Chapter 849
Chapter 849 - 835: Extra Meal
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Cause and effect are unyielding, and Lu Ping’an’s initial greed brought him some minor troubles.
The most top-tier materials, those derived from Rule-level Stone Dragon, Rule-level Dragon Warrior, Ancient Dragon Turtles, and Divine Bones, were enough to craft an innately top-tier Magic Pet.
However, Lu Ping’an was very greedy. As the "client," he put forth demands that were shockingly excessive.
"... The first blessing, you will not be bound by form, the second blessing, you will freely switch between ’Energy (Spirit)’ and ’matter’ ..."
In the "blueprint," Lu Ping’an added his own illicit goods, incorporating his understanding of the essence of high dimensions and all things.
He yearned for it to freely transform between "Energy" and "matter," possessing almost limitless energy while also having an almost immortal body.
The final result was a kind of "Existence Giant Beast," which might not even exist in the normal material universe.
It was both matter and energy, capable of being both simultaneously or potentially neither, leaning more towards a "theoretical life form," a "Perfect Giant Beast" under certain rules.
At that time, there was actually still hope.....
"... The third blessing, you, will be my blade of infinite growth... cough cough."
At the time, Lu Ping’an coughed up blood.
He needed a "Weapon," and one that could grow infinitely. In a sense, this contradicted the previous "Perfect Giant Beast."
If it was perfect, how could it evolve? If it was incorporeal, how could it become a weapon... Lu Ping’an’s demands were too stringent.
The worst part was actually that Lu Ping’an could achieve all this precisely because it was built upon the "Divine Bones."
Divine Bones were Ah Jiu’s keystone, containing the most fundamental "privilege" of that world, the (excessive) perfect equation for the conversion of "Energy" and "matter."
Put bluntly, it could do that in that world because it was the king of that world. Once out, no one would indulge it, and its "permit certificate" became worthless.
The Divine Bones had been digested by Ah Jiu, becoming completely integrated into its core components, but the "privilege" that the Divine Bones possessed also naturally diminished once away.
Having left the Green Planet, Ah Jiu’s "Bone" might not support its "high-dimensional body."
"The Soul and Body are out of sync, requiring a period of rest and recuperation, possibly several months, or even several years... perhaps permanent."
Having left its homeland, Ah Jiu developed a sleeping disorder, hibernating at any moment, and its growth slowed considerably.
It possessed the trait of "Infinity Evolution," yet lacked the hardware for "infinite growth"...
"Snake Shedding, might be the most suitable food for Ah Jiu..."
Ah Jiu was missing hardware, it needed flesh, and what Abyssal creatures had in abundance were precisely these two.
Most importantly, the "Abyss" had material properties that extremely fitted the concept of "Infinity Evolution."
Under normal circumstances, Ah Jiu’s "Abyss Transformation" was unrealistic... An entity that didn’t exist was hardly susceptible to external change. Even as Ah Jiu moved within the Abyss, there seemed to be no signs of Abyss Transformation.
"Eat more..."
At that moment, the familiar cauldron was brought out again, with "Little Snake" merrily swimming inside.
And next to it was a "Big Snake"... only, that empty snakeskin, along with the eyeless "snake head," was a bit creepy.
Ah Jiu wasn’t in a rush, it was waiting for "her" to be properly cooked, then it would tear, swallow, and digest her bite by bite.
No matter what "she" was in the past or might be in the future, right now, she was "lifeless Material," just like other Rule-level materials such as Divine Bones, Dragon Card Material, which could be cooked in the cauldron and absorbed by a Magic Pet as nutrition.
Being "organic" in Reality actually made it easier to cook and absorb.
It might be the curse technique placed by the Snake King to prevent Snake Shedding from being extracted, or it might be the inherent property of the Snake King’s shedding. The extracted snakeskin was only about the size of a person, conveniently fitting for cauldron cooking.
"... Make way."
