Chapter 263 - 228: Tier 6 Extract

Su Ze roughly guessed that the Desperate Flower had bloomed again, likely due to the accelerated state granted by the blue energy earlier.

Having an extra Self-Destructive Seed was a good thing, but Su Ze didn’t need it for now, so he put the potted impatiens away.

Next, he settled in to wait for the extraction to complete. He figured he wouldn’t be sent back to the Dice Space until the other Trialists had finished digesting their extracts.

Considering it had taken him several hours to digest the Purple-skinned Kangaroo Extract while enveloped in the blue energy, the others wouldn’t take any less time than he did.

With that much time, the extraction would surely be finished long before then.

「Over two hours later...」

When the Liquid Clone saw a wisp of blue light appear in the glass tube of the extractor, Su Ze was utterly stunned!

Blue?

Blue!

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet...

The blue light of evolution represented a sixth-rank extract!

That meant this giant thing beneath his feet, this creature that looked like a massive clam, was a sixth-rank exotic beast!

This was a life form on the same level as Lin Hua’s Legend, the successive rulers of Lin Hua Country, and the Pope of the Evolution Divine Teachings!

Although at this tier, human evolutionaries could generally crush exotic beasts of the same rank in terms of power, they were indeed on the same level from a life-form perspective.

Su Ze had been somewhat mentally prepared, but when the fantastical blue light bloomed within the glass tube, he was still shocked.

’I’m actually draining a live sixth-rank exotic beast of its extract. I’ve got some serious nerve!’

’But this is a sixth-rank extract! If I can get my hands on this, how much would it be worth?’

’No, this is beyond a matter of money. An extract of this level is the key for a Saint-rank Supreme to ascend to the Legendary rank!’

At the Saint rank, one only needed to absorb a single tube of a higher-rank extract to use as a ladder to a higher level of life.

As far as Su Ze knew, there were quite a few Saint-rank Supremes in Lin Hua Country, and many of them were surely struggling from the lack of this "ladder."

As someone who wanted to absorb a fifth-rank extract while still in the Butterfly Stage, Su Ze would definitely want to absorb a sixth-rank extract when he reached the Saint rank.

Furthermore, considering his incomplete "Divine Grace of Evolution" skill, if it was still effective at the Saint rank, his demand for extracts would be double that of other Saint-rank experts!

Therefore, Su Ze wasn’t going to give up on this tube of sixth-rank extract easily.

Fortune favors the bold.

’I’ll risk it!’

「In the blink of an eye, another hour had passed...」

Wan Qizhi was the first to finish digesting the reward extract and emerge from the blue energy.

Immediately after, two more people finished digesting their extracts.

They saw that the ground near Su Ze looked like it had been plowed, but they didn’t think much of it. Besides, they couldn’t see what Su Ze’s Liquid Clone was doing underground.

The glass tube on the extractor was already more than half full; the process was three-quarters of the way done.

There was plenty of time.

Just then, Wan Qizhi asked with a puzzled expression, "Everyone, do you feel the ground shaking?"

"Is it?" Su Ze feigned confusion.

In reality, the surface of Su Ze’s Liquid Clone below was rippling from the tremors.

The giant clam, sensing a mortal threat, had finally awakened from its deep slumber.

However, the seal was probably too powerful; it couldn’t move at all and could only generate a slight vibration.

"Mr. Su, why are you staying in this liquid state?" Wan Qizhi asked curiously.

Su Ze thought, ’If I returned to my flesh-and-blood body right now, I might find myself missing a piece or two.’

A part of his body was still inside the shell. While he had a Liquid Clone deployed, ending the "Liquid Life" skill without retracting the clone would cause a partial loss of both spirit and body. It would take a long time for his "Regeneration Body" to heal the damage.

If the missing part was too large or was a vital area, it could even be life-threatening. In that case, he would need to detonate his Regeneration Core to save himself.

So, if he really did lose the Liquid Clone, he had to remain in his liquid state and recover slowly. He absolutely could not revert to his physical form, as that would at least ensure his life wasn’t in danger.

"Hey? Mr. Su, look, you’re rippling!" Wan Qizhi exclaimed in amazement, as if he’d just discovered a new continent.

’Thanks for the heads-up...’ Su Ze knew perfectly well he was rippling. It was because the giant clam’s struggles had intensified, causing the entire Trial Space to tremble slightly.

This time, it wasn’t just Wan Qizhi; the other Trialists also noticed the ground was shaking.

"What’s going on? Can the Trial Space have earthquakes?"

"It feels like something is moving down there!"

They weren’t fools. One by one, they started digging and soon hit the hard surface of the shell.

However, they didn’t realize it was a shell and began unleashing all sorts of skills against it.

If even Su Ze couldn’t break the shell, there was no way they could. They gave up after a few tries.

"Why is it all this kind of rock down here?"

"This rock is so hard, we can’t even scratch it."

The culprit, Su Ze, put on an act and said, "It seems like the epicenter of the tremor is coming from beneath the rock."

His Liquid Clone felt the vibrations even more clearly. The giant clam’s soft flesh was heaving violently, tossing the Liquid Clone up and down like it was on a rollercoaster.

As its Evolutionary Material was continuously drained, the giant clam’s life was nearing its end. It could clearly feel a tiny bug on its body drawing out its life force, yet it was bound and unable to strike back. The feeling was utterly suffocating!

Not only its body, but even the energy and Spiritual Power within it were sealed, rendering them unusable.

Without these restraints and seals, it could have annihilated this little bug with a single breath!

