HBWnovel Chapter 349: Key of the Era, Terrifying Potential!
Chapter 349: Key of the Era, Terrifying Potential!
'The Collector actually identified the green emerald in my hand directly?'A hint of pleasant surprise appeared on Cheng Ye's face.
If the Collector had not intuitively manifested the Item's attributes like this, he probably would have had to spend a great deal of time slowly figuring out how to use this ore. The process would have been far more complicated.
However, recalling his previous research on Runes, these characters were fundamentally the Core Information of some unknown civilization. Every time they appeared, the Collector would immediately pop up a recording prompt.
This green emerald must have benefited from its association with the Rune, allowing it to be indirectly analyzed by the Collector in passing.
Unfortunately, the information displayed on the System Panel was incomplete. It neither provided the name of the ore nor explained what the internal Rune actually represented.
At present, the only things that could be directly observed were the storage time and the method to Activate it.
'A duration of up to a month makes it much more convenient to store than the Water-Gathering Stone.'
Cheng Ye rubbed his chin in thought. 'I just do not know if this time advantage is because the internal structure of the green emerald is more stable, or if it is influenced by the unactivated state.'
This was his first time seeing such a special Rune Carrier state, and he had absolutely no Experience to draw upon.
Fortunately, the activation method noted on the panel was quite simple. Unlike the Water-Gathering Rune, which relied on a water source to trigger rain, this green emerald only required him to imagine a known food and throw it out to Activate it.
Moreover, the activation effect was tied to the completeness of the imagination. The more detailed his thoughts, the stronger the effect.
'Could it be... it can actually directly manifest the food in my imagination?'
Cheng Ye tilted his head and pondered for a moment before deciding to immediately test the special properties of this ore.
In a sense, the Extreme Cold Ore was somewhat similar to his Collector; both absorbed special substances from within living organisms.
It was just that the Collector was obviously far more powerful, able to categorize and refine the absorbed items, deriving a variety of uses.
On the other hand, the Extreme Cold Ore could only simply absorb and store, ultimately transforming into a special Item with a specific function.
"Beef noodles... a large bowl... the noodles must be medium-thick... the broth needs to be rich, with extra cilantro and chopped green onions..."
Cheng Ye kept muttering under his breath, his mind desperately recalling the beef noodles he used to eat in the cafeteria during his school days.
It was what he ate the most back then—cheap, affordable, and filling. It left a far deeper impression on him than the bowl of plain porridge and pickled vegetables he had this morning.
As he thought about it, he could not help but swallow hard, a faint craving rising on the tip of his tongue.
Once the image of the beef noodles in his mind became incredibly clear—down to the oil floating on the broth and the texture of the meat slices—Cheng Ye hesitated no longer. He raised his hand and forcefully threw the green emerald out.
The crystal-clear green emerald traced a beautiful arc through the air.
Sunlight filtered through the stone, refracting scattered fragments of green light.
A second later, the gem suddenly burst open, and a rich green brilliance bloomed in midair.
Strangely, this brilliance neither dissipated upon hitting the ground nor directly transformed into food. Instead, it split into countless slender green light Tentacles, extending outward like Agile vines.
Several Tentacles swiftly wrapped around nearby grass vines and wildflowers, while a few others grabbed loose stones from the ground, scraping up a small layer of soil in the process, dragging everything into the green light.
Cheng Ye stared dumbfounded at the scene before him. Within the brilliance, the withered grass vines were shedding their yellowed state at a visible rate, turning into milky-white noodles of uniform thickness—exactly the medium-thick noodles he wanted.
The colorful wildflowers decomposed and reassembled, transforming into fresh cilantro and chopped green onions, dripping with emerald green.
As for the crushed stones, they directly turned into a large, porcelain-white ramen bowl with clear patterns, looking exactly like the ones used in the school cafeteria.
Even more miraculous was the soil, which coalesced into slices of meat as thin as cicada wings. Their textures were distinct, looking as though they were crafted by a master ramen chef.
