Chapter 43: Corpse Brother

With the issues regarding cultivation resources and techniques resolved, the next priority was to focus on Chen Mo’s personal strengthening.

Excluding the previous expenditures on seeds, secret manuals, and miscellaneous items, he currently retained 2 A-rank, 1 B-rank, 2 C-rank, and 2 D-rank side-story rewards, along with over 57,000 reward points. He still possessed a significant amount of resources to work with.

Mastering cultivation techniques is not an overnight task, even with the accumulation of various resources. To bolster his immediate combat effectiveness and to ensure he could leverage his reinforcements to combine with his existing resources and techniques to reach a higher realm, he needed to select the right enhancement.

Be it bloodline enhancements, physical constitution modifications, or supernatural career paths, Chen Mo already had a clear vision for his own development. Beyond external cultivation resources, the most critical factor was his own talent.

"Take 'Model Worker' Han Li as an example. Because he only possessed a pseudo-spirit root—the four-element spirit root—and struggled with the limitations of his cultivation techniques, he wasted far too many resources and progressed slowly. But if he had been a Heaven-grade spirit root, those same resources would have been more than enough to propel him to the peak of the Golden Core stage, or perhaps even into the Nascent Soul stage."

"My own talent... at best, it is only at the level of an ordinary person. If I want to achieve anything on the path of cultivation, I must first improve my aptitude."

"Fortunately, among the rare treasures I’ve selected, there are those meant for refining talent. If things work out with Han Li, those medicinal herbs for enhancing talent will be more than enough for everyone in our group to possess a constitution equivalent to an B-rank talent or higher."

"If I purchase some high-level seeds here, I could even use sheer volume to stack up an A-rank side-story talent. Something like the 'Innate Dao Body' or 'Mysterious Profound Body,' which provides massive bonuses to talent and allows one's cultivation speed to advance by leaps and bounds, is entirely possible. While the quantity required is large, the one thing we have in abundance is quantity."

"Therefore, I only need to choose one enhancement now—one with a high enough ceiling, rapid power growth, and the ability to extract the greatest benefits within my current environment (the Main God Space and the chat group)..."

"I will... choose an A-rank... or even a Double-A rank enhancement."

This was not a reckless decision made on a whim. While selecting a Double-A rank enhancement would certainly significantly increase the difficulty of his next mission, it wasn't as if the difficulty would be low even if he didn't enhance himself.

The real question was whether he could perfectly develop this enhancement and whether he would have the capability to protect himself after spending such a vast amount of resources. His answer was simple: these were not problems at all.

Chen Mo looked toward the Main God and began to sift through the bloodline modification and enhancement categories.

He spent half an hour browsing. Countless bloodline enhancements and physical modifications flashed before his eyes. He felt as if he had stepped into a story from his childhood—three children enter a persimmon orchard, betting on who can pick the largest fruit, with the rule that they must keep walking forward, never looking back, and only picking one.

He felt like the child picking the persimmon; the fruit was the enhancement, and the orchard was the endless exchange catalog of the Main God. But he had to pick one eventually... and finally, he made his choice.

After weighing the pros and cons once more, Chen Mo hardened his heart and shouted to the Main God:

"Main God, initiate the 'Corpse King Origin Mutation' enhancement!"

[Corpse King Origin Mutation]
[Originating from "I Am a Zombie," this is a special constitution born from the mutation of Long You’s body under the dual influence of the Phoenix’s essence blood and the innate cold poison of the Cold Sea Ice Demon Dragon, granting several unique abilities.]

[Ultimate Evolution: After enhancement, one can ingest gene fragments by consuming living beings to optimize the body and elevate one's life level. Consuming a creature's brain grants their memories and knowledge. The consumption ability also applies to supernatural genes, allowing for evolutionary assimilation. The time required for digestion depends on the strength of the supernatural gene consumed.]

[Undying Skeleton Body: A thumb-sized origin, similar to an alternative brain, is born within the body to control the physical form. As long as the origin is not destroyed, no matter what physical damage the body sustains—even if limbs are severed or the head is destroyed—it can rapidly regenerate by consuming life force. Even if the body is completely annihilated, as long as sufficient flesh and life force are provided, a new body with identical capabilities and strength can be reconstructed based on the origin.]

[Undying Body: Possesses superior regenerative capabilities and powerful life force. Most wounds, including injuries to the brain or heart, can be healed independently. Furthermore, the body’s unique structure prevents the risk of 'Qi Deviation' even when practicing multiple conflicting martial arts simultaneously.]

[This modification contains a portion of the bloodline power of the extraterrestrial creatures—the Phoenix and the Cold Sea Ice Demon Dragon. Once the user possesses corresponding gene modification capabilities, there is an opportunity to unearth the innate abilities of both through continuous bloodline optimization and atavism.]

[Enhancement cost: Two A-rank side-story rewards, 13,000 reward points.]

A dazzling pillar of light descended from the sky, bathing Chen Mo. Countless specks of light swarmed from around the plaza, surging into his body. The brilliance was so intense that it even slightly eclipsed the Main God, the great sphere of light that was perpetually radiating its own glow.

This was Chen Mo’s final decision. He chose to enhance himself with this "Corpse King Origin" from his childhood memories, an A-rank physical modification that nearly emptied his reserves of side-story rewards.

As for why he chose this, there were two reasons.

First, given Chen Mo’s personality and the resources currently at his disposal, he would certainly not limit himself to a single cultivation technique. He would practice the *Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra*, the *White-Headed Great Profound Scripture*, and a host of others—*Reverse Threefold*, *Ultimate Boundless Qigong*, *Heavenly Demon Arts*, *Nine Yang Manual*, *Nine Yin Manual*, *The Great Sorrow of Heaven and Earth*—he would practice them all, all for the sake of moving one step closer to "omnipotence." Practicing so many techniques simultaneously would normally lead to Qi Deviation, but the strange constitution of the Corpse King could resolve this. Coupled with the balanced power of the Tiger Charm, such problems could be perfectly solved.

Second, regarding the mining of resources from the chat group worlds, beyond the rare treasures and divine weapons found in each, there was the incredible diversity of species. The Dragons from Lu Mingfei’s world, the Demon race from Han Li’s world, the demons and magical creatures from Valon’s world, the monsters from Aqua’s world, the Youkai from Kaguya Houraisan’s world...

An ordinary person would have no way to utilize these resources, but by using this Corpse King constitution, he could avoid waste. Moreover, he could rely on the vast magnitude of supernatural genes to boost his combat effectiveness at rocket speed. With the Twelve Talismans that Valon would eventually provide, Chen Mo would no longer need to spend side-story rewards on magical items. Even if he wanted to use the dharma treasures crafted from the Gold Thunder Bamboo from Han Li’s world, the Corpse King constitution would have no trouble wielding them.

"Haaa..."

A long, murky breath escaped Chen Mo’s lips. He took off his glasses, a flash of crimson lingering in his eyes.

"...Hungry."