I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 204: Chapter 179: The Big Pineapple in the Deep Sea

Bai Guishou asked tentatively, ”So you plan to let Feng Bqing go to the Miracle Oasis himself to get the Miracle Spring Water and save himself?”

”What other choice is there?” the curly-haired middle-aged man retorted. ”That old tree isn’t even afraid of a Venerable Powerhouse. You don’t expect the leader to go personally, do you?”

Bai Guishou fell silent.

The curly-haired middle-aged man continued, ”Feng Bqing is half-man, half-tree now. Maybe he can actually earn the old tree’s approval. There’s no harm in letting him try. Even if he fails, he’ll have no problem escaping, given his skills.”

Bai Guishou nodded. ”Let’s hope he succeeds. If all else fails, the only other option is for him to try the deep sea.”

Just a moment ago, the two of them had found Feng Bqing in the desert, mid-battle with a mutated beast, and had him drink the drop of Miracle Spring Water that Bai Guishou had brought back.

The process went very smoothly. Although Feng Bqing was mad, his physical instincts were still intact. He subconsciously knew the Miracle Spring Water was useful to him, just as he had instinctively sought out the Tree Marrow even in his madness.

Moreover, the Miracle Spring Water seemed to hold a special attraction for Feng Bqing.

After drinking a single drop of the spring water, Feng Bqing unexpectedly regained his senses, his madness gone!

However, he himself could feel that this was only temporary. His mind and consciousness were still in disarray, and a single drop of spring water wasn’t enough to cure him.

Going forward, he would alternate between madness and lucidity. The ratio of time spent mad versus lucid would be about 3:1, meaning he would only be clear-headed for a quarter of each day.

In other words, for about six hours a day, he was Feng Bqing. For the other eighteen, he was ’Feng the Unhinged’.

The worst part was that these six hours of lucidity weren’t continuous. He might be sane for a minute or two, only to descend into madness again in the next moment.

Mr. Kang and Bai Guishou took advantage of Feng Bqing’s brief moments of clarity to tell him how to save himself, urging him to try during his lucid periods.

The first method was to go to the Miracle Oasis and obtain more Miracle Spring Water. With four or five drops, his madness could almost certainly be cured.

The second method lay in the deep sea. Many recent events in the Dongli Kingdom were linked to an anomaly there, including the Coral Island attack, the evolution of the crab slaves, and the appearance of the Mutated Electric Eel.

Dongli wasn’t the only one; several coastal nations had also discovered, to varying degrees, strange phenomena related to the oceanic anomaly. Naturally, this had also drawn the attention of the Filth Earth Organization.

A while ago, Mr. Kang had personally made a trip to the deep sea to investigate. He discovered traces of a strange, high-level Evolutionary Energy. Even these residual traces were potent enough to trigger evolution in animals that normally couldn’t, helping them break the shackles of their very genes.

If Feng Bqing could find the source of that energy, he could very likely stabilize the chaotic Spirit Plant Gene within him and return to normal.

”Mr. Kang, when you were tracking the source of that energy in the deep sea, what exactly did you see?” Bai Guishou asked, looking at him.

Mr. Kang sank into a memory. He had once tracked the energy along the seabed, trying to find its origin. But as he drew near, he caught only a fleeting glimpse before a terrifying, heart-stopping pressure forced him to retreat.

”In the deep sea, I saw...” Mr. Kang’s tone was uncertain. ”I saw a big pineapple?”

”A big pineapple?” Bai Guishou looked utterly baffled.

...

For the next few days, Su Ze’s life became remarkably routine.

He slept by day, and at night, he took his concoctions and danced.

His physique also improved steadily.

During this time, Ye Jin came to see him once to discuss the future development of the Ten Thousand Dao Unification Style.

The problem Ye Jin needed to solve was how to break through the defenses of opponents like the hard-shelled Coral Insects, or evolvers with similar abilities, in order to apply the effect of the Unity of Ten Thousand Dao.

Su Ze offered her a line of thought: his ’Needle Strike’ skill had a piercing effect and could be imbued with poison, which would actually complement her Unity of Ten Thousand Dao very well.

Of course, he wasn’t suggesting she absorb the ’Needle Strike’ skill itself, but rather that she find a similar skill, or even a higher-tier version of it.

Greatly inspired, Ye Jin went back to consider the feasibility of Su Ze’s suggestion.

Su Ze also made a point to check in on Mrs. Yun. She told him she would need about another month to fully absorb the extract in her system.

Su Ze also heard some news today: the Miracle Oasis had been attacked, causing quite a commotion.

He specifically asked Ju Han about it.

He had gotten Ju Han’s contact information when he left the Miracle Oasis, but he hadn’t told her his true identity.

Ju Han told him a powerful monster—half-man, half-tree, and reeking of a Defiler’s foul stench—had secretly infiltrated the Miracle Oasis to steal the Miracle Spring Water.

The monster was incredibly strong, with combat power surpassing a typical Tier-Five mutated beast, but strangely, its evolutionary light was still green.

In the end, Ju Han managed to repel the monster by borrowing the power of the Mother Tree, preventing it from succeeding.