'Wait... isn't this the technique of the Funeral Procession?' Cheng Ye's heart jolted.
The Funeral Procession sent by the Seamless Shadow Puppet had used a similar method back then—grabbing dirt to turn it into rice, transforming Iron Wire into vegetables, and changing stones into fatty meat...
He had originally thought those were just illusions, merely using Energy to interfere with human perception rather than true material manifestation.
But right now, with such a bizarre scene playing out right before his eyes, Cheng Ye was completely unsure.
What kind of technique was this?
Material substitution?
How could it directly turn these completely unrelated things into the food he desired?
However, the green brilliance in the air did not stop its actions. All the materials grabbed by the Tentacles were tossed into the large bowl. A wisp of misty white steam slowly rose, carrying the warm aroma of food.
The moment everything was complete, a vague Intent was suddenly transmitted from the brilliance, echoing in Cheng Ye's mind:
[Take it]
'Is this telling me to take it myself?'
Cheng Ye was somewhat uncertain of the situation, so he could only follow the guidance of this Intent, reaching his hand into the cluster of light and firmly grasping the edge of the bowl.
In the next instant, the pervasive green brilliance suddenly retracted, sinking entirely into the noodle bowl in his hands like a receding tide.
At the same time, the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse, which had been playing dead in the Spiritual Body Space for a long time, suddenly came alive, excitedly transmitting a series of Intents: 'Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!'
'Is it really something good to eat?'
Cheng Ye became even more stunned. A food that even the gluttonous Giant Louse desired so much was clearly not an ordinary Item.
'Could this thing be like the products of the Funeral Procession, capable of replenishing Vitality?'
He carefully placed the noodle bowl on the table, turned around, and walked back to his tent to fetch a pair of chopsticks.
But when he tentatively picked up a mouthful of noodles, put them in his mouth, and slowly chewed, Cheng Ye suddenly frowned.
'No flavor?'
The noodles tasted like wax, lacking even the slightest bit of the savory flavor that beef noodles should have.
He picked up a thin slice of beef and tasted it carefully, but it remained bland and tasteless.
Only the broth carried a faint hint of saltiness, proving that what he was eating was not grass, wood, stone, or mud, but actual food.
However, the moment the noodles were swallowed into his stomach, a warm and comfortable current suddenly rose from his abdomen, rapidly spreading to his limbs and bones.
In terms of replenishing Energy, all the fruits and vegetables he had eaten previously combined could not match the efficacy of this single mouthful of noodles.
Moreover, this replenishment was not a superficial nutritional intake; it went directly into the inner layers of his body, providing precise restoration for his consumed Vitality.
'Good stuff!'
Cheng Ye's eyes suddenly lit up. No longer caring about the taste, he immediately began Devouring Greedily.
The roughly thirty percent Vitality deficit consumed by forming the Rune earlier was completely restored after eating just half the bowl of noodles.
As he continued eating, the overflowing Vitality began to circulate within his body. The Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse in the Spiritual Body Space immediately popped out, lying by the edge of the table to lick up the dripping broth while absorbing the excess Vitality from his body, ensuring absolutely nothing was wasted inside or out.
"Mmm... so comfortable!"
With a warm feeling enveloping his entire body, Cheng Ye simply picked up the bowl and drank the tasteless broth down to the last drop.
Just as he leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, preparing to catch his breath, the noodle bowl placed on the table suddenly trembled slightly.
Immediately after, the bowl began to gradually turn blurry and transparent in his vision, ultimately dissipating completely without a trace.
And the green emerald he had used for activation actually reappeared perfectly intact on the table, having not disappeared after being Activated!
2
Cheng Ye abruptly sat up straight, his mouth dropping open unconsciously, his face full of disbelief.
'Could it be that this green emerald isn't a single-use consumable, but rather... it can be used repeatedly?'
He hurriedly reached out to pick up the stone and, with a thought, summoned the Collector's System Panel.
The updated prompts on it instantly confirmed his judgment.
