Chapter 69: Section 70: I Have Not Degenerated

“So, how should this demon energy be replenished?”

Almost instantly, the scene in which Lord Zhenjin had dealt with the Silver Spear Scorpions jumped into his mind.

It was a matter of life and death, the brink of existence, leaving too deep an impression on the young knight, almost as if it was etched into his heart.

Lord Zhenjin immediately stood up and walked over to the corpse of a gun scorpion.

The Silver Spear Scorpions had already turned to carbon ash, and the other surviving gun scorpions had fled, but there was still one ordinary gun scorpion that had fallen in battle.

Lord Zhenjin activated the Demon Core within his heart, and his palm emitted a red light.

However, the red light could not be directly fired.

“Do I need contact for it to be effective?” Lord Zhenjin frowned slightly.

He didn’t rush to place his palm upon the scorpion shell but first halted.

Lord Zhenjin carefully sensed the Demon Core within him, muttering softly, “It can be activated at any time, and stopped immediately without recoil from the Demon Core. Furthermore, this activation and cessation seem to consume very little because it doesn’t cause bodily mutations, so the consumption is negligible.”

“Then, let’s first test it with blood.”

This gun scorpion had been pierced to death by Lord Zhenjin’s scorpion tail, and from the puncture wound, scorpion blood continuously flowed out.

Much of this blood had spilled onto the ground, where the hot volcanic molten lava caused steam to rise, and the intense scent of blood rapidly spread around.

The red light enveloped Lord Zhenjin’s palm.

Lord Zhenjin dipped his hand into a small pool of blood on the ground.

The red light expanded instantly, vanishing in a flash.

The original small pool of blood directly turned into a pile of carbon dust. As more scorpion blood continued to trickle down, the carbon dust immediately mixed with the fresh blood.

“Any part of a living being can be converted through the Demon Core.”

Lord Zhenjin waited patiently for a moment.

Once the small pool of blood on the ground had accumulated to about the same amount as before, he activated the Demon Core again to absorb it.

“This time, the converted and stored demon energy is a bit more than before.”

“Is it because the scorpion blood has just accumulated, and the dispersion of Magic Power is better than before?” Lord Zhenjin speculated.

“Demon energy, although it cannot directly convert Magic Power, as long as it targets a living being, the more Magic Power contained within the life form, the more special demon energy will be converted.”

“So, under normal circumstances, the stronger the life form, the higher the quality of Magic Power it possesses. After absorption and transformation, the more demon energy there will be in the Demon Core.”

“Then, what is this limit?”

“At least, life forms at the Silver Level, the Demon Core is able to absorb.”

In the end, Lord Zhenjin covered the gun scorpion’s corpse with his palm, which glowed red.

A similar scene to before occurred again.

The red light spread from Lord Zhenjin’s palm, forming four bloodlines.

The bloodlines, like snakes, wound around the entire gun scorpion corpse, then quickly dimmed as if infiltrating into the insides of the corpse.

Two breaths later, the four bloodlines became distinct again, the blood-red color more vivid and rich than before.

The bloodlines retracted swiftly, adding a lot of demon energy to the Demon Core.

Meanwhile, the gun scorpion’s corpse also turned into a small pile of carbon ash.

“The gain from absorbing the Silver Spear Scorpion cannot be compared to this one.”

Practice confirmed Lord Zhenjin’s previous guess.

“Wait, I can now produce the Claw of a gun scorpion!”

Originally, Lord Zhenjin could only mutate the tail and shell of the gun scorpion. After absorbing the body of the second Bronze Level gun scorpion, he acquired new gun scorpion transformations.

The young knight’s eyes twinkled with thoughtful luster.

“So it seems, the more of the same type of life forms I absorb, the more mutation options become available.”

“And all these mutation options are related to that type of life form.”

“If I absorb and convert enough gun scorpions, theoretically, could I completely transform into a gun scorpion?”

Lord Zhenjin went on to clean up the battlefield.

In this battle, his Spider Blades had been damaged and shattered into many pieces.

He carefully collected these fragments from the battlefield.

Then, he once again mobilized the Demon Core within him.

The red light rose, and the Spider Blade fragments quickly turned into carbon ash. Lord Zhenjin scattered them lightly, and they drifted away as dust.

Lord Zhenjin refocused his attention on the Demon Core.

Soon, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

He tried to activate the Demon Core again, and his left hand underwent mutation, transforming into five slender Spider Blades within a few breaths!

The five Spider Blade fingers were very small, less significant than the ones he had swung before, only slightly longer than an adult’s fingers.

But the blades shone brightly, radiating a cold light. Lord Zhenjin moved his fingers, clashing them against each other. The blades emitted a clear metallic sound upon colliding.

“Clearly, these blades are just as sharp as when I first acquired Spider Blades.”

Lord Zhenjin then tried to invoke even more Heart Core Magic Power.

The Spider Blades formed by his fingers became even longer, trending towards matching the size of the Spider Blade that had previously shattered.

But with that came an ever-increasing consumption of demon energy.

Lord Zhenjin quickly stopped this attempt.

“I must conserve the demon energy within the Heart Core. I’ve already used enough for today.”

“But wow, this is amazing!”

The young man exclaimed with genuine admiration.

Armed with such a powerful trump card, he could confidently face many dangers. The beings that had once posed a threat to him were now under the threat of the young knight.

“With this mysterious and wonderful Demon Core, I will definitely be able to get off this island and leave this place alive!”

Not once since waking up did the young knight feel such confidence in his chances for survival and escape.

Lord Zhenjin took one last look around the place.

It was here that he first gained control of the Demon Core within him.

“Perhaps, this is where my fate takes a turn,” Lord Zhenjin smiled.

Without hesitation, the young knight turned and strode away from the battlefield.

He made his way back to the original cave successfully.

