Chapter 68: 59: Huge Harvest (Update by Alliance Hierarch Newbie Village Chief Tyrael)
"Thankfully there's nothing much flammable in this corridor, otherwise we'd have a fire on our hands," he said.
Looking at the scorched black corridor and the billowing, pungent black smoke, Tao Yu, who had been constantly snacking, finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The Yuan Force was gathering!
Success!
In terms of physical traits alone, the zombie was much stronger than Cao Shaolin.
But aside from the self-inflicted damage during his stacking attacks while breaking defense, the overall sense of crisis was actually less than that of his encounter with Cao Shaolin.
The zombie possessed immense strength and off-the-charts defense, but its straightforward, mindless attacks were perfectly countered by Tao Yu's own fighting style.
If Cao Shaolin had faced the zombie head-on, he would surely have been killed by it. I would have been killed by Cao Shaolin in a direct confrontation, but even if I faced the zombie head-on, I would still be able to maneuver!
The culmination of the Yuan Force concentrated on the zombie's hand—or rather, its claw—which was burnt somewhat crispy and emanating a stench of char.
Tao Yu went over and simply broke off the carbonized claw.
At the same time, his other hand was still stuffing chocolate into his mouth.
This vigorous action left the laboratory survivors gaping in shock.
This individual with the power to vanish suddenly and supernatural abilities, he wouldn't really eat that 'Corpse King's' claw, would he?
This person seems a bit perverted, psychologically twisted…
"It's a pity my clothes got burned. Otherwise, they would have been a decent item," Tao Yu mused.
Recalling the question he had asked them earlier, the clothing had been delivered along with the zombie, and wearing it made control easier, seemingly having a suppressive effect—not because they had a perverse interest.
Claw of the Zombie: A claw that has gathered the essence of a zombie, seemingly containing some Corpse Refining Art. Absorbs a thousand Yuan Force.
In terms of Yuan Force value, it was about the same as Cao Shaolin's Warlord's Sidearm, equivalent to fifty aliens!
"If I couldn't hit it solidly, with the Dexterity of an alien, perhaps one could even entangle it. It must be an enhancement from a skill," Tao Yu considered.
What truly excited Tao Yu was that this was a skill with complete functionality, different from the Warlord's Sidearm, which was useless after absorbing the gun; this item involved absorbing skill information and contamination information together.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tao Yu, who could Deify skills, immediately chose to absorb.
The influx of a thousand Yuan Force, along with the absorption of residual Yuan Force from the damaged equipment, completely replenished Tao Yu's previously consumed Yuan Force and even increased it by five hundred units.
The most crucial thing was that Tao Yu now had another skill orb that was completely different from the ones he had before!
Unlike the bodily and combat skills, this one appeared separately above the rest.
Art of Corpse Refinement: A secret method of Corpse Refinement that allows one to cultivate different zombies over periods of seven days, forty-nine days, or eighty-one days by incorporating various toxins for enhancement. The process requires constant nourishment with one's own blood.
Each zombie controlled will occupy a portion of mental fortitude; controlling additional zombies will incrementally increase the consumption…
While it wasn't the mythical type of zombie that could fly or burrow, and indeed the previous zombie had many flaws such as being rigid and direct in attack,
and despite having a strong physique, it could probably be bound by just one or two aliens,
But!
The impenetrable body and terrifying strength made it an exceptionally good meat shield, which was a perfect supplement for Tao Yu, whose stamina and energy endurance were poor.
Most importantly…
The Deification cost two thousand five!
For Tao Yu, this was not a point of hesitation.
"I spent five hundred just to replenish physical strength and mental energy. Compared to that, what's two thousand five!" he exclaimed.
From an original peak at seven thousand five, his Yuan Force sharply dropped back down to five thousand!
Art of Corpse Refinement – Modified: Omitted. The zombies nourished by my own blood can become shadowy, eliminating the weakness of zombies fearing the Yang energy.
The change wasn't major, but as Tao Yu understood the meaning naturally conveyed, he felt a considerable surge of excitement.
Shadowing!
Similar to the use of Shadow Force like Shadow Evasion!
It's not that zombies can become invisible, but one can choose a zombie to become their own shadow, merging into it!
