Chapter 502: The Shadow Attendant’s New Body
Li Wei took in his surroundings and immediately realized he was surrounded.
These things that looked like trees weren’t plants at all.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this had to be the intestinal tract of the Ice Emperor.
In that case, these things must be the villi on the Ice Emperor’s intestinal walls, meant for digesting and absorbing nutrients.
What were tiny tissues—villi—to the Ice Emperor appeared to Li Wei as enormous trees.
Li Wei was about to act but stopped himself.
He quickly rushed toward an opening to escape the encirclement of "trees."
Remembering the consequences of the Star Worm Queen’s self-destruction, Li Wei didn’t dare to rashly attack anything inside the Ice Emperor’s body, afraid of triggering some unforeseen disaster.
By now, he had figured it out.
’That storm just now was probably just the Ice Emperor taking a single breath.’
’As for why the Ice Emperor inhaled, it was likely due to the discomfort in its stomach caused by the Star Worm Queen’s self-destruction.’
Li Wei felt utterly helpless.
A simple, ordinary breath from the Ice Emperor had posed an immense threat to him.
It had separated him from Saint Xi and thrown him into this strange place.
Li Wei burst through the opening in the surrounding "trees." He glanced down at the growths still sprouting upward, trying to pull him down, and quickly increased his altitude.
After avoiding the dense, animated trees around him, Li Wei followed the direction of his soul connection with Saint Xi, searching for her.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE!
A great wave rolled through the forest not far away. A vast number of previously stationary trees animated in an instant, forming a magnificent tide that spread toward Li Wei like an ocean wave.
A look of surprise crossed Li Wei’s face. He turned and looked toward the distant area behind him.
’Something over there must have caused this phenomenon.’
The wave quickly reached Li Wei, and he finally saw the culprit behind the commotion.
It was a pitch-black sphere.
The sphere floated in mid-air, shooting toward him at an astonishing speed.
Behind it, countless trees animated one after another, extending their branches in an attempt to grab the sphere as it flew overhead.
Li Wei’s eyes narrowed. He wondered, ’What is this thing?’
His Spiritual Perception quickly enveloped the black sphere.
The sphere’s surface had a layer that blocked Spiritual Power; his Spiritual Perception couldn’t penetrate it to find out what was inside.
However, Li Wei could sense that the black sphere was some kind of living thing.
Its aura also felt somewhat familiar.
A thought struck Li Wei, and he suddenly remembered what that familiar aura was... The Star Worm Queen!
He was shocked. ’Could the Star Worm Queen still be alive?’
Li Wei’s gaze sharpened. He gathered the Power within him, preparing to deliver a fatal blow the moment the black sphere arrived.
He couldn’t give it any chance to recover.
But when the black sphere drew near, Li Wei didn’t attack.
The black sphere shot past him, about twenty meters to his left. It wasn’t heading for him.
This made Li Wei even more curious.
After a moment of thought, Li Wei accelerated and pursued the fast-moving black sphere.
Before long, Li Wei caught up to the black sphere.
He cast the Magic, "Object Control Skill."
A blue hