Chapter 103: Speculations on the Supernatural Sequence

Could it be that……

Besides giving people supernatural power, does the supernatural sequence also affect people's mentality and habits?

Su Hao pinched his chin, combining the changes before and after he became a flesh-and-blood controller, feeling that this possibility was quite high.

But whether the fact is really like that still needs verification with others; he then looked at Ling Xue'er beside him and asked, "Miss Ling Xue'er, after you became supernatural beings, have you felt any subtle changes in your habits?"

"Changes in habits?"

Hearing that, Ling Xue'er and the others were slightly startled, they exchanged glances and unanimously fell into deep thought.

Gradually, their facial expressions changed in different ways: shock, incomprehension, and unease.

"Boss, boss, after thinking it over, I feel that since becoming a hunter I've grown more fond of staying in the forest, enjoying the feeling of hunting enemies with a bow, and I also unconsciously maintain a stealth state."

"I feel the same; after becoming a barrier master, I always unconsciously hide, using barriers to protect myself, feeling that everywhere is dangerous and only inside my own barrier is safe."

"I'm the same; after becoming a commander, I consider problems more comprehensively, but my desire for control has also grown stronger."

"It seems indeed so; the supernatural sequence affects supernatural beings' mentality and habits to varying degrees."

Su Hao nodded silently, after organizing his guess in his mind, he looked at Ling Xue'er and the others whose expressions were not good and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the supernatural sequence not only grants users supernatural abilities but also affects their mentality and habits."

"For us humans, this influence could be a good thing, but it could also be a great hidden danger."

"But for the supernatural sequence itself, regardless of the kind of influence, it is a benign change."

"Take the hunter sequence, for example: if one can use a bow more skillfully and constantly stay in stealth, naturally one can better unleash the supernatural sequence's abilities."

"The same goes for barrier masters and commanders: to better unleash the supernatural sequence's abilities, I personally feel it's best to actively adapt to this change."

"Moreover, I have a feeling that if one cannot adapt to this change, or feels inner resistance to it, when the supernatural grade rises, perhaps negative effects will arise."

"These are just my personal guesses; I can't guarantee the specifics, you just listen to them!"

Su Hao's guesses were meant for Ling Xue'er to hear, and even more for himself to hear.

Because Su Hao is different from others; he plans to advance using two different magic potions.

Even after synthesis, taking the magic potion will not cause Su Hao any negative side effects.

However, the supernatural sequence's subsequent influence on mentality and habits will not therefore become ineffective.

This means that others who advance using the first method will only be affected by one supernatural sequence, and its influence will be further strengthened.

Even if they advance using the second method, the original supernatural sequence's influence will not be strengthened; it merely adds another supernatural sequence's influence.

But Su Hao using the third advancement method means the original supernatural sequence's influence will intensify, and he will additionally have to bear another supernatural sequence's influence.

Moreover, Su Hao's guesses are not without basis.

You should know that in this world, apart from monsters like butchers that are infected and filled with murderous intent…

There are also wraiths, stone people, and extreme cold ice wolves—uninfected supernatural monsters that retain their reason.

The main material for refining magic potions is a kind of supernatural material from these monsters' bodies.

This indicates two possibilities: one is that the supernatural sequence's abilities come from these monsters' bodies.

The other possibility, which Su Hao thinks is more likely, is that wraiths and such monsters exist because the supernatural sequence caused them! There are two ways to become a supernatural being: one is using self‑refined magic potions, the other is using natural sequence runes.

Perhaps at the beginning, there were no such species as wraiths, because a certain creature successfully used a certain sequence rune.

But because they rejected the influence of the supernatural sequence, they were ultimately backlashed by it, becoming monsters that possess self‑awareness yet are completely under the supernatural sequence's influence.

"Good thing I've never had any aversion to being a flesh‑and‑blood controller; now I even treat blood like candy beans, which counts as fully accepting this identity."

Su Hao silently nodded, although he had guessed that the supernatural sequence would affect mentality and habits.

