Chapter 154 Advancement
Guo Gang's words made everyone pause, and Zhu Xiong asked in confusion, "Are you talking about the skills to control those monsters?"
"Yes," Guo Gang nodded, "Phantom Beast Infection can also be spread by infecting the monsters, allowing them to be gradually assimilated, and then turned into puppet-like Phantom Beasts, but... my ability can only control 10 units of monsters, and they must be one rank lower than the Chang Resentment Tiger itself.
Moreover, the process consumes the Spiritual Energy and physical strength of the Chang Resentment Tiger."
A Second Order Low Grade Chang Resentment Tiger could only infect and control ten units of First Order Monsters, and although it could extend to First Order Upper Grade, it was far from sufficient to build a Chang Beast Legion.
Su Han furrowed his brows, surprised by the significant gap.
"However," Guo Gang hesitated before saying, "These ten units should be considered a part of the Chang Resentment Tiger's body and can be transformed into a blood-paste that gets absorbed into the body of the Chang Resentment Tiger."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked surprised; this was something they had not anticipated. The separation of flesh and blood, turning into Phantom Beasts.
No, it was not entirely about the separation of flesh and blood, as the blood of Phantom Beasts and the flesh and blood of monsters were still different. It was more apt to say it was a special state of existence.
"That's not bad either, having 10 lower rank units on hand. They can be of use in many situations."
After forming the Contract, Guo Gang continued to set up defenses around the surroundings while searching for resources that could be taken back.
Su Han, on the other hand, kept his eye on the Bat-winged Alligator Dragon as he pondered the connections between the flesh mountain, Chang Resentment Tiger King, and Phantom Beasts.
If Chang Resentment Tigers possessed the skill of Phantom Beast Infection, then surely the Chang Resentment Tiger King also had it, yet the gap between the two was substantially large, which puzzled him.
There must still be some unclear aspects about it. An army of tens of thousands of monsters was not a small matter.
Amidst pondering, suddenly Guo Gang and the others rushed over with even more urgent footsteps, "Su Han, the flesh mountain has collapsed."
Su Han slightly furrowed his brows and immediately said, "Let's go take a look."
They hurried over, and sure enough, when they arrived, part of the flesh mountain's tissue had peeled from its surface, turning into a sticky blood-paste, starkly different from the previously vibrant flesh.
Visibly, the scale of the flesh mountain had diminished slightly, and it was still faintly pulsating.
"What, what's going on? Could it be that after the Chang Resentment Tiger King was killed, this thing also couldn't survive?"
Zhu Xiong was utterly confused, but his words reminded Su Han.
"It's the Chang Resentment Tiger, not Chang Resentment Tiger King."
Su Han's voice interrupted Zhu Xiong, and everyone looked at him in astonishment.
After a moment of thought, he said, "It's possible that this is their species' collective ability, a joint construction for proliferation and expansion. The flesh mountain is not only made up of the Chang Resentment Tiger King's Phantom Beast mother units, it should be that every Chang Resentment Tiger contributes something.
However, since Old Guo just killed one, some part of it began to disintegrate."
"This..."
Xinglei and the other two looked at each other, having never considered this conjecture and finding it somewhat...incredible.
Su Han pondered for a moment and said, "Old Zhu, go back and report this, and bring Old Zhang here to Contract a Chang Resentment Tiger."
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. To verify this hypothesis, they just need to test it.
Zhang Dahai, who also possessed Second Order strength, could Contract an Angel Envoy.
Zhu Xiong was quick, and in less than an hour, he returned with Zhang Dahai.
After explaining the situation, the corners of Zhang Dahai's mouth almost reached heaven. Sitting at home, fortune comes falling from the sky. In just a few days, he could Contract a second Angel Envoy, truly wonderful.
Zhang Dahai, just like Guo Gang had earlier, chose a Chang Resentment Tiger and then had the Crocodile Claw Giant Demon kill it."
But at the moment of the kill, the answer already began to reveal itself, for the massive flesh mountain was slowly collapsing.
More of the flesh turned into blood-paste and then slid down slowly, just like the other Phantom Beast blood."
Su Han's guess was correct; this thing was a convergence of the entire Chang Resentment Tiger population, though the leadership was undoubtedly with the Chang Resentment Tiger King.
"What do we do now?"
Zhu Xiong was still a bit lost, assuming the Chang Resentment Tiger King would definitely be killed soon.
Then the flesh mountain would surely end, no different from that blood-paste.
"Let's cut it open and take a look."
Su Han looked at the flesh mountain, his emotions hardly fluctuated as it was destined to collapse, so they might as well dissect it on the spot to see its structure and record it."
With a thought, he summoned the Scorpion Spider Demon and controlled the metal to form a sharp blade, plunging deep into the flesh mountain."
After two collapses, the flesh mountain was only about twenty meters high, though still much taller than the Scorpion Spider Demon, it wasn't so difficult to handle.
With one slice, blood flowed out like river water.
The appearance inside was revealed to everyone, looking unremarkable with just pulsating flesh tissues."
However, that was just the outer layer. As the Scorpion Spider Demon continued to cut deeper inside, soon, at the very center, something was found.
A blood-red object, covered with blood vessels, shaped like a heart."
The thumping was coming from it; this was the core of the thing."
[Discovered material suitable for Fusion "Phantom Beast Seed", proceed with Fusion?]
No Fusion
Su Han did not allow the Scorpion Spider Demon to fuse but controlled it to chop down the Phantom Beast Seed, causing blood to splatter out, and despite being severed, the Phantom Beast Seed still pulsed.
