Shadow Hack
chapter-352

There were actually many types of power grain in the Origin World, but basically all of them were naturally formed. They more some vegetation or fruit which had accumulated enormous vitality.

Another example would be some vicious beast or sea beast's flesh which had attained enormous vitality. These two were seen as power grains by the people of the Origin World.

Therefore, the term power grain was a general term which included all edible life-forms that contained enormous vitality.

All of the above mentioned were naturally formed power grains. In comparison, there were only a scant few types of power grains which could be mass produced.

Croton just happened to be one of the postnatal power grains which had been refined by the natives of the Origin World after countless years of research. It was considered the most popular power grain among the natives as well as having the best quality-price ratio.

According to Li Yunmu's increased understanding gained in the last few days in Blue Moon Island, croton was used by more than 90% of the flux experts.

The minimum amount required by a flux expert possessing the strength of fifty oxen was around five to ten tons of croton just to keep their body functioning and not develop weakness.

If one wanted to increase their strength to the next step, then every day they had to eat even more croton.

If a flux expert wanted to strengthen their body to the limit, they would have to eat from thirty to a hundred tons. Only then could they reach the maximum limit.

In other words, if one wanted to cultivate quicker and increase the strength of their corporeal body, the amount of croton required far surpasses the measly five to ten tons.

Instead, the least amount required would be thirty tons or more, depending on the flux expert's ability to absorb the power grain.

If the absorption potential was large, then thirty tons would be sufficient, but if it was small, then a hundred tons would be required.

If someone cultivated an extremely high level body refining method, then even a hundred tons would be far from sufficient. Therefore, it wouldn't be the slightest exaggeration to say that croton power grain was actually a necessary resource for cultivating the body.

Among the natives of the Origin World, there was a popular saying that one grain of croton was equivalent to a ton of rice. The idea behind it was that the price of one grain of croton was could purchase a ton of rice.

The Origin World was extremely vast, close to the extent of being endless. Almost no one had been able to survey its end points, so obviously the large population of life-forms was also unable to fill it to the extremity.

It was said that the human population of the Origin World had already crossed three trillion.

However, this was only after surveying the known cities and towns. As for those people living in the wilderness, heavens only knew how many of them there were. It simply couldn't be investigated.

But even then, three trillion was the known population.

It was extremely shocking for Li Yunmu. However, this allowed him to understand the reason behind why even though the natives of this world had innately formidable bodies as well as a large population, the numbers of flux experts were small.

It wasn't that the natives of the Origin World didn't have sufficient aptitude for flux cultivation, but that they were too poor and most of them weren't able to keep up with their need of power grains.

Li Yunmu also gained a better understanding of why he was only able to attain the power of a dozen oxen even though he cultivated his physical body both from the outside, using the supreme body refining technique Great Sun Thunder Tyrant Body Muscle Marrow Secrets, and inside, using the Devil Dragon Bone Refining Secrets.

The regulations of the world seemed to have silently shackled the natives of the Origin World. When a person broke through the power of fifteen oxen, they would most often not be able to find a sufficient supply of corresponding food that could provide them with enough nutrients.

This was the main reason why Li Yunmu only had the strength of eighteen oxen.

His strength had increased by three oxen because after descending to the Origin World, he had been eating only the flesh of the vicious beasts which had incidentally helped his strength to increase.

Thus, refining croton became his main priority for the near future. It was said that the method was mainly in the hands of an ancient influential clan which had been increasing gradually over generations.

Li Yunmu naturally wasn't foolish enough to pit himself against an ancient influential clan. This was because he had the assistance of the system's great calculating ability as well as the Refining Pagoda which he had swindled from Chaotian Sect.

There was a chance that he would be able to produce a power grain similar to croton, but he didn't want to spread this sort of power grain everywhere to make a killing.

He wanted to control a territory the size of Blue Moon Island, including all its subsidiary islands. The profit gained from this should make him sufficiently wealthy.

This kind of wealth should be enough for him to purchase all sorts of secret methods as well as open the lacking flux points.

That's right, this was the path that Li Yunmu had decided to walk. As for the ten contribution points the masters of front ten rooms were earning? That was just nonsense.

If he chose that path, only god knew how long he would have to wait to accumulate the required amount of contribution points to purchase the things he wanted

He continued to study the research information pertaining to the ingredients of croton, which the system had offered, while sometimes knitting his brows and sometimes relaxing them.

The blood essense of a vicious beast which possessed a certain amount of vitality was the main ingredient which he already possessed.

The ten shadows killed a large amount of sea beasts every day, which could easily be used by the Refining Pagoda to refine a large amount of blood essence. This was the basis behind Li Yunmu's confidence to imitate croton.

After all, he had this transcending sage treasure which could be used for refining.

The Refining Pagoda which he had swindled from Chaotian Sect had nine levels in total.

The first level was for refining essence, the second level for energy, while the third level for soul. As for the remaining six levels, his strength was insufficient to open them.

However, even so the third level of Refining Pagoda was enough to prove its reputation as a transcending sage tool and that it was on a higher level than the Void Disk.

Flux Ancestor had placed a total of three transcending sage tools in Tower of Glory, including the Void Disk at the twenty-fifth level, the Hidden Moon's Constellation at the fiftieth level, and the Refining Pagoda at the seventieth level, making sure that it was considered supreme even among the transcending sage tools. And now, this transcending sage tool was finally reflecting its value.

The requirement of a large amount of blood of vicious beasts was settled, so Li Yunmu's next priority was to find a harmonious liquid with a moderate nature.

He was almost certain that the method to refine croton was largely related to the harmonious liquid with a moderate nature.

"System, can you identify this liquid? Or perhaps suggest something which could replace it?"　

