Lin Wu had never expected that his quest would just get even more difficult. The explosion had apparently wiped out all the beasts in the surroundings. Even if he could go further than that, it would just take him a long time to reach and would just reduce his lifespan.

He now had less than a month left to complete his quest or he would end up dying.

“What do I do now? With my size, I doubt I can travel much farther in a short amount of time.” Lin Wu said with frustration.

But just as he said this, the sound of notification ringed again.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

NOTIFICATION: Extremely high energy resource found, marking on map.

QUEST ISSUED: Obtain the Extremely high energy resource.

WARNING: Area surrounding the resource is volatile, please proceed with caution.

—————————————————————————————————

“Huh? That was… rather, at the opportune moment. Just when I was about to give up too.” Lin Wu spoke to himself.

‘Let’s see its location.’ He thought.

“Open map.” Lin Wu commanded.

~Ding~

The map window appeared in front of Lin Wu and he started observing it. He was locating the position of the extremely high energy resource that was marked by the system. He wanted to see how far it was and if he could reach there in time.

But when he actually saw it, he was stunned.

“Chickie nuggies! It’s right where the explosion happened. Wait, it’s not the reason for the explosion, is it?” Lin Wu exclaimed.

‘If the system tells that it is dangerous and I have to be careful, then I definitely have to be. It’s not like I can ignore the quest either, I have no other choice. All the other beasts will be too far from my location.’ Lin Wu concluded.

“AH! Forget it, I’ll just do it. If I die, I die.” Lin Wu spoke in a helpless tone.

The location of the energy resource was not that far from Lin Wu’s position. While it would still take him a day to reach there, it was still better than having to travel outside the radius of the explosion, which would take him weeks if not more.

This way he could at least get a chance at acquiring the energy resource and not dying. Having made up his mind, Lin Wu started his journey towards the quest location.

Unlike before, instead of crawling on the ground, Lin Wu crawled through the ground. His speed was actually faster while traveling underground than crawling on the ground. He would occasionally pop his head out of the ground to look around on the surface.

Though wherever he looked, all he could see was devastation. The explosion had evidently destroyed a good part of the area and it was only looking worse the more he got close to the location of the energy resource. At first, only the top surface of the ground looked blackened and charred. But as he got further, he found that even the lower levels of the ground were charred.

A few hours later he had reached a point where it was getting harder to dig because of the ground hardening due to the heat of the explosion. He actually had to go deeper so that he could keep on digging. The top six inches of soil had become rather hard. While it was not impossible for him to dig through it, it was still faster if he went just a few more inches deeper than that.

Though the biggest problem occurred when he was only a hundred meters from the location of the resource. He found that the soil above him had become extremely hard and he couldn’t dig upwards. He thus went back a little bit until he could find a place where he could dig up from.

But then, when he actually found a location such as that, another problem appeared. The surrounding temperature was too hot for him to progress.

“What the hell is going on up there? Why is it still so hot?” Lin Wu wondered.

‘Guess I just have to go a little more to the back.’ Lin Wu thought.

Thus he went back a hundred more meters and finally resurfaced. But when he saw the sight in front of him, his jaw was left hanging.

“This… This… Not what the hell, this is literally hell!” Lin Wu cursed upon seeing the environment.

The area in front of him was on fire, with there being some lava pools. Evidently, the ground had been heated to a hot enough temperature that the soil, dirt, and rocks had directly melted to form these lava pools.

‘What kind of explosion can even do something like this? I’ve only heard of nuclear explosions doing something similar before.’ Lin Wu thought.

“I’ll just have to find some other way.” Lin Wu spoke to himself in a helpless tone.

‘Wait, can the system help me with this? I should try it.’ Lin Wu wondered.

“System, can you find me a safe path to the quest target?” Lin Wu questioned.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

ANSWER: Yes, the system can plot a course for the host to reach the quest location. This process will require system energy.

—————————————————————————————————

“That’s fine. System, convert the vital energy into system energy and use it to calculate the route.” Lin Wu ordered.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

CONVERTING: Vital energy converted to system energy

PROCESSING: Analyzing parameters to find a suitable route

ERROR: Energy insufficient

CONVERTING: More vital energy converted to system energy

CALCULATING: Please wait patiently.

—————————————————————————————————

“Huh, I guess I gotta wait a little more while. How much energy did it use though?” Lin Wu thought out loud.

“Host Data.” Lin Wu commanded.

~Ding~

——————————————————————————————————

HOST NAME: Lin Wu

AGE: 1 month, 4 days

LIFESPAN: 2 months

HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]

HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm

-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units

QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]

– Reserved Spirit Qi: 953 units [wisps]

BLOODLINE: None

CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None

QI SKILLS: None

INVENTORY: Empty

BEAST CORE: Not formed

VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 258 units

SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 38 units

RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:

1. Common Grass Mouse

2. Rock Trampler Boar

3. Human

—————————————————————————————————

“Chickie nuggies! How did it use up more than 300 units of energy?” Lin Wu exclaimed.

Just as Lin Wu was shocked by this, another notification appeared.

~Ding~

——————————————————————————————————

NOTIFICATION: Optimum course charted, marking on map.

—–————————————————————————————————