Chapter 76: Talent Awakening

“Xuehui repeatedly mentioned that this treasure was very precious and that we absolutely must get it. The ‘Peering Rune’ also says it’s a mysterious treasure. Since it’s called a treasure, the item inside the Corpse Mother must be extremely valuable, far more than just a special ability like ‘Gluttony Fangs’ or ‘Soul Devour.'”

Su Li gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind. He violently pushed off with his feet, diving at full speed toward the bottom, closing in on the root stalk.

He wanted to dive as deep as possible. The farther away he was from the massive flower above, the safer he would be. As he descended, he twisted his head to check the situation above. He saw the huge flower suddenly cease vibrating, and the Nightmare Beast inside stopped struggling completely.

“This is bad.” Su Li had no time to think. He grabbed the root stalk with his left hand, gripped the machete tightly with his right, and brought it down with all his might.

He was afraid he wouldn’t sever it with one blow. He used all his strength, even extending the Gluttony Fangs from his left hand. If the machete failed, he would immediately use the Gluttony Fangs.

However, his caution was unnecessary. The machete sliced through the root stalk instantly.

The moment the root stalk was severed, a massive gush of blood erupted from it, like a fountain, immediately staining the entire area red. The translucent large flower above began to violently shake. Its petals instantly opened, and it desperately lunged downward to pursue him.

“It didn’t die instantly?” Su Li was terrified. He immediately swam downward with all his strength to escape.

The Corpse Mother’s speed was faster than his. As the petals opened, it spat out the Nightmare Beast inside. However, the ejected Nightmare Beast was motionless. Its muscles had seemingly withered and collapsed, turning into a dried husk.

The Nightmare Beast, which favored human blood and turned its human prey into dry husks, had met its match. The life essence and blood within its body had been entirely sucked out by the Corpse Mother in a short time. It, too, had become a dried husk.

Although Su Li fled desperately, the Corpse Mother’s speed was greater than his. It quickly closed the distance. As the Corpse Mother pursued, it continuously withered. Its translucent color rapidly changed, large black spots—like lividity—appearing on its surface. The six petals quickly shriveled and fell off. The numerous translucent tendrils dissolved, as if melting and decaying.

When it finally caught up to Su Li, he looked up and saw that the originally terrifying and mysterious Corpse Mother had lost all six petals. Only the blurry human face in the center remained. Massive corpse spots covered the face. It opened its mouth-like organ, seemingly screaming, but made no sound.

Seeing this sight, Su Li was no longer afraid. He stopped in the water, watching the corpse spots on the remaining human face multiply. The spots quickly corrupted the face. Soon, the face withered, becoming hard, as if all life essence had left it.

Suddenly, cracks appeared on its surface. As it completely cracked open, a glowing orb of light emerged from its center. The orb, about the size of a fist, shot into Su Li’s forehead.

“Is this a Spiritual Source? I’ve never seen a Spiritual Source this large, or this brilliant.”

Su Li marveled silently.

At the same moment, a torrent of messages sounded in Su Li’s mind.

“Level 3 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 29/30”

“Acquired the Spirit of Talent.”

“Fusing with the Spirit of Talent. Talent activating…”

“Talent successfully activated.”

“Acquired Talent: Enhancement Favor.”

Su Li processed the stream of information that appeared in his mind, unable to hide his astonishment. Then, a huge, overwhelming joy surged from the depths of his heart.

Killing the Corpse Mother instantly gave him 16 Spiritual Sources, increasing his total from 13 to 29 Spiritual Sources. That alone was surprising, but considering how terrifyingly powerful the Corpse Mother was, the large amount of Spiritual Source was not entirely unexpected.

The truly shocking element was the mysterious treasure.

“Spirit of Talent: A treasure capable of awakening a person’s innate talent. And my talent is… Enhancement Favor.”

“Enhancement Favor: This talent will be activated when a basic enhancement is performed, granting the ‘Favor’ power, which provides one additional enhancement opportunity. The extra enhancement opportunity will not activate the ‘Favor’ power.”

Su Li was utterly amazed by the informational data. Then came the overwhelming joy from the depths of his heart.

“I actually possess a talent like this! No wonder it was called a treasure! No wonder Xuehui kept stressing that we absolutely must get it! Doesn’t this mean that every time I advance a level and perform an enhancement, I’ll get an extra enhancement opportunity?”

Su Li instantly understood the astonishing change this talent brought. It meant that while others could only perform one enhancement per level, he could perform two enhancements every time he leveled up.

Initially, the difference might not be too obvious, but as he leveled up more, the difference would become staggering.

Just thinking about the future possibilities made Su Li ecstatic. He laughed with pure delight.

He had acquired the treasure and was nearing the limit of his breath-holding time underwater. Su Li immediately swam toward the surface.

The Nightmare Beast was a Leader-class monster. Killing it would have guaranteed him the Ultrasonic Attack or Infrasonic Attack special ability. It was a pity it had been killed by the Corpse Mother, but Su Li didn’t dwell on it. The talent he had acquired was too astonishing, and he was completely satisfied.

The harvest from this trip was immense. Su Li was in high spirits. He surfaced, climbed through a window on the 30th floor of the building, and sat on the window sill, taking long, deep breaths to steady himself. He checked the information again, just in case everything that happened was an illusion. He needed double confirmation.

After confirming that he had indeed acquired 16 Spiritual Sources and that he genuinely possessed the talent, Su Li sighed again and quietly hummed a tune to himself.

The sky was dark. The fog on the water had dissipated without him noticing. Su Li slowly calmed down and came to his senses from the massive surge of joy. He thought of Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui, and saw the Corpse Ship floating not far away.

The Corpse Ship was the Nightmare Beast’s lair, built from a massive amount of human corpses. It was also where it captured and farmed living humans.

Though the Nightmare Beast was dead, the Corpse Ship still floated nearby, neither sinking nor disappearing.

“Wait, where did the three of them flee to?” Su Li remembered Ding Longyun and the others. He quickly jumped down from the window sill and rushed toward the stairs leading up to the roof.

“Brother Ding! Xuehui! Gong Xiao—”

Su Li ran and shouted loudly.

If they were hiding in a corner of the building, they would surely hear his call and respond.

If they had taken a raft and fled, they shouldn’t have gotten far in such a short time. Climbing to the roof might allow him to spot them.

(End of Chapter)