At that time, seeing that Ah Jiu seemed to be monopolizing the food, "someone" couldn’t keep calm.
Zhi Xi suddenly crossed over the edge of the cauldron and flipped in.
"Splash!" Water splashed, and Lu Ping’an was startled, then stunned before he burst out laughing.
This wasn’t Zhi Xi’s sudden inspiration, but her "evolutionary instinct" had been triggered. She felt she could also absorb the nutrients from the cauldron!
"Divide it into points, Little Sister...you dare to bite me, I’m biting you too!" The sisters started to bare their teeth at each other.
One piece of snakeskin, two magic pets scrambling for it, neither side planning to hold back.
Lu Ping’an turned his attention to the last magic pet, Little Flame, who was tugging at its own tail...eh, upon seeing its master watch it, it rushed over and licked his face with saliva.
"...Looks like it’s a mismatch in attributes." The gluttonous Little Flame had no appetite, naturally, it couldn’t eat.
As the two magic pets competed for food, their efficiency increased significantly. Silver patterns began to appear on Zhi Xi’s "skin," looking like decorations, but overall she started to look more like a living creature.
While Ah Jiu seemed to gorge and bloat, only to instantly revert back to normal the next moment as though nothing had changed.
Soon, that large piece of snakeskin was gnawed clean, with the last bit being tugged between the two, ending up split in half between them.
For the first time, the usually silent Ah Jiu made a sound, albeit a bit odd.
"Still hungry? Um, let me think..."
This area was once the realm of the Snake King, her safest territory, and naturally, her cache of Snake Shedding was more than just one or two pieces.
Moreover, there must have been various forms of security previously, and even if there were no reliable living guards left, setting up mechanisms and traps would have been simple, at least enough to alert the Snake King in case of trouble.
But now, after the geological changes that had affected almost half of the seventh level, most fortresses, traps, and watchmen had become irrelevant.
This was not by chance, but by human design. With special equipment to search for Snake Shedding in hand, removing guards and traps could greatly enhance work efficiency.
Although Lu Ping’an lacked such equipment and was not adept at finding things, securing new Snake Shedding seemed to be not so difficult.
"Please, one more time..."
Lu Ping’an looked towards Miss Fang Lingguo.
Her ability was truly useful when it came to finding objects, especially unclaimed "materials."
"...Let me rest a bit more, my condition is pretty bad. Even though those are inanimate objects, I can’t just touch them easily..." Miss Fang lay on the ground, stiff as a corpse.
"If you find one piece, I’ll give you three hundred points, personally guaranteeing you a stable acquisition of a third-tier profession. If you find more than three, I’ll later figure out a way to get you a Silver Taboo item."
"I’ll start searching right away!"
It seemed that no matter the difficulty, as long as one was willing to "add money," repeatedly "add money," the workers would eagerly find a way to overcome it.
Lu Ping’an casually gave her another deferred payment to help her recover faster.
But Lu Ping’an knew there were limits to such searches, and if Fang Lingguo searched once or twice more, the deferred payments might also reach their limit (if she didn’t want to die).
At this moment, Ah Jiu, who had been dozy since returning, jumped out.
Not only had its condition recovered, but it had also grown noticeably larger, transforming from a baby snake just a finger length long into a few months old snake baby.
And its persistent gaze, through a mental connection, conveyed good news to Lu Ping’an.
"You can sense and search for Snake Shedding on your own? Um, you say there’s at least eight more pieces on this seventh level, and you want them all... Eating all of them, isn’t that a bit much?"
"I want half too!"
Well, Zhi Xi was suddenly full of energy as well.
But Lu Ping’an also found motivation; Ah Jiu’s panel showed no change, while Zhi Xi’s panel suddenly had a new entry.
[Ultra-fast Regeneration (Silver Mid-position, Abyss Property)]
What’s there to hesitate, today everyone gets an extra meal!
— End of Chapter 849 —