Chapter 261: Fish Bait? Baichuan's Worry

After a moment of thought, Baichuan recalled once more the information the corpse ghost had revealed.

Now he could be considered to understand the peculiar life-form of this species; these corpse ghosts and the various wandering spirits, the beings that lived in Mingtu, survived by relying on this very energy.

It was more accurate to say that everything about them revolved around this Yin Qi as the core.

Their strength, their life, their power—all were intimately tied to this Yin Qi.

When the Yin Qi was strong, they were strong; nourished by it, they could transform the corpse that gave them birth, or the body they clung to, into something far more extraordinary, and wield even greater power—here referring to all manner of divine abilities, spells, and innate talents.

And when the Yin Qi was weak, they naturally grew feeble as well; in worse cases they would lose their intelligence and degenerate into mindless wandering ghosts.

As for the rest, there is no need to elaborate here—the corpse ghost's ability model alone is enough to explain everything.

【Race: Corpse Ghost.】

【Abilities: Agility LV3 (Banzhu), Solid Body LV2, Ghost Claw LV1, Camouflage LV1, Yin Qi Adaptation LV1, Soul LV1.】

Over these past days, he had also conducted some targeted research and observation on individual abilities.

In the process, he discovered that this corpse ghost's intellect depended on the Soul LV1 ability, and that the Yin Qi itself was born from the Yin Qi Adaptation ability.

Much like his own Magic Power/Spirit Qi Adaptation.

Putting it all together, and recalling that these corpse ghosts lose their intelligence once their Yin Qi weakens, he surmised that the Soul LV1 ability might have been born and evolved from the Yin Qi Adaptation ability.

Later, after testing, he found that his guess was half right; after he removed the Yin Qi Adaptation ability from her, he observed the corpse ghost's reaction shift from no response at first to gradually losing responsiveness to the outside world.

This was unmistakably the hallmark of losing intelligence—the Soul ability itself beginning to degrade and vanish step by step.

And during this process, the power within her kept dissipating, as if it had lost its source.

Even after he continuously replenished her Yin Qi, he could only slow this process, not truly resolve it.

But when he evolved that ability back, he was astonished to find the corpse ghost had recovered.

After repeating this process over and over, he finally discovered for the first time the physical structure representing the corpse ghost's Soul ability.

It was a crystal condensed from the corpse ghost's own Yin Qi, buried beneath her brow—the tiny crystal he was currently pinching between his claws.

Putting it all together, Baichuan guessed that the true origin of the Soul ability was the Consciousness LV1 ability from the human ability model, condensed and evolved under the influence of Yin Qi.

Unfortunately, to confirm this, he would need a great many lab rats… ahem, no—pioneering heroes brave enough to sacrifice themselves for his research.

But perhaps precisely because of this, later when he removed the Soul LV1 ability and then evolved it back, the original corpse ghost's consciousness never returned; in its place was a newly born, blank awareness.

Realizing this, Baichuan guessed that the gods' Soul LV3 ability might also have been born from the Consciousness ability condensing and evolving under the influence of Spirit Qi/Magic Power.

However, the exact function of the Soul ability was still unclear to him.

But he was certain the Soul ability could not be merely about granting life consciousness and intelligence—after all, the Consciousness ability alone already handled that.

And an ability that required a massive amount of energy to combine with and evolve—he refused to believe it served no purpose at all.

He suspected this ability was very likely tied to Spirit Qi itself, and perhaps even to environments where Spirit Qi was born.

However, given the truth gleaned from the corpse ghost, stripping this ability would inevitably cause the being's own consciousness to vanish; even if it evolved back, it would no longer be the same consciousness.

Coupled with the information he had gleaned from those other abilities, and the measures he had taken to keep the giant beasts in check when he elevated his world.

Therefore, he—Baichuan—did not yet dare evolve this ability, because the sense of déjà vu here was far too strong.

So strong that his heart resisted this evolution before the truth was known.

Unlike other abilities, which he could simply remove and at most lose the power they brought.

But this ability concerned his very consciousness; once he began to evolve it, his consciousness would inevitably condense into a Soul, and by the time he discovered any problem, he might no longer dare remove it.

Therefore, he could not afford to gamble.

Even though his own abilities did not even include Consciousness or Intelligent Brain, he could still think.

But he would not stake his life and safety on a gamble, unless he had truly confirmed there was no danger.

Otherwise, if the ability he consumed turned out to be bait released by someone else, and his helpless, still-weak little dragon was hooked and controlled—now that would be truly laughable.

One who hunts geese all day—how could he carelessly let a goose peck out his eyes one morning?

He was, after all, no longer that weak, penniless little snake who used to close his eyes and evolve into any powerful ability he saw.

It was also thanks to the former Great Zhou never having grown overwhelmingly powerful—otherwise, how could he have had the chance to turn the tables?

But precisely because of that, he who now possessed great power had plenty of lifespan to slowly explore.

Once all the truth was clear, that would be the time for him to swallow everything whole.

At that time, regardless of whether this world harbored conspiracies, it would all be his!

He was determined to claim this world—not only because of the various energy systems, but also because the sense of crisis within him was driving him forward.

One must not forget the nameless peril from the cosmic Xingkong that threatened his original world—the peril brought by those blood worms.

A man with no immediate worries must still plan for the distant future.

Until he understood the strength of that peril, having one more different world was, in the end, a good thing.

If he sensed something was wrong, he could retreat directly to this world; if the situation turned dire, he could destroy the passage to buy enough Time to grow again.

When he had grown stronger, he would at the very least be able to turn the tables and strike back.

Although thinking of retreat before even starting was rather uninspired.

But who could blame him—Baichuan possessed a powerful panel ability, and a steady, broad avenue lay right before him.

What he needed was never fighting and killing, but enough abilities and knowledge for him to absorb and grow.

With matters here concluded, and having gained a few more means in this world, it was time for him to go check on that flood dragon.

He wondered how things stood after half a month—had it ended?

Muttering to himself, Baichuan swung his dragon body once more and flew toward the direction he had long since confirmed.

……

(End of Chapter)