"This thing couldn't possibly be the Chang Resentment Tiger King, right?"
Just as Zhu Xiong finished speaking, the rest of the flesh mountain started to melt into what looked like the blood of the Phantom Beast.
"Old Zhu, you and the Scorpion Spider Demon make a trip back and deliver this stuff to the Ancient Tree."
Zhu Xiong was startled and immediately nodded solemnly, "Okay, I'll go right now."
The Phantom Beast Seed, serving as the core of the flesh mountain, was quite large, at least four to five meters in diameter and extremely compact. After bleeding for a while, it was gradually healing and its beating had stabilized.
Although both the Bone Armor Giant Pig and the Vine Giant Rat could barely carry such a size, it was not easy to secure, fearing it may take too long.
Therefore, Su Han could only send out the Scorpion Spider Demon.
Originally, as the Chang Resentment Tiger King was a control-type monster, it might have been more suitable to be given to the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
But, a Third Order monster, with regenerative abilities and flight abilities, was not so easy to suppress; if it escaped, the loss would outweigh the gain. Moreover, the Mother Nest Ancient Tree was still holding 76% of Level 1 Phantom Beast Blood, so it wasn't considered initially.
But now the situation was different; whether there would be more Phantom Beast Blood was not mentioned, the effects of the Essence of Flesh ought to be similar.
And the Phantom Beast Seed was clearly a 'limited edition' thing, trying wouldn't hurt, right?
The Scorpion Spider Demon, holding the Phantom Beast Seed, rushed back rapidly, while Zhu Xiong, leading a squad, closely followed behind, responsible for escorting.
A direct distance of three kilometers, bypassing several streets, they arrived at the ring district within about ten minutes.
The Mother Nest Ancient Tree had already been controlled by Su Han, its vines spread to the boundary, taking the Phantom Beast Seed from the Scorpion Spider Demon.
For the control of Angel Envoys, the stronger the power, the further the control range, and three kilometers was far from the limit of Su Han's control.
This was why he felt at ease leaving the Mother Nest Ancient Tree at the camp, taking only two Angel Envoys to trouble the Chang Resentment Tiger King.
He could shake the tree at any time.
[Discovered fusible material Phantom Beast Seed, proceed with fusion?]
Fusion
This time, it was the Mother Nest Ancient Tree that fused with the Phantom Beast Seed; thus, Su Han did not hesitate, especially since if it were too slow and the Chang Resentment Tiger King died, then the Phantom Beast Seed would be lost.
Both the Mother Nest Ancient Tree and the Bat-winged Alligator Dragon were undergoing fusion, and after the Scorpion Spider Demon returned, Su Han entered a phase of patient waiting.
Guo Gang and Xinglei Gan did not stay long; Su Han dispatched two hundred people back, those who needed to treat their wounds did so further, and those who needed to rest did.
Zhu Xiong stayed behind just in case, but overall there wasn't much to do, simply gathering vehicles and metal objects on the surrounding streets and then having the Scorpion Spider Demon control them, transforming them into metal cubes for easy transport.
Metal was an important resource for the camp construction and also an important resource for the fusion of the Scorpion Spider Demon.
As time gradually passed, by the evening, the Mother Nest Ancient Tree and Bat-winged Alligator Dragon had consecutively completed the fusions with the Phantom Beast Seed and the body of the Chang Resentment Tiger King.
Phantom Beast Seed Fusion Degree 32%
Chang Resentment Tiger King Fusion Degree 37%
The fusion degrees were only about a third each; Su Han controlled two Angel Envoys to start converting other flesh materials to enhance the fusion.
At the Mother Nest Ancient Tree, previously it had achieved 76% fusion with Level 1 Phantom Beast Blood, but due to the Phantom Beast Seed's fusion this time, it had abruptly interrupted, incidentally leaving behind the Phantom Beast Blood scattered around the battlefield.
Thus, it directly became the nutrient for the Phantom Beast Seed, gradually enhancing its Fusion Degree.
The Bat-winged Alligator Dragon's side was simpler; the entire battlefield was covered in Phantom Beast Blood, the bloody paste covered the streets, emitting a foul smell.
It directly stomped on it and then body tissues squirmed releasing a mass of silk threads, beginning the fusion on the spot.
The Fusion Degree slowly increased, from 37% gradually rising.
Over the night, while Su Han slightly closed his eyes to rest, he was suddenly awakened by a notification.
[Chang Resentment Tiger King 100% fusion complete, Bat-winged Alligator Dragon achieved form advancement: Blood-winged Alligator Dragon, Blood-winged Alligator Dragon receives skill: Evil Crocodile Prison]
Su Han immediately looked towards the Blood-winged Alligator Dragon, surrounded completely in red light, currently undergoing a transformation.
Within the red light, one could faintly see the flesh on its back wriggle, two bulges gradually swelling, then with a faint sound, the growth of bones and flesh resonated.
Splash
In an instant, a pair of dark red membranous wings grew, with a wingspan much larger and more majestic than the first pair, the aura also much stronger.
The pitch-black body now had a hint of dark red, appearing more sharp and menacing, the massive body fiercer, its body lines more robust, muscles and scale armor clearly defined, exuding bursts of a brutal aura.
Without a doubt, in this breakthrough, the Blood-winged Alligator Dragon had accumulated sufficiently and advanced to Third Order Intermediate.
"Evil Crocodile Prison," Su Han observed the changes in the Blood-winged Alligator Dragon, his eyes shifting slightly, yet his attention was focused on that skill.