CHAPTER 329: CHAPTER 329: HUMAN-LIKE SEMI-ELEMENTAL LIFE FORM_1

This map is newly refreshed, isn’t it? Wang Linchi walked in the darkness underground. Apart from the lack of light, it basically looked identical to a magnified version of the surface. There were plants, animals, and even rivers, which made Wang Linchi feel overwhelmed. He had never imagined that the underground would contain such a complete new world.

As for why the overall structure was so reasonable, he had long given up trying to figure it out. If he thought too much, Dragon Soul Saint Main would evolve a host of comforting effect entries for him again.

But it turned out that after changing the environment, the evolutionary efficiency of Dragon Soul Saint Main had greatly increased.

This led to the appearance of many new effect entries, many of which Wang Linchi banned.

Not all evolutions suited him. After entering the underground world, Wang Linchi found that some force seemed to be compelling his body to grow larger. Previously, this might not have been significant, but with Dragon Soul Saint Main, his adaptive evolutionary ability would cause him to evolve rapidly to acclimate as quickly as possible.

It was a good thing he had banned it early; otherwise, he might already be a small giant by now. He was quite satisfied with his current physique and had no intention of changing it.

The creatures here have mostly evolved dark vision or simply don’t rely on vision at all.

But what secrets does this underground world hold? Wang Linchi was somewhat puzzled. He had walked for so long and encountered numerous life forms, but apart from their larger sizes, there was no trace of civilization.

The only thing that had truly astonished him was the skeleton of a giant beast, its skull alone as large as a hill. The rest of his observations were rather ordinary.

If that giant beast were still alive, Wang Linchi might have been interested. However, since it was dead and he couldn’t extract any useful genes, it didn’t matter much to him.

So where did this Amber come from, and why did it fall in the outer areas?

Wang Linchi looked at the Amber blood stain in his hand again. This item was unusual, but he had no clue about its origin.

With his current Luck, he already possessed protagonist-grade Luck.

The reason his Luck was a blank slate was that he had no additional bonuses attached, and no way to obtain any.

There were no extras like being surrounded by beautiful women everywhere, possessing an Intelligence Reduction Aura, stumbling upon Secret Realms suitable for his level that appeared only once in a century or millennium, or being so handsome that everyone screamed at the sight of him. He only had his Luck; if he continued to improve, he would only be improving his Luck.

Wang Linchi didn’t want these extra benefits either. After all, such perks weren’t genuinely good things, and there was always a price to pay to obtain them.

Yan Ming King had to rapidly improve his strength to confront the Great Ruins, while Ye Tian first faced the Abyss and then the Erroneous Sin. What good things? They were all being pushed along, and these various benefits were akin to a condemned man’s last meal.

"GIBBERISH! ROAR!" A roar echoed from afar.

Wang Linchi, who had been feeling bored, couldn’t help but feel his spirits lift.

Emotion, language!

Although Wang Linchi didn’t know what the other party was saying, he could confirm that the roar resembled some kind of language system. Otherwise, the pronunciation wouldn’t be so peculiar. Once it was confirmed to possess a language system, it signified the birth of civilization.

He quickly followed the sound, moving stealthily.

To travel so far, it most likely isn’t an ordinary life form; it must possess Extraordinary Power.

I wonder if this civilization is an ancient one, or a new generation that inherited traditions from an ancient civilization.

With the Saint Master’s help, Wang Linchi quickly arrived. He didn’t get too close; from a distance, he saw a massive humanoid creature battling an elephant-like creature.

A primitive society? Wang Linchi’s heart sank.

The humanoid creature wasn’t human but resembled a demi-elemental life form. Parts of its body were flesh, while other sections of its skin were covered with rocks and growing plants. Its physical strength far exceeded that of a normal person. From Wang Linchi’s observation, this humanoid demi-elemental life form’s Physique was even tougher than his own, possibly at the Elite Gold Level.

"HAAH!!!"

The humanoid demi-elemental life form thrust its Stone Spear, made of sharpened stone, through the skull of an elephant-like creature about five times larger than a typical elephant.

There’s something peculiar about this Stone Spear. It couldn’t have been fashioned from a rock that fell off the creature itself, could it? Otherwise, how could it be so powerful? Wang Linchi immediately assessed the situation.

