering with Ren Anran, waved his hand, indicating that Zhou Rihui would not die.

"These wounds hurt terribly!" Zhou Rihui cried out. "I can't take it!"

"It's not a bad thing to expel some toxins; look, your complexion is gradually returning to normal," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I'm still hoping my body can break through its resistance to toxins!"

Zhou Rihui muttered something and couldn't help but wash the purple blood gushing from his hands in the water, which provoked Qi Meng Haige to yell and curse again, mentioning that Zhou Rihui had poisoned the water source.

"That thing is the source of the pollution!"

Zhou Rihui called out, and Chimon Hagrid had no choice but to turn his gaze back to the giant black rock that Zhou Rihui had pulled up.

"It looks somewhat like a Soul-Locking Pillar!"

Zhang Xuezhou also spent quite a while identifying it.

This lake area has a concave shape. Previously, it was a towering Soul-Locking Pillar. After the Soul-Locking Pillar burned away, this place became a collection point for rainwater, thus forming a lake of moderate size.

Zhang Xuezhou and others had previously assumed that the Soul-Locking Pillar had been burned completely, since the mallard had even found the seeds, and they hadn't considered that there might still be any residue.

"Or perhaps it's something used to cultivate the Soul-Locking Pillar!"

Zhang Xuezhou scanned the area, and after ruling out the Soul-Locking Pillar as the answer, another possibility surfaced in his mind.

These black stones with a gem-like luster look so much like a giant tree; they appear to be fragments of its trunk.

These body fragments also supported the growth of the Soul-Locking Pillar.

The black boulder that Zhou Rihui had lifted was covered with insects of all sizes, some with six legs and others with eight legs, as if the boulder itself had hatched these insects.

As Zhang Xuezhou's gaze swept across the scene, he vaguely saw countless powerful cultivators imprisoned on the mangled trunk of the giant tree, like worker ants.

"This thing is prickly, it feels like an electric current is pricking my palm!"

Many people observed closely, but in the end, it was Changkong Yinghao who swept away the insects with his alloy sword.

When the blade touched the stone, Changkong Yinghao couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Even though Zhou Rihui's stab wounds on both hands served as a demonstration, subsequent close contact would still inevitably result in further injuries.

"I've seen plenty of rocks that can hit people, but this is the first time I've seen one that can generate electricity!"

Naggs exclaimed in surprise, then pinched another six-legged insect as a limb barrier, and then rubbed the six-legged insect back and forth on the black boulder. His actions did not trigger any electric stinging sensation.

A murky liquid began to appear on the surface of the boulder, attracting the remaining six-legged insects nearby to crawl over at high speed.

After a short period of time, these six-legged insects sucked the juice, and everyone could see that the insects grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, until they reached the size of half a palm that people usually ate. Only then did the insects stop changing size and begin to mate, lay eggs, and reproduce.

"With this thing, wouldn't we be able to eat as many insects as we want?" Changkong Yinglian exclaimed.

"Can't you aim a little higher?" Changkong Yinghao complained.

"Then I can't let it produce anything else!"

Changkong Yinglian muttered something, while Qin Zhong took out a compression bag to collect the juice.

"If this stuff proves effective for the rapid reproduction of other organisms when tested outside, Xuezhou can take it out and test it. Then we can bring in some suitable small creatures, and we'll have a continuous supply of high-quality meat to eat," Qin Chongxi said. "Maybe we'll never have to worry about food again!"

"It seems everyone has been starving too many times. Normally, this should be used for genetic testing to develop new species," Bi Dazhi said, shaking his head.

"If we can't get out, any new species will be useless," Li Qi said. "We're exposed to the elements here, so every little bit of better conditions is better. Fresh meat is much better than those compressed jerky!"

"Won't there be any problems with the creatures that are bred like this?" Zhen Wudi asked cautiously.

"People around here have eaten hundreds of insects, and we haven't seen anyone suffer any health problems from it!"

In the lake, some people studied, some discussed, and some collected the sap overflowing from the boulder, and various results were constantly emerging.

"I thought it was a large Qin Meng Secret Stone, what a pity!"

Zhang Xuezhou waited for an opportunity to treat Zhou Rihui's wounds and did not go into the lake to conduct research, while Ren Yisheng circled around and came back.

After figuring out the situation, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as the output of this small world did not match his expectations.

"They're already discussing whether the bioelectricity from the megaliths can be used to generate electricity!"

"As long as enough people can pass through, it's not difficult to bring in small batteries; there's no need for this!"

"Zhouzi... Thank God Tu'er, it's such a pity we can't eat grass anymore!"

Zhou Rihui's cries of pain subsided as he stood by the lake, and the color of his body, covered in poisonous blood, returned to normal.

His face showed a mixture of pleasure at the relief of the stinging sensation and a slight regret that the rejection of the poisonous blood had led to a lack of adaptability to large doses of toxins, making it difficult for him to continue eating poisonous plants.

"Stop gnawing on things, you could easily get poisoned if you keep doing that," Zhang Xuezhou complained. "You're constantly testing the limits of life and death; the risks far outweigh the rewards!"

"I gained at least three thousand jin of strength from eating grass. Combined with my original strength, I could probably kill Seventh Sequence beast with a single slap, and fighting against ferocious beasts wouldn't be a problem," Zhou Rihui said, scratching his head. "Gaining strength with just one bite—who could resist such a good thing!"

"Take it easy, pursuing strength alone can easily lead to physical collapse!"

Recalling the Emperor's mention of the divine artifact that could shatter the heavens and the fate of the person who caused it, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but offer a few words of advice before wading through the water.

"Xuezhou, come take a look at this bag of liquid that can rapidly reproduce insects!"

As Zhang Xuezhou approached the black boulder, Qin Zhong had already collected a small bag of liquid by rubbing against the six-legged insect.

The liquid in the bag was murky like muddy water, but it caused the six-legged insects that were nearby to straighten their bodies, as if they wished they could jump into the small bag.

"I listened from a distance. After I regained control, I took it out and had someone test it to see if it could be paired with any other creatures. This might greatly improve our living conditions!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded and then took the bagged liquid.

The moment his gaze fell upon it, his eyelids twitched involuntarily. He saw the liquid in the bag churning and twitching like muscle fibers, eventually forming a liquid similar to that that seeped from the rocks in the North Rehe Laboratory.

At the same time, as he got closer, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the black stone seemed to have some kind of connection and resonance with his body, as if he had a close relationship with this huge black stone.