Chapter 1257: First Battle (1/2)

“Stinger, I’ll call you Stinger from now on.”

The insect let out a long squeal, apparently quite delighted at the name. It wouldn’t stop rubbing Qianye’s neck while combing its long antennae.

Caroline said, “It actually uses origin power!”

Qianye thought back to the scene and recalled that the bug’s body was covered in a layer of origin power when it shot into the dead beast’s head. This was the only way it could erupt with such penetrating power.

“It was special, to begin with.” Qianye wasn’t surprised because many beasts from the Evernight World could utilize origin power, the void colossi being the top existences in that list. No other race could even come close to their prowess.

“No, you don’t understand what I meant. What I’m saying is that it can use the origin power here, just like the other creatures.”

Qianye flicked the insect lightly with his finger and sensed the vibrations coming from it, concluding that what Caroline said was true. Even experts of their level had to learn to adapt to the new environment and slowly grasp how to utilize the special origin power. Stinger, however, was able to utilize origin power instinctively and was at a completely different skill level.

“Perhaps it’s because it evolved here?”

“Maybe.” Caroline wasn’t sure, either.

The two felt differently about the blue crystal after returning to the pillar.

“Could it be that these crystals can make lifeforms evolve, regardless of whether they are from this world?”

“If that is the case, those dark races will go crazy over it,” Qianye replied.

“It’s not just the dark races, maybe it works on humans, too. If even your bug can do it, why can’t humans?”

Stinger let out a short cry of dissatisfaction. Qianye patted it with a chuckle. “He has a name now, it’s Stinger.”

Stinger cheered in agreement.

Naturally, Caroline wouldn’t argue with an insect. “Regardless, we need to confirm the uses of this crystal. It might be one of the reasons the Evernight Council is so intent on opening this new world.”

“How?”

“Easy, just do it the way you did with the blood glands.”

That was direct experimentation. Qianye frowned slightly but nodded in the end. Being humane became secondary in the face of the greater good.

Qianye glanced at the stone pillars in the area with complicated emotions. Each of these structures held several keys that would push a life form to a higher level.

This might not be significant for ordinary creatures—their starting point was too low, so the upgrade wasn’t significant, either. For intelligent species like the four major dark races and humans, this opportunity might drive everyone crazy.

“Very well.”

Qianye and Caroline soared into the air and flew toward the forest at an altitude of ten meters. They saw no more pillars along the way, which went to show that these structures only existed in certain regions.

There were shrubs on the ground, as well as rocks glowing with a strange luster. Qianye could tell at a glance that these stones contained some special ore, but he didn’t stop to observe them. Mining wasn’t their primary objective right now—the ore veins here were extremely shallow, but they lacked the expertise to differentiate between them. The most important business was to protect these resources by scouting out the surrounding area. The best scenario would be to find out the beast army’s movements.

The two flew faster and faster until the forest was before them.

Qianye was in no rush to enter the woods. Instead, he flew up to a height of several hundred meters and observed his surroundings. At several dozen kilometers in diameter, this forest couldn’t be considered big. Yet, it stood out quite a bit against the backdrop of barren wastelands around it.

Qianye flew back down after memorizing the scenery and began exploring the forest.

The woods contained a range of different vegetation. Some of the species were fairly similar, but they seemed to be two different generations of breeds. Most of the plants here had blue leaves, while some had red foliage. Their crowns were extraordinarily dense, with leaves weaving together to form a large roof.

Qianye landed on the ground and slowly walked into the forest.

The woods were dark and gloomy, but it felt like he had entered a new world. Stinger arched its body and began crying out restlessly.

Qianye also felt a sense of unease, so he produced East Peak and held it at the ready before heading deeper into the forest. He was heading toward the source of that uneasiness.

Caroline followed from a couple of steps behind to guard Qianye’s rear.

The forest was so dark it almost seemed like there was no daylight. What little luminescence there was came from some of the plants and moss. There was almost no life in the utter silence—no beasts, no birds, not even insects.

The forest wasn’t that big. Even though every direction looked the same, Qianye was able to arrive at the center of the forest just from memory. There, a strange giant tree appeared before him.

This tree wasn’t very tall, almost the same size as the other ones, but it was extremely thick. The diameter of the tree itself was several dozen meters, and it almost looked like a giant water barrel from afar. The leaves clustered at the top almost gave it a mushroom-like appearance.

There was a small pond of pink water near the roots, the contents of which seemed to originate from the burls on the tree. Some of these burls had burst open, and the pink fluid was flowing down into the pond below.