Chapter 98 - 96: The Most Primal, The Most Frenzied
The moment he swallowed it.
A single emotion instantly flooded Lin Ye’s mind: regret.
This was definitely not a rational decision.
The Source Crystal felt cold and hard as it slid down his esophagus, like he was swallowing a piece of polished glass.
An indescribable, acrid sensation suddenly exploded in his throat.
It wasn’t the searing pain of a chili pepper, nor the scorching heat of hard liquor.
It was a deeper, more brutal burning sensation—one that felt as if it could set his very soul ablaze.
BOOM!!!
The excruciating pain he expected—of flesh corroding and melting away—never arrived.
In its place, an unprecedented mental shockwave detonated at his throat and blasted its way toward the center of his brain!
It was a silent storm, a purely chaotic stream of information.
Whispers turned to shrieks and roars as countless images, like a tidal wave, once again crashed into his consciousness.
This time, it was several times more intense than anything he had experienced back in the core of the chemical plant!
Lin Ye’s brain buzzed, and his mind went blank.
He felt as if his consciousness were a lone boat tossed on a tidal wave, liable to be completely engulfed by this mental torrent at any moment.
The system’s notification never sounded.
No notification about detecting an external power source, and no notification about gaining experience points.
Nothing at all.
Lin Ye’s heart sank.
His finger trembled as he reached for the emergency call button on the CR watch on his wrist.
However, just as his fingertip was about to touch the screen...
The acrid, burning sensation lodged in his throat suddenly found an outlet.
It transformed into a line of blue-violet fire, surging down his esophagus and plunging into his stomach.
Then, it dissolved in an instant!
The hard fragment of the Source Crystal dissolved completely, as if it had never existed.
It then transformed into the most savage, most primal, most untamed torrent of energy imaginable.
Without any filtration or conversion, it merged into his coursing blood!
Lin Ye felt a terrifying heat, hot enough to melt steel, erupt through his limbs and bones—in every corner of his body!
In an instant, his entire body flushed crimson, his skin becoming scalding hot.
He looked just like Luffy using Second Gear as visible plumes of scorching white steam shot madly from every pore on his body!
Lin Ye endured the scorching heat and his splitting headache.
He focused his senses inward.
He was astonished to discover that the ordinary Qi and Blood throughout his body—the parts not yet fully tempered by Source Energy—were undergoing a world-altering transformation amidst this violent, nearly self-destructive fusion!
It was becoming more concentrated, more substantial!
It was a quality of power Lin Ye himself had never possessed, yet one he found incredibly familiar.
It was the same special power of Qi and Blood that the geniuses he had encountered—those who had truly stepped into the Vein Opening Realm—could imbue their attacks with!
There was almost no difference!
No!
There was still a difference!
Lin Ye could clearly feel that the Qi and Blood energy that had just transformed within him was far more primal, far more savage, than the kind Yan Hui had refined with his Cultivation Technique!
The mental assault and the burning sensation throughout his body came on fast and faded just as quickly.
All the negative symptoms receded like a tide.
Drained of strength, Lin Ye leaned against the wall, panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.
He looked down at his hands, still giving off faint wisps of steam, and felt the small, surging, and completely renewed power within him.
[Host has discovered a BOSS-exclusive method for tempering Qi and Blood. The experience limit for the Cultivation Technique: Five Qi Guiding Formulas has been removed!]
[Henceforth, when learning new Cultivation Techniques, the host will unlock the full experience acquisition rate and level cap upon fully understanding and assimilating the technique.]
Lin Ye opened his system panel.
He was delighted to see the level cap in the Cultivation Technique section unlocked, rising from Level 15 to Level 25.
A great weight was lifted from his heart.
It was just as he had guessed.
’So my exclusive method for tempering Qi and Blood really is just swallowing Source Crystals!’
But Lin Ye still couldn’t be completely at ease.
He closed the system panel, then canceled the emergency call countdown on his watch.
Forcing himself to stand on his still-shaky legs, he turned and walked into the brightly lit hospital building behind him.
He walked over to the physical examination department and, under the rather surprised gaze of the nurse at the front desk, purchased the most comprehensive full-body check-up package available.
「Half an hour later.」
In a private consultation room, a doctor looked at Lin Ye’s report and offered a professional smile.
"Sir."
"Your body is one of the healthiest I’ve seen in my thirty years of practice. Your scores for all your vital functions exceed the maximum level for an ordinary person. You must be a Martial Artist, correct?"
Lin Ye nodded.
He cut straight to the most critical question.
"Doctor, are any of my indicators abnormal? Did the blood and fluid tests detect any toxins or harmful substances?"
The doctor shook his head. "None."
Then, his tone suddenly shifted.
"There is one thing you need to pay special attention to."
"Our instruments detected that you are carrying extremely strong Source Energy radiation. The real-time monitored dosage is approximately 10.6 microsieverts per hour."
"That reading is more than a thousand times over the safety standard."
"Although a dose of this level won’t cause any short-term harm to the body of a powerful Martial Artist like yourself, it is, however, harmful to ordinary people."
"If your occupation requires you to handle certain special radioactive minerals, please be sure to take proper protective measures and strictly avoid occupational exposure."
Lin Ye nodded calmly and accepted the printed report.
"Thank you, Doctor. I’ll be careful."
By the time he walked out the main doors of the hospital, the sky was already light.
Lin Ye clenched his fists.
He understood everything.
To break through to the Vein Opening Realm, other people had to follow a step-by-step process, using special Cultivation Techniques to carefully draw the world’s Source Energy Particles into their bodies.
It took a massive amount of time, like water dripping through stone, to temper their Qi and Blood, bit by bit.
The entire process was slow, steady, and safe.
But he, it seemed, had skipped that step entirely.
’When I practice my Cultivation Technique, the system only rewards me with pure experience points. There’s no step for tempering my Qi and Blood.’
But now, Lin Ye had discovered a method of tempering that was more direct, more brutal, and more efficient than anyone else’s.
Eating them raw!
He didn’t need to spend time using a Cultivation Technique to temper his Qi and Blood.
All he had to do was find Source Crystals and swallow them!
Lin Ye didn’t go home.
Nor did he head back to the abandoned city.
He was now a walking radiation source.
Even though that dosage of radiation was unlikely to affect ordinary people, Lin Ye didn’t want to add any uncertainty or burden to his family.
As for his classmates at school, they were prospective Martial Artists, at the very least. They were all bros, after all. It was only right to share the radiation.
On the way, Lin Ye had an idea and secretly tried out his [Crystalization] skill.
A ghostly violet light flowed beneath the skin on the back of his hand.
In the next instant, a diamond-shaped piece of armor, looking as if it were carved from amethyst, quietly emerged once more.
However, compared to the previous crystal chip, which had only been the size of an egg, the Crystal Armor generated this time was not only a fair bit thicker, but its area of coverage had visibly expanded several times over, almost completely encasing the back of his hand!
Beneath the magnificent purple luster, shimmering streams of energy faintly pulsed, its quality far surpassing what it was before.
’The system didn’t lie!’
’This skill really can be continuously upgraded by devouring Source Crystals!’