Cang Xu and Zi Di were nowhere to be seen.

“If Zi Di and Cang Xu encounter gun scorpions fleeing in defeat, their situation would be very grim.”

“I’d better find them quickly.”

“But before that…”

Lord Zhenjin focused his attention on the gun scorpion bodies inside the cave.

Red light flickered continuously within the cave.

The exploration team had fought a backwater battle here and killed many gun scorpions.

These gun scorpions, under the red light, all turned into piles of carbon ash.

Although the Silver Spear Scorpion’s magic power had dissipated greatly over the course of the night, little by little, the demon energy reserve within Lord Zhenjin’s Heart Core had reached its most abundant level ever in history.

“Hm?” Sensing the Heart Core, Lord Zhenjin raised his brows slightly, as expected!

“Scorpion shell, scorpion tail, pincer, Scorpion Eyes, claw, scorpion flesh, scorpion blood… I can now transform into a complete Silver Spear Scorpion!”

Lord Zhenjin had anticipated this outcome.

But he did not expect the process to be so brief.

The body of the Silver Spear Scorpion had been absorbed by Lord Zhenjin, so the young knight did not rush to leave, but instead stepped into the deepest part of the cave.

There, he discovered Bai Ya.

“Just as I thought.” Lord Zhenjin sighed softly to himself.

Bai Ya had been abandoned.

Whether it was Zi Di or Cang Xu, both of them could barely save themselves, it was impossible for them to bring along the burdensome Bai Ya while escaping.

But Lord Zhenjin could not blame the two.

Everything was for survival.

Lord Zhenjin placed his finger under Bai Ya’s nostrils and immediately felt a faint breath.

Bai Ya was not dead.

Lord Zhenjin reached out to touch Bai Ya’s forehead.

He found his fever had subsided!

“Well done.” The young knight praised, sounding pleased.

Since awakening, he had been struggling, struggling for survival and striving for his ideals.

Bai Ya had not given up either.

Even in unconsciousness, he had been striving hard to survive.

This kind of spirit and will resonated strongly with Lord Zhenjin.

But soon, the young knight’s expression became complex and subtle again.

Seeing Bai Ya in person, he could not help but recall the previous moment when his life hung by a thread.

At the brink of death, Lord Zhenjin was in such a wretched state.

Confronted by death, he had involuntarily succumbed to intense fear, throwing him into panic.

The desire to survive was so strong it made him roar within, attempting to break his moral bottom line.

“Those weaker than me can escape death? I’m stronger than them, and I’m supposed to die?”

“If I had taken Cang Xu’s advice and eaten human flesh, maybe I could have been saved.”

“Why should I heed the words of a peer in my memories, ‘Hell lies at our feet, and to fall is but a moment’s notice’? Bullshit! How stupid I am.”

“I’ve realized, nothing’s more important than living!”

“Even… what does it matter to me if others are dead?”

“I must live!!”

All these were real thoughts, emerging from the deepest parts of his heart!

And these thoughts would never occur under normal circumstances.

Though it happened not long ago, it all felt like a dream.

“What a nightmare!”

“Could it be… am I really so afraid of death, so cowardly?”

“Am I a despicable and shameless person?”

At this moment, Lord Zhenjin questioned himself in his heart.

With the joy of survival fading, the curiosity of exploring the secrets of the Demon Core gone, Lord Zhenjin finally had to face himself.

The life-and-death battle with the Silver Spear Scorpion had revealed his own ugly side.

“Was that really me?”

“Would I really think that way?”

The young knight knelt by Bai Ya’s side, lost in thought.

His complexion seemed covered by a layer of gloom.

He hung his head low, the poise he had earlier lost, now looking somewhat hunched over.

“No, no, I’m a Holy Temple Knight.”

“I am a Holy Temple Knight!”

Though he told himself this in his heart, Lord Zhenjin still felt shame, self-reproach, and doubt about himself.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

At that moment, Bai Ya coughed, and then the next moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

“Lord Zhenjin…” Bai Ya, noticing Lord Zhenjin kneeling beside him, spoke in a very weak voice.

Lord Zhenjin’s body shook, and he quickly bent down close to Bai Ya, “It’s me, Bai Ya, you must hold on!”

“Sir… thank you, you must have saved me.” Bai Ya looked at Lord Zhenjin, filled with gratitude.

After saying this, he closed his eyes again and slipped back into unconsciousness.

He was too weak, his physical condition very poor.

“Yes, I saved you. I will definitely save you.” Lord Zhenjin stared blankly at Bai Ya, murmuring incessantly.

Bai Ya’s words were like a beam of light, a pure white dawn, illuminating the young knight’s heart, dispelling the darkness on his face.

As if by fate, it seemed as though a force had entered the young knight’s body.

The young knight lifted his head, no longer appearing hunched over.

His gaze swept over the cave, the events of last night resurfacing before his eyes.

His ears seemed again to hear the echo of his voice in this place.

At dawn, the young knight had resoundingly said here–“I will not regard people as food!”

He was very determined then–“Do not try to persuade me anymore, I have made my decision.”

Even in the face of dire circumstances, he still maintained optimism and hope–“Let’s go, if we make it out of the cave by this time, we’ll see the light of dawn.”

The family motto of the Dark Shine clan once again flashed in the mind of the young knight–Hell lies at our feet, and to fall is but a moment’s notice.

Lord Zhenjin’s eyes gradually brightened.

“I haven’t fallen.”

“I maintained my own bottom line, the principles of a knight.”

“Don’t worry.”

He looked toward the unconscious Bai Ya.

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“I will save you!”

“And not… eat you.”

The young knight hoisted Bai Ya onto his back, slowly standing up.

Bearing Bai Ya, he left the grisly cave battlefield behind.

Dawn had already arrived.