Even more seriously, it could cause people to lose their original hearts and become like wraiths—sentient but lacking their original self‑will.

But Su Hao still hasn't given up; he plans to advance using the third method.

In this new world brimming with supernatural power, to survive better one must raise one's strength as much as possible.

If one lacks sufficient strength, even if one stays forever in a shelter, disaster will eventually strike.

Rather than entrusting one's life to fate, Su Hao would rather fight for himself, striving to increase his strength as much as possible so as to gain the power to change his destiny.

And the third advancement method obviously yields the greatest power.

Of course, regarding these matters of the supernatural sequence, they are all material for Su Hao, and he cannot fully confirm their accuracy.

If one could find a related ancient text, that would be even better.

"Let's go!"

Su Hao stopped thinking further, rode on the back of the giant panda, greeted Ling Xue'er and the others with a sentence, and then headed toward the nearby small hill.

"Ah, right, boss, wait a moment."

After hearing Su Hao's words, Le Yun snapped out of her unease, patted her own head, hurriedly caught up, and reminded:

"Boss, on the summit of that mountain there is a cave that looks entirely made of flesh and blood, inside there is a dangerous aura; last time I killed a butcher because of that and then fled."

"It's fine; if danger arises I'll take the rear, you just need to run; but to be safe, I suggest you wait here, and after the danger is resolved you can come up."

Su Hao waved his hand, not paying too much attention to Le Yun's reminder.

The danger Le Yun sensed is not necessarily dangerous for Su Hao.

And what is dangerous for Su Hao might not necessarily be detected by Le Yun's strength.

Furthermore, Su Hao this time went out with the giant panda, which equals the combat power of two second‑tier supernatural beings, and moreover they are not ordinary second‑tier supernaturals.

One can take on ten; that's no problem.

As long as it's not a dangerous place like a monastery, even if there are third‑tier supernaturals inside, Su Hao and the giant panda's current strength gives them confidence to retreat unharmed.

Since Hua Yao and the others moved in, the giant panda's purple‑gold bamboo has been freely available to eat; his physique now far surpasses Su Hao's, especially in defense and strength, which can be called terrifying.

With the two of them holding the front, it's enough for the others to flee.

Of course, if there really are third‑tier supernatural monsters up there launching a sneak attack on Ling Xue'er and the others, Su Hao also has no counter, so he still advises Ling Xue'er and the others not to go up.

However, Su Hao didn't make the decision himself; instead he handed the choice to Ling Xue'er and the others, so whether to go up and adventure depends on their own choice.

"Boss, let's go up together!"

Ling Xue'er and the others exchanged glances, considering that Le Yun had been able to leave safely last time, plus their curiosity about the unknown area, and Su Hao, this big shot, leading the way.

They still chose to follow behind Su Hao, slowly walking toward that mountain.

"Huh? The aura of these flesh buds..."

After reaching the mountaintop, Su Hao looked at the pinkish flesh buds on the ground, his brows slightly furrowed.

Among these flesh buds, he sensed a very familiar aura.

"This is... Scarlet Blood?!"

Su Hao quickly realized what the source of this aura was; these flesh buds actually carried the aura of Scarlet Blood! Although the aura was very faint, over these days Su Hao had consumed who-knows-how-many drops of Scarlet Blood—maybe one or two hundred—and he had even eaten plenty of third-rank Scarlet Blood, so he was extremely familiar with this aura.

These flesh buds on the mountain were obviously a product that appeared after some kind of mutation.

And since these flesh buds also carried the aura of Scarlet Blood, the source causing this mutation was likely a supernatural item related to Scarlet Blood.

Moreover, being able to cause such a great effect, this supernatural item is certainly not simple.

After this discovery, Su Hao narrowed his eyes slightly, his expectations for the nearby cave grew higher.

"Roar!"

Just then.

From the nearby cave, a sudden roar echoed.

Dozens of obese monsters, with no skin on their bodies and looking drenched in blood, wielding butcher knives, charged out of the cave without a word and attacked Su Hao's group.

