Chapter 74: Recovery Power

Inside the tranquil sanctuary of the treehouse, Wu Yuan lay motionless in his nest, still as an ancient, unadorned statue.

He tilted his head slightly, gazing upward.

Above him, the gnarled roots of the Spirit Mulberry twisted and interlocked like coiled dragons. From the gaps between these ancient roots, thousands of translucent silk threads descended like a cascading waterfall or a dense spider’s web.

The threads shimmered faintly in the dim light, lowering slowly until they wrapped Wu Yuan in a tight cocoon.

The tips of the silk were as fine as ox hairs, yet sharp as steel needles. Silently, they pierced his skin.

“Let’s start with twenty percent,” Wu Yuan’s voice echoed in the room, calm as an ancient well without ripples. “Extract twenty percent of my flesh and blood. I need to test the recovery rate.”

His expression remained placid. With a thought, the [Blood-Binding Mystic Silkworm Formation] awakened.

It started silently.

In an instant, the transparent silk threads turned crimson. His blood defied gravity, drawn upward through the tubes like a red river flowing in reverse.

As the threads deepened in color, Wu Yuan’s body underwent a terrifying transformation. His plump, healthy skin withered rapidly, losing its luster and elasticity like a fruit drained of all moisture.

Wu Yuan closed his eyes, furrowing his brow as he analyzed the microscopic changes within his physiology.

“Body is slightly weak,” he murmured to himself a moment later. “But combat functionality is largely unaffected.”

His voice was soft, yet brimming with confidence.

He took a deep breath, circulating his Qi and Blood and Demon Power. Spiritual light flickered across his skin as his internal energy surged like a tide, working to repair the damage.

“Relying solely on passive regeneration, this would take one or two days to heal,” Wu Yuan calculated, a trace of dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes.

“Too slow.”

Activate Talent: [Stomach Spirit Storage].

Boom.

A torrent of vigorous Qi and Blood erupted from his stomach like a raging flood. The energy carried an overwhelming vitality.

Wherever the energy flowed, Wu Yuan’s withered flesh inflated and knitted together at a speed visible to the naked eye. His skin regained its healthy sheen, the muscles filling out as if time itself had reversed to restore him to his prime.

Within an hour, he was completely healed.

Wu Yuan stretched his limbs, feeling the explosive power coursing through his veins. A satisfied smile played on his lips.

“With this talent combined with the natural resilience of a Demon Beast, I have nothing to fear from a war of attrition.”

“But this was too easy. Twenty percent is negligible. I need to find the breaking point.”

Wu Yuan gritted his teeth, his eyes hardening with resolve.

“Extract sixty percent!”

The Spirit Mulberry Tree received the command but hesitated, its consciousness recoiling at the order.

“Don’t worry,” Wu Yuan comforted it, patting a nearby root. “You’re watching over me. Now do it.”

Reassured—or perhaps coerced—the Spirit Mulberry engaged the formation at full power.

It fed frantically.

Wu Yuan’s body collapsed in on itself. Within seconds, he was emaciated, resembling a dried-up corpse. His skin clung tight to his bones, with not an ounce of fat or muscle remaining visible.

The world began to spin.

Dizziness washed over him in waves. His vision blurred. His breath came in ragged, shallow gasps.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

His heart hammered against his ribs like a war drum, the sound deafening in the silent treehouse. It beat violently, desperately trying to pump the last dregs of blood to his vital organs.

Wu Yuan gritted his teeth. He planted his skeletal hands on the floor and forced himself to stand.

Creak. Crack.

His joints ground together, the sound of bone-on-bone friction echoing terrifyingly in the room.

“During the battle with the Goat Demon, I lost eighty percent of my flesh and blood,” he analyzed through the haze of pain. “I was knocking on death’s door then. A stiff breeze could have killed me.”

“At sixty percent extraction… I still have the strength to fight.”

“Any more than this, and I lose combat effectiveness.”

Wu Yuan gasped for air, storing this crucial data point.

“Alright. Send it back.”

The silk threads above seemed to hear his call. The flow reversed again, pumping the stored Qi and blood back into his withered frame.

Moments later, Wu Yuan was back to normal.

He rolled his shoulders, savoring the return of his strength.

“Cycling the blood out and back in does cause some minor loss,” he mused. “But it’s much faster than generating new blood from scratch.”

“I can use the Spirit Mulberry as an external battery. I’ll store a reserve of Qi and Blood in the tree for emergencies.”

He scratched his head, suddenly pausing.

“Why do I feel like my cultivation style is getting weirder and weirder?”

Just then, a shrill cry shattered his contemplation.

“Great King! Great King, disaster!”

It was the sound of a Rat Demon wailing like a ghost and howling like a wolf. The voice was thick with terror.

Wu Yuan sighed, shaking his head helplessly. He walked to the door and pushed it open.

A skinny Rat Demon stumbled in.

Its fur and skin were covered in jagged purple fragments that glittered ominously in the dim light. But this was no treasure—it was a plague. The Rat Demon was half-crystallized, its body stiff, its movements jerky and robotic.

“Purple Jade?”

Wu Yuan recognized the symptoms instantly. The rat was turning into stone.

“What happened?”

The Rat Demon collapsed, tears and snot running down its face.

“Great King! We were mining the [Purple Jade Marrow] in the deep cavern… we accidentally breached a hollow pocket!”

“A jet of purple gas sprayed out! Everything it touched turned to Purple Jade instantly! So many brothers… they couldn’t escape!”

“I… I was lucky! I was standing far away!”

The rat shuddered, clearly traumatized by its survival.

Suddenly, a system notification chimed in Wu Yuan’s mind.

[Green Intelligence: A surge of Earth Qi has catalyzed the formation of a Purple Jade Ore Mother, creating a regenerative Purple Jade vein.]

Wu Yuan’s eyebrows shot up. A flash of pure delight replaced his stern expression.

“Ore Mother!”

An Ore Mother was the holy grail of mining. It was the core of a spirit vein, a magical engine that allowed a mine to continuously regenerate its resources.

In Spirit Stone mines, the “Mother” was usually a Top Grade Spirit Stone.

Wu Yuan’s Low Grade Spirit Copper mine had lasted this long only because it possessed a Spirit Copper Ore Mother. But that was a rare anomaly. Usually, only High Grade mines had them.

For a [Purple Jade] vein to birth an Ore Mother? That was winning the lottery.

The corners of Wu Yuan’s mouth curled up. The sound of the Rat Demon’s wailing suddenly sounded like beautiful music.

“A few dead rats in exchange for a perpetual Purple Jade mine? Worth it. So worth it.”

He kicked the weeping rat lightly.

“Alright, stop crying! You brought me good news, so I won’t penalize you for incompetence.”

“Don’t think I don’t know you were slacking off in the back. That’s why you survived, isn’t it?”

Wu Yuan’s eyes turned cold.

“Get lost!”

The Rat Demon, who had started to grin through its tears at the mention of “good news,” instantly turned ashen at the threat.

It curled into a tight ball—a defensive instinct—and rolled out of the room like a terrified bowling ball.

Wu Yuan watched it leave, then turned back to the empty room.