Chapter 18 Crystal Core

Fortunately, Jiang Rong had dug a trench, poured gasoline on it, and the burning gasoline formed a thick wall of flames. This prevented the mutated ants from escaping and also prevented the flames from spreading. The weather is dry now; if even a single spark were to fly into the nearby woods, it would surely start a wildfire.

After throwing away the entire box of explosives, Jiang Rong stood outside the circle of fire, panting heavily. The scorching flames made half of his body feel hot, and his face stung slightly. But seeing the mutated ants burning inside the circle of fire filled him with immense satisfaction.

He took off his night-vision goggles and stared directly at the ants struggling in the firelight.

The mutated ants, rich in oil, burst open with the help of gasoline, their abdomens crackling and popping. When the fire first started, swarms of ants tried to roll through the flames. However, they quickly collapsed; many ants succumbed to the intense heat, their tiny legs trembling as they soon succumbed to their injuries.

The fire spread from all sides towards the center, with flames shooting straight up into the sky, carrying sparks. After the fire had devoured all the ants, Jiang Rong, who had been busy for most of the night, swayed, took two steps back, and sat down heavily on the ground.

He succeeded! He single-handedly wiped out a large swarm of mutated ants. This was something he wouldn't have dared to dream of in his previous life, but he actually did it in this one.

Staring at the firelight, Jiang Rong grinned, then lowered her head to hide the tears welling up in her eyes.

The fire burned for several hours, during which time Jiang Rong dared not leave. He sat on the steps under the jujube tree, with two bottles of energy drinks beside him. By the time the flames were completely extinguished, the east was already beginning to lighten.

Yesterday's ant ball was now a pile of smoldering ashes, the soil beneath charred black. Finally, Jiang Rong was able to stand up and examine the ash heap more closely.

Although the flames had been extinguished, the residual heat was still very high. Jiang Rong stood outside the ditch, carefully using an entrenching tool to remove the top layer of ashes. The ants had been completely cremated, and were unrecognizable from their previous state.

Beneath the ashes lay the remains of a flask and a flask. Leaving them in the soil could easily cause injury. Jiang Rong carefully used tongs to pick up the glass shards and placed them in a dustpan she had prepared beforehand.

The burned glass shards were grayish-black and hard, easily picked out of the ash heap. Suddenly, a bright light flashed in the ashes. Jiang Rong paused for a moment, then carefully cleared away the ash with an entrenching tool.

A pink crystal, about the size of a soybean, gleamed in the ashes. Jiang Rong carefully picked it up and could still feel its warmth as she placed it in her palm.

This is a crystal core, which can be found on mutated plants and animals. The higher the level and the stronger the ability, the larger the crystal core and the more power it contains.

This wasn't the first time he'd seen a crystal core. In his previous life, he followed superhumans on missions, mainly cleaning up battlefields. Once, he found a pale blue crystal core in the ruins. It was about the size of a thumb, and they said it was a level two crystal core.

As an ordinary person, he naturally couldn't keep the crystal core for himself, and it was later taken by a member of the team with superpowers. However, the texture and appearance of the crystal core were deeply etched in his mind. He had never seen anything so beautiful, more beautiful than any jewel in the world.

I've heard that crystal cores come in various colors, representing the diverse superpowers of their owners. Superpowered individuals need crystal cores to level up. However, how to use crystal cores wasn't something he could find out at the time.

Jiang Rong held the tiny crystal core, examining it repeatedly. The small crystal core shone like a pink gemstone; it was hard to imagine that it had come from the body of a mutated ant. Thinking about this, a question arose in his mind: Where was the crystal core inside his body? And what color was it?

After carefully storing the crystal core, he meticulously searched the ash heap again. His efforts paid off; he found several more crystal cores in the ash. However, the later cores were only the size of a grain of rice and were transparent, far less beautiful than the first one he found.

After locating the crystal core and clearing away the remaining debris, Jiang Rong, leaning on his shovel, let out a long sigh of relief. The first test since the major crisis was finally over; hopefully, he wouldn't encounter any more mutated ants in the future.

The battle with the mutated ants gave Jiang Rong two days to recover before he finally covered the traps in the ground.