[???]
[Current Status]: Uncharged | [Sustainable Duration]: 29 Days 23 Hours 42 Minutes / 2 Uses (Rechargeable)
[Available Operations]:
Activate (Uncharged; Locked)
Smelt (...)
'So the duration refers to the storage time limit of this stone?'
Seeing the newly appeared recharge count prompt on the panel, Cheng Ye was instantly enlightened.
If left unused, this green emerald could be stored for a maximum of thirty days. After thirty days, the internal Rune's Energy would likely dissipate completely as the ore itself disintegrated.
Counting the use he had just consumed, this stone could hold a total of three charges. Once it exceeded this limit, it would probably lose all its Energy, just like those ordinary Water-Gathering Runes from before.
'Then, the way to recharge it is to input more Green Jewel Bugs?' Cheng Ye quickly calculated in his heart, becoming more astounded the more he thought about it.
According to the test results just now, a single bowl of ramen could restore a full 60% of Vitality.
If calculated based on consuming twenty Green Jewel Bugs, with one Green Jewel Bug valued at about 10 Contribution Points, the cost of a bowl of noodles would only be 200 Contribution Points.
This price was even cheaper than the red-bag nutrient paste provided by Revival Medical, and it was less than one percent of the cost of those restorative Treasures.
Taking the Sun Flame as a comparison.
Calculated at the scarce Treasure price of 50,000 Contribution Points, the Sun Flame could restore 2,000% of Vitality. Converted, the cost per 1% of Vitality was 25 Contribution Points.
On the other hand, 50,000 Contribution Points could be exchanged for 250 bowls of ramen, with a cumulative restoration amount reaching 15,000% of Vitality. The cost per 1% of Vitality would be approximately 3.33 Contribution Points, making its cost-effectiveness a full 7.5 times that of the Sun Flame.
Of course, that was easier said than done. Two hundred and fifty bowls of ramen would consume 5,000 Green Jewel Bugs.
Various human alliances, including the Kindling Alliance, strictly prohibited shelter cities from mass-cultivating Infection Sources.
Even if everyone was secretly doing it behind the scenes, the Cost to cultivate 5,000 Green Jewel Bugs would multiply by at least ten times. Calculated this way, the so-called cost-effectiveness vanished in an instant.
Additionally, the instantaneous replenishment of the Sun Flame could handle many extreme situations, whereas eating 250 bowls of ramen—at three minutes per bowl—would take 12.5 hours. The applicable scenarios for the two were completely different.
However, thinking about the Green Jewel Bug's Trait of surviving by absorbing Plant Vitality, Cheng Ye suddenly stopped his train of thought. After hesitating for a moment, he simply switched his equipment to the Envoy, Tan Ming.
If he could directly extract Plant Vitality to recharge the green emerald in his hand, it would save him a tremendous amount of trouble.
Blazing Eagle Symbiotic State, activate.
Ring of Life Force, activate!
The Life Force Rune on the back of his hand had not fully completed its task, so he could only barely spur it using Little Flame's power.
At this moment, the sensing range was only one meter around him. Imitating his previous operating method in the Mian Chamber's Rongdong.
Cheng Ye crouched down, using his Intent to pull out wisps of green Vitality, slowly projecting it into the green emerald in his palm.
Hum.
As soon as the large mass of green Vitality touched the green emerald, over seventy percent of the Energy instantly dissipated into the air, turning into specks of Fluorescence that vanished without a trace.
But the remaining thirty percent sank steadily into the ore's interior, making Cheng Ye's brow twitch.
'It actually works?'
He immediately adjusted his strategy. When he grabbed the Vitality again, he deliberately reduced the extraction amount, only pulling out roughly the same volume as that successful thirty percent.
This time, the green emerald did not leak any Energy, absorbing all the Vitality entirely.
Visibly, the interior of the ore began to fill up. A rich green hue slowly welled up, gradually covering the entire surface of the stone.
