Chen Chuan hunted quite a lot of merged space creatures along the way, but he rarely hunted the same kind often, aside from the Rusted Bees, but they were different. They appeared and immediately attacked in a swarm.
The creatures which could really provide him with a lot of nutrients and calories were all at the top of the food chain, so they were fewer in number. Hence, if he ran into merged space creatures he had already hunted, he did his best not to hunt them again.
The undeveloped area before him was a rather complicated biosphere. If he attacked as he liked after barging into it, he would definitely cause a massive negative impact.
Even though the biospheres in the merged space could self-regulate, there was a possibility that certain valuable creatures wouldn’t appear again.
However, Chen Chuan didn’t hold back when it came to the ants.
They were pure destroyers, like sores on the skin. The more he killed, the better it would be for the creatures in the area. The plants would also grow back in their territory.
After turning the nutrients from the eggs into fog, Chen Chuan continued onward. The wisps of white fog lingered in his biofield before entering his body bit by bit. He used the Furnace of Heaven and Earth to turn the nutrients into energy.
In truth, absorbing the nutrients directly like this was quite a waste, because he could receive less than one-third of what the eggs could originally provide, but the sheer amount of them more than made up for a usual serving of ant eggs.
There were just too many ant nests. Even after harvesting them for an entire afternoon, he only managed to get rid of a corner.
Since the ant nests were too large and numerous, Chen Chuan decided to continue into the night while practicing another Blinding Blaze move he hadn’t picked up yet.
Once he started training, the speed at which he burned his energy became much faster, forcing him to increase the speed at which he absorbed the ant eggs. He also kept moving around, which meant that Dawncall was unable to sleep in peace and had to keep following him around. Luckily, it had eaten quite a lot of honey, so it had a lot of energy and kept chirping to cheer him on.
When the first rays of light tore through the darkness, Chen Chuan stopped and adjusted his breathing. If his feeling was correct, he would become familiar with the move after another night of training. He was progressing much faster than when he trained in Central City and the island nations.
Aside from the massive amount of nutrients provided by the fresh and almost endless ingredients here, the merged space itself was a better training ground for martial arts masters, especially when the physical world started fighting for control with the other world at night. Training during that time allowed him to get a better understanding of the purity faction’s secret techniques and how to use them.
This meant that when conqueror generals obtained the ability to move around freely in the merged space at night, they lost some benefits of training here, though they likely didn’t think of it that way.
Chen Chuan checked the area behind him. After the night, he had destroyed most of the ant nests, and some plants had started growing in those parts. He could even see some small creatures.
Even so, there were still a lot of ant nests around.
Since I’m already here, I might as well stay for another day and get rid of more of them. I can use the time to master this Blinding Blaze move.
Of course, he had no intention of staying here for too long. He was here to train, and the nutritional value of the creatures further into the merged space was going to be higher. A few days here or there did not matter much, but he shouldn’t stay in one place for too long.
By the next morning, Chen Chuan destroyed the last of the ant nests, but the ants stubbornly clung to life. Even though he couldn’t see any more nests, there should be more of them underground. They were going to come out to the surface again after some time, but he wasn’t going to bother with what was going to happen in the future.
Over the course of the day, he had mastered the move. Since the Blinding Blaze should be practiced along with the Fist of the Vast Sky, he was going to practice a move that complemented it next.
After taking some honey, he continued onward.
To his surprise, less than an hour after he left the area with the ant nests, he found a Demon Vine.
There were holes on the vine that resembled the faces of demons, so it looked like numerous faces were growing on the tree. Tons of lime-colored plump and juicy fruits hung on the vine. Just by looking at them, Chen Chuan found himself drooling.
In truth, the fruits were coagulated secretions from the Demon Vine. They had a hard shell and neurotoxins inside them. After the fruits fell on the ground, they would lure creatures to eat them. Once they became paralyzed, the vine would bind them and eat them without leaving a single bone.
The Demon Vine’s value was actually pretty high in the bestiary since one of its fruits could be eaten and had high nutritional value.
The people in the old era had loved decorating their shields with parts of the Demon Vine. They would polish the demon faces and put them on their shields. When they struck them with their weapons during battle, the faces would let out terrifying screeches.
