287: Chapter 288 Humanoid Furnace, 100% Absorption is Too Heaven-Defying

The joy brought by creating a single drop of water even surpassed the feeling Lin Qi had when he got his first solo kill on a final boss in a game years ago.

Because that was a game, and data is virtual.

But this drop of water before his eyes was real.

It was he, Lin Qi, who had "created" it out of thin air.

This feeling was just too damn addictive.

Like an infant who had just learned to walk, Lin Qi began to tirelessly attempt to "create" more complex things.

Water was a success, so what was next?

He cast his gaze toward the mountain of medicinal ingredients piled beside him.

These were prepared for him by Zhang Wei to replenish his blood and qi and to temper his Physical Body.

He casually picked up a herb that was crimson all over and emitted a faint heat—the "Red Sun Grass."

Closing his eyes, he used his newly mastered ability to "read" the material composition of this herb.

Countless complex molecular formulas and energy structure diagrams unfolded in his mind.

"...It's more than ten thousand times more complex than water."

Lin Qi quickly came to a conclusion.

Inside, there were not only various organic macromolecules but also a unique energy circulation path responsible for absorbing and storing fire-element essence from the outside world.

It was practically a miniature "energy factory."

With his current Mental Energy and control, it was fundamentally impossible to create an identical Red Sun Grass out of thin air.

He estimated that just as he set up a single molecular chain, his Mental Energy would be sucked dry.

"Direct creation won't work, so... what if I change my approach?"

Lin Qi's mind had always been very flexible.

If this path was blocked, he would just take another.

Since he couldn't create something from nothing, could he "optimize and modify" instead?

For example, he didn't know how to build a car from scratch.

But he could take an existing car apart, replace the engine with a more powerful one, and swap the tires for track-grade ones.

The difficulty of that would drop linearly.

Thinking of this, Lin Qi looked at the Red Sun Grass in his hand again.

The medicinal power of this herb was stored within its Meridians.

When ordinary people refined medicine, they used a Pill Furnace to catalyze it through high heat or other ingredients, "forcing" the medicinal power out before refining it into a Medicinal Pill.

This process involved immense loss.

A Red Sun Grass with a hundred years of efficacy might only have sixty or seventy years left once refined into a Medicinal Pill.

So, could he skip the "Pill Furnace" step?

Could he use his own body as a "furnace" and use his newly mastered "Source Matter Reconstruction" ability to directly "purify" this herb at the atomic level?

Strip away all the useless cellulose and Impurities, leaving only the most refined medicinal essence?

This idea was much more feasible than creating something from thin air.

No sooner said than done.

Lin Qi put the Red Sun Grass directly into his mouth, chewed it up like a snack, and swallowed it.

The scalding medicinal power instantly exploded in his stomach.

A dry, hot current of air surged upward along his Meridians.

In the past, he would have needed to circulate Internal Skill for several hours to slowly guide and refine this medicinal power.

But now, he used a completely new method.

With a thought, he activated the Source Matter Reconstruction ability.

His Mental Energy instantly plunged into his body, precisely locking onto the chewed-up remnants of the Red Sun Grass.

In his "eyes," those remnants were no longer a blurry mass but a collection of countless different molecules.

"Discard wood fiber..."

"Discard useless chlorophyll..."

"Retain fire-element energy essence..."

His will was like an invisible scalpel.

He was performing an unbelievable "separation surgery" in the microscopic world.

This process was also immensely draining on his Mental Energy.

Fine beads of sweat soon seeped from Lin Qi's forehead.

But he gritted his teeth and persisted.

About ten minutes passed.

An unprecedentedly pure stream of heat rose from his stomach.

This heat was no longer violently dry like before; it had become gentle and mellow, like a pot of warmed fine wine.

Everywhere it passed, his Meridians were nourished, his bones heated up, and his internal organs let out waves of comfortable groans.

Lin Qi could clearly "see" the Five Elements cycle within his body; the ring representing "Fire" suddenly brightened.

His physical strength was improving at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Holy shit... it worked!"