After absorbing seven clusters of Vitality in a row, the grass around him began to wither and yellow, yet this small green emerald was surprisingly still not saturated.
Cheng Ye simply stood up and walked around the hills, continuously pulling the Vitality from the plants at his feet and feeding it into the green emerald.
The terrain surrounding Twin Moon Lake had always been well protected, completely untouched by the erosion of the Petrification Curse.
Consequently, the quality of Vitality from the weeds on these barren hills was actually comparable to that of the vegetation hidden from the sun all year round in the Mian Chamber's Rongdong—pure and abundant.
'Thirty-seven... thirty-eight...'
Cheng Ye squatted on the ground, silently counting the number of times he infused Vitality.
It was not until the fortieth cluster of rich green Vitality sank into the green emerald that a profoundly mysterious sense of stagnation suddenly hit him.
Even without continuing to transfer Energy, he could clearly feel that the green emerald in his palm was already "full."
He tried pulling out a forty-first cluster of Vitality and tossed it over. Sure enough, the moment the Vitality touched the gem's surface, it turned into specks of Fluorescence and dissipated into the air, failing to integrate in the slightest.
At this moment, the green emerald was no longer its previous light green hue. Its entire body had transformed into a deep, rich dark green, shimmering with a lustrous glow under the sunlight. It was stunningly beautiful.
Focusing his gaze, he could vaguely see characters slowly floating inside the gem. However, limited by the ore's volume, those characters were blurry and indistinct; even their outlines were difficult to discern.
But this was exactly where the bizarre nature of Runes lay. Even if it was just a blurry outline, the moment he looked away, his mind would completely forget the shape of those characters, as if he had never seen them at all.
With a thought, Cheng Ye summoned the Collector's System Panel again. The data on it had been updated:
[???]
[Current Status]: Unactivated (Available Activations: 2)
[Sustainable Duration]: 29 Days 23 Hours 31 Minutes | [Available Operations]:
Activate (Please have the Collector imagine...;
Currently, the available activations are greater than 1. The Collector may independently choose a direction when throwing out this Rune.
Currently available directions:
1. Increase single-use effect: the manifested final product will lean closer toward the Collector's imagined object. 2. Continuous activation: the final product effect from consecutive activations will be completely uniform.)
Smelt (...)
'Why do I feel like this thing is more like a Carrier for researching Runes?'
Gripping the fingertip-sized green emerald, Cheng Ye pondered secretly in his heart.
The reason human research on Infection Sources had struggled to advance even a single step was mainly due to the lack of a direct observation method. As for those special abilities, there was absolutely no way to analyze their underlying principles.
Not to mention the Runes corresponding to each Infection Source. Shi Xu had researched them for so many years yet still had not made any breakthrough progress.
Thinking of this, Cheng Ye could not help but recall the first time he visited the Research Institute, when Shi Xu took him to the Research Room.
A room full of Researchers had been completely helpless against the Green Jewel Bug, forced to record their research using the clumsiest methods.
But now, through the intermediate Carrier of the Extreme Cold Ore, not only could the mysterious Runes inside the Infection Sources be extracted for research, but the power of these Runes could even be converted into practical functions—like manifesting food to replenish Vitality.
'Such a good item, and yet no one has discovered it until now?'
Cheng Ye frowned deeply, the clouds of doubt in his mind growing heavier. 'Could it be that Great Banyan, or even Guanghong, haven't realized the Rune power that the Winter Moon Ore might manifest during the process of researching Infection Sources?'
For some inexplicable reason, a strong sense of unease crawled up his spine.
The more powerful the functions of the Extreme Cold Ore in his hand proved to be, the more he felt this item was a "hot potato."
This was completely beyond comparison to the Sunlight Slate. The Sunlight Slate's influence was, at most, limited to the current structure of shelter cities and Gathering Places in the Wasteland, bringing certain changes to human life.
But if the Extreme Cold Ore could truly stably absorb the power of Infection Sources and derive all sorts of unbelievable abilities, then the entire survival laws of the Wasteland would be overthrown.