These butchers were ordinary monsters without any rank; the day after Su Hao's rebirth, before he became a supernatural being, relying on his serrated long blade and a berserk potion, he had single-handedly killed two of them. Now Su Hao possessed strength equivalent to a second-rank supernatural being, and he certainly did not regard these butchers as a threat.

Although these butchers appeared numerous, Su Hao could dispose of them with at most two bloody missiles, ending the fight in under ten seconds.

"Roar! (Your thighs are steady, my most loyal bear, I'm about to charge!)"

However, the giant panda didn't think that way; at the moment he saw the butchers rush out, he fully fulfilled his duty as a mount, carrying Su Hao forward at a gallop.

"Heh heh heh! This is called having good eyesight—look and learn, you foolish human female over there!" Su Hao: "..."

"Actually, I wanted to be an elegant mage today..."

Su Hao shook his head helplessly, but since things had come to this, he didn't tell the giant panda to stop.

His right hand grasped empty air, and a black-handled axe about 2.2 meters long appeared in his hand, which he swung down at the butchers ahead.

How could these ordinary monsters, which hadn't even reached first-rank supernatural, withstand Su Hao's axe blow?

In just a moment, those dozen or so butchers were completely torn into chunks of flesh, scattered around the mountaintop.

Watching this scene, Ling Xue'er and Le Yun exchanged glances.

Riding a panda, wielding an axe, with such a violent attack style—is this big shot heading toward the path of Chiyou the Great God?

Su Hao didn't notice what Ling Xue'er and Le Yun were thinking, or even if he did, it wouldn't faze him—after all, the art style was already quite skewed.

Summoning tentacles, then swinging an axe to slash people, and now multiple panda mounts—what's the big deal...

After slaughtering all the butchers, Su Hao waved his hand and stored all their corpses inside his Storage Bag.

"Sixteen—not bad!"

While putting them into the Storage Bag, Su Hao counted the corpses—exactly sixteen—and after refining, they would yield sixteen butcher hearts, more than enough.

With just nine butcher hearts, after four syntheses, one can obtain a second-rank Scarlet Heart.

Finally, using that second-rank Scarlet Heart together with a second-rank Blood Mage's potion, if all goes well, one can synthesize a second-rank Flesh-and-Blood Controller's potion.

The remaining butcher hearts can be kept as samples for replication using infected cells.

By the time of the next advancement, there will be no need to go through the trouble of searching for butcher hearts again.

"Great, I should be able to advance in a couple of days!"

Su Hao nodded in satisfaction; taking advantage of these three days when the Extreme Heat Disaster made outdoor exploration inadvisable, he raised his supernatural grade to second rank.

Once the Extreme Heat Disaster ends, he will be a second-rank supernatural being and can then make a trip to the Withered Forest to find the tree demon for a chat, and bring back some fertile soil along the way.

Although Hua Yao and the others also built greenhouses, the materials they used were too ordinary, giving plant growth a very poor boost.

If used only for ordinary crops, the effect would be acceptable, but for cultivating supernatural plants like Blazing Flame Dragon Fruit, the effect would be negligible.

Therefore, to better cultivate supernatural plants such as Blazing Flame Dragon Fruit, Su Hao still needs to build himself a greenhouse with a higher supernatural grade.

Furthermore, with the flower sprite's racial talent and Hua Yao's plant growth agent, the growth cycle of supernatural plants can be greatly shortened, so even second- or third-rank supernatural plants will be ready to harvest in no time.

"Let's go, let's check out the cave!" Su Hao didn't think further, greeted Ling Xue'er's party, then rode the giant panda toward that cave.

Inside that cave there is an extremely powerful aura; even Zhu Ge Chang Qing and Le Yun, lacking Ling Xue'er's superhuman perception, can tell that a formidable enemy lies within, one they cannot handle.

If they had come here alone, they would surely have done what Le Yun did last time—turn around and leave immediately, not daring to linger.

But now the situation is different—up ahead are two second-rank supernatural big shots—so Ling Xue'er and Le Yun hesitated not at all, curious, they linked arms and followed.

