Chapter 248 The Birth of the First Generation "Perfect State" Pseudo-Spiritual Root
"Uncle Ding! You're injured!" Little Stone ran over with several rookie hunters covered in blood. Seeing Old Ding's condition, Little Stone turned pale with fright.
Old Ding wasn't just injured. His eyes, ears, and even the pores of his skin were constantly oozing a dark liquid mixed with blood and demon blood. His physical body was on the verge of collapse because it couldn't withstand this extremely vast and complex energy.
"Don't...don't touch me."
Old Ding managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth. He felt as if his heart were a runaway engine, ready to explode at any moment. The scale-like texture that had originally appeared on the surface of his pseudo-spiritual root was now gradually cracking as the energy spiraled out of control.
This is the fate of wasteland hunters. Although pseudo-spiritual roots can grant mortals a brief but terrifying burst of combat power, the mortal body and the crude metal array ultimately have a limit. Once that limit is crossed, it's an irreversible self-destruction of the spiritual root.
"Quick! Get out that light blue repair fluid that the guild gave us! Pour it all down his throat!" Little Stone's voice trembled as he directed the newbie next to him.
"It's no use..." Old Ding shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "When we were fighting just now... I felt it. The nerve stabilizer in the repair fluid... couldn't suppress the rejection reaction of these two second-tier demon bloods. This broken body of mine is coming to an end."
Looking at the corpses of demonic beasts scattered on the ground, a strong sense of resentment flashed in Old Ding's eyes. He had clearly touched that power, and he had clearly seen the hope of advancing further on that blood-soaked cyber cultivation path.
Just as Lao Ding's consciousness was gradually fading and the pseudo-spiritual root in his body was about to completely go out of control and explode,
Whoosh.
A silver streak, almost invisible to the naked eye, suddenly shot out from the depths of the dense, mutated jungle and struck the pseudo-spiritual root main interface on Old Ding's back with extreme precision.
It was an extremely thin spiritual probe that emitted a soft, icy blue light.
As the probe pierced through, an extremely pure, unadulterated, and untamed chill instantly traveled along Old Ding's spine and throughout his body. This chill not only forcefully froze the two rampaging demonic energies, but also acted like a pair of extremely precise, invisible scalpels, performing microscopic sorting and restructuring on Old Ding's collapsing meridians.
"Ah!" Old Ding let out a groan of extreme pleasure. The pain that felt like his soul was being torn apart receded like the tide in the blink of an eye.
He opened his eyes in shock and discovered that the originally violent energy within his body had been docilely integrated into the dark red pseudo-spiritual root under the suppression and guidance of this external cold air.
"Who?!" Little Stone suddenly raised his heavy machine gun and warily scanned the surrounding dense forest.
"Put down your weapon, young hunter. If you fire, you'll never be able to afford the bulletproof vest I'm wearing in your lifetime."
An extremely calm voice, with an elegance that seemed out of place in this muddy wasteland, came from behind a huge, mutated ancient tree not far away.
Immediately afterwards, several people dressed in extremely sophisticated white protective suits, with the Kyoto Academy of Sciences emblem printed on their chests, emerged. Leading the way was a young, seemingly refined researcher wearing gold-rimmed glasses. In his hand, he held a semi-transparent tablet displaying complex data that flashed continuously.
"Well done, old man." The young researcher walked up to Old Ding, glanced down at the spiritual energy probe nailed to Old Ding's back, and his eyes gleamed with an almost fanatical scientific light.
"Your physical condition and will to survive perfectly match our theoretical model of 'extreme overload of flesh and blood.' If you hadn't survived those three minutes of energy repulsion, you would be a pile of minced meat by now."
Old Ding stared warily at the suddenly appearing researcher, remaining silent. He knew that these guys in white coats were sometimes more terrifying than monsters in the Yellow Zone. They were the tentacles used by those high-ranking powerful families to collect data from the lower levels.
"Are you from the Academy of Sciences?" Little Stone swallowed hard. "What are you doing in a 'low-class' place like the Yellow Zone?"
"To find a possibility."
The researcher pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, avoiding the demon blood on the ground with extreme disgust, and looked at Old Ding.
"Over the past two months, the Academy of Sciences has analyzed more than 100,000 reports of hunter casualties in the Yellow Zone. We have discovered an extremely absurd yet extremely alluring phenomenon."
The researcher pointed to the pseudo-spiritual root behind Lao Ding's back.
"The mortal body is extremely fragile, and the pseudo-spiritual root is extremely rigid. The combination of these two places an enormous burden on the body. But when demon blood and demon cores, with their vibrant and violent energy, intervene, in extremely rare, miraculous cases, like what you just experienced..."
