Chapter 266: Nether River

Fan Bing saw the situation and let out a sigh of relief, hastily handing over two Manchineel Flowers from her pocket.

She was most afraid that Lin An would see this, fly into a rage, and without giving any chance to explain, directly slay her and the others.

After all, to outsiders, her relationship with Wang and Li is not shallow.

Especially Li Lei, who behaved as if he wanted everyone to know that he was her lover.

Lin An received the Manchineel Flower, and a prompt from the system sounded instantly:

"Ding, obtained a third-rank spiritual energy plant: Manchineel Flower"

"Manchineel Flower: Consuming it enhances all attributes and grants a special effect."

After reading the system prompt, Lin An's heart gave a slight jolt.

Third-rank spiritual plant?

The effect after consumption is indeed good, and unexpectedly it can also grant a hidden skill?

If this were placed in my past life, even a third-rank existence would go crazy.

I also don't know where Li Lei obtained this.

To be honest, it is indeed surprising.

The Manchineel Flower in his hand was overall yellowish-brown, its blossoms extraordinarily bewitching, like a death flower blooming in the Nether River.

But, is this thing poisonous?

Lin An raised his head to gaze at Fan Bing's anxious eyes, feeling doubtful.

After repeated probing, even he could not detect any abnormality.

But since the woman before him said so, her earlier demeanor also did not seem feigned.

Anomaly must hide a demon; without hesitation, Lin An directly activated the Judgment Eye to look again:

"Ding, detected a third-rank spiritual plant..."

"Ding, detected..."

Despite repeated monitoring showing no abnormality, it only made Lin An more suspicious.

Without hesitation.

Spiritual power, pour it into me!

For the first time, he tried to pour all his spiritual power into the Judgment Eye.

In an instant, the dim room suddenly burst with dazzling silver light, like stars piercing the night.

"Ah!"

Fan Bing was startled by the sudden burst of silver light, instinctively raising her hand to shield her eyes, and painful tears streamed uncontrollably.

In a daze, she looked at Lin An with her red, swollen eyes, his expression grave, while the Manchineel Flower in his hand slowly floated and swayed.

"Ding, detected a third-rank spiritual plant: Manchineel Flower (product of the Abyss)"

"Manchineel Flower: Consuming it grants +3 Strength, +3 Agility, +3 Constitution, +3 Will!"

"Granted special effect: Nether River - the Manchineel Flower from the Abyssal Nether River contains the aura of the Nether River."

"Nether River: When injured, one can expend vitality to accelerate self-healing; expending a large amount of life origin can regenerate limbs."

"Note: Contaminated with the Nether River's aura, you will ignore ordinary-rank zombie viruses and the deathly corrosion of spiritual entities."

"Note: As the Flower of Death from the Nether River, when a living being consumes it, to counter the Nether River's aura it will rapidly consume spiritual power and vitality."

"After consumption in the current state, spiritual power will be depleted by 97% (near-death condition) and vitality will drop by 30% (moderate injury: gradually worsening)."

"Note: Vitality equals blood volume, health condition. Life origin equals lifespan, number of cell divisions."

A long silence passed without words.

Lin An couldn't help but grip the Manchineel Flower tightly, his heart pounding.

Adding three to all attributes is almost equivalent to instantly raising one's Awakened One rank by one level.

Although it cannot be calculated so simply.

But it merely lacks the talent progression bonus, yet it is still enough to be monstrous.

The attributes provided by this single Manchineel Flower are almost equal to the total of the spiritual energy fruits he previously obtained.

The Nether River special effect is even equivalent to an A-rank skill.

This is basically a super-enhanced version of Zhang Tie's Flesh-Healing Skill.

Although it consumes life origin, when one truly needs to heal injuries, when is it not a critical moment?

Life origin, put simply, is a concrete manifestation of human lifespan.

Therefore, a reduction in lifespan is of no consequence, anyway Awakened Ones gain lifespan each time they advance or raise their player level.

Moreover, if one dies, there is nothing left.

From my past life to the third year of the Apocalypse, humanity was on the brink of extinction; even if life origin reached several hundred years, what would it matter?

Manchineel Flower...

Lin An let out a cold laugh.

It seems Li Lei, who obtained this spiritual energy plant, also does not know what this thing actually is.

