~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

WARNING: Host's stored vital energy at critical levels.

—————————————————————————————————

"Huh? Already." Lin Wu muttered.

He had been swimming non-stop for a long time now and had been using the stored vital energy to replenish his stamina whenever he became tired. Lin Wu then took a look at the map and estimated the distance.

'I'm so close, I should be there soon.' Lin Wu thought.

"Host Data." He ordered.

~Ding~

——————————————————————————————————

HOST NAME: Lin Wu

AGE: 1 month, 18 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: 2 units

SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 0 units

RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:

1. Common Grass Mouse

2. Rock Trampler Boar

3. Human

—————————————————————————————————

"Oh damn! I gotta make sure the last two units count." Lin Wu spoke to himself.

~Pwesh~

He kept on propelling himself and traveled to the bottom. A few more hours passed by and he was tired again.

"Now I'm really at the edge. Just a little more distance." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he looked at the quest objective.

Even now Lin Wu couldn't clearly see the quest objective due to its green glow. When it didn't glow, it was hidden due to the darkness, and when it did glow it was a blinding glow that obscured its form.

'I guess I'll just use them. I'll fail the quest anyway if I don't and die.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

"System, use the remaining amount of vital energy to replenish my stamina." Lin Wu ordered.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

NOTIFICATION: Utilizing 2 units of stored vital energy to restore the host's stamina.

WARNING!: Vital energy storage depleted.

—————————————————————————————————

"Now it's all or nothing." Lin Wu muttered to himself with determination.

~Pwesh~

Lin Wu kept on propelling and was getting closer to the quest objective. Now he was starting to feel a difference as he got closer. The water was getting warmer. If the water was close to ice-cold before, now it was close to room temperature.

The more Lin Wu got closer, the warmer it got. It eventually reached a point where it was as if he was standing under a summer sun.

"Chickie nuggies! How hot is it going to get?" Lin Wu questioned.

Lin Wu rechecked the map and saw that he was only a few meters away from the quest objective. Building up his will and courage, he pushed ahead, but at this time even his stamina was close to depleted. He pushed ahead a few more times and could no longer propel himself.

Nearly all of Lin Wu's stamina was now depleted.

"Dammit! It's only a meter away." Lin Wu cursed.

He wondered if there was any other method he could use, but realized that all he could do was just wiggle.

"I'll reach it even if it's the last thing I do." Lin Wu said in an undying passion.

It was as if there were imaginary flames burning in his eyes. With this passion, he wiggled.

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

Lin Mu's wiggling was not as controlled, so there were times when he would move in the wrong direction. But still, he didn't lose hope and kept on reorienting himself.

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

~Wiggle~

"Just… Just… right… there…" Lin Wu let out between breaths.

His energy was completely depleted and he could no longer move.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

WARNING!: Host vitals critical. Body temperature exceeding normal levels.

—————————————————————————————————

"I… I… can't…" Lin Wu soundlessly muttered as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

ACTIVATING EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS: The host will be put in a hibernation state.

—————————————————————————————————

Silence filled the area as Lin Wu then laid there floating in the water for an unknown amount of time. His life or death unknown.

Suddenly there was a strange tremor that occurred deep beneath the ground. The tremor spread all around and was even spread in the water. These tremors created waves that moved the water around. Due to these waves and a stroke of luck, Lin Wu's still body swayed.

Another wave hit and he was sent shooting towards the source of the eerie green light. If Lin Wu was awake now and was looking, he would see that the quest objective was a large crystal. It was about two meters tall and half a meter wide.

It had an irregular shape and there seemed to be something trapped within it. It was this thing that was glowing with the eerie green light.

Lin Wu's body kept on getting closer to the crystal and eventually touched it. An invisible wave emanated at that moment and spread around in the underground cave.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

NOTIFICATION: Extremely high energy source detected.

QUEST COMPLETED: Obtain the Extremely high energy resource.

NOTIFICATION: Absorbing energy source.

ERROR: Incompatible energy source.

RECALIBRATING PARAMETERS: Analyzing.

—————————————————————————————————

A dead silence was present in the cave as Lin Wu's body was stuck to the crystal. More time passed and then finally another notification sound was heard, but this time it actually sounded in the real world.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

RECALIBRATION COMPLETE: New parameters obtained.

ACTIVATING COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Initiating.

ERROR!: Host permission required.

WARNING: Host vitals unstable.

OVERRIDING HOST PERMISSION: Activating computational A.I.

RECONFIGURING HOST: Modifying host cells.

—————————————————————————————————

If someone was to see the phenomenon that was happening right now, they would be shocked. Lin Wu's body was slowly undergoing a strange change. It seemed to be getting flatter and flatter. Finally, it reached the point where it had turned into a liquid form.

Lin Wu now looked more like a black blob and no longer looked like a worm. This black blob slowly spread over the crystal and formed a thin membrane over it. It was spread so thin that it could no longer be seen and it seemed as if the crystal was transparent.

~Ding~

—————————————————————————————————

NOTIFICATION: Host modification complete.

NOTIFICATION: Energy source now compatible.

INITIATING ABSORPTION: Please wait patiently.

—————————————————————————————————

The eerie green glow that was emanating from the crystal had now stopped.