Chapter 234

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Chapter 234: The Fish Takes the Bait
When Zhang Mu rushed back to the tent, his hands were filled with two large bags stuffed full of fabric, and if he hadn’t raised his arms high, he might have been engulfed by them.
Boom!
The tent shook briefly as the bags were placed on the ground.
Yuan Rui couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked at Zhang Mu, who was bending down to place the bags on the ground, and said, “With so many elemental crystals, Uncle, did you empty the inventory of Shan Xi City?”
Zhang Mu shrugged and said, “Don’t underestimate the power of Shan Xi City, they have collected many elemental crystals. You should know that all the zombies in Shan Xi City were completely eradicated by Long Qi and his team.”
“There are only five thousand elemental crystals here, that’s the number I gave to Long Qi. Otherwise, according to him, doubling the amount wouldn’t be a problem. Right now, there’s only one Long Er in the whole Shan Xi City who is ready to be promoted to the second rank. They are starting to get moldy sitting in the warehouse, and the people below don’t even know what to do with them.”
Yuan Rui chuckled lightly and looked at Zhang Mu, saying, “So, Uncle, when do I start?”
“Let’s start now, it doesn’t really matter if it’s morning or evening, now is just right.” Zhang Mu knew that with the corresponding attribute beast core and a large number of elemental crystals, advancing to a higher level should be quite easy. Based on the experiences of predecessors, aside from some pain during the process, the body shouldn’t sustain serious injuries.
After saying this, Zhang Mu handed Yuan Rui the white fox’s beast core. He moved the bedding aside and instructed Yuan Rui to sit cross-legged in the cleared space with her eyes closed in concentration.
Advancing requires a quiet environment. Even in the military camp, Zhang Mu had already instructed the Obsidian Beetle and mutated wolfhound to patrol the surroundings, not allowing anyone to approach. The second layer of protection was the Blood Lotus buried around the camp. The final layer of protection was Zhang Mu himself, fully focused mentally.
Yuan Rui’s expression changed again, almost getting lost in concentration. Her body was trembling slightly. Zhang Mu quickly emptied a bag of elemental crystals around Yuan Rui and then picked up another, continuing to keep the crystals close to her body, even cleverly using his mental shield ability.
With the external energy buffering from the elemental crystals, replenishing the cells of her whole body that were eager to be activated, Yuan Rui’s expression eased slightly. However, the beast core in the palm of her hand emitted black and white streams of energy, slowly merging into Yuan Rui’s body.
The white energy flowed smoothly, perfectly matching with the green aura shimmering on Yuan Rui’s body. Therefore, when it entered Yuan Rui’s body, it didn’t face much hindrance.
However, the black energy was different. As it emerged from the beast core and touched Yuan Rui’s body, Zhang Mu saw Yuan Rui shudder for a moment. The black energy did not disappear; it was not absorbed into Yuan Rui’s body.
It means that Yuan Rui’s body is rejecting the spiritual energy, it’s refusing it.
Beside her, Zhang Mu frowned. He wished he had tried using a Soul Crystal on Yuan Rui before. It would have been much easier for her to advance using a first-rank old white fox beast core instead of directly using a second-rank one now.
What if it fails?
Even if she doesn’t accept the black spiritual energy, the white healing energy will still help Yuan Rui to advance as a second-rank healer, but in that case, the spiritual energy would be wasted.
Zhang Mu felt it was a pity to waste this special dual-element mutated beast core, as rare creatures like the old white fox were hard to come by.
Though he regretted it a bit, he didn’t dwell on it. It was too late to change anything. He never considered using his own spiritual power to force the energy into Yuan Rui’s body, as that would make the process too easy.
For external attributes to enter a person’s body, the key is the evolver’s understanding of their current abilities and energy.
Yuan Rui is kind-hearted and deeply in tune with healing energy. She always tries hard to understand the energy within her, hoping to help Zhang Mu recover faster when he’s injured since she can’t assist him much in battles.
This makes it easy for her to accept the healing energy as a second-rank evolver. However, the challenge now is her lack of understanding of spiritual energy, causing the black energy strand to linger.
Yuan Rui seemed to realize the situation. She was sweating with worry as she watched the slow merging of the healing energy. Some of the elemental crystals around her had melted away, but the black energy remained still.
At that moment, Zhang Mu whispered softly in her ear, “Stay calm and focus, feel the spiritual energy around you. Use your willpower to unlock the hidden spiritual energy within you, capture it, place it at the center of your mind, and draw in the energy from this second-rank beast core nearby.”
Zhang Mu’s words were like a light bulb moment for the anxious Yuan Rui. She stopped blindly absorbing the energy that didn’t belong to her and began to calm down, even as the healing energy was nearing its end.
She searched in her mind with determination for the faint spiritual energy that everyone could possess to some extent. Though it was like searching for a needle in a haystack, she kept calling out.
I’m here, come find me!
Her strong willpower was like a guiding beacon, calling out to the lost child in the confusing darkness.
Finally, after a long wait, a faint spiritual energy emerged from the silent sea of spirits, like a small fish, appearing in Yuan Rui’s sight.
She immediately captured it and followed Zhang Mu’s guidance to place this spiritual energy at the center of her mind.
At last, the fish was caught!
The black energy was drawn to Yuan Rui’s spirit, slowly entering her body.
It was difficult, but it was finally fully absorbed!