This Manchineel Flower is fundamentally not a poisonous spiritual plant.

Its poisonous trait is purely because it comes from the Abyssal world, causing its effect to be overly domineering, such that the consumer cannot withstand bodily collapse.

Given my current physique, consuming it will expend nearly all of my spiritual power, plus a gradually worsening condition...

In other words, this is almost equivalent to a severely injured vegetative state awaiting death.

No wonder Li Lei and the others still dare to have designs on me.

The Manchineel Flower's actual effect is formidable, but this thing's "toxicity" is indeed overwhelmingly overpowering.

However.

Lin An swept his spiritual power over the energy core inside the ring and let out a light laugh.

I never expected the rarely used energy core to actually have a day where it works wonders.

Energy Core: After use, restores 50% of spiritual power and provides attribute bonuses.

He always used this Props as a battery, lighting lamps or heating water when needed.

Besides, it can be recharged repeatedly, so daily use hardly consumes anything.

I originally thought it was just a half-usable trump card, but then I encountered the Manchineel Flower...

Fan Bing saw Lin An remain silent, just constantly focusing his thoughts, and her heart tightened involuntarily.

The silver light that burst from Lin An's eyes just now left her somewhat dazed, as if her soul had been sucked into it.

After she came to her senses.

She tiptoed to sit beside the bed, looking at his profile, she steeled herself and spoke:

"I don't know if you've noticed anything abnormal, but you must not eat it!"

"I once personally saw Li Lei use an adult male for an experiment."

"That person only ate a tiny bit of the leaf and instantly turned into a puddle of pus!"

"You must believe me! Don't be deceived by the system's explanation!"

Lin An turned his head at the sound and saw that Fan Bing's worry in her eyes was not feigned.

For a moment, he couldn't help but become curious.

He didn't think his charm was so great that just his face could make people flock to him:

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Also, what do you want to gain?"

Most interpersonal relationships are exchanges of interest; Lin An didn't believe Fan Bing was telling him this out of kindness.

To be honest, if Fan Bing hadn't warned him, he really might have fallen for it.

The woman hesitated a moment, then mustered her courage and simply laid it out:

"To be frank, I'm not a good person. I admit I have schemes, maneuvering between the two of them, playing with their feelings."

"But I'm just an ordinary person; I want to survive! If I didn't do this, I know very well what my fate would be!"

Fan Bing made no secret of herself; for some reason, she always felt that Lin An's eyes could see through her thoughts, completely unlike a twenty-something youth.

Compared to Li Lei and Wang Kun, whose brains are filled with lust, Lin An seems to have lived for ages.

"I'm telling you all this..."

"The reason is also very simple."

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid that after you eat it, you won't die instantly; even if you're left with just a breath, you could kill us all."

She finished with a bitter laugh; the sense of oppression from Lin An's overwhelming strength was truly too strong.

She didn't dare to gamble on where Lin An's limits truly lay...

At the bedside, Lin An backhandedly tossed the Manchineel Flower into the ring, quite surprised by Fan Bing's answer.

The woman before him was far smarter than he had imagined.

After a brief silence, Lin An asked his final question:

"I'm just curious about one thing."

"What makes Li Lei so sure I'll eat the Manchineel Flower?"

Fan Bing would rather expose the 'betrayal' of Li Lei and the others, repeatedly urging herself not to eat the Manchineel Flower.

This can only mean that Li Lei has absolute confidence that I will surely fall for it.

But how could that be possible?

Fan Bing acted with a low posture; even if she took the initiative to get into bed, he wouldn't be moved.

Even if the Manchineel Flower's effects look great, he's not a three-year-old child; wouldn't he just randomly find someone to experiment on?

What exactly gives Li Lei the confidence to act without fear?

After a long while, Fan Bing suddenly grabbed pen and paper, moved close to his side, her body pressing tightly against him as she spoke each word deliberately:

"I'll tell you Li Lei's secret, but you have to promise me one thing."

Lin An frowned slightly, a faint perfume scent drifting into his nose; he could feel her fervent heartbeat.

"Secret?"

"What is it?"

The atmosphere was ambiguous.

She slowly leaned close to Lin An's cheek, her breathing rapid, her tone firm:

"Let me become yours."

"Take me with you..."