"Ta Sui?"

Upon hearing this term, Yun You was momentarily stunned and instinctively replied, "Never heard of it."

[Of course you haven't heard of it!]

Master Zero sighed and began explaining reluctantly.

[The so-called Ta Sui is a demon from ancient monster legends, reportedly having five types, distinguished by the colors "Red," "White," "Black," "Green," and "Yellow."]

[The Red Ta Sui is shaped like coral, the White Ta Sui resembles fat, the Black Ta Sui looks like ink, the Green Ta Sui is akin to bird feathers, and the Yellow Ta Sui is like genuine gold.]

[But regardless of the type, Ta Sui is extremely rare and always believed to have medicinal properties, hence also called "Flesh Ganoderma."]

[Some ancient texts document Ta Sui as having extremely miraculous medicinal properties, capable of curing diseases, enhancing physical condition, calming nerves, nurturing a fetus, detoxifying and dispelling plague, so much that calling it an ancient "panacea" is not an exaggeration.]

[However, these powerful medicinal properties are just the inconspicuous effects of Ta Sui opening its mouth.]

[Its truly coveted ability is immortality...]

[It's said that by harvesting Ta Sui appropriately and consuming it, one can attain the ability of eternal life and deathlessness.]

[That is immortality!]

[Most people in the world cannot resist the temptation of not aging and not dying. So from ancient times to the present, countless emperors and generals, innumerable heroes and leaders, have wanted to find Ta Sui.]

[Unfortunately, they all ended in failure. They exhausted their lives without ever finding a trace of Ta Sui.]

[Later, with modern science's development, some scientists found the so-called Ta Sui in mountains and forests...through technical detection, they discovered that those so-called Flesh Ganoderma Ta Sui were merely fungal conglomerates, somewhat nutritious but definitely lacking the supposed properties of immortality.]

[That is the modern understanding of Ta Sui...or rather, the general public's understanding.]

[But you know, Yun, if it were just this popularized information, I certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of explaining it.]

[In fact...my understanding of Ta Sui, and the overt "fungal aggregates," does indeed have a vast difference.]

At this point, Master Zero paused slightly, and his tone became more solemn.

[In an unnamed, incomplete ancient text, I once saw such a record...]

[It says, in an era when history was not yet complete, a bizarre creation descended from the sky, falling at the world's edge.]

[It was entirely pink, the size of a human head, shaped like a chunk of meat.]

[Though the chunk would slowly squirm, making worm-like contraction movements, it did not possess the ability to move by itself...at least not in this stage.]

[However, this object would emit a strange scent, luring creatures to swallow a part of it.]

[Once it successfully entered the creature's body, it would take root in the creature's stomach, sprout tiny meat buds, and gradually spread through the creature's blood vessels and nerves, covering the entire body.]

[During this process, the individual parasitized by the meat chunk would undergo comprehensive enhancement. Physical qualities would improve significantly, and they would gain immortality; even severe wounds sufficient to be fatal could be quickly healed, preserving life.]

[Do you remember the mural story we saw on the Bronze Gate?]

"..."

Yun You was slightly taken aback but quickly recalled the story of the "Boy King."

The owner of the undying internal organs, the Boy King, in his youth, was a frail child bullied by his kin.

He was inherently shorter than others and physically weak, unable to even hunt the weakest rabbits or birds, relying on scavenging leftovers to survive.

Such a person would not have survived long in that ancient wild era.

However...after mistakenly consuming a piece of "pink meat chunk," he became incredibly robust, not only surviving the plague that swept through the tribe but also becoming a powerful figure.

"Could it be that the meat chunk eaten by the Boy King is this 'Parasite' that you mentioned, Master Zero?"

Yun You frowned tightly.

[Exactly]

Master Zero heavily exhaled.

[When I saw those murals earlier, they felt somewhat familiar...and now, after seeing these shadows, I can also confirm this.]

[The meat chunk that the Boy King consumed was indeed this parasitic entity called "Ta Sui"!]

[Its parasitism has three stages, and becoming stronger with a physically undying status is the first stage.]

[You might think this kind of parasitism sounds pretty good, right? After all, it truly can grant eternal life...the mural proves this.]

[But in reality, this is merely Ta Sui giving a little sweetness to the host, an action to numb the host's consciousness.]

[As a parasitic mutant creature, Ta Sui's ultimate goal is singular: to replace the host, complete replacement from body to spirit.]

[Replacing the body is often very simple. Ta Sui can accomplish this in the first stage of parasitism...it will control the host's nerves and muscles through meaty root tendrils in the body, achieving the effect of replacing flesh and blood.]

[Yet spirit, especially the spirit of a highly intelligent creature like a human, is very difficult for a mutant creature to transform.]

[So, Ta Sui thought of a means.]

[Daily, it stimulates the host's nerves, making the host more easily attain huge pleasure in recreational activities, thereby raising the host's pleasure threshold...achieving an addiction-like state akin to illicit drugs.]

[The Boy King was like this. Originally a hard-working and diligent ruler, later, he under its influence slowly sank into indulgence, leading to downfall.]

[Simultaneously, it blocks most of the host's "pain perception," significantly lowering the host's tolerance.]

[Then, when a suitable moment arises, it will reveal its fangs.]

[For instance, the Boy King's dream shattered due to an "enemy poisoning" incident.]

[Rebels found an Apprentice Death God of the Doctoral Sequence, who poisoned the king by drugging him.]

[Normally, with the Boy King's physical strength and pain shielding capability, he should not fear poison...]

[But the cunning part about Ta Sui is this, taking advantage when the king was poisoned, it suddenly withdrew the meat buds rooted in his nerves, causing pain to erupt overwhelmingly, and pleasure could no longer be produced.]

[The continuous intense pain probably immediately drowned the Boy King's consciousness, and the absence of pleasure swiftly stripped away his will to live.]

[I believe he might have thought of ending it at some point, but the undying power granted by Ta Sui always kept him alive, enduring all this pain with a body that wouldn't faint.]

[Very soon, the host's consciousness collapsed.]

[Then, Ta Sui could easily usurp and take over the Boy King's mind.]

[Thus, Ta Sui's parasitism reached the second stage.]

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