Chapter 339: Love It Anyway

You should know that Yang Yixie spends every day grinding the plot, blasting from Tianmian City to the Slum, then blasting back from the Air Train to Tianmian City, just barely leveling up to his current rank.

Now?

In less than five minutes he earned enough experience to level up once; although the experience Fang Zhiyan gave him last time was already just one step short of a level‑up, this speed was still very fast.

And his experience is still increasing.

The writhing black shadow in the distance seemed to sense something.

Like… being confused?

Just this little fluorescent‑green thing, in its domain, under its gaze, openly devouring its power?

It has seen countless creatures intrude into its domain—some fearful, some mad, some kneeling in plea, some attempting resistance.

But never one like this.

Treating its "fragments" as candy.

Yang Yixie didn't notice the black shadow's confusion at all; he was busy chasing a fragment that drifted a bit farther away.

That fragment was a size larger than the others, its glow brighter—clearly a good find.

He sprinted two steps at a time, snatched it, and shoved it into his mouth.

【Swallowed "Unknown Energy Fragment (Large)" x1!】

【Gained Experience: +5000!】

【Mutation Value: 45→69!】

Yang Yixie's action paused for a moment.

69.

He almost breached the 70‑level barrier.

He looked down at himself.

His hands were still hands, his feet still feet, no strange growths.

He touched his face again.

His face was still a face, no extra eye, no missing ear.

【Mutation Value: 69】

【Status: Moderate Mutation, Warning! Immediate use of purification items recommended!】

Yang Yixie pulled two bottles of holy water from his Game Backpack and drank them together.

【Used "Holy Water (Advanced)" x2!】

【Mutation Value: 69→31!】

The number instantly became safe.

Yang Yixie nodded in satisfaction, lifted his head, scanned the surroundings, and looked for the next batch of fragments.

Then he froze.

The surrounding fragments… gone?

He had grabbed so fast that, unknowingly, he had cleared every fragment within his sight.

The level jumped two tiers in a row; considering higher levels demand more experience, this efficiency even outpaced Fang Zhiyan.

"Sure enough, the rogue cultivator still levels up faster."

Yang Yixie couldn't help but remark; by the orthodox method, merely hunting Aberrant Species consumes a lot of time.

His peripheral vision caught the distant black shadow quiver again, this time with a slightly larger tremor.

But Yang Yixie had no time to attend to it.

If a chase battle were to be triggered, it would have arrived early; from this, the black shadow seems to tacitly accept his devouring of mutation.

Of course, it could also be that this lump has no consciousness at all.

Nevertheless, what matters now is the immediate scene; as the surrounding fragments cleared, his view cleared considerably.

This allowed Yang Yixie to clearly see a curled figure at the center of the dark‑red liquid.

The figure was encased in pure white jade, its surface coursing with a faint white glow; that light seemed out of place in the dark‑red world, yet it was unusually resilient.

Inside was Luo Jinyou.

Not that pale, soft little dumpling, but the real Luo Jinyou.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his body still emitted a highly unstable Mutation aura.

Further away, the writhing black shadow still "watched" every move of Yang Yixie.

But this time, it showed no tremor at all.

It merely watched the fluorescent‑green little being, stepping toward the sleeping figure.

Yang Yixie approached the jade, extended his hand, and lightly brushed its surface.

Cool.

But the coolness wasn't icy; it carried the jade's characteristic gentle warmth.

【System Prompt: Detected special structure, suspected Aberrant Arts artifact】

【Name: Unnamed Protective Barrier】

【Function: Isolates external Mutation factors】

【Note: This barrier is in an overload state; estimated duration: unknown】

Yang Yixie stared at the text and fell silent for two seconds.

So this white‑jade‑like thing is Luo Jinyou's Aberrant Arts creation.

Yang Yixie withdrew his hand, then casually retrieved his modified hemp rope and miner's pick from his Game Backpack, now neatly laid before him.

Hemp rope.

Miner's pickaxe.

And explosives and a bunch of miscellaneous tools.

After thinking it over, he still took the Explosives back.

If we go mining, these things will definitely be useful, but if we blow away Luo Jinyou's last remaining conscious awareness, then there'll be no one left to weep.

He doesn't want to labor in vain over the Mutation.

Yang Yixie stared at those two items and began pondering a question:

Should he dig Luo Jinyou out of the jade stone, or should he move the jade stone together with him?

If he digs him out, what if Luo Jinyou undergoes a complete Mutation the moment he leaves the jade stone?

If he doesn't dig him out, this jade stone is so huge—how should he move it? Carry it? Drag it?

And where to move it?

All around is a strange dark‑red liquid, overhead is an endless chaotic void, and in the distance a mass of black shadow—its consciousness uncertain—stares at him.

Ying Duo propped a hand under his chin and fell into thought.

——————————————

In the Jian Kong Shi.

The security guard watching the monitoring data stared at the numbers on the screen with an almost numb expression.

That guy in the Ying Guang Lu, his Mutation Value rose again.

Then fell.

Then rose again.

Then fell again.

The guard's eyelid twitched.

He could no longer recall which iteration this was; since that Ying Guang Lu thing fell asleep in the containment chamber holding Luo Jinyou, the number has been like a roller coaster, soaring to over sixty one moment, then dropping back to the thirties the next.

Several times he nearly stood up to rush over and rescue the person, after all it was someone Professor Luo De'an forced in, and if something truly went wrong, he wouldn't be able to explain.

But each time he was about to get up, the number fell back again.

Like a game.

The guard took a deep breath and decided to keep watching.

Whatever, let it be.

Anyway, as long as that number doesn't exceed eighty, it's still within the safe range.

Just as he thought that, his peripheral vision suddenly caught another monitoring datum beside it.

That was Luo Jinyou's.

That number, just now seemed.......

He snapped his head around, staring fixedly at that screen.

The number jumped, though it only dropped a little.

The guard's pupils constricted slightly.

At Luo Jinyou's level, aside from a Mutation excision surgery, there is basically no way to reduce the Mutation; even Holy Water can at most provide a slight suppressing effect.

He rubbed his eyes and leaned in a bit more.

The number was still decreasing.

Though slowly, it was indeed dropping.