The demon faces were really sturdy and couldn’t be cut apart even with mutated weapons. The sole exception was spirit flames.
However, it wasn’t as if the vine was without weaknesses. Even though it was tough, it was practically defenseless against mental energy.
In any case, Chen Chuan wasn’t going to cut down the Demon Vine. Instead, he was going to find the sole edible fruit that contained the essence of the Demon Vine. He took a few steps forward, and his mental energy charged at the vine like a tidal wave.
The Demon Vine started swinging. The shock from the mental attack caused its fruits to fall off and release an appetizing scent. Only one of them didn’t fall, but stayed on the vine.
This was the true fruit of the Demon Vine. Chen Chuan walked over and plucked it. The Demon Vine instantly withered. However, as long as it had enough nutrients, it would recover in a few months.
Chen Chuan tapped at the top of the fruit, causing the shell to fall off and reveal black seeds and flesh the size of finger pads. A thick, lingering aroma filled the air. He grabbed a few pieces and popped them in his mouth to chew them slowly.
They were crispy. Soon after swallowing them, he felt his mental energy recover, and he nodded.
The Demon Vine’s fruit had quite a long shelf life. Not only did it have high nutritional value, but it could also restore mental energy and stamina. The second benefit was the more important one. With this fruit, Chen Chuan could stay in the undeveloped area for much longer.
After all, he couldn’t rest at night and needed to use various methods to ward off corruption. If he didn’t want to waste time resting during the day either, he would push himself until he had no choice but to take some time out to rest. The fruit would ensure that he wouldn’t have to worry about resting for the time being.
Since the shell of the fruit would start rotting very quickly once it left the Demon Vine, he stored the fruit in a vacuum container. Once he was done, he continued onward.
From that moment on, he put up his guard and paid more attention to his surroundings. Occasionally, he would communicate with Dawncall.
Based on the records from the imperial army, Wei Guochan and Gai Shuhe had stayed in this area for around ten days before leaving in a hurry. If he didn’t factor in the time they spent hunting and resting, it was highly likely that they ran into some sort of situation in the middle of their trip.
Since there were so many benefits here, Wei Guochan and Gai Shuhe had to have run into some sort of great danger that forced them to give up on the place.
Usually, the people and creatures that could threaten a martial arts master’s life were at least at the same level as they were, though a handful did transcend to even higher life forms. However, these higher life forms rarely stayed in one place and headed deeper into the merged space or went straight to the other side of the World Ring.
There was one other possibility.
What was it? If that thing still existed, Chen Chuan should run into it soon, based on the current route he was taking.
Yet even after the entire afternoon passed, he didn’t see it. When the sky started turning dark, though, Dawncall let out a warning chirp.
Chen Chuan stepped on a large tree and jumped to the very top to look into the distance. The sight made his eyes widen in shock. A gigantic person was sitting on the slope of the mountain across from him. He appeared to be around eight meters tall.
Since the person was covered in dirt and plants, it looked to be part of the slope.
Was he a mutated martial arts master from the old era or a demon?
As Chen Chuan stared at him, the giant seemed to have sensed something and stirred. The dirt and plants fell off his body, and countless insects as well as small creatures jumped down. After standing up slowly from the ground and moving his heavy legs, he lifted his head.
At that moment, Chen Chuan saw his face clearly. It was covered in eyes, which made it look like he had been stabbed in the face a dozen times. A viscous liquid resembling blood flowed out of them. There were two stumps on the sides of his neck, and it looked like there were supposed to be two heads there.
On his back were a dozen huge arms of varied length. He was also wearing armor made from mutated tissue growing out of his body and holding a large hammer that was shining with green and red light.
While looking at him, Chen Chuan sensed the man’s chaotic mental energy, and he became certain of his theory.
The further down the path of their training they went, the more exposed to corruption they became. When the corruption accumulated to a point where they couldn’t get rid of it anymore, they would lose their minds and turn into a mutated creature resembling an existence from the other world. That was the demon Fenghe Shou had mentioned.
Based on the current situation, the man might have entered a state of dormancy, but once he sensed a martial arts master’s presence and biofield and felt threatened, he woke up.
Suddenly, the man started running. Even though he was huge, he wasn’t slow in the slightest. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Chen Chuan and swung his hammer down at him.