165: Chapter 165: Checking the Harvest

Lin Yuan finished his Cultivate.

Opening his eyes, the effect of the Time Acceleration Card had been exhausted.

The thousand-year closure period of the Wasteland Divine Domain had ended.

The thousand years of time within the Wasteland Divine Domain had been merely a few days in reality.

Every time the time acceleration ended, it was like opening a blind box, always bringing Lin Yuan unexpected surprises.

He closed his eyes, his Mental Energy sinking down as he descended above the Wasteland Divine Domain.

His vision suddenly cleared.

Lin Yuan hovered in the sky, overlooking the world below.

The area of the Wasteland Divine Domain had grown larger.

He pulled up the divine domain panel, and the data on it flickered.

[Divine Domain Area: 3.58 million square kilometers]

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow; it had expanded by a full 300,000-plus square kilometers.

This 300,000 square kilometers of territory had been condensed entirely by the Demon Tree, relying on its own strength to extract energy from the Void Realm turbulence.

He cast his gaze toward the Liquid Metal Blood-Devouring Demon Tree in the Central Basin.

The Demon Tree's root system was anchored into the spatial crystal wall at the edge of the Wasteland Divine Domain, penetrating the Void Realm to extract energy from the Universe.

"Having an Epic-grade building that can actually work is truly worry-free."

The resource structure inside the Wasteland Divine Domain had also undergone a qualitative change.

Lin Yuan's Mental Energy swept across the underground.

Deep in the strata near the crystal wall, silver-gray and black-gray Ore veins meandered and coiled.

They were all Ores related to Void Realm energy.

On the surface, red saplings and black thorn grass covered the mountains and plains.

The concentration of dark abyss spiritual energy had increased by several levels compared to a thousand years ago.

His gaze extended outward, crossing the Blood Abyss Sea, and landed in the direction of the New Continent.

The next second, his gaze fixed.

In the central area of the New Continent, on a flat, dark purple Wasteland, a colossal object towered.

A blood-colored giant tree nearly ten thousand meters tall.

The surface of the trunk was covered with dark red veins, and bulging tumors hung between the branches and leaves.

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment.

He remembered very clearly that he had never introduced such a thing to the New Continent.

As his Mental Energy swept over it, the panel popped up a notification.

[Mutated Demon Tree Offspring]

[Rank: Transcendent Rank (Incomplete)]

[Characteristics: Energy Absorption, Transcendent Tumor, Transcendent dark abyss spiritual energy, Flesh Devouring...]

Looking at the dense insect nests beneath the canopy and the Worker Insects constantly transporting Ore and flesh remains to the tree roots, Lin Yuan understood instantly.

This was a wonder created by the Zerg themselves.

They had used a thousand years to feed a common red sapling into a ten-thousand-meter-tall, low-spec version of a Demon Tree.

"These insects, their brains have evolved a bit too fast."

Lin Yuan clicked his tongue in wonder.

The Zerg did not have the qualifications to enjoy the nourishment from the Demon Tree in the Central Basin, so they built a substitute themselves.

Such extreme creativity and near-paranoid execution were admirable.

What surprised Lin Yuan even more were the high-ranking Zerg surrounding the offspring tree.

He saw a five-meter-long dark crimson insect hovering in mid-air.

This insect had wings on its back burning with black-gray karma fire, and faint blue patterns flowed across the surface of its carapace.

Lin Yuan pulled up the panel for this insect.

[Formless Source Insects]

[Rank: Diamond Tier]

[Characteristics: Triple Adaptation (Fusion of Demon Vulture, Bone Fish, and Fire Spirit genes), Karma Fire Control, Void Realm Shadow Lurker, Extreme Heavy Water World, Gravity Recombination, Soul Wave...]

A sharp light flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes.

A new branch.

And it was a stitched-together monster that fused the powers of several species within the Wasteland Divine Domain.

The most ridiculous part was that they had even obtained the karma fire from that group of Fire Spirit in the Extreme North.

Karma fire was the companion Law of the Fire Spirit Clan; how on earth did these insects manage to do that?

Lin Yuan didn't dwell on the source of the karma fire for now and continued to check other information on the Wasteland Divine Domain panel.

The surprises were far from over.

He turned his gaze toward the sky and the ocean.

Within the thunderclouds, millions of Mutated Magic Vulture circled. At the bottom of the Styx, tens of millions of Bone Fish and Liquid Metal Crab swam.

Lin Yuan randomly opened the panel of a Platinum Rank Demon Vulture.

[Mutated Magic Vulture]

[New Characteristic: Mimicry]

[Skill Library: Lightning Power, Venom Shot, Void Realm Wings, Liquid Metal Body, Gravity Recombination...]

Lin Yuan frowned slightly and opened the panel of a Liquid Metal Crab.

It also possessed the [Mimicry] characteristic.

The Sea and Sky Races, which originally had monotonous skills, now had terrifyingly long skill lists.

They were diverse and flourishing.

