However, Zhang Yanhang had just managed with great difficulty to absorb the outer layer of the small mountain. Just as he began to absorb the Earth Vein Essence Crystal, he realized that something seemed off.

Specifically, right after he absorbed part of the impurities on the outer side of the Earth Vein Essence Crystal, or rather some accompanying crystals, a warm current surged within his body. Zhang Yanhang's intuition told him that, barring any surprises, this should be the lifespan enhancement mentioned in the options.

But when he continued to absorb the main body of the Earth Vein Essence Crystal, there was not a damn reaction at all.

Of course, he could feel the energy being continuously absorbed and poured into his body, but there was no beneficial effect. It was merely transforming Earth Vein Energy into ordinary energy and beginning to enlarge his physique, no different from ordinary stone absorption or corpse absorption.

In fact, in terms of absorption efficiency, Zhang Yanhang felt that absorbing this thing might even be slower than absorbing corpses.

"I said, how could such a large piece of Earth Vein Essence have such weak effects, only increasing my lifespan by less than ten years? It turns out the option only wanted me to absorb the outermost accompanying crystals..."

As for the main body of the Earth Vein Essence, Zhang Yanhang estimated it was probably because the attributes didn't quite match, so he could only forcibly absorb it into ordinary energy to enhance himself.

In other words, if Zhang Yanhang possessed abilities related to the earth or Earth Vein, completing this absorption of Earth Vein Essence would definitely result in substantial enhancement.

But unfortunately, he didn't have any such abilities, not even an Earth attribute spell, so this Earth Vein Essence, while indeed a treasure in some sense and a top-notch Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure from its size, was admittedly almost useless to him.

"Moreover, even the energy absorption isn't as cost-effective as corpse absorption, I just won't absorb it, just let it be."

Zhang Yanhang remembered that after Zhou Muxi was promoted to the fourth tier, she seemed to need such an item to replenish Earth energy. Perhaps he could trade it for something useful, regardless of what he could exchange for, it would definitely be more valuable than just absorbing energy.

After all, theoretically, due to the current abundance of monster corpses, which at least would be sufficient for several days of absorption, absorbing this Earth Vein Essence during such a time, with its lower energy absorption efficiency compared to corpses, would mean pure loss.

Therefore, from this perspective, as long as he could slightly turn losses into gains, it would all have exchange value.

Having given up on absorbing that piece of Earth Vein Essence, Zhang Yanhang gradually found himself with nothing much to do again.

"Speaking of which, since the options mentioned I came to find black garlic, should I really try black garlic, since I'm already here? Adhering to the idea of not returning empty-handed, well, shouldn't I at least sample the black garlic?"

However, Zhang Yanhang then remembered the options seemed to mention this shop pre-selling because of a genuine shortage.

"But no matter how short the supply is, it is still the main place of origin. Surely it can't be so scarce that not even a couple of black garlics can be found?"

With this thought, Zhang Yanhang quickly started using Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil to scan for the trace of black garlic. Sure enough, after a careful search, Zhang Yanhang did find some scattered black garlic, and even a barbecue shop that was still open at this hour was selling black garlic.

Of course, this barbecue shop selling black garlic was mainly using it in roasted black garlic, or placing black garlic like ordinary garlic in grilled meat, rather than offering standalone roasted black garlic, which sounded like a culinary horror.

So when Zhang Yanhang expressed his desire to buy a few black garlics to eat raw, they didn't refuse and instead readily gave Zhang Yanhang several heads of garlic, mmh, single-bulb garlic.

Successfully buying black garlic, Zhang Yanhang immediately began to taste this legendary black garlic to see what it really tasted like.

The result was indeed as the options described, though stinky, it didn't reach the level of poop stink. It only reached the level of smelly socks, but overall still quite flavorful, easily overpowering a person.

Incidentally, although it indeed stank, it was a pure stink, incomparable to the sour smell on Zhao Yalan's foot the first time Zhang Yanhang met her. That smell overpowered quickly, akin to the tangy sourness when aged sauerkraut hits its peak fermentation.

Zhao Yalan: Be a better person!

As for the texture, Zhang Yanhang could only describe it as soft and dense, resembling a mix of eating jujubes and persimmon cakes, slightly sweet, but with a more prominent spiciness. But once you start chewing, the already distinct stink becomes even more pronounced, continuously invading the airways and nasal cavity.

At this point, Zhang Yanhang could somewhat understand why some people found this thing tasty at first but soon felt disgusted after not eating much.

Besides the stink, black garlic retained a certain pungency originally belonging to garlic, which might be why it isn't widely accepted.

Since black garlic's flavor and texture didn't match his usual dietary habits, Zhang Yanhang merely sampled one and then put the rest back in his waist bag; he couldn't help it—it wasn't tasty at all.

Perhaps some people who originally liked eating raw garlic might enjoy black garlic, but given that Zhang Yanhang already disliked garlic and onions, it was indeed hard for him to accept such an unusual flavor and texture.

"Better head home, there's not much to stroll around outside this late."

Mainly, Zhang Yanhang felt he could trigger chance encounters even at home, and the scope of such encounters was quite broad, even involving Japan.

It had to be said that after advancing to the fourth tier, Zhang Yanhang indeed sensed his range for acquiring Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures broadened significantly, previously limited to the Qin Island City vicinity but now expanded to neighboring provinces and even nearby countries.

Even just from this perspective, it was evident that advancing to the fourth tier indeed caused a qualitative change, entirely different from the previous rank.

...

October 31st, Saturday, the sixth day after the Double Ninth Festival and also the second day since Zhang Yanhang left the Ashen World, at 10:32 PM, Main World, Qin Island City, Xingfuli District, Unit 505, Bedroom.

After successfully teleporting back to the bedroom, Zhang Yanhang continued to play with his phone, wanting to see if he could trigger a new mystical encounter through it, as today he had only triggered one mystical encounter. Normally, triggering two or even three mystical encounters in one day would be more typical.

It wasn't until around eleven o'clock that Zhang Yanhang finally had another mystical encounter, but upon reviewing the options for this mystical encounter, he found that there didn't seem to be any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that he particularly liked.

This time, only two options in the selection were Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, while the other option was a long-missed Spiritual Artifact. Of course, given his current realm, it could actually be called an Immortal Artifact, but since this item didn't seem very powerful, it was still called a Spiritual Artifact.

This Spiritual Artifact was named "Funeral Door Nails," a type of attack-oriented Spiritual Artifact or Curse Artifact. Once nailed into position, it could bring continuous bad luck to a person until their family was destroyed.

To be honest, this type of Spiritual Artifact didn't really suit Zhang Yanhang, as he could easily use Multiple Choice to manipulate others' destinies, ensuring that by the next choice, the person would choke on their own saliva.

So, to Zhang Yanhang, this kind of Spiritual Artifact could at best be considered an inferior version of Multiple Choice, possessing no real value.

Aside from this, Zhang Yanhang didn't really like the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the other two options either. One had the effect of bloodline purification, which might be useful to Awakeners or Monsters with atavistic abilities, but for him, it was pure waste.

The Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure in the other option was no better, similar to the Thousand-year-old stalactite solution he had previously given up on, both enhancing Life Value Recovery Speed.

Although Life Value Recovery Speed was of no real use to Zhang Yanhang, it was perhaps slightly more useful than the two other options, so he immediately chose the only option with any value.

Incidentally, although Zhang Yanhang carried the SS-level Scroll Dragon Bloodline, the growth of the Scroll Dragon wasn't related to bloodline purity. He had already been equivalent to a pureblood Scroll Dragon from the very start, with all subsequent efforts aimed only at increasing the age of the Scroll Dragon Bloodline.

Therefore, unless there was a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that could let one age a thousand years without depleting lifespan, it would be impossible for the Scroll Dragon Bloodline to grow from such things as bloodline purification.

...

November 1st, Sunday, Halloween, and the third day since Zhang Yanhang left the Ashen World, at 10:25 AM, Main World, Qin Island City, Xingfuli District, Unit 505, Bedroom.

Last night, Zhang Yanhang had waited until the early hours without encountering a third mystical event, and this morning, he hadn't seen any mystical encounters either. Therefore, the only useful Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure in his possession now was the 'Golden Heart Strengthening Grass' he obtained in the second mystical encounter last night, which suspiciously enhanced Life Value Recovery Speed.

But before consuming this item, Zhang Yanhang first checked his Energy Value limit. As it was a new day, theoretically, his Energy Value limit should increase again.

[Energy Value: 14290/14290 (Intelligence×58, current body has been officially digitized, Energy Value Recovery Speed, 222 points per hour.)]

"Previously, my Energy Value limit had dropped by one point to 14194 due to choices made earlier, but this time, it had increased again by 96 points due to the automatic growth of the nuclear fusion state.

My Energy Value limit rose from the original 14194 to 14290."

Of the 96-point Energy Value limit increase, 60 points came from the nuclear fusion state, while the additional 36 points were, as usual, thanks to the SS-level Scroll Dragon Bloodline bonus.

"The Energy Value limit consumed to acquire the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures isn't much for me at present. After all, without doing anything, my Energy Value limit autonomously increases by 96 points daily."

This nuclear fusion state provided by the microscopic star lasted for six days, and Zhang Yanhang had only been through three days so far, with three more days left for automatic growth.

After checking the Energy Value limit, Zhang Yanhang quickly consumed the Golden Heart Strengthening Grass and began to check his Life Value Recovery Speed.

[Life Value: 16790/16790 (Constitution×58, current body has been officially digitized, Life Value Recovery Speed, 71 (+16) points per hour.)]

"After consuming the Golden Heart Strengthening Grass, my Life Value Recovery Speed increased from 55 points per hour to 71 points per hour, a gain of 16 points.

To be honest, this level of increase was quite good, considering the total increase in Life Value Recovery Speed from both rank promotion and Constitution Attribute growth had only been 25 points. Thus, this Golden Heart Strengthening Grass was roughly equivalent to two-thirds of a rank promotion."

However, unfortunately, Life Value Recovery Speed wasn't of much use to Zhang Yanhang, who could easily use potions and rarely got injured.

"Thanks to the 60% effect bonus provided by the Swallowing Heaven and Earth Skill, which successfully took effect this time, the Golden Heart Strengthening Grass originally only increased Life Value Recovery Speed by 10 points, with the other 6 points coming entirely from the Swallowing Heaven and Earth Skill bonus."

Zhang Yanhang sometimes wondered if this Life Value Recovery Speed could also provide a bonus to his Energy Shield's Shield Value Recovery Speed, he would readily max out the Life Value Recovery Speed.

However, such wishful thinking was destined not to happen.

"No, perhaps it's not entirely impossible. After all, who knows, maybe sometime when upgrading, the Technique Immunity Skill might unexpectedly gain a related Additional Attribute. That's all possible.

Moreover, if he advances to Fifth Tier and gains new skills, perhaps that might also address this issue."

Although the probability was low, Zhang Yanhang still felt there was some hope, as most of the time, the Heavenly Destiny Master or Multi-choice generally provided Professional skills related to his current situation.

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