As the sun rose higher, the vegetation in the mountains drooped under its heat. Jiang Rong sat in the cool study, staring blankly at the crystal core he had found in the ash heap. In front of him were seven or eight crystal cores, one large and one small. The seven small crystal cores, each the size of a grain of rice, surrounded the pink crystal core in the center. The color scheme was quite nice, like a flower.

Although the crystal cores were arranged like a flower, upon closer inspection, no particular pattern could be discerned. Since they had all heard in his past life that superhumans could use crystal cores to level up, he decided to give it a try.

The crystal cores were hard, making it impractical to either crush them and swallow them or swallow them whole. After thinking it over, Jiang Rong extended a finger towards the smallest of the crystal cores.

He released a bit of wood-type ability from between his fingers, and the pale blue ability spread out like a membrane, enveloping the crystal core.

After waiting for a while, the crystal core still showed no change. Just as Jiang Rong was about to withdraw his power, he suddenly remembered the scene of the hops withering yesterday. His power could be controlled at will. Right now, he was only thinking about using his power to envelop the crystal core, and had no other thoughts.

With a thought, the azure spiritual energy membrane changed, slowly tightening towards the crystal core. The next moment, fine cracks appeared on the transparent crystal core. A tiny stream of power overflowed from the crystal core and flowed into Jiang Rong's special ability.

Jiang Rong didn't know how to describe this feeling; he only knew that the power inside the crystal core had been completely drained.

Sure enough, when he withdrew his superpower, the originally smooth and round crystal core turned into grayish-white powder.

Realizing this tactic was feasible, he absorbed the remaining six small crystal cores in one go. Perhaps because the crystal cores were too small, Jiang Rong didn't feel a significant improvement in his abilities.

How about... we try absorbing the largest one?

Without hesitation, Jiang Rong placed the crystal core in the palm of her right hand. As her wood-type power circulated, a powerful pink force emanated from the crystal core. Unlike the docile forces before, this force surged and wreaked havoc upon entering Jiang Rong's body, causing her to turn pale and break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

The ant's superpower was incredibly violent; wherever it flowed, it felt like fire and insect bites. Even though Jiang Rong could endure the pain, he was now curled up on the ground, unable to move.

His body became a playground for the ant-like superpowers, every blood vessel and nerve swept across by pink energy. Jiang Rong heard the sound of blood vessels bursting, and large patches of bruising appeared under the skin where the pink superpowers had passed.

If this continues, he won't be able to absorb any supernatural abilities; he'll be killed by the power within the crystal core first.

He was far too careless; he never expected that such a small crystal core contained such immense power. It's too late for regrets now; he can only use all his strength to pursue and intercept the pink-clad ability.

It was an extremely painful process. Jiang Rong had to endure the excruciating pain while precisely controlling his supernatural abilities. He felt as if his entire body was being torn apart by two forces. The intense pain made him grit his teeth and curl up on the ground. When the pain became unbearable, he would groan softly.

Strangely enough, as his own superpower circulated within his body, the pain caused by the pink superpower was rapidly dissipating.

Realizing this, Jiang Rong divided her wood-type ability in two: one half was used to contain the pink ability, and the other half was used to repair the damage the pink ability had caused to her body.

As time passed, the pink power, which had lost its support, gradually subsided and slowly merged with the wood-based power. Under the repeated cleansing and repair of the wood-based power, the excruciating pain in his body was slowly disappearing, replaced by an indescribable lightness and comfort.

Once the last bit of pink supernatural power within him was completely subdued, Jiang Rong looked as if he had been pulled out of water. He lay on the floor, his eyes vacant, as if he had just died.

After some time, there was a gentle knock on the door, and Jiang Xiaoheng's voice came from outside, "Dad, can you smell something bad?"

Jiang Rong slowly got up from the ground. "Smell? No, there isn't."

However, the moment he stood up, his face darkened. "Holy crap..."

His entire body was covered in blackish-gray grease, every pore oozing foul-smelling filth. The filth soaked into his shirt, and ink-like stains dripped down the hem.

The entire study reeked, and Jiang Rong felt nauseous and almost vomited.

Author's Note:

Open this chapter with the perspective of a cultivator: Congratulations to Jiang Rong for unintentionally unlocking the body tempering method.

Of course, this story doesn't involve cultivation, so congratulations to Jiang Rong for escaping death after absorbing the wrong crystal core. [Twisting.jpg]