They could shoot venom, use Shadow Lurker, discharge electricity, and even condense a layer of the same flowing gold as the Tyrant Demon Race on their bodies.

"Mimicry?"

Lin Yuan opened the detailed introduction of this characteristic.

[Mimicry (Incomplete): Through observing and enduring enemy attacks, there is a certain probability of imprinting their skills into one's own genes.

This ability originates from devouring the gene fragments of the foreign species "Starry Sky Wanderers".]

Starry Sky Wanderers.

Lin Yuan chewed on these words repeatedly.

The content from the book "Encyclopedia of Strange Abyss Species" in the Starry Sky University library surfaced in his mind.

The Time Demon Race specializes in targeting divine domains that are in the time acceleration period and closed, unmanaged states to plunder the Origin.

At the time, he thought that the Universe was so big, it was impossible for him to coincidentally encounter such a niche species.

Now it seemed, he really had encountered them.

Lin Yuan imagined the scene at that time.

A group of Time Demon Race had gone through great hardships, breaking through the time turbulence, and joyfully broke into this "ownerless" Wasteland Divine Domain which was in a state of time acceleration.

But as soon as they showed their heads.

The Demon Vulture flying in the sky, the Bone Fish swimming in the sea, the insects crawling on the ground.

And that group of Tyrant Demon in the Central Basin, red-eyed and looking for a fight everywhere, all surrounded them.

This group of Time Demon likely hadn't even had time to scream before they were treated as a delivery from the sky and eaten until not even bone fragments were left.

Even their racial talents, which they prided themselves on, had been "freeloaded" by the Sea and Sky Races.

"Even delivery couriers aren't this dedicated."

A smile curled on Lin Yuan's lips.

To satisfy the genetic mutations of tens of millions of Sea and Sky Races, the number of these Starry Sky Wanderers must have been significant.

These unlucky guys not only failed to snatch the Origin but instead became nutrients to promote the evolution of the Wasteland Divine Domain.

An enemy invasion being countered and killed—this was a good thing.

Lin Yuan continued to check the grand inventory of his military forces.

Now, every species within the Wasteland Divine Domain had broken through the ten-million level, reaching a truly terrifying scale.

The total number of Mutated Magic Vulture and Magic Blade Bat in the sky had reached 25 million.

The number of Mutated Bone Fish and Liquid Metal Crab in the ocean was also approaching the 30-million mark.

The foundation of the Sea and Sky Races, under the blessing of a thousand years of reproduction and the "Mimicry" characteristic, had ushered in an explosive surge.

Next was the Zerg.

The panel showed that the current total number of Zerg was over 70 million.

Lin Yuan was slightly stunned when he saw this number.

70 million sounded like a lot, but for a race like the Zerg that excelled in mass-producing troops, it was on the low side.

According to Lin Yuan's expectations, with a thousand years of time acceleration, the number of Zerg should have at least broken 100 million, or even reached 200 to 300 million to be normal.

He carefully looked at the resource consumption report and suddenly realized.

The resources had all been drained by that new branch.

The birth and evolution of the [Wuxiang Calamity Bug] branch.

In order to Cultivate those Diamond Tier Formless Source Insects that had completed their second and third adaptations.

The Zerg Queen had stopped the hatching of most of the bottom-tier cannon fodder and poured a massive amount of resources into the elite.

Troops are valued for quality, not quantity.

The Zerg King clearly understood this principle too.

Lin Yuan shifted his gaze to the Central Basin, the territory of the Tyrant Demon Race.

Once the data was pulled out, Lin Yuan couldn't help but gasp.

Dual-sequence Tyrant Demon, the number was approaching one million!

The single-sequence Tyrant Demon on the periphery, the number was approaching 10 million!

Under the day-and-night nourishment of the 100,000-meter Demon Tree.

The strength and number of the Tyrant Demon Race had stabilized to an outrageous degree.

Their Innate foundation was unreasonably powerful.

A newborn Tyrant Demon cub, as soon as it landed, its aura would approach the half-step Platinum.

After spending a few days in its infancy and eating a few bites of Ore, it could easily step into Platinum.

What was even more terrifying was the top-tier combat power.

The number of Diamond Tier Tyrant Demon had reached over 50,000.

50,000 dual-sequence Diamond Tier monsters.

This force, if pulled out, would be enough to flatten a slightly weaker Transcendent-level alien plane.

The Tyrant sat in the center of the Blood Abyss Sea, like an insurmountable dark gold mountain.

Its aura was as deep as an abyss, having already reached the level of Diamond Eight-Star.

"Normal performance."

Lin Yuan was very satisfied with the performance of the Tyrant Demon Race.

Finally, Lin Yuan cast his gaze toward the Extreme North.

Before the time acceleration, the Fire Spirit Clan, under the oppression of the unlimited death battles and the demon god altar, had seen their numbers plummet to only over 3,000.

Lin Yuan had thought that this race had difficulty reproducing, and it would be good if they could reproduce to 30,000 in a thousand years.