Lin Qi couldn't help but curse inwardly.

It worked!

He had perfectly absorbed a Red Sun Grass in just ten minutes, with a one hundred percent utilization rate of its medicinal efficacy!

What kind of concept was this?

This was equivalent to having a built-in "Super Pill Furnace" and a "Perfect Absorption" buff.

In the future, when he took medicine, he wouldn't have to worry about pill toxins, Impurities, or absorption rates at all.

He could just swallow it raw!

Whatever he ate would be pure essence!

Lin Qi looked at the mountain-like pile of medicinal ingredients, his eyes turning green with greed.

These things, which he previously saw as "tonics," were now all damn "EXP gift packs"!

He no longer hesitated, grabbing a handful of herbs and stuffing them all into his mouth regardless of their attributes.

The ice-attribute "Mystic Ice Flower," the earth-attribute "Thick Earth Root," the metal-attribute "Sharp Gold Fruit"...

The multicolored medicinal ingredients were swallowed down like a cow devouring peonies.

The violent medicinal powers of five different attributes instantly exploded in his body, like five armies fighting, clashing with each other in a chaotic mess.

If an ordinary Martial Artist did this, their Meridians would instantly fall into disorder, and they would die from their body exploding.

But Lin Qi wasn't afraid.

"Five Elements Law, rotate!"

His internal organs instantly lit up, forming a perfect Five Elements cycle.

"Source Matter Reconstruction, activate!"

His Mental Energy transformed into countless invisible hands and began to forcibly "mediate the fight."

Is the metal-attribute medicinal power too aggressive? Then decompose it into the most basic energy to nourish the lungs.

Is the water-attribute power too cold? Then guide it to the kidneys to neutralize the dry heat of the fire attribute.

He was now like a top-tier "resource allocator."

He broke down all the medicinal power he consumed into the most basic "bricks" and then precisely distributed them to his internal organs according to his body's needs, adding brick by brick.

This process seemed simple, but it was actually fraught with danger.

Every moment, his Mental Energy and Physical Body were under immense pressure.

But the reward was also astonishing.

His Physical Body was being strengthened in all aspects at an unbelievable speed.

Skin, muscle, fascia, bone, organs...

Every single cell was cheering and jumping for joy.

They were like refugees who had been hungry for a long time and finally saw the granaries opened for food distribution.

Lin Qi was completely immersed in the pleasure of this frantic improvement.

He had already forgotten about time.

He only knew: eat, refine, become stronger.

Eat again, refine again, become stronger again.

The cycle repeated.

The primitive source matter in the cave also felt the increasingly strong aura within him and began to surge toward him frantically.

He no longer needed to actively "read" them; instead, they were like subjects finding their king, actively and submissively merging into his body to become part of his physical strengthening.

It was unknown how much time had passed.

When Lin Qi ate the last herb and refined the last trace of medicinal power,

He slowly opened his eyes.

In that instant, two beams of essence light shot from his eyes like solid objects, leaving two deep imprints on the opposite stone wall.

He looked down at his body.

His skin was still the same skin, but it emitted a jade-like luster.

He lightly clenched his fist.

Crack.

The air was squeezed to the point of exploding by him, letting out a crisp sound.

He could feel a terrifyingly extreme power contained within his body.

This power was no longer just blood, qi, and True Qi, but a higher-level power that fused Law and the Physical Body.

"Is this... the Tongshen Realm?"

Lin Qi murmured to himself.

He felt like it was, yet it also seemed like something was still missing.

It was like a door that he had already pushed open ninety-nine percent of the way, with only the last hinge still stuck.

He still lacked an opportunity.

An opportunity to complete his final transformation.

He stood up and stretched his body.

His joints let out a series of crackling pops, like firecrackers going off.

He glanced at the empty pile of medicinal ingredients and then at the Earth Fiend Cave Core Compass lying quietly in the corner.

That compass was still continuously emitting pure primitive source matter.

Lin Qi's eyes lit up.

The herbs were finished.

But here, there was an even bigger "tonic."