Chapter 45: Chapter 39: Crystal Stone Within the Heart (Part 1)
As Zhang Chen’s mind stirred, his mental perspective seemed to expand infinitely. That single drop of golden blood magnified a thousand times in an instant, and seeing the golden-yellow blood, Zhang Chen was momentarily stunned, his eyes filled with astonishment.
Indeed, it was a ’drop’ of golden-yellow blood. In that golden blood, a familiar ’crystal’ appeared within his Spiritual World. The crystal was identical to the Crystal Stone he had drawn from the stone tablet before, even with a similar blood-red shadow inside, which had gained an aura of spirituality. Zhang Chen felt a mysterious connection emerge with that shadow when his heart thought of it.
He could perceive an inexplicable connection with that shadow, as if the blood-red shadow was a part of himself.
Suddenly, he realized his three skills come from that transparent Crystal Stone. As long as the Crystal Stone isn’t destroyed, even if his heart gets pierced, it won’t be a fatal injury for him. That’s because this Crystal Stone can substitute the heart by controlling the body’s entire blood flow temporarily, providing energy to the body.
"What is this Crystal Stone?"
Zhang Chen looked astonished as he observed the Crystal Stone flowing with his blood throughout his body, having no fixed point, his expression bewildered.
With a thought, the Crystal Stone stopped circulating and even reversed its flow, pausing near the liver. As Zhang Chen’s thoughts shifted, the Crystal Stone turned accordingly, undergoing various changes.
"My thoughts can control the flow of the Crystal Stone, and I can make it halt at any part of my body at will. From today onwards, aside from my head, I probably have no fatal weaknesses," Zhang Chen’s eyes were filled with a strong sense of delight.
Of course, if the Fox Spirit were to gouge out his heart and lungs, or if five vital organs were thoroughly punctured beyond repair, he would still die.
"I can endure fatal injuries, but I can’t lack crucial organs," Zhang Chen’s eyes shone with joy. Is there better news than this? His survival capabilities had improved, and in crucial moments, it could save his life. Having undergone such a miraculous transformation, any pain was worth it.
"The only pity is, my strength hasn’t changed. My physique hasn’t transformed, still the same as an ordinary person." Zhang Chen felt a bit of regret as he had longed for a mountain-moving, sea-splitting strength. This kind of supportive skill always felt like it was missing something.
"I wonder what unthinkable changes will occur if my Blood Control Skill continues to upgrade. Blood Rebirth might no longer be a dream by then." Retrieving his spiritual awareness, Zhang Chen cleared the room and checked his gunpowder supplies, ensuring none was lost, before lightly heading into the mountains.
He checked the traps: two rabbits and a wild chicken were caught. Looking at the rabbits didn’t surprise Zhang Chen; in this era, rabbits were abundant. Rabbits could reproduce six to eight times a year, with four to eight offspring each time. It was easy to understate their reproductive power, and hunting techniques were lagging, meaning the mountains were teeming with rabbits.
Zhang Chen picked up a rabbit, and a menacing mouth appeared in his palm. Two fangs viciously pierced the rabbit, and in a single breath, its blood was fully drained.
Using the blood of the two rabbits and the wild chicken, Zhang Chen’s eyes sparkled, and the blood in his liver began to reproduce. At this moment, his blood had recovered about one-fifth, much better than the day before.
"For me, consuming blood is probably the quickest way to recover." He skinned the rabbits and the chicken, sensed carefully, and found no significant difference compared to consuming the blood of deer.
"It seems the only difference between consuming large and small animals might be the quantity; I wonder what it would be like to consume human blood?" A thought crossed Zhang Chen’s mind, which he quickly suppressed.
With the blood gone, skinning the rabbits and chickens was bloodless. He handled the two little creatures and headed to the creek, wanting to wash the grease off his hands. But upon reaching the creek, Zhang Chen was taken aback. Do you know why? Because the creek’s water level had dropped to half its usual height.
"How did it drop so fast?" Zhang Chen looked at the dry riverbed, his eyes disbelief-stricken: "This drought is beyond my expectations!"
Zhang Chen squatted down to wash away the oil on his hands. After washing, he returned to the cave, deciding not to dig graves for today as his physical condition hadn’t recovered. He feared that if something formidable emerged from the grave, he couldn’t handle it.
Upon reaching the cave, Zhang Chen checked the setup inside. After seeing no outside footprints, he relaxed, looking towards the Hunting Falcon trapped in a basket. Taking out a chicken breast he had cut into pieces, he carefully fed it to the falcon using a wooden stick, but the falcon arrogantly ignored the offering.
Zhang Chen’s mouth curled into a smile. Since he didn’t need to gather honey in the mountains today, he directly activated the Beast Taming Technique, forced the falcon to eat the chicken, and then, with a face full of smugness, prepared to reapply honey on the falcon, using it to spread honey onto the cave’s ceiling. But suddenly, a familiar buzz sounded. Zhang Chen quickly looked in the direction of the noise and saw familiar silhouettes. The hornets were flying and buzzing inside the cave, seemingly detecting his actions, and they landed on his shoulder, showing affection.
"The hornets found me?" Zhang Chen joyfully gazed at the hornets on his shoulder, hair, and thighs. He looked up at the cave ceiling, and indeed, the spot where he had spread honey before was now beginning to show signs of a beehive forming, with bee glue appearing there.
He shooed the hornet off his leg, looking at the cave’s ceiling with happiness in his eyes: "The hornets are about to settle here. It seems my hive-sharing plan is a success."
Nothing could be better than this!
Zhang Chen, not stingy, promptly cut the chicken breast to feed the hornets.
He decided not to revisit the initial hornet nest for feeding them, but instead, he would feed the hornets in this cave, attracting more hornets.
Having fed the hornets and Hunting Falcon in the mountains, with nothing else to do, Zhang Chen glanced at the falcon: "If only I had the skill to control beasts directly, I could make the Hunting Falcon my slave and have it accomplish many tasks for me."