Chapter 937: Monster Gecko Traditions (1/2)

Even though his plan had failed, Krune wasn't disheartened at all, looking at the Blood Essence Crystal in his hands. His heart had been thumping ever since the moment he laid eyes on it. Even though he was a mortal, Krune was still able to judge based on his two centuries of experience in obtaining treasures that the Blood Essence Crystal was beneficial to him.

In such a manner, he captured Monster Geckos, dragged them to a cave each, made them consume the massive fruit while dislocating their arm joints, and patiently watched them. Just like his first attempt, not one of them managed to evolve, dying in the process.

Without any hesitation, he tied their tails to their respective wilting bone trees after cutting the tip. And as a day passed in such a fashion, Krune sprinted from one cave to another, collecting all the Blood Essence Crystals.

At present, he had 10 of them in his hands. He first placed them in his cave and hunted for 10 more Monster Geckos, killing two, sometimes three, every day. He dragged them to the 10 caves once more, placing one in each.

In the place covered by bone powder, he planted a new bone tree branch that he had broken out from the forest. And, once he watered them using the blood in the Monster Geckos, the bone tree branch began to grow.

Krune observed that even when some blood spilled on the bone powder, there was no reaction from it. It seemed that it had truly lost all life the moment it wilted, becoming no different from dust. Once he finished supplying blood to all the bone tree branches, he let them grow to a normal height first before supplying it with the blood of a live Monster Gecko. Only after that would it begin to grow the massive fruit.

He then scouted his surroundings, noticing that the cases of injuries among the Monster Gecko village had increased. They were now in a state of unrest. Similarly, the second village was also alarmed.

Krune noticed that even though they were all Monster Geckos, they had mild differences in their appearances. That was why when he hunted from the second village, he always ensured there was a witness of his hunt.

This was to instigate a war between the two villages. Only through that would he be able to target their leaders. Otherwise, it wasn't possible. He had been going about with this plan from the day he decided to target the second village.

Laying down the traps was just to further destabilize their mental states. After all, they were monsters and weren't sentient. So, he planned to make use of their advantages against them, turning them into disadvantages instead.

Upon seeing that his surroundings were clear, Krune returned to his cave, picking up a Blood Essence Crystal and the remaining Water Essence. He arrived before the pool, laying down all the tools he had created until now beside it.

This way, the moment something turned amiss, he was ready to operate himself and protect his life. Once he was done with all preparations, Krune sat beside the pool and held a Blood Essence Crystal in his hand.

Using his Neon Radiance, he looked at it, observing that it was a pristine blood-red crystal, perfectly smooth and almost see-through. He was anxious, making a double-check of his surroundings to see that he had indeed prepared everything at his disposal.

”Here goes nothing.” He gulped it immediately, feeling difficulty in swallowing it for a moment as he downed some water, flushing the Blood Essence Crystal into his stomach. Within a couple of seconds, a burning sensation emanated from his stomach and permeated throughout his body.

Instantly, Krune felt his heart beat faster and faster, as if it wanted to increase the speed of blood flowing through his body. Similarly, to keep up with the higher rate of pumping, his lungs contracted and expanded faster and faster. Krune took deep but rapid breaths, supplying enough oxygen to his heart.

He could feel his entire body heat up, brimming with vigor. And, without his control, his Neon Radiance activated, brightening up the entire cave as if it was directly under the sun. The brightness he unleashed was beyond what he was capable of normally.

He had surpassed his limits in its emission. Krune could feel the Blood Essence Crystal dissolving in his stomach before eventually flowing through his blood. This way, the immense energy in it flowed through his blood, being used in place of his stamina when Krune activated his passive abilities.

He could feel his cells were now drunk with energy, brimming with power. Eventually, he felt bloated, as if his body was about to burst. Without any hesitation, Krune emitted the Neon Radiance from throughout his body at its maximum intensity, one that had already surpassed his maximum during normal times.

As he kept up with it, Krune could feel that the bloated feeling no longer increased. Instead, he was still feeling bloated. With that, he ran to the nearby chamber in his cave, picked up the Whale Tooth Sword and began swinging it, intending to tire himself as much as he could.