94: A mysterious burnt smell; technological debris discovered in the swamp! [+10 positive reviews]
Duang!
A surge of majestic energy exploded inside Su Jue's body!
His cultivation bottleneck shattered instantly!
Feeling the endless surge of thick True Essence within him and his new understanding of the Law of Gravity, Su Jue narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
This trip wasn't in vain.
He reached out his small hand and pressed it against the massive corpse of the Mountain-Moving Earth Dragon.
"Devour."
[Ding! Devouring 'Mountain-Moving Earth Dragon' core and flesh essence...]
The beast's corpse began to shrivel and weather at a visible rate, eventually turning into a pile of powder.
Within Su Jue's dimensional world, the pure white space was undergoing earth-shattering changes.
With the influx of the Law of Gravity and the Law of Earth.
The concept of "weight" appeared in the pure white sky.
The originally ethereal ground began to become solid and heavy, transforming into a vast expanse of brown earth.
Although it was still barren, compared to its previous empty state, it already showed a hint of a "world" prototype.
[Ding! 'dimensional world' structure optimized!]
[Basic 'Gravity' and 'Earth' law templates generated!]
[World stability increased by 300%!]
[Current world diameter: 12,000 kilometers.]
After finishing all this, Su Jue let out a burp.
He glanced outside the cave at the Minotaur still shivering on the ground and the Cat-Eared Girl who had slowly woken up.
"Let's go, next one."
Su Jue called out in a childish voice and stepped out of the cave.
Niu Tuo and Mao Xiaomeng shuddered and scrambled to follow, not even daring to breathe loudly.
They looked at Su Jue's back, their eyes filled with nothing but awe.
Just as they were about to leave the area.
Su Jue's footsteps suddenly stopped.
He looked up in confusion and twitched his small nose.
A strange scent he had never smelled before drifted into his nostrils with the wind... it was a very odd smell.
It didn't smell like the blood of any wild beast, nor did it smell like the spiritual energy of any heavenly treasure.
It carried a scent of metal, grease, and a hint of something burnt.
Su Jue tilted his little head, feeling somewhat curious.
"What is this smell?"
He turned and looked at the two servants behind him.
Hearing this, Niu Tuo and Mao Xiaomeng both sniffed hard.
Niu Tuo's huge nostrils twitched a few times, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.
"Re... Reporting to Master, this... this little ox can't smell it."
"Besides the smell of blood and earth, there's nothing else around here."
Mao Xiaomeng's furry cat ears also twitched as she shook her head.
"Master, I didn't smell anything special either."
"Could it be an illusion brought by the wind?"
An illusion?
Su Jue curled his lip.
He had absolute confidence in his nose, which had been nurtured by his foster father, the Dragon Emperor, with countless cosmic treasures.
If he said there was a smell, there definitely was one.
"Your noses are useless."
Su Jue commented casually.
He sniffed again, carefully identifying the direction the smell was coming from.
To the east.
He immediately made a decision.
"We're going over there."
He pointed his small finger to the east.
Niu Tuo and Mao Xiaomeng exchanged a glance, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.
"But... Master, the Three-headed Demon Ape's nest is to the west."
Niu Tuo reminded him in a low voice.
"I'm not eating that thing anymore."
Su Jue waved his small hand with an indifferent expression.
"I'm more interested in this new smell now."
Was he joking? How could a creature like the Three-headed Demon Ape be as attractive as this unknown "delicacy"?
"What if it's a completely new law?"
At the thought of this, Su Jue's mouth almost started watering.
"But..."
Niu Tuo wanted to try persuading him again.
The eastern region of the Emerald Jungle was a swampland with a harsh environment, infested with poisonous insects. There were no powerful wild beasts and very little to gain, so few adventurers ever went there.
Most importantly, they were completely unfamiliar with that area.
However, Su Jue simply gave him a faint glance.
Niu Tuo immediately swallowed all the words he wanted to say.
He knew very well that his young master's decisions... were not to be questioned.
"Yes, Master."
He lowered his head respectfully and said resignedly.
"This lowly one will lead the way for you."
Thus, the original plan to hunt the Three-headed Demon Ape in the west was completely changed because of Su Jue's sudden whim.
The group of three changed direction and set off toward the unknown swampland to the east... half an hour later.
They stepped into a completely different territory.
The air was filled with a damp, decaying scent. Tall trees were entangled with all sorts of bizarre vines, and beneath their feet was soft, muddy marshland that one could easily sink into.
"Glug... glug..."
Bubbles occasionally rose from the murky water, potentially hiding some deadly toxin.
"Master, please watch your step."
Niu Tuo walked in front, using his massive body to clear a path while remembering to warn him.
"This is the Rotten Swamp. The muddy water here is highly corrosive, and it's home to a type of wild beast called the 'Swamp Leech.' Although they are only in the Bone Refining Realm, they are numerous and very troublesome once they latch onto you."
Hearing this, Su Jue just curled his lip in disdain.
"Bone Refining Realm?"
Trash that wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth—how could they be called troublesome?
He continued walking on his short legs, moving across the muddy marsh as if it were level ground. His animal onesie remained spotless.
The Decay Aura had already reduced all the filth that approached him to nothingness.
All his attention was now focused on the increasingly strong and peculiar smell.
This was the right direction, no doubt about it.
As they went deeper, the surrounding environment became even more eerie.
The originally vibrant swamp began to show large patches of dried, cracked earth.
Those bizarre vines and trees also looked as if they had been burned by something, leaving only charred remains.
The burnt smell of metal and grease in the air became increasingly pungent.
"What... happened here?"
Mao Xiaomeng looked at the wasteland-like scene around her, her face filled with shock.
This was completely different from the "Rotten Swamp" in her memory.
Niu Tuo also stopped and looked around warily, two streams of white vapor snorting from his large nostrils.
"Something's wrong... something's very wrong."
"The energy here... is very chaotic."
Su Jue ignored his two servants' fussing.
His gaze was drawn to something not far ahead.
It was a section of... a charred metallic creation.
It was half-buried in the mud, its surface covered in various complex circuits and parts. Although it was severely damaged, one could still tell that it once possessed a very high level of technology.
Su Jue walked over and touched it with his small hand.
[Ding! Unknown technological relic detected!]
[Material analysis... Failed!]
[Energy residue analysis... Contains faint Law of Lightning and Law of Fire powers...]
[Comprehensive assessment: A weapon component from an unknown technological civilization that has been violently destroyed.]