"Oh piped down! My physique should be able to resist it, shouldn't it?" Lin Wu replied but never expected that he would get a response directly.

~Ding~

——

WARNING!: While the host can resist the temperature of lava, this is only if the host is on the surface. If the host were to sink in it, he will be unable to rise back up due to the density of the lava. The host will be able to survive temporarily in the bottom of the lava pool, but after a while, his body will start to break.

SUGGESTION: Change the route and follow the system's navigation.

——

Lin Wu's jaw was left open after reading the system's warning, and he was scared, to say the least.

"Holy! I was potentially close to dying. Good, that I asked the system out loud like this or I may have been sleeping with the lava fishes... if they exist." Lin Wu said with a relieved tone.

He then wisely decided to follow the route given by the system and walked on it. If he would have chosen to cross the dangerous area directly, it would have barely taken him ten minutes to cross it entirely. But now that he was taking the long and winding route suggested by the system, it took Lin Wu two hours instead.

The route given to him by the system had him crossing a large part of the empty terrain. Although it was long, it was still safe and there was nothing that he encountered that could have put him in mortal danger like before.

Two hours later, Lin Wu had arrived at the final quest objective, which was none other than another rock.

"Hmm, is there another one of those crystals in this too?" Lin Wu wondered before getting closer to the rock.

This rock was merely a meter tall and sixty centimeters wide. It seemed like it had been scorched and had some parts that were chipped off.

'Hmm, it does seem like it fell from the sky along with the other meteors, though I wonder how many in total are there.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

Lin Wu looked at the rock for a moment and then at his newly enlarged body.

"Let's see the difference…" Lin Wu muttered.

Lin Wu extended his tail and wrapped it around the rock a couple of times. He then started to squeeze as hard as he could.

~Crack~

No less than two seconds later, a cracking sound was heard as the rock broke. Lin Wu released his hold on the rock and saw it split into a few pieces, revealing the small crystal hidden within. This crystal was the smallest one he had seen till now and was about the size of a palm.

"Oh, it's much smaller than I expected." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he then pushed the crystal into his mouth.

But upon eating it, he was surprised. Unlike before when he had absorbed the crystals using his body, he had tried eating it and when the crystal touched the insides of his mouth, it immediately turned into liquid and was absorbed by his body.

"This is sweet… why is it sweet though? I don't have taste buds in this form?" Lin Wu muttered in confusion.

But soon he forgot about this as his body started assimilating the bloodline from the crystal that he had just eaten. Lin Wu was bracing for something to happen like when he absorbed the crystals before, but nothing happened.

"Huh? That's it?" Lin Wu said in a surprised tone as he checked his body for any changes.

~Ding~

——

QUEST COMPLETED: Scan and obtain the eight marked objects.

REWARD OBTAINED: Updating Data Banks.

——

Lin Wu checked his host data window for anything new but was surprised to see that there were no changes.

'What? Should there be at least some changes?' Lin Wu thought.

"System, why is there no change after absorbing the crystal?" Lin Wu questioned.

~Ding~

——

ANSWER: The Bloodline traces in the crystal were not sufficient for the host to have any changes, as the bloodline sample that the host previously obtained was a rather large one. Such a small sample would not be able to help host much and can only be accumulated.

Suggestion: The system suggests that the host can try to find the original beast that the husk came from. According to the updated data banks, the system can assure the host that he will have massive benefits if he kills the beast and consumes it.

——

"What! How am I supposed to hunt the beast when I don't even know where it is? Not to mention that it's much stronger than I am. It will take me a while before I can even be qualified to think of that." Lin Wu said, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

~Ding~

——

QUEST ISSUED: Hunt and consume the original bloodline beast.

QUEST DURATION: Undetermined.

QUEST REWARDS: Bloodline progressing, Skill progression, Cultivation progression.

——

'I guess this is better. I can do it later or whenever I have to chance to complete the quest, at least there is no compulsion.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

His attention went back to the host data window, more accurately towards the stored spirit qi that he had.

"Hmm, I guess it is time to upgrade to the next level." Lin Wu uttered with excitement.

'But I need to find a safer place first. This is at the edge of the devastated zone and perhaps others may come here. I was safe in the central area, but this may be risky.' Lin Wu thought with concern.

He thought for a bit about what would be a safe place, before realizing.

"Oh stupid me, I can just dig down into the ground." Lin Wu muttered in a self-deprecating tone.

He then lowered his head and started digging down into the ground. With his stronger and bigger body, it was much more easy for him to dig as the once hard ground crumbled under his strength. Lin Wu kept on digging for about ten minutes and only stopped after he thought that the current depth was safe enough.

'Now, let's make this place a bit comfy.'