Zhu Ge Chang Qing, being elderly, is not as impulsive as young people, but after careful consideration he still chose to follow.

I carry a teleportation talisman; if we truly encounter danger, I can still bring everyone away together.

If I could thus help Su Hao escape danger, that would be a nice favor.

A favor from a big shot like Su Hao is worth a great deal; Ling Xue'er merely helped him manage trades in the group chat and received a Clear Wind Longbow as payment.

The Clear Wind Longbow's power far exceeds that of ordinary first-rank supernatural weapons.

If one could help Su Hao escape danger, the benefits are obvious—there would certainly be no shortage.

Thinking this, Zhu Ge Chang Qing inexplicably felt a bit hopeful about encountering some danger inside the cave.

"The aura of Scarlet Blood is stronger!"

After entering the cave, Su Hao felt the aura of Scarlet Blood become somewhat richer.

Obviously, the source of mutation that harbors Scarlet Blood's power is right here in this cave.

Moreover, as they continually approached the cave, the surrounding environmental changes grew ever greater.

Outside the mountaintop, there were merely flesh buds sprouting from the ground, but inside the cave, even the ground beneath their feet and the cave's rock walls had turned into living flesh tissue, writhing irregularly.

"The feel is not bad, just don't know how the taste is."

Su Hao lightly pressed his finger against the wall, feeling it soft and elastic.

Zhu Ge Chang Qing:...

Ling Xue'er:...

Le Yun:...

The three watched Su Hao lower his head in thought, and all couldn't help but widen their eyes.

Huh? No? Can this flesh still be eaten? I feel disgusted just stepping on it...

How to put it?

Is it that the big boss has a good mindset, or is the big boss just too perverted? "Cough cough, the source of the anomaly's danger is not far from us, be careful."

Su Hao obviously realized his words were easy to misunderstand, so he hurriedly changed the subject and urged Da Xiong Mao to speed up.

I probably won't be mistaken for a pervert, right...

"Roar! (The thigh is truly perverse, this kind of meat growing on the mountain looks abnormal...)"

Da Xiong Mao let out a low growl, staying alert while increasing his speed.

Inside this cave, the ground turned into flesh and blood gave him a very bad feeling, the foot feel was terrible.

It now just wants to finish things here quickly, return to the shelter, lie on the rattan chair, eating purple gold bamboo while enjoying the service of the flower spirits.

After Da Xiong Mao sped up, they soon passed through a passage over a hundred meters long and arrived at a spacious cave.

Just like the outside passage, the inside of this cave was also infected and transformed by an unknown power into patches of fresh flesh and blood.

Moreover, the infection here is even more severe: besides the rock walls and floor being completely turned into flesh and blood, there is also a huge mass of meat occupying half the cave.

Its shape is irregular, covered with dense tentacles that writhe without pattern, making one's scalp tingle; Ling Xue'er and the others felt their sanity drop just from a second glance.

On the upper right of the meat mass, near the cave's ceiling, there is a robe seemingly made of blood, making Su Hao glance at it twice.

On the lower left of the meat mass, near the ground, there is a bulge the size of an infant, where a closed-eyed, painfully distorted human face can be faintly seen, seemingly unaware of Su Hao and the others' arrival.

Just as Su Hao and the others were observing the meat mass, five lumps of meat suddenly rose from the ground in front of it, swelling visibly.

In the blink of an eye, they grew from fist-sized lumps into huge meat masses about three meters tall.

Immediately after.

The meat mass then began to twist and deform, becoming a three-meter-tall, obese humanoid monster with no bones or organs, composed entirely of flesh and blood.

But that wasn't the end; these five flesh monsters stretched their hands forward to the cave's ceiling, then dropped two masses of meat, forming a huge flesh shield and spear.

"Oh no, these are all Transcendent Second Rank flesh guards!"

When these flesh monsters appeared, Zhu Ge Chang Qing couldn't help but exclaim, announcing their identity, while tightly gripping the green talisman in his hand.

(End of chapter)