Su Ze’s eyes widened when he heard this. ’Isn’t that Feng Bqing!’

’Feng Bqing is that strong? He already has the power of a Venerable?’

Feng Bqing’s attack on the Miracle Oasis to steal the Miracle Spring Water reminded Su Ze of how the Tiger King General had spent a whopping five million points to buy the water at an auction. He had suspected then that the water was meant to treat Feng Bqing, and Feng Bqing’s current actions all but confirmed it.

’Since Feng Bqing is actively trying to steal the spring water, he’s probably not completely mad anymore. But if he were fully cured, he wouldn’t need to steal more. This most likely means he isn’t fully recovered, just that his madness isn’t as severe,’ Su Ze reasoned to himself.

Thank goodness the Mother Tree and Ju Han were powerful enough to protect the spring water.

Su Ze quickly put the matter out of his mind. There was nothing he could do to stop Feng Bqing anyway. He could only pray that Feng Bqing would remain eternally faithful to Qiangzi.

A few more days passed, and Su Ze finished consuming the Tier Four Coral Stones he had on hand, taking them over a ten-day period.

His bones were now so incredibly hard that even Mrs. Yun’s hand ached when she struck him.

Now, Su Ze weighed in at over five hundred pounds!

The core reason was that his entire body was simply too ’dense.’ His flesh and blood had a density far beyond that of an ordinary person, and his bone density was even more outrageous.

Su Ze now had to keep the ’Traceless Walk’ ability of his Traceless Walker active at all times, just to reduce the strain his weight put on floors and furniture. He never expected that a Tier-One wondrous item like the Traceless Walker would still be useful to him after all this time.

He went to Liou Wenxin’s again to have his various physical stats tested. The results showed he now had a 38% chance of successfully absorbing a Tier-Four, C-Grade extract.

An increase from 11% to 38% in just ten days was a significant improvement.

However, Su Ze knew this was largely thanks to the Tier Four Coral Stones. Future gains wouldn’t be nearly as dramatic.

’Time to settle down and go into seclusion for some serious cultivation...’ Su Ze thought to himself.

But his life of intense training was interrupted just a few days later by a phone call.

It was a call from Pei Wuhua, the director of the practical combat department at Dongli University.

”Su Ze, if you have time tomorrow, come by the Master Class training hall. I’d like you to meet some of the other students.”

”Mr. Pei, what is it? Is something the matter?” Su Ze asked in confusion.

’He had no connection to the students in the practical combat department’s Master Class. He didn’t know them at all. Why arrange a meeting out of the blue?’

Pei Wuhua said, ”The Six-Nation Top Academy Exchange Tournament might be moved up. I want to take this chance for you to get familiar with the other contestants and build some rapport. After all, there’s a team event, and your coordination will be crucial.”

”The Six-Nation Top Academy Exchange Tournament has been moved up?” Su Ze said, stunned. ”Why the sudden change of date?”

’This tournament has been running for years, always scheduled for May, right at the end of the first semester. There has to be a reason for such a sudden change.’

”I can’t explain it in just a few words. We’ll talk when you come over tomorrow.” Pei Wuhua paused, then continued, ”If you’re not ready, you can also wait. After all, you’re only a freshman. The Six-Nation Top Academy Exchange Tournament is held every two years, so you’ll still have plenty of time to participate in two years.”

”That won’t be necessary. I’ll participate this year. Two years from now... I might be at the Saint-level by then. I’m afraid they won’t even let me compete!”

”You kid...” Pei Wuhua was left speechless, feeling a sharp pang in his chest.

But he just assumed Su Ze was joking. He believed Su Ze could reach the Butterfly Stage in two years, but Saint-level... that was a bit of a stretch.

So he offered one more piece of advice: ”Normally, since you’re only a freshman, we wouldn’t have planned on you participating. But the strength you showed during the freshman assessment was truly impressive, so you can give it a shot.”

”But if you’re aiming for the individual championship, then take my advice and wait two years. The other schools are said to be particularly strong this year, especially the one from the Ancient An Country. I hear they have a peerless, once-in-a-generation talent. I believe your own talent is no less than his, but you’ve had far less time to develop. You’re only a freshman; he’s already a junior.”

Su Ze just smiled, not bothering to argue. ”How will we know if we don’t even try?” he said. ”I’ve improved a lot over the past two months, too.”

”Alright then, come over tomorrow.” Pei Wuhua knew geniuses were a proud bunch, so he didn’t press the issue and just hung up.

After the call with Pei Wuhua ended, Su Ze frowned and started asking around about why the academy exchange tournament had been moved up.

He had a feeling this wasn’t so simple.

’How could a tradition several hundred years old be changed on a whim?’

His curiosity wouldn’t let him wait until tomorrow morning to get the answer from Pei Wuhua.

Su Ze first asked Liou Wenxin, but she didn’t even know about the change. She just said she would ask Mr. Zhou for him.

He then asked Mr. Atago, who, as expected, knew some inside information.

Atago: My dearest friend, have you ever heard of the Divine Dice? From what I’ve heard, the reason the Six-Nation Top Academy Exchange Tournament was moved up is related to the Divine Dice!