His Mental Energy swept across the Extreme North.

Lin Yuan was stunned.

The area of the Extreme North had expanded by a full three times.

The previous hundred or so volcanoes had now become continuous volcanic mountain ranges.

Looking roughly, there were at least a thousand active volcanoes erupting day and night.

In the magma lakes, it was densely packed with flickering black-gray flames.

[Calamity Fire Spirit]

[Total Number: 350,000]

[Diamond Tier Number: 9,800]

Over 300,000!

Lin Yuan repeatedly confirmed the data on the panel, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

This reproduction speed went against the common sense of elemental life.

He spread out his Mental Energy to carefully perceive the Law fluctuations in the Extreme North.

Soon, he discovered the clue.

The white bone [demon god altar] standing on the highest peak was still operating.

But the Divine-Grade negative affixes used to support the Fire Spirit Clan under the altar had disappeared.

They had been eaten clean.

Over 400,000 Fire Spirit had digested the negative affixes into their own foundation over the course of a thousand years.

"No wonder." Lin Yuan nodded slightly.

However, relying solely on absorbing negative affixes could not explain this exaggerated population explosion.

The reproduction of elemental life requires massive amounts of energy as fuel.

Lin Yuan suppressed the doubts in his heart, his figure flashed, and he returned to the sky above the Central Basin.

He hovered in front of the 100,000-meter-tall Liquid Metal Blood-Devouring Demon Tree.

This Epic-grade building had made a great contribution.

Lin Yuan mobilized his Mental Energy to convey feelings of commendation to the Demon Tree's giant liquid metal face.

"Well done."

The Demon Tree's trunk trembled slightly, and the giant face twisted for a moment.

After a while, a stiff, slow, and somewhat clear, foolish mental fluctuation was fed back.

"Hungry... eat... tree... sleepy."

Lin Yuan's mouth twitched.

A thousand years had passed, yet how did it feel like this thing's IQ hadn't increased at all, still having this foolish, dazed demeanor.

But thinking about it again, Lin Yuan felt relieved.

The Demon Tree was an Epic-top-tier Transcendent plant life form, and its lifespan limit was very likely calculated in eras.

A thousand years of time is a sea change for humans.

For the Demon Tree, it was probably equivalent to a human spending a month, or a long nap.

Expecting it to become a wise man after waking up from a nap was indeed asking too much of the tree.

"Eat slowly, just don't overeat yourself to death." Lin Yuan said casually to soothe it.

The inspection was complete, and the overall combat power of the Wasteland Divine Domain was as expected.

It was just one word: Strong.

The buildings in the Wasteland Divine Domain were also the same as before, having risen one or two small ranks.

Some had reached the rank Bottleneck and wanted to advance.

Either they needed Lin Yuan to intervene, or they needed luck and Opportunity.

Lin Yuan's heart stirred, and he prepared to cut off the mental connection and return to reality.

Just as his consciousness was about to withdraw, a commotion at the edge of the Extreme North caught his attention.

Lin Yuan zoomed in his vision.

On the scorched earth boundary line of the Extreme North.

Hundreds of thousands of Worker Insect, mixed with white Formless Source Insects, formed neat queues and crossed into the Fire Spirit's territory.

They had no defensive formation, as if they were going on a pilgrimage.

In front, thousands of Fire Spirit had been waiting for a long time.

The excitement of firelight danced in their eye sockets, and they opened their arms, directly descending a sky full of karma fire.

Hundreds of thousands of Worker Insect turned into ashes in the karma fire, and their biological energy was absorbed by the Fire Spirit into their bodies.

The aura of the Fire Spirit grew visibly stronger by a fraction.

And the Formless Source Insects in the Worker Insect queue, enduring the scorching of the karma fire, survived.

The appearance of their carapaces also turned into the dark red that Lin Yuan often saw.

The Fire Spirit turned a blind eye to this, allowing them to take the karma fire power and retreat back to the New Continent.

Lin Yuan witnessed this whole process, which could be called magical.

He quickly connected all the clues in his mind.

The Zerg's exaggerated karma fire control.

The Fire Spirit Clan's counter-intuitive reproduction speed.

The deficit in the Zerg's total number of 70 million.

"Good grief."

Lin Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This group of insects and Fire Spirit were actually conducting a dirty cross-species deal within the Wasteland Divine Domain.

The Zerg used massive amounts of bottom-tier cannon fodder as fuel, voluntarily sending them to the Fire Spirit to be burned, helping the Fire Spirit Clan to reproduce rapidly and strengthen their foundation.

In exchange, the Fire Spirit allowed the Zerg to steal and adapt to their power, completing the evolution of the Wuxiang Calamity Bug.

Each getting what they needed, a win-win.

The Zerg used the lives of cannon fodder to exchange for the authority of karma fire.

Lin Yuan did not intervene or try to balance it.

He admired this instinct of doing whatever it takes to survive and evolve.

This was the true Wasteland.

Natural selection, survival of the fittest.