And when necessary, the consumption of mental power can be increased to allow part of the zombie's body to transform into Shadow Force during combat, making its movements more dexterous!
The downside is that, like all Deification skills, actively transforming part of the zombie into shadow in combat consumes a lot of mental energy, and it also takes more passive mental energy to control the zombie.
In exchange, when the zombie passively hides in the shadows without transforming, there is no extra consumption.
"Regardless, the effects after Deification are far superior to before, compensating for the greatest need for flexibility. Otherwise, it would also be a bit weird to be running around with a zombie every day, and at last, I finally have a place to stash things..."
Feeling the profoundness of that skill, Tao Yu had a pretty clear idea that although zombies can't merge a backpack into the shadows, it was still possible to hang 'equipment' and store some small items on them.
How safe it is to be in the shadows.
However, the prerequisite is to refine one's own zombie first.
"When I have money later, I wonder if it's possible to use zombies for mechanical transformations or Alien implants."
Thinking about the lowest price of mechanical transformations and Alien implants, Tao Yu couldn't help but sigh. With that kind of money, of course, he would first upgrade himself, and see if there would be a chance in the future.
As for the materials for manufacturing...
The first thing that came to Tao Yu's mind was the rich lady's lizard-scaled creature that he had burned, which made him feel a pang of regret.
Such perfect material, and it even had toxins itself!
But then Tao Yu thought of Cao Shaolin's body, which didn't seem to have been burned, right? Wasn't it buried in the garden?
There's still time to salvage it now!
As for toxins...
Tao Yu reflected on the needs of the Corpse Refining Art, with thoughts racing through his mind.
It was probably a zombie raised by a 'Fortune Thief', and the virus likely infused into it was probably the zombie virus, combined with its own corpse poison to create such a strong infection power. It's no wonder!
With a tinge of mysticism, it indeed becomes hard to guard against!
Also, considering that the source of infection wasn't just one place, it indicated that the guy raising those zombies probably had quite a number of them!
According to the records of the Corpse Refining Art, the burden of increasing the number of zombies refined with essence blood grows exponentially. Even if the other party had used some clever method, they clearly were no ordinary individuals.
Thinking that he had killed a zombie on his side, Tao Yu wondered if that person could feel it.
"So much time has passed and he still hasn't come to rescue the zombie; he must be preoccupied with other matters. But I can't take risks. After eating and recovering, I should hurry and leave, and call for backup..."
Tao Yu had already made up his mind and had some ideas about this skill.
Because of various Deification skills, he had a high demand for mental and physical energy consumption. Since he could only hide a single zombie in the shadow on a regular basis, Tao Yu decided to carefully create one or two high-quality zombies.
A few fine pieces are always better than a swarm of trash, as they offer a higher cost-performance ratio in terms of the mental energy occupied.
After solving the zombie problem and gaining a decent skill, Tao Yu recalled the main purpose of his trip here.
"Where's the meteorite?"
Tao Yu's mind was preoccupied with returning to process Cao Shaolin's corpse, but he couldn't overlook the other major gain.
In Tao Yu's view, even if the meteorite itself didn't contain much Yuan Force, the effects were clear. Although it served limited personal use for him, selling it to those young masters and ladies from the Floating City should net at least a baseline of one hundred thousand, right?
Plus, with the discovery of Jack being the 'Chosen One', maybe it would allow him to further enhance his talent through Deification!
"I, I'll take you there."
The middle-aged female researcher seemed to feel some reverence towards Tao Yu, using honorifics unconsciously.
With this insider's help, coupled with the malfunction of the electrical facilities, they easily made their way to another lab, where in the center, a transparent container held a viscous liquid similar to mercury, encasing the meteorite like it was in amber.
"Very good."
Tao Yu smiled and walked over. This way, it would be easy to take it with him, no need to worry about exploding due to too much vibration during transport.
"Hmm, maybe it's better to take it back directly and then sell it when those two return."
Tao Yu pondered. Although the two of them were strong and could stay in the Abyss much longer, during the early stages, they would probably still come back to get some targeted items based on the situation, right?
But as Tao Yu casually touched the transparent container, wanting to see what exactly it contained, he suddenly froze.
Shattered World's Heart: Can enhance talents or has a chance to activate new talents.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck!
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