Chapter 126: Spinal Fluid and Mermaid Meat

When Li Yu transformed into a giant, he could clearly feel the strength of his Alchemist body surging exponentially.

At the same time, his elixir fire, demon body, and other attributes were similarly amplified.

This ugly giant was clearly one of the "evil spirits," and once controlled by Li Yu, it could not withstand the burning of his elixir fire at all.

Before the other giants could rush over, it had already died on the spot.

In Li Yu's mind, the notification sound for gaining merit points rang out, and the previous countdown regarding the "naming rights" was still continuing.

But Li Yu seemed unable to hear it at all, directly taking the initiative to meet the other giants.

His last shred of reason was locked tight, which was why he could transform into a giant without losing his sense of self and becoming an evil spirit.

Yet, the side effects that accompanied this curse-pollution, such as "brutality" and "bloodthirst," were unavoidable.

At this moment, Li Yu was entering a berserk state.

Perhaps because he was already at the Sequence Seven level before transforming, his form after transformation was far stronger and much more terrifying than the other giants.

A brutal massacre!

Soon, it took place within the city.

Arms imbued with terrifying giant strength tore at the bodies of the other giants, and the elixir fire sprayed out crazily, burning this city covered in swirling strange fog into a purgatory.

Because of his demon body, he was not afraid of being hurt in the slightest.

Fearless of death, attacking only, never defending.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the sounds of slaughter ceased.

Amidst severed limbs and charred corpses.

Having finished the slaughter, Li Yu was taking human-head balloons out of his scent pouch one by one.

That's right, one was not enough.

The curse-pollution within his body was extremely intense.

As the "pop, pop, pop" sounds rang out, Li Yu watched the brains and blood raining from the sky while a large amount of scorching steam surged from his body.

Immediately, that massive giant body began to shrink visibly to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, he returned to his normal size.

An indescribable sense of weakness surged in like a tide, but it was quickly absorbed by his "demon body."

Only then did he truly regain his clarity.

That brutal desire to kill vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

But the scene before his eyes, which could be called a giant's purgatory, reminded Li Yu that everything he had just seen, felt, and done himself was real.

In his mind, the notifications he had ignored resurfaced due to his thoughts.

They were all the merit points he had gained after killing the giants.

Although not all giants possessed 【Cursed Essence】, the number of giants in the city was not small, and added together, it was still a huge sum.

"Including the eight hundred merit points obtained when triggering the land-clearing mission."

"A total of six thousand merit points credited!"

"Just from this one mission, my merit points have now reached nine thousand nine hundred."

At this moment, Li Yu understood even better that wealth is sought amidst danger.

Although he was almost eaten by the giants, the subsequent harvest was unexpectedly bountiful.

More importantly, this was not the end.

Li Yu remembered the notification regarding the land-clearing mission and immediately stood up to begin exploring and searching everywhere.

One reason was to increase the land-clearing completion rate.

The second was, naturally, to scavenge.

Every territory had resources; there was no reason why such a giant city would not.

Sure enough, not long after, Li Yu scavenged the first item:

"Spinal fluid of an unknown strange object!"

"After consumption, one can transform into a giant and be exempted from most curse-pollution within the Vortex Nation."

"The price is a drastic change in temperament, becoming brutal and bloodthirsty, with an extremely intense desire to eat people... If one cannot resist, they will completely turn into a giant, and the Demon Star Order will detach."

"Good stuff!"

"It both increases combat power and avoids pollution."

Li Yu was overjoyed and continued to scavenge.

Before long, he had searched the entire giant city back and forth several times.

There were quite a few more of those spinal fluid curios in his scent pouch.

After the bumper harvest, he did not linger any longer, heading straight out of this giant city to continue toward the ruins in the deepest part.

And the moment he left the giant city, the scorching strange fog that shrouded the entire city vanished without a trace.

In his mind, notifications came again:

"Congratulations to the Order Master with the codename 'Calamity Star' for completing side mission one: 【Land Clearing】."

"This new area has been automatically named Giant City."

"The strange objects within the city are alienated giants; some individuals are aggregates of Cursed Essence. Entering the city makes one easily infected with the giant curse. The resources within the city are giant spinal fluid."

"Land-clearing completion rate... extremely high... Order Master gains one thousand merit points."

"Merit points have broken ten thousand."

Hearing this, Li Yu was immediately delighted.

Sure enough, the more dangerous the mission, the more considerable the return.

One must know that he was still far from the settlement location.

Yet, just by being within the second round of the curse storm, the merit points obtained had already broken ten thousand.

Of course, this was gained through risk.

Whether it was the three thousand one hundred merit points from the first round or these thousands of points, other Demon Star Order Masters and reincarnators should not be able to get them. Because as long as they weren't stupid, they would avoid the poison circle at the first opportunity, and they certainly wouldn't be unlucky enough to be caught inside an uncleared strange domain.

However, this encounter also made Li Yu realize:

"Uncleared lands don't seem to be all that dangerous."

"At least for me, the risk is much lower."

