Xue Hui mentioned several times that this treasure was extremely precious and had to be obtained. Even the 'Peeping Rune' said it was a mysterious treasure. Since it could be called a treasure, the thing inside the Corpse Walker's body must be incredibly valuable, far beyond just special abilities like 'Gluttony Fang' or 'Soul Devourer.'"
Su Li gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind. With a sudden push of his feet, he dove at full speed toward the water, steadily approaching the root.
He wanted to dive as deep as possible—the farther from the giant flower above, the safer. As he descended, he kept turning his head to watch the situation above. He saw the giant flower suddenly stop vibrating, and the Nightmare Beast inside had completely ceased struggling.
"Not good." Su Li had no time to think. With his left hand grabbing the root and his right hand gripping the machete, he swung down heavily.
Afraid he might not cut through in one go, he put all his strength into the strike, even letting the Gluttony Fang emerge from his left hand. If this chop failed, he would immediately use the Gluttony Fang.
But he was clearly overthinking it. The machete swung through, and the root was instantly severed.
The moment the root was cut, a torrent of blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the surrounding water red. The semi-transparent giant flower above began to tremble violently, its petals opening wide as it frantically chased downward.
"It really didn't die immediately?" Su Li's soul nearly fled his body as he desperately fled downward.
The Corpse Walker moved incredibly fast. Its petals opened, spitting out the Nightmare Beast inside, but the beast was already motionless, its muscles sunken and withered like a dried corpse.
It had once feasted on human blood, draining people into desiccated husks. But karma had come full circle—now its own essence blood had been completely sucked dry by the Corpse Walker in a short time, turning it into a dried corpse as well.
Though Su Li fled for his life, the Corpse Walker was faster and quickly caught up. As it pursued, it withered continuously, its semi-transparent color shifting, its surface covered in large black spots like patches of decay. The six petals rapidly shriveled and fell off, and the translucent tendrils dissolved like rotting flesh.
When it finally reached Su Li, he looked up and saw that the once terrifying, evil, and mysterious Corpse Walker had lost all six petals. Only the blurry human face remained at its center, covered in decay spots. Its mouth-like organ gaped wide, as if screaming in agony, but no sound came out.
Seeing this, Su Li no longer felt fear. He stopped in the water and watched as the Corpse Walker's face grew more and more decay spots. These spots corroded the face until it withered like it had lost all vitality, turning hard.
Suddenly, cracks appeared on its surface. When it fully split open, a glowing orb emerged at the center, the size of a fist, and it sank into Su Li's forehead.
"Is this a spirit source? I've never seen one so huge or so dazzling."
Su Li marveled inwardly.
At the same moment, a series of messages rang through Su Li's mind.
"Level 3 Spirit Source User: Spirit Source 29/30" "Acquired Talent Spirit." "Fusing Talent Spirit. Talent activation in progress..." "Talent successfully activated." "Acquired Talent: Enhanced Favor."
Su Li processed the information flooding his mind, his face barely hiding his shock.
Killing the Corpse Walker had netted him 16 spirit sources in one go, raising his total from 13 to 29. That alone wasn't too surprising—given how terrifyingly powerful the Corpse Walker was, earning a large number of spirit sources from killing it wasn't entirely unexpected.
But this mysterious treasure left Su Li stunned.
"Talent Spirit—a treasure that can awaken a person's talent. And my talent is... Enhanced Favor." "Enhanced Favor: When performing a basic enhancement, this talent will activate, granting the power of favor and adding one extra enhancement opportunity. Additional enhancement opportunities gained this way will not trigger the favor again."
As he absorbed the information in his mind, Su Li was utterly astounded, followed by a surge of immense joy from deep within.
"There's actually a talent like this? No wonder it's called a treasure. No wonder Xue Hui kept insisting we had to get it. With this talent, doesn't it mean that every time I level up and perform an enhancement, I get an extra enhancement opportunity?"
Su Li immediately understood the staggering implications of this talent. It meant that while others could only perform one enhancement per level-up, he could perform two.
At first, the difference might not seem significant, but as he leveled up more, the change would become increasingly astonishing.
Just thinking about the possibilities for the future, Su Li couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, practically overjoyed.
Having secured the treasure and nearing his breath-holding limit underwater, Su Li quickly surfaced.
The Nightmare Beast was a leader-class monster, and killing it would guarantee either ultrasonic or infrasonic attack abilities. Unfortunately, it had been killed by the Corpse Walker. Su Li felt a pang of regret but wasn't too attached—after all, the talent he'd gained was far too incredible. He was completely satisfied.
This haul was massive. In high spirits, Su Li surfaced and climbed through a window on the thirtieth floor of the building.
He sat on the windowsill, exhaling deeply, steadying his mind. He checked the information again, afraid it had all been an illusion, needing to confirm.
Once he was certain he had indeed gained 16 spirit sources and truly possessed the talent, Su Li exhaled again and softly hummed a tune.
The sky was pitch black, and the mist over the water had vanished without him noticing. Slowly, Su Li came down from the initial euphoria, cooling his head. He thought of Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui, and spotted the corpse boat floating nearby.
That corpse boat was actually the Nightmare Beast's lair, built from countless human corpses, and also where it kept newly captured humans to raise.
Though the Nightmare Beast was dead, the corpse boat still floated nearby, neither sinking nor disappearing.
"Right, where did those three escape to?" Su Li thought of Ding Longyun and the others. He quickly jumped down from the windowsill and dashed toward the rooftop.
"Brother Ding! Xue Hui! Gong Xiao—"
Su Li shouted loudly as he ran.
If they were hiding somewhere in the building, they would surely hear his calls and respond.
If they had taken a boat and left, they couldn't have gotten far in such a short time. Climbing to the rooftop might still let him spot them.