·······

On Blue Moon Island's west coast, several miles away from the coastline where the seabed was three thousand six hundred meters deep, Li Yunmu was attentively watching his ten shadows kill giant fish in one another's vicinity. Occasionally, when they would encounter a formidable vicious beast, a fierce battle would erupt at the bottom of the ocean.

Li Yunm had found that this ocean bed was the most suitable mid sea region to establish the Refining Pagoda after the system had done a repeated scanning of the surrounding three hundred kilometers.

Once the data was gathered, the final conclusion of the analysis was that few people entered this ocean bed in the mid sea region.

Given the physical strength of ordinary fishermen, they would be unable to endure the pressure at the depth of three thousand six hundred meters.

As for the disciples of Blue Moon sect, they also wouldn't take the risk to reach this mid sea region's ocean bed. The reason for that was very simple, because this mid sea zone's ocean bed was the nest of tiger fish.

These creatures were barely considered to have entered the category of vicious beasts. Each of them was the size of five meters, and their individual strength couldn't be considered formidable.

Perhaps even a physical flux expert who had the strength of fifteen oxen would be able to easily kill this kind of fish if they had a suitable weapon. However, tiger fish swam in large

But the tiger fish formed large schools, thus turning themselves into one of the demons which flux experts hoped to never encounter in the depths of the ocean. This was because regardless of the individual strength, these fish possessed two extremely sharp teeth which could easily rip apart the bodies of flux experts.

After repeated scanning, the system proved this fact, and chose this position as the place to conceal the installed Refining Pagoda.

At this instant, Li Yunmu personally dived into the ocean. Originally, with his strength of eighteen oxen, he should be unable to endure the pressure at the depth of three thousand six hundred meters. It was enough to crush any flux expert whose strength hadn't attained at least thirty oxen of physical power.

However, when all is said and done, Li Yunmu was different from ordinary flux experts. After all, he cultivated many peak level defensive cultivation methods. The terrifying defense of his body, regardless if it was inside or outside, could easily sustain the pressure which far exceeded his physical strength.

The pressure of three thousand six hundred meters wasn't his limit.

In fact, by activating the five times strengthened great heart, he could easily remain underwater for three hours without breathing.

These two points alone could provide him with enough time to attain his goal in the ocean.

Li Yunmu first placed the Refining Pagoda in the position picked by the system.

Then, he used a large amount of his flux energy to hold onto the treasure and thrust it under the ground in the specified position in the ocean floor. Instantly, the forty-five meter long red-coloured ancient pagoda was stably established in the ocean bed.

"Success."

After the Refining Pagoda was installed, Li Yunmu handed over the remaining matters toLi Yun's team, after which there was no longer any need for him to stay within the ocean.

Availing himself with the opportunity that the sky hadn't turned milky yet, he quickly returned to the fifteenth residential area at the foot of Blue Moon Mountain.

After returning to his room, Li Yunmu closed his eyes and calmed down. Soon, the first person view of the ten shadows appeared in his consciousness sea.

He randomly chose Li Lan's field of view and discovered that the shadows had already started working under his command.

The first eight shadows who were named had already divided themselves into two squads with four people per squad and began to kill any monster in their vicinity that belonged to vicious beast category.

So far, the monster they hunted the most was still the overlord of this region - tiger fish.

As their name suggested, they had patterns that resembled that of a tiger on their body and possessed four tiger claws. They also had sharp teeth and an extremely savage nature.

They often appeared in schools of ten or even a hundred.

If the defense of shadows wasn't sufficiently good, then they would have been unable to resist these savage fish monsters of mid sea region. But as it was, these cruel fish could only attack jointly in vain until they were beheaded one after another.

The ninth and tenth shadows didn't participate in the battle of Li Yun's group. Instead, they dragged the corpses away and put them within the Refining Pagoda installed under the ocean floor to refine the blood essence of the fish that belonged to the category of vicious beasts.

Every grain of croton cost one life point in the fifteenth residential region. According to the system's calculation, five grams of blood essence refined from the flesh of vicious beasts was required to refine a single grain of croton.

The ninth and tenth shadows were successively placing one fish monster after another into the first level of the Refining Pagoda where blood essence was refined.

In less than several hours, more than seven hundred grams blood essence was refined. When Li Yunmu saw this harvest, his heart began to pound wildly. This was a truly great development.

Using five grams of vicious beast blood essence with an ordinary beans would create one marble-sized grain of croton. Yet in less than three hours, he had collected seven hundred and seventy grams of blood essence.

In other words, every hour he was collecting two hundred and fifty grams of blood essence, or fifty grains of croton.

If he kept doing this every day for twenty-four hours, he could refine a thousand and two hundred grains of croton.

Given that the price of one grain of croton was one life point, it would be equal to twelve hundred life points. Since the exchange rate of life points to contribution points was a hundred to one, this would result in twelve contribution points.

Compared to the masters of the front ten rooms who received only ten contribution points every day while receiving multiple challenges, Li Yunmu's harvest was better.

This rate of collecting contribution points shook Li Yunmu's spirit. Sure enough, his thoughts had been correct.

But this refining speed was still insufficient. It was far from his plan to collect a large amount of contribution points in a short time.

It was only that with just ten shadows killing the monsters, the efficiency was low. If he wanted to get more work done, he needed to add more manpower so that the Refining Pagoda could be supplied with an even larger number of vicious beast corpses. Only then would the rate at which he was collecting the ingredients would increase.

At that moment, Li Yunmu made the decision to use the three hundred six-limbed ape gods. It was time to display their proper usage, as how an army is trained for a thousand days only for an hour's use.

Even the quasi deities wouldn't have thought that the three hundred something Ape Gods which Li Yunmu had collected after braving countless trials and smuggled to the Origin World after great difficulty wouldn't be nurtured into his guardian beasts, but get used as physical labor to increase the output of production.