By that time, the relationship between Humans and Infection Sources would probably no longer be a simple game of cat and mouse or life-and-death struggles, but would transform into a true two-sided confrontation.
Infection Sources wanted to corrupt more Humans to accumulate strength, while Humans could use the Extreme Cold Ore to extract Runes from Infection Sources, forging stronger "Rune ores" and grasping near-transcendent power.
Referencing the grand transcendent era of the past, once ordinary people could hunt Infection Sources to become stronger...
It would be no exaggeration at all to say that this Extreme Cold Ore was the key to unlocking the next era.
Yet now, an obscure little place like Twin Moon Lake had actually discovered this epoch-making Treasure?
Even though Cheng Ye believed his luck had not been too bad for a long time, he did not for a second think that he could stumble upon such a "chosen one's grand prize" on his very first Field Duty.
Its nature was completely different from the Seamless Shadow Puppet and the Stone Sunflower Person. Reaping benefits from the latter relied entirely on the Collector's heaven-defying abilities and was accompanied by near-fatal risks; every step was Soul-stirring.
But what about the Extreme Cold Ore?
Zheng Dayou had taken the initiative to inform him and personally led him into the mine, which was equivalent to handing over the secret on a silver platter.
There was no danger throughout the entire process, and he had not encountered any obstacles. It went so smoothly that it was almost absurd.
Thinking carefully, it truly exuded an indescribable bizarreness.
'I was just hesitating whether to take a detour to Great Banyan to find Zhuang Jing and continue investigating along this chain of anomalies...'
'Now it seems this trip is an absolute must. I have to figure out if there is some scheme behind all this before I can safely use the Extreme Cold Ore!'
Cheng Ye clenched the dark green gem tightly in his palm, his gaze turning increasingly resolute.
Knowing the value of the Extreme Cold Ore, no one could possibly choose to give it up.
This was just like the choices made by the various shelter cities when choosing their development paths back then. Knowing full well that this thing could potentially open up the next era but choosing to turn a blind eye to it would absolutely be the most foolish decision.
If he could eliminate the hidden risks and begin research in advance, it meant taking the initiative to grasp the dynamics of the Wasteland one step ahead of everyone else. With the next Great Reclamation Era fast approaching, its significance went without saying.
For the entire afternoon, Cheng Ye fully immersed himself in studying the Extreme Cold Ore.
The number of Infection Sources delivered to the hills had unwittingly approached a hundred, almost hollowing out the Containment reserves of the Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place.
However, the research results were somewhat unexpected.
Not every kind of Infection Source could react with the Extreme Cold Ore to form a Rune ore possessing special abilities.
The reason the Green Jewel Bug could succeed and even accommodate Tan Ming's Life Force was fundamentally because it inherently possessed evolutionary potential and extremely strong genetic inclusivity. The Rune within its body was perhaps intrinsically linked to Vitality to begin with.
On the contrary, for some ordinary Infection Sources whose evolutionary limits were fixed, even if their abilities were far more bizarre than the Green Jewel Bug's, once they touched the Extreme Cold Ore, not even the most basic extraction reaction would occur. It was as if the Extreme Cold Ore was just an ordinary stone with no special Traits whatsoever.
This point also perfectly explained why the anomalies at the Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place had not been discovered by anyone for such a long time.
Zheng Dayou had spread ore powder around the perimeter of the Gathering Place all year round, yet outsiders had never noticed anything unusual.
The root cause was that the ore powder could not completely repel all Infection Sources. In the eyes of outsiders, Twin Moon Lake was simply lucky and had never attracted the attention of an Infection Tide.
Throughout the entire winter, only sporadic, ordinary Infection Sources came to attack.
Little did they know, all these ordinary Infection Sources were "useless trash," completely incapable of activating the true power of the Extreme Cold Ore.
Still, this afternoon of research was not entirely fruitless.
Aside from the already fully formed Water-Gathering Stone and the dark green Life Force gem, Cheng Ye had successfully forged a new Rune ore.