If it were merely a Stone Spear ground from ordinary stone, it wouldn’t even be as hard as the fist of this humanoid demi-elemental life form.

The creature didn’t immediately pull the Stone Spear from the elephant-like creature’s skull. Instead, it mumbled something, and then blood-red veins appeared on the Stone Spear and began to absorb.

In less than three seconds, the massive elephantine creature turned to dust.

Then, Wang Linchi clearly saw a pattern resembling an elephant’s head emerge on the fleshy part of the creature’s body. Afterward, the elemental part of its body expanded further, vaguely showing signs of covering it.

Extraordinary Power? Wang Linchi didn’t act immediately. Hunting, eating, growing stronger—a very crude, yet remarkably complete, system.

At first, Wang Linchi thought it was a type of body tempering, which greatly intrigued him. But when he saw the elemental part expand, he realized this system might not be as good as he had imagined.

At the very least, the hidden danger is significant. Absorbing the essence of a giant beast so crudely is bound to cause problems.

If this giant elephant were a cup of juice, Wang Linchi would drink it, digest it in his stomach, and then absorb it through his intestines. However, this humanoid demi-elemental life form was different; it directly and crudely injected the essence into its bloodstream. Although its constitution was unusual and capable of absorbing even through its blood vessels, absorbing foreign material without proper digestion was bound to have consequences. It would be unreasonable if it didn’t carry some detrimental effects. Eating via blood vessels versus eating via the mouth and digestive system—the two processes are naturally different.

No, it’s not so much getting stronger as it is actually more like erosion. Wang Linchi followed behind this humanoid demi-elemental life form. After devouring with the Stone Spear, it still needed to eat; it was an omnivore.

It didn’t use fire when eating meat. The creature’s tribe didn’t seem to have mastered fire; otherwise, they wouldn’t eat their food raw.

Fortunately, with the physique of these humanoid demi-elemental life forms, eating raw food wasn’t really an issue. Whether it was spoiled or contained parasites, once it entered their stomachs, their potent gastric acid could digest it. Telling a demi-elemental life form what it could or couldn’t eat would be utterly absurd. If they were truly particular about hygiene and health, they likely wouldn’t have survived to become so large.

I need to decipher their language and writing system; otherwise, how can I understand their power system? Wang Linchi felt this would be a major undertaking. After all, starting from scratch was never easy.

As for directly performing a Soul Search, that was a bit too far-fetched. The Soul Search technique—not to mention his own immature skills—who would dare attempt it on such a formidable individual? The Saint Master could suppress the creature, but Wang Linchi couldn’t. Forcing a Soul Search would only lead to failure. His Soul Search ability was purely a technique, not some kind of Spell or Daoist art. It would only retrieve memory fragments, and there was no telling what he might read.

He wanted to develop it further, but he couldn’t make bricks without straw.

Using spiritual power was an option, but Wang Linchi didn’t want to. Spiritual power was like a skeletal framework, usually enveloped and acting within the Thought Field. Attacks were also Fanciful and Fickle, with ample protection. It normally resided within the body; casually extending it outside would be like exposing one’s skeleton to the external environment.

What if it got infected?

The Thought Field, when within Wang Linchi’s body, could indeed achieve the precise interference needed for a Soul Search. However, outside the body, it acted more like a robust form of Telekinesis—capable of smashing, defending, observing, and so on. Anything more complex was likely impossible, unless he had something like the Game System to back him up, as before. Only after acquiring similar technology in the future could Wang Linchi make further progress.

This is fine. I’ll stay in this underground world for a while. It doesn’t matter if I can decipher it or not; I was planning to leave anyway. Wang Linchi’s current mindset was quite indifferent. After obtaining the Soul Kind of Destiny, he had already squeezed most of the benefits dry from the surface. If he were to go out now, it would likely just be more fighting and killing.

In the underground world, the Erroneous Sin couldn’t invade for the time being, and he didn’t have to worry about other grudges or entanglements.

Following behind this humanoid demi-elemental life form, Wang Linchi indeed saw its tribe. They were still in a primitive stage, eating raw meat and drinking blood, without fire. Their lives were similar to those of early humans, the only difference being their mastery of a crude form of Extraordinary Power.

So, what is the source of this power... Wang Linchi’s gaze continuously scanned the tribe, hoping to find something useful to him.