"In a world filled with such curses and pollution, that anomaly of mine that can lock down my last shred of reason is, in a sense, the most excessive cheat."

"Perhaps I can use this to plunder more benefits?"

As these thoughts settled, Li Yu immediately had a brand-new plan in his heart.

He calculated it very clearly!

Like that Giant City, if it were someone else, whether a Demon Star Order Master or a reincarnator, even if they weren't eaten by the giants upon first entering, they would soon transform into a giant and likewise be trapped in the city.

But Li Yu was different; he instead borrowed the giant curse to slaughter all the giant strange objects, completed the land-clearing mission, and scavenged many benefits.

If it could work for Giant City, it could work the same way for other uncleared strange domains.

However, a second experiment was still needed.

=9+Shu_Ba

And this second "test subject" arrived very quickly.

Li Yu had just escaped a distance from Giant City and was still in the poison circle, while the human-head balloons, a type of curio he had for resisting curse-pollution, were now completely exhausted, not a single one left.

Just as he was about to take out another curio, a completely mist-shrouded uncleared area suddenly appeared ahead.

When he approached and reached out to touch the white, vast mist, waves of intense, fishy stench surged out from it.

The intensity of the stench was terrifying, far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.

Even with the poison resistance of Li Yu's "Alchemist body," he almost fainted after smelling it.

It was a strong smell of dead fish, as if a large amount of fish and shrimp from the sea had been piled up and left to rot for a year or a year and a half.

Mortals would die instantly upon smelling it.

Practitioners could not withstand it for long either.

In his mind, a notification came:

"The Order Master has been polluted by an 【Unknown Curse】... This curse can cause the Order Master's body to undergo fish-related alienation and gradually rot, emitting a high-concentration stench."

Upon hearing this.

Li Yu looked down and immediately saw his body beginning to undergo new mutations.

First, fine, dense fish scales grew, then they burst, and pus-filled blisters oozing fluid grew underneath. A terrifying stench rapidly brewed and expanded within Li Yu's body, attempting to drill out from all his acupoints.

The intensity of this curse-pollution made even Li Yu look sideways.

Besides its speed, it also temporarily suppressed the "vortex pollution" that was ubiquitous within the poison circle.

In the blink of an eye!

Li Yu was gone.

Replacing him should be called Li Yu (Fish).

That's right, he had become a monster covered in fish scales, and even gills began to grow on his neck...

Along with the alienation came extremely intense loathing, hatred, and a desire to eat people.

Of course, these could do nothing to him because Li Yu's reason was locked tight.

When Li Yu pondered for a moment and took a step into the mist-covered land before him.

That familiar notification came again:

"Congratulations to Calamity Star Order Master for triggering side mission: Land Clearing."

"A brand new, undeveloped area has been discovered. The Order Master has the exclusive right to name it. If no name is provided within ten breaths, one will be generated automatically."

"The Order Master has received a merit reward: 800 points."

"The Order Master may proceed with the development of this location..."

"Congratulations to the Order Master for triggering the side quest: Sacrifice Cursed Essence..."

Li Yu did not immediately pay attention to the Demon Star.

Instead, he looked straight ahead with a serious expression.

It appeared to be a city built by a lake, only it had already been more than half submerged by the lake water, almost completely swallowed.

Everywhere in the city was mud and foul water, and the residents here had all transformed into "fish-men," having grown features such as fish scales, fish gills, and fish fins.

They were either swimming in the foul water or lying prone on the ground, gulping down the stinking sludge.

Of course, more of them had formed various states of bloating, soaking in the sewage.

Stinking!

This was the first thought in Li Yu's mind.

And the second thought was: "There is no great danger in my perception, and I can reap some rewards again."

As this thought settled, Li Yu moved.

Although the environment here was far worse than that of the Giant City.

To him, the level of danger did not reach that point; it was merely extremely disgusting.

After an unknown amount of time, when Li Yu came back out.

The fishy, foul mist that had shrouded this city of sewage had completely dissipated without a trace.

In Li Yu's mind, the reward notification sound of the Demon Star Order rang out:

"Congratulations to the Order Master with the codename 'Calamity Star' for completing side quest one: 【Land Reclamation】."

"This new area has been named by the Order Master as... Fish-man City."

"The strange entities within the city are all alienated fish-men. Some individuals are aggregates of Cursed Essence. One does not need to enter the city; simply smelling the 'fish-man stench' will cause contamination named by the Order Master as 【Fish-man Curse】. After entering the city, the effects of this curse will continuously stack until the intruder also turns into a fish-man, falling into the city."

"The supplies in Fish-man City are: Mermaid Meat."

"After consumption, one will immediately alienate into a fish-man and possess the ability to be immune to most contamination curses within the Vortex Kingdom's strange domain... If one cannot resist the alienation, they will completely turn into a fish-man and return to Fish-man City."

"Land reclamation completion rate... extremely high... The Order Master receives 1,000 merit points."

"For this land reclamation, the Order Master has obtained a total of 4,800 merit points."

(End of chapter)