155: Chapter 155 [The Eternal Flower]

[ mother of the forest ] was stored within Chu Hong's [ source energy space ].

Therefore, even after coming out of the secret realm and returning to the examination hall to face the scanning records, there was no need to worry about exposure.

However, there was no way around this time's nine-grid super-red [ flower of eternity ].

Not long after Chu Hong and the others emerged from the secret realm, as the scanner completed reporting and compiling their harvests for this match, the figures of Kong Mingde and the others quickly descended upon Chu Hong's temporary residence.

"Chu Hong, did you get a red-quality collectible?"

Kong Mingde asked excitedly.

Facing this, Chu Hong, who had long anticipated it, merely nodded calmly. Then, a flash of light gleamed in his hand, and the dazzling [ flower of eternity ] appeared in his grasp.

"Hiss! This is the [ flower of eternity ]! According to the assessment secret realm data records, it's the Big Red with the highest production value from secret realms! The drop rate of this thing is terrifyingly low, and even the military's Secret Realm Development Department doesn't have a few, yet you managed to loot it..."

It was hard to conceal the burning fervor in everyone's eyes.

As if he didn't see it, Chu Hong directly put the item away after displaying it for a few seconds.

"You accepted the in-match benchmark quest, right?"

Jiang Xingdong's eyes were filled with excitement and admiration. The way he looked at Chu Hong was already no different from looking at a rare, peerless piece of unpolished jade in this world.

He instantly guessed the reason why Chu Hong was able to loot this item.

Excluding the extremely low probability of looting a super-red from some low-level containers as if one's ancestral graves blew up, anything capable of producing this kind of Big Red, aside from high-value containers...

could only be benchmark quests.

Associated with the miracles Chu Hong had consistently displayed of turning the impossible into possible, Jiang Xingdong instantly became certain of the origin of Chu Hong's Big Red.

Chu Hong smiled and nodded. He still held a lot of respect for this old city lord.

"That's right. Through a stroke of luck, I learned the method to accept in-match benchmark quests."

He didn't explain too much. After all, they were still in the middle of the assessment, and many confidentiality rules and supervisory regulations required caution.

Among Kong Mingde and the others, even though some already felt extreme burning fervor in their hearts—

itching to immediately get their hands on the [ flower of eternity ] from Chu Hong, either by buying it or through some other means—

right now in this examination hall, they could only forcibly suppress that excitement.

After inspecting the harvests of Wang Suming and Song Jiaojiao and confirming that there were no anomalies or cheating in their assessment score increases for this match, Kong Mingde and the others left the place.

"Holy shit, Brother Hong, did you see that? The way those guys looked just now... was really terrifying!"

Wang Suming's face was a bit pale.

Song Jiaojiao also wore a worried look. "Chu Hong, after the assessment ends, if possible, you should immediately find a way to properly keep this Big Red safe, or hand it directly over to the Pioneers Guild for auction. With our current strength, we can't protect this item."

Chu Hong smiled and nodded. "Rest assured, I have a way..."

Sell it?

He must be out of his mind to choose to sell it!

Selling the [ Lizardman Priest's Notes ] back then was purely for startup capital, so that was fine.

Nowadays, he was not short of source energy points in the real world.

Letting the two go rest first, Chu Hong returned to his own residence and lay on the bed.

Then, without any hesitation, he directly entered the [ Special Service Department ].

"Brother Tong, help me take a look. If this [ flower of eternity ] is used directly, what kind of effects can it have?"

With a "click" sound,

a rolling shutter door opened.

The department that was opened when he fused with the [ heart of the overlord ] back then, the [ Martial Arts Training Room ], opened once again.

[ Ding! ]

[ Planning fusion options for the red collectible "flower of eternity" for you... ]

Inside the [ Martial Arts Training Room ], various data flashed rapidly across the light screen in front of Chu Hong. It continued for a good while before finally freezing in place under Chu Hong's expectant gaze.

[ Recommended Optimal Fusion Plan: Targeted Ability Enhancement! ]

[ Current Ability "Slaughter Overlord" Effect: Instantly activate and maintain for 1 minute, with a 50% increase in speed, strength, and source energy. Killing biological targets midway can restore source energy and vitality, and extend the activation time. ]

[ Fusion Plan Enhancement "Slaughter Overlord" Effect: Instantly activate and maintain for 30 seconds, elevating strength by a major realm state. Each biological target killed midway can extend the enhancement effect by 5 seconds. ]

[ Fusion Plan Cost: 15 million source energy points ]

Chu Hong's pupils suddenly shrank violently.

"Flower, come" went straight from enhancement to "going berserk"?

Elevating a major realm!

"Doesn't that mean that right now at stage seven of the [ Qiyuan Realm ], after activating the ability, I can instantly transform into an [ Energy Gathering Realm ] practitioner for thirty seconds?! And this time can even be extended..."

Chu Hong couldn't help swallowing hard.

Why didn't this fusion plan mention any restrictions?

Like some kind of realm restriction or something. It couldn't possibly be that if one day I advance to stage one of the [ Energy Gathering Realm ], activating the skill would instantly step across into the [ Core Condensation Realm ], right?

That would simply be too broken!

This ability might as well not be called "Slaughter Overlord"; call it "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" instead!

Facing such a broken skill effect, Chu Hong, as he looked at the cost breakdown of "15 million source energy points" provided by the [ Special Service Department ], actually felt it was worth every penny.

It was nothing more than doing a few more scavenger runs!

But this kind of opportunity was truly hard to come by!

However, he didn't choose to finalize it right away. Instead, holding the [ flower of eternity ], he came to the [ Big Red Collection Room ].

He wanted to check the display cabinet effect of the [ flower of eternity ].

[ Collectible ]: flower of eternity

[ Display Cabinet Level ]: Lv0

[ Activation Effect ]: None

[ Required for Upgrade ]: 1 million source energy points, [ flower of eternity ] * 1

[ Collectible ]: flower of eternity

[ Display Cabinet Level ]: Lv1

[ Activation Effect ]: Maximum source energy reserves increased by 100%

[ Required for Upgrade ]: 5 million source energy points, [ flower of eternity ] * 3

The display cabinet effect at Lv1 turned out to be an increase in total source energy by a full fold!

Furthermore, there were no restrictions regarding inside or outside the secret realm.

But now, with the ability enhancement plan provided by the [ Martial Arts Training Room ] directly using the [ flower of eternity ], and with that jade of superior quality preceding it, the 100% source energy cap increase from the display cabinet effect now seemed rather petty in comparison.

"Let's fuse it first. Enhancing strength is the top priority right now..."

Chu Hong muttered to himself, taking the [ flower of eternity ] out of the display cabinet.

Afterwards, he walked over to the display cabinet of [ mother of the forest ].

"Upgrade the [ mother of the forest ] display cabinet!"

[ Ding! ]

[ Upgrade: "mother of the forest" Display Cabinet Lv0 → Lv1 ]

[ Requires 1 million source energy points, "mother of the forest" * 1 ]

[ Confirm Upgrade? ]

"Confirm!"