Chapter 488: Walking Through The Slums
His mask back on, Dasha walked with measured steps through the decaying veins of the Slums, a world both forgotten and alive in ways most would not notice. His eyes, keen as a predator’s yet calculating like a scientist’s, scanned his surroundings with the relentless curiosity of a man who dissected everything—ideas, bodies, even the laws of nature.
’Look at these buildings. Everything is patched up. Everything is constantly in repair.’
The Natural Qi here was thick with rot, but after spending a day sucking it up, there was something beneath it. A Qi that wasn’t quite death, but transformation—the natural decay of a world abandoned by order.
He stopped by a gnarled tree that had grown sideways, its roots exposed, thick and knotted like the veins of a dead titan. Strange tendrils curled around it, pulsing faintly with mana, reacting to the air like sensitive whiskers. The leaves were charcoal black, absorbing every hint of light, making the plant seem like it drank in the shadows themselves.
Dasha plucked a single leaf.
It didn’t crumple. It didn’t bend.
It was stiff, sharp at the edges, like a knife. A single brush against his palm, and it left behind a thin cut—so precise that even he was momentarily impressed.
"Fascinating. The plant has replaced photosynthesis with pure mana absorption." He turned it over in his fingers. "The leaves have naturally developed an edge akin to obsidian. It is a defense mechanism, but also a weapon. If processed properly... I could refine this into something lethal."
He slipped the leaf into his coat. More testing would be required later.
Something buzzed past his ear. A fly.
His eyes tracked its movements instantly.