"You weak little bug! You have angered me! There is a price to pay for provoking the great Mirage King!"

Su Ze’s Liquid Clone suddenly received a faint mental message... This was a form of Spiritual Transmission, a direct exchange of thoughts that didn’t involve language.

’The giant clam sent me a message? The Mirage King? What’s he the king of, some kind of health tonic?’

Su Ze felt a flicker of panic but quickly calmed down. ’If it could kill me, it would have done so already. Why bother with trash talk?’

Besides, its Spiritual Power was pitifully weak. It could barely transmit its thoughts to the Liquid Clone right next to it, and the message probably couldn’t even reach Su Ze’s main body.

The Liquid Clone immediately responded, "Great Mirage King, please forgive my transgression. My hand was forced."

The Mirage King, though half-dead, mustered its strength and spoke in a majestic tone, "Insolent crawler! Seeing as your attitude is sincere, I can grant you an opportunity for forgiveness. Remove the syringe you’ve stuck in me and kneel to beg for my pardon."

Su Ze’s Liquid Clone feigned distress. "But if I can’t bring back a treasure of sufficient value to report back, the organization that sent me here will kill me. Since I’m dead either way, I would rather die at the hands of the great Mirage King... unless, a benevolent being such as yourself has some treasure you could bestow upon me to complete my mission?"

"You despicable, filthy, shameless, wretched bug!" the Mirage King cursed. "You intelligent life forms are all the most contemptible liars, robbers who devour people without spitting out the bones! The universe is a mess because of pests like you!"

The Mirage King was not fooled by Su Ze’s overly obvious lie...

This disappointed Su Ze slightly. ’As expected of a sixth-rank exotic beast, not so easily deceived.’ However, it was just a prisoner. Su Ze figured it didn’t have anything good to offer anyway.

The only thing of value was probably the beast itself.

However, Su Ze noted that the Mirage King had mentioned the "universe." This proved that it was indeed from the Cosmic Starry Sky and also confirmed that other life existed in the universe.

Su Ze sneered, "I just love seeing your impotent rage. You want to kill me, but you can’t do a thing about it. No matter how powerful you are, you’re still just a stepping stone for the evolution of intelligent life."

Su Ze noticed the term "intelligent life" in the Mirage King’s words. The Mirage King considered him an intelligent life form but hadn’t mentioned "human." This suggested it either didn’t recognize or had never seen humans, but it had definitely encountered other intelligent species.

It was like seeing a snail; you would say, "Look, a snail," not "Look, a mollusk."

Hearing Su Ze’s words, the Mirage King, instead of getting more enraged, actually calmed down. It replied with equal sarcasm, "The fact that you are here means your species is also just an intelligent life form with an extremely low level of evolution. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve never been to the Cosmic Starry Sky.

"Don’t even think about getting information about the universe from me. I won’t answer any of your questions. Believe me, knowing too much is useless, because you won’t be alive for much longer anyway. HAHAHA..."

Although the Mirage King claimed it wouldn’t reveal any information, Su Ze had already gleaned a few things from its words.

’What’s the connection between entering the Divine Dice and having a low level of evolution... Do only intelligent species with low evolutionary levels enter the Divine Dice?’

’And when it said I won’t be alive for much longer, was that a threat? A curse? Or is there some other reason?’

Su Ze didn’t dwell on it. He wanted to wheedle more information out of the Mirage King, but it was clear the beast knew Su Ze would never let it go. It refused to speak, not uttering a single useful word and only resorting to meaningless curses.

"Then just die quietly," Su Ze’s patience ran out. He couldn’t be bothered to talk to it anymore and just waited for the extraction to finish.

Meanwhile, the Mirage King’s curses grew fainter and fainter as its life force continued to wane.

At this point, more than half of the Trialists in the Trial Space had finished digesting their extracts. However, for those who were still absorbing, the blue energy surrounding them suddenly trembled, showing signs of dissipating.

The blue energy came from the Mirage King, and since the Mirage King was about to die, the energy would naturally dissipate along with it.

Su Ze frowned. He had to temporarily turn off the extractor. He didn’t care about the others, but he had to at least wait for Mr. Ya to finish digesting his extract.

Otherwise, if the blue energy dissipated prematurely, the accumulated Evolutionary Material from two different exotic beasts in Mr. Ya’s body would become unstable and dangerous.

The extract was just a sliver away from being fully collected, and the Mirage King was on its last breath, now too weak to even curse.

"Mr. Ya, let me know right before you’re about to finish digesting," Su Ze sent a Spiritual Transmission to Mr. Ya, who was still enveloped in the blue energy.

While digesting an extract inside the blue energy, a person remained conscious. They just couldn’t see what was happening outside due to the energy’s isolating effect. However, Spiritual Transmission was unaffected.

"Got it, Boss," Mr. Ya quickly replied to Su Ze.

Over the next few hours, the other Trialists also finished digesting their extracts one by one and emerged from the blue energy.

Inside the Trial Space, only Mr. Ya was left digesting his extract.

Another half an hour passed. Su Ze’s spirits lifted as he received a Spiritual Transmission from Mr. Ya.

"Boss, I’ll be completely done in about five minutes."

Su Ze immediately turned the extractor back on.

The blue energy surrounding Mr. Ya once again started to look precarious.

Five minutes later, the blue energy around Mr. Ya’s body completely vanished. He had finished digesting the extract a few seconds ahead of schedule.

And Su Ze’s Liquid Clone removed a tube glowing with a deep blue light from the extractor.