The researcher's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "Under the stimulation of high temperature and demonic energy, the pseudo-spiritual root will produce an 'activation' reaction similar to biological evolution. It attempts to deeply integrate with the meridians of mortals and grow 'flesh and blood'."
"Unfortunately, the bodies of the vast majority of hunters cannot withstand this extremely brutal assimilation process, and they eventually self-destruct. They lack a crucial 'medium,' a fundamental array logic that can neutralize the rejection reaction of demon blood while perfectly fusing metal and flesh."
The researcher handed the tablet to Lao Ding.
On the tablet was an extremely complex design blueprint, a blend of futuristic cyberpunk style and cultivation runes. At the center of the blueprint was a new artificial organ that was no longer a simple metal line, but rather a semi-transparent structure with a mixture of blood and spiritual light flowing inside.
"This is the first-generation 'perfect state' pseudo-spiritual root sketch that the Academy of Sciences has just deduced, after exhausting one-third of the Green Zone's scientific research resources."
The researchers stared at Lao Ding as if he were looking at an extremely precious work of art.
"It is no longer a parasite that needs to rely on lifespan and inferior spiritual liquid to replenish itself, nor will it easily self-destruct after consuming demon blood. It is a true furnace that can perfectly transform the essence of demon beasts' flesh and blood into your own cultivation foundation."
Old Ding stared at the blueprint, his breathing growing heavier and heavier. If this thing truly existed, it would mean that the lowly hunters would finally bid farewell to the self-destructing era, akin to dancing on a tightrope.
"Now that you've deduced it, why aren't you going to the Green Zone to find those powerful clans' assassins to experiment on? What are you doing here in this muddy mess looking for me?" Old Ding asked with extreme caution.
"Because the suicide soldiers soaked in nutrient solution in the laboratory can never be inspired by the survival will that is honed by the low-level hunters on the edge of life and death."
The researcher stated with extreme candor, "We need a guinea pig who has already teetered on the brink of death and whose body is extremely adapted to the berserk attributes of demonic blood. As long as we can successfully capture detailed data on this process, we can conduct mass simulations and replications. Old man, your physical data makes you the most perfect experimental subject in the Yellow Zone right now."
The researcher put away the tablet and looked at Lao Ding with utmost seriousness.
"Come with me to the underground laboratory in the Green Zone. Cooperate with us to complete the implantation surgery and practical testing of the first-generation perfect pseudo-spiritual root. In return, you will receive this perfect body that will allow you to roam freely in the Yellow Zone, and..."
The researcher paused for a moment, then offered a deal that Old Ding simply couldn't refuse.
"If it fails, the Academy of Sciences will provide your team members with the highest purity gene repair fluid for life, free of charge. Even if they are crippled, they can live out their remaining years in the Green Zone."
Old Ding fell silent. He looked at Xiao Shitou, who was covered in blood, and at the young faces that were already filled with exhaustion and fear.
In this designated and exploited yellow zone, the lives of these lowly hunters are worth less than the inner core of a first-tier demonic beast. People die every day, and every day they risk their lives against demonic beasts for tomorrow's food.
Old Ding stood up and solemnly sheathed the high-frequency vibrating knife, stained with the blood of the Ape King.
He looked at the researcher with an extremely cold gaze, yet it revealed a chilling resolve.
"Okay, I'll go with you." Old Ding's voice was hoarse. "But if your so-called perfect pseudo-spiritual root is a scam, or if you dare to touch a single hair on my head, I guarantee that even if I self-destruct, I will blow your entire laboratory to smithereens."
The researcher smiled with satisfaction.
A few days later, a heavy transport helicopter bearing the logo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, escorted by several armed drones, landed discreetly in a highly secretive underground base behind the main defense line of the Jianghuai region.
Old Ding lay on the extremely cold alloy operating table. Around him were dozens of top researchers and rune array masters, dressed in sterile gowns and on high alert.
Above the operating table, in an extremely precise petri dish, floats a brand-new "perfect" pseudo-spiritual root that emits a dark red glow and seems to wriggle slightly as if it were alive.
"Data collection begins..."
"The subject's vital signs are stable, and the nerve anesthetic injection has been completed."
"The demon blood fusion medium has been activated, and the rune array has begun to connect at the bottom layer."
With the lead surgeon's command, the blinding operating lights shone brightly. A frantic surgery, yet one that carried the hopes of countless ordinary people at the bottom of society to defy fate, officially began in this sunless basement.
This is not merely the physical modification of a veteran. It is a crucial step humanity has taken on the extremely distorted path of cyber cultivation, a significant departure from the old era.