The raw material for this new ore was similarly taken from an insect-type Infection Source.
Speaking of which, it was considered a distant relative of the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse.
It was named: Rock Louse.
This was a very common animal-type Infection Source in Shi Province.
Under the influence of the Petrification Curse, the Plant Vitality within Shi Province would be converted into various types of ores.
The core ability of the Rock Louse was to absorb the Energy contained within ores. The more it absorbed, the harder its body would become, rivaling refined iron.
Like the Green Jewel Bug, the Rock Louse possessed a clear evolutionary path.
After an ordinary Rock Louse devoured enough ore, it would mutate in one of two extreme directions: either it evolved into a Flying Rock Louse, growing thin stone wings to gain low-altitude flight capabilities; or it turned into a Ground Rock Louse, its body shrinking into a streamlined shape to master the skill of burrowing underground.
Further down the line, if the Rock Louse could absorb enough special ores, it would evolve into even more bizarre forms.
For example, the Water Rock Louse, whose body became as translucent as colored glaze, allowing it to swim freely in water without being weighed down by its body mass—making it more Agile than a swimming fish.
Another example was the Palace Louse, which, much like bees, would build vast and complex stone palaces deep underground to multiply into massive colonies.
Right now, however, the Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place only had the most ordinary Rock Lice in Containment.
After extracting the Runes from their bodies, the resulting ore was an iron-gray color all over, with a rough and hard texture that surprisingly looked somewhat similar to concrete.
The panel unfolded, and the description on it was indeed completely different from the green emerald's:
[???]
[Current Status]: Unactivated | [Sustainable Duration]: 29 Days 18 Hours 11 Minutes | [Available Operations]:
Activate (Please have the Collector imagine a known rock structure and throw out this Rune to complete activation. The activation effect is influenced by the Collector's imagination; the more complete the imagination, the stronger the activation effect.)
Smelt into Resources (...)
The Green Jewel Bug corresponded to food manifestation, while the Rock Louse corresponded to rock structure shaping.
Having verified the effect of the green emerald, Cheng Ye was in no rush to test this iron-gray stone.
For one thing, this ore's duration was similarly almost thirty days. He could completely save it to try in an uninhabited zone, avoiding making too much of a commotion within Twin Moon Lake's territory.
Secondly, he also thought about the issue of recharging.
The green emerald could replenish its Energy through Plant Vitality because the Green Jewel Bug's survival inherently relied on devouring Vitality. By using the Life Force Rune, he could extract plant Energy to feed into the ore, naturally completing the recharge with ease.
But the "food" of the Rock Louse was ore. To recharge the iron-gray stone, he would probably have to extract Energy from ores.
Unless he could gain the recognition of the existence within Tan Ming's persona that controlled the Petrification Curse, it would likely be very difficult to find a way to recharge the iron-gray stone in the short term.
But it was precisely through these repeated attempts and summaries that a clear and discernible research path had already unfolded before his eyes.
To use the Extreme Cold Ore to absorb the Runes of Infection Sources and forge ores with special abilities, the first step of formation required inputting a large number of the same type of Infection Source.
The more Infection Sources inputted, the more the ore's recharge capacity would correspondingly increase, and its preservation time would proportionately grow as well.
The subsequent recharging phase was even simpler and more direct. One could either continue inputting Infection Sources or figure out what the corresponding Infection Source's "food" was, then find a way to convert that "food" into Energy and inject it into the ore.
Cheng Ye looked up toward the setting sun that was about to sink behind the hills. The afterglow spilled onto the Sunlight Slate, which still radiated a warm and bright light.
As he watched, he suddenly raised an eyebrow, a bold idea rapidly brewing and taking shape in his mind.
'Hmm... If I use the Extreme Cold Ore to absorb a Stone Sunflower Person, what kind of ore would it forge?'
'No, what if I use the Extreme Cold Ore to absorb the overpowered Seamless Shadow Puppet?'