Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

The mycelial threads exposed to the air seemed uncomfortable. They twitched slightly, then actually tried to wrap themselves back around the blade, only to be crushed into dust by Telekinesis.

Perhaps not wanting its secrets to be unraveled, the entire brain suddenly ruptured on its own. A gleam of Spiritual Energy seeped out, revealing two portions of Spiritual Dust Sand and several Thunder Element essences.

My initial guess wasn’t entirely correct. It seems not all Two-Star class Authorities drop Spirit Marrow Crystals.

Judging by its Rune composition, I could roughly deduce it was a Thunder Messenger.

On the other hand, the other brain-bug, which clearly possessed the Authority of a Nature Apostle, did drop one Spirit Marrow Crystal.

’Is there a chance-based element to this? Or is it related to the quality of the Runes themselves and whether the Core Authority has been unlocked?’ Su Chen was slightly surprised.

In terms of quality alone...

The latter’s was indeed much higher.

It only contained two Lv5 Runes. One was Wood Escape Skill, a Wood Element movement Skill that allows the user to merge into trees and travel through nearby plants.

The other was Thorn Armor. When activated, it made him look like a heavily armored monster. However, it was completely countered by my Dark Shackles, which were enchanted with Dark Red True Flame. Under that powerful restraint, it was only thanks to this layer of armor that he didn’t immediately feel the agony of Soul Burning.

Furthermore, Dark Shackles has a sensory deprivation property, sealing the five senses of its captive. But the modified human, connected to the vast consciousness network of the Bloodthirsty Fungus, wasn’t affected by this, which is how it managed to pull off its clever escape.

Most of the remaining ten Runes were Lv4.

As for the more notable ones...

Thunder Light Warp, a movement Skill that exists across various element types, transforms the user into a flash of lightning to dash forward quickly;

Electric Grid Skill, another environment-shaping/terrain-altering type of Skill, lays an invisible high-voltage electric grid on the ground that can also function as a spatial barrier.

’This is pretty good. I should save this Electric Grid Skill specifically.’

Su Chen wasn’t thinking of using it for himself; it would be an excellent choice for setting up defenses at the camp.

After taking stock of everything, he had obtained a total of two Spirit Marrow Crystals, eight portions of Spiritual Dust Sand, three Lv5 Runes, and fifteen other Runes of various levels.

’I thought it would take a lot longer to awaken my second Core Authority. At this rate, I can probably gather all the materials in about three days.’

Before, this would have been unthinkable. The amount of Spiritual Materials needed to upgrade ten Elemental Runes to Lv6 was a definite cause for concern.

But now that he had discovered this mechanism, the process would undoubtedly be much faster.

’No wonder the officials were willing to pull an all-nighter defending the city just to issue that call to arms.’

That solves the mystery.

The Bloodthirsty Fungus must have gained a massive haul from its night-long assault. Time was definitely not on their side.

”Even if there’s a chance of problems, with enough trial and error, the Bloodthirsty Fungus could indeed create a terrifying Lv7 modified body within a day or two,” Yan Ruoruo said calmly. She had also learned from Su Chen that advancing to Lv8 was an unknown, insurmountable barrier.

But with enough Spiritual Materials, the Bloodthirsty Fungus could indeed cobble together upgrades unimpeded.

”It still needs a perfect human vessel,” Su Chen added.

Runes of the same level, when empowered by different class Authorities, are two completely different concepts, with a clear generational gap in power.

For example, the same Thunder Element Rune would be vastly different in the hands of a Grand Elemental Master, a Thunder Messenger, and a Rune Walker.

Also, it was related to one’s own stat panel. At the very least, the effect of the same Rune was much stronger when unleashed by a large demonic beast.

This was also why the Bloodthirsty Fungus coveted his body. After being tormented for so long, he had more or less realized his own extraordinary nature.

”Let’s go.”

After incinerating all the Parasite Body remains, Su Chen and Yan Ruoruo continued on their way.

The sacrificial altar on the cliff’s edge was still intact, but exploring the cave below and dealing with sacrifices were no longer priorities. Besides, venturing into the underground river without a specific Water Element breathing method would be risky.

As the two of them set off, they began to divide the spoils of war.

”You can keep the rest.”

Yan Ruoruo only took two portions of Spiritual Dust Sand to upgrade her Frenzy Rune to Lv5.

Her own Spirit Element Runes were extremely rare, so partial materials were of little use. As for her Lv5 Wind Split, she had already gathered all the necessary Spiritual Materials for it; all that was left was to complete the Rune upgrade itself.

”Take this Lv5 Water Escape Skill for now. You can use it for equipment Enchantment. Take some of these other Runes too.”

Su Chen divided the items simply. Now that Ruoruo was depending on him, he wasn’t about to exploit or short-change her. That one arcing Echo Arrow of hers was great for initiating a team fight.

Although Ruoruo was the core DPS of the Jingcheng University team, she had also shown impressive support capabilities with her Spirit String Artisan Authority and her personal Rune Construction, which was a pleasant surprise.

Meanwhile, he temporarily attached the Lv5 Torrential Flow Skill Rune to the Pure White Short Staff.

Purification Skill at the butt of the staff, Torrential Flow Skill at the head.

It was worth noting that not just anyone could use external Rune Equipment.

The threshold for use was linked to one’s personal affinity.

Perhaps because it wasn’t being activated from within one’s Sea of Consciousness, there was an extra layer of separation, and the required affinity was actually higher.

This led to a situation where someone could absorb and cast a Rune of a certain element but be unable to operate an enchanted piece of equipment of the same element.

The officials hadn’t established a strict grading system for this hidden stat.

But from last night’s salon gathering, Su Chen knew that people colloquially used a less-than-rigorous grading scale, from ”solid” to ”lame.”

Without giving it much thought, Su Chen had Xiaoye start trying to pick up the scent of the modified humans, heading deeper into the forest region beyond the area they had explored yesterday.