Chapter 484: Re-Evolution

In the instant the spirit marrow slid down his throat, Gao De clearly felt the immense magical power it contained, surging into him like a tidal wave.

A moment later, an indescribable force erupted within his body, crashing wildly through his magical meridians.

Gao De’s body trembled slightly; beads of sweat instantly formed on his forehead, his facial muscles tightened, and his jaws clenched unconsciously.

It was at this moment that he discovered another advantage of Li Oumeng’s magical meridian network:

The network of three hundred and sixty main magical meridians granted Gao De a magical tolerance far exceeding that of ordinary people.

A single drop of spirit marrow contained magical power equivalent to three days of meditation by a fourth-rank mage—a staggering shock for a first-rank mage.

It was like the Yangtze River suddenly flooding into a stream, capable of collapsing it instantly.

Yet the vast number of main magical meridians acted like countless branching channels, effectively diluting the force of this magical surge and giving Gao De ample time to adapt.

But the main magical meridians were powerless against the harmful substances within the spirit marrow.

As the magic flowed, Gao De clearly felt a searing, stinging sensation spreading through his entire body.

Master Lu Ping had warned him that while ingesting spirit marrow could cause magical power to surge, the cost was lifelong “spirit marrow sickness.”

Spirit marrow differed from ordinary magical plants—it contained not only magic but also extremely concentrated harmful impurities.

Gao De was no fool; he understood the risks.

Yet he still chose to swallow the spirit marrow, ignoring Lu Ping’s warning.

His confidence stemmed entirely from 【Adaptation】.

During the construction of Li Oumeng’s magical meridian network, he had consumed countless bottles of the same “powerfully potent” Kai Mai Ting.

Under the stimulation of Kai Mai Ting, his body’s toxin resistance and metabolic capacity had greatly improved:

【Your immunity to toxins increased by 85.9%. Your body’s organs’ ability to digest, metabolize, and expel various toxins increased by 84.5%.】

Due to excessive consumption, his body eventually developed additional resistance to Kai Mai Ting—after a bottle or two, it was like drinking plain water, producing no stimulation whatsoever.

That was why Gao De chose to swallow the spirit marrow.

In fact, when Master Lu Ping had warned him never to swallow spirit marrow raw, he had already conceived this idea.

First, aside from its inherent toxicity, spirit marrow truly qualified as a “heavenly treasure,” capable of rapidly boosting a low-rank mage’s level.

But most people couldn’t bring themselves to take it.

Second, at this point, even Kai Mai Ting—a potent drug—had no effect on his body; ordinary magical potions were even less of a threat.

Yet both values had already reached 80%+. If all went as expected, reaching 100% would unlock new abilities like 【Ice-Protected Body】 or 【Magic-Resistant Body】.

With such a reward so close at hand, how many could resist the urge to “push”?

Gao De certainly couldn’t.

But to further stimulate his body’s adaptation, he needed a magical substance even stronger than Kai Mai Ting.

This condition was extremely strict.

After much thought, Gao De realized only “poisons” could meet this requirement.

Though it did seem somewhat self-destructive.

Until spirit marrow appeared.

Swallowing spirit marrow stimulated the body no less than swallowing poison.

But taking poison was pure self-harm; swallowing spirit marrow not only stimulated the body but also boosted his magical power.

Double win.

Total win.

Win or not, the suffering still had to be endured—there was no escaping it.

Inside Gao De’s body, it felt as if fire burned; the toxic impurities surged like a writhing venomous snake, seeping through every vein, penetrating every bone marrow, then surging outward.

These were the harmful substances contained within the spirit marrow.

Spirit marrow was an ultra-compressed substance; its magic and impurities were concentrated a hundred to a thousandfold. After ingestion, they erupted like a massive explosion, capable of shattering one’s sanity.

The instant his body detected the toxin invasion, it activated its automatic defense and elimination mechanism.

Because his body’s functions in this regard were far stronger than others’, the physiological response was faster and more violent.

Normally, ordinary people wouldn’t experience adverse physiological reactions until days after swallowing spirit marrow.

But by then, the toxins had already spread throughout the body, beyond its capacity to resist.

It was like a siege: the body was the city, toxins the enemy. Others’ guards were weak—they didn’t notice the enemy’s infiltration until the entire city was already compromised, leaving them helpless.

But Gao De’s guards detected the enemy the moment it tried to infiltrate—the battle erupted instantly.

Detecting the threat early, defending the city—his chances of victory were vastly higher.

Agonizing pain struck his heart, slamming against his nerves!

Even with 【Magic-Resistant Body】, Gao De felt unbearable discomfort; he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and his molars ground together with faint scraping sounds.

Every muscle, tendon, and fiber of his body seemed alive, writhing violently as they fought the spirit marrow’s toxins.

His blood surged violently, like a raging river, flowing far faster than normal.

Under this rapid circulation, his skin turned crimson in an instant, as if scorched by fire.

Vast amounts of hot sweat burst from his pores, streaming down his body, then evaporating into steam under the intense heat.

Gao De now felt like he was in a sauna—not only overheated, but enveloped in mist.

As the sweat poured out, the spirit marrow’s toxic impurities seeped out with it.

While enduring the pain, Gao De also focused on practicing the 【Greenwood Longevity Scripture】, refining and absorbing the magic within the spirit marrow.

It was like someone whipping you while demanding you concentrate on “studying”—without 【Magic-Resistant Body】, he could never have endured it.

Fortunately, he had it.

Thus, though torturous, the process proceeded smoothly.

Just as when he swallowed wolf-blood ginseng, a magical vortex appeared at his dantian, spinning rapidly, drawing in the erupting magic from the spirit marrow and refining it.

Every so often, a drop of crystalline liquid magic dripped from the vortex’s funnel-like base.

One drop. Two drops.

After what felt like an eternity, as Gao De’s body grew limp and his nerves stretched to their breaking point, it finally ended.

All the magic had been fully refined; all the impurities had been expelled.

One drop of spirit marrow had granted Gao De five additional drops of liquid magic, increasing his total magical reserve to 47 drops.

Not as extraordinary as wolf-blood ginseng, but still formidable—equivalent to one or two years of arduous cultivation.

On the other side was his body’s enhancement.

【Your immunity to toxins increased by 92.1%. Your body’s organs’ ability to digest, metabolize, and expel various toxins increased by 91.5%.】

A single drop of spirit marrow stimulated his body as much as hundreds of bottles of Kai Mai Ting.

Gao De hadn’t expected one drop of spirit marrow to boost his adaptation so dramatically.

Perhaps because the spirit marrow’s toxins were mineral-based, fundamentally different from plant-based toxins—offering his body a completely new “experience.”

After all, plant-based toxins were already present in small amounts in daily food; over time, his body had developed baseline resistance.

At this rate, after swallowing all three drops of spirit marrow, both his toxin immunity and metabolic expulsion capacity would likely surpass 100%.

Thinking of this, Gao De grew energized.

Yet even if eager, he had to proceed slowly.

In his current state—mental and physical exhaustion—he couldn’t risk another drop of spirit marrow; it might kill him.

Gao De rested for two full days.

During those two days, he maintained his normal routine; with 【Comfortable Deep Sleep】 enhancing him, he ensured eight hours of deep sleep daily and ate more than usual.

He visited Walma Magical Materials Store twice.

There was no absurd phenomenon where magical materials instantly sold out upon restock.

Walma Magical Materials Store had been open for two or three months; people’s perception of it was fixed as a “seed shop.”

To change this fixed impression without special promotion required time to slowly ferment.

According to Jiao, at least one transaction had occurred these two days—a first-rank magical material sold.

It was a good omen.

Yet there remained a long road ahead before it could become a self-sustaining magical materials store.

—At minimum, it needed the ability to purchase magical materials to qualify as a proper store.

This requirement was too high; it couldn’t be achieved for a long time.

But Gao De didn’t care; as it stood, by bringing magical materials from the Northern Frontier to supply the store and attract attention, even attracting a few mages to sell magical tree seeds would fulfill his goal.

Without expecting the store to turn a profit, his mindset remained excellent.

After confirming his spirit and physical condition had fully recovered from rest, Gao De swallowed his second drop of spirit marrow.

This time, the effect was far less dramatic than the first.

One drop of spirit marrow granted him only four additional drops of liquid magic.

The stimulation to his body also diminished.

【Your immunity to toxins increased by 96.9%. Your body’s organs’ ability to digest, metabolize, and expel various toxins increased by 96.5%.】

This was normal. Any heavenly treasure or magical potion always showed the strongest effect on first use.

Whether in reality or in the novels and biographies he’d read, this was always true; Gao De had expected it.

Yet the decline was greater than he’d anticipated.

He now wasn’t certain whether the final drop of spirit marrow could push his adaptation past 100%.

After another two days of rest, Gao De swallowed his final drop of spirit marrow.

This time, the increase in liquid magic plummeted to just two drops.

Three drops of spiritual marrow raised his magical energy from 42 drops—just entering the First Ring Mid-stage—to 53 drops.

Progress had surged past the halfway mark; he was now only seven drops short of reaching First Ring Late-stage.

At this rate, he had a real chance to break into Second Ring Mage before the year ended.

If he succeeded, he would become a Second Ring Mage at sixteen.

Two years ago, he never would have dared dream of such a thing.

All the change seemed to begin when he bonded with Flora through [Summon Pet+].

A stroke of luck!

There was joy—and also “sorrow.”

The worst-case scenario he’d feared had indeed come to pass: despite his body’s strong adaptability, the final drop of spiritual marrow had not pushed his adaptability to perfection.

It had stopped precisely at the critical threshold.

【Your immunity to toxins has increased by 99.9%. Your body’s organs now metabolize and excrete various toxins with 99.9% greater efficiency.】

Gao De, snapping back to awareness, confirmed his physical state—and fell silent.

If it had been even slightly less, he wouldn’t have minded. But it was exactly 0.1% short.

This familiar feeling made him think of Pinduoduo from his past life.

Could he tolerate this?

Definitely not.

So what could he do?

He could only become a masochist!

Comforting himself with the old saying from his past life—“Those who endure the bitterest bitterness can rise to the highest rank among men”—Gao De grabbed his money pouch, left the dormitory, hailed a carriage, and headed straight for the city center’s alchemy shop.

Time to buy poison!

Like in his past life, the Jin Quehua Dynasty regulated poison sales: only poisons on the approved list could be sold openly; all others were banned.

If a shopkeeper dared sell banned poisons in secret, one report would land them with a severe sentence.

But this only applied to ordinary poisons. The authorities imposed little control over toxic alchemical potions sold to mages.

First, mages fought subterranean creatures—ferocious and powerful—and often needed various means to subdue them; purchasing toxic alchemical potions for assistance was perfectly normal.

Second, if a mage intended ill, he had countless other methods—so a few bottles of toxic potion made no real difference. Regulation held little meaning.

Still, the market for toxic alchemical potions was far smaller than that for supportive or buffing potions.

Thus, the variety of toxic potions sold in alchemy shops was extremely limited.

Gao De dared not buy high-tier toxic potions—he didn’t want to poison himself to death.

He selected from First Ring potions.

The most common were: “First Ring Paralysis Potion,” “First Ring Slow Potion,” “First Ring Hallucination Potion,” and “First Ring Weakness Potion.”

Their effects were obvious.

After some thought, Gao De bought one of each.

These four potions had the advantage of being control-oriented rather than damage-oriented: they weren’t instantly lethal, nor did they cause Gao De much pain—they were relatively “safe” toxins.

Their drawback was that their effects were relatively mild; a single dose might not be enough to push past that final 0.1%.

Like Pinduoduo, where you’re told you’re just 0.1 points away from cashout—but then there’s 0.01 points, then 0.001 points, and so on.

Back in his dormitory, Gao De didn’t rest or adjust his state as he had with the spiritual marrow. He immediately took out the First Ring Slow Potion.

All four potions were designed for mage combat and were not meant for ingestion.

Their correct use was to apply them to weapons, transferring toxicity to enemies through strikes.

But Gao De valued them solely for their toxicity; the harm caused by improper use might, ironically, benefit him.

So he didn’t care about protocol—he uncorked the vial, pinched his nose to block the pungent odor, gritted his teeth, and swallowed the entire bottle in one gulp.

A sharp, icy sensation instantly spread through his body.

In his perception, he felt as if trapped in thick mud, or having woken from a heavy nap—his entire body numb, every limb responding sluggishly to his brain’s commands.

The Slow Potion’s effect was to reduce the target’s speed.

In scientific terms, it interfered with signal transmission between the nervous system and muscle tissue, slowing movement.

Unlike the spiritual marrow, taking the Slow Potion required no extra effort from Gao De—he simply needed to wait for his body to metabolize the toxin.

He lay down on the bed, barely managing to cast [Comfortable Deep Sleep+] on himself, then collapsed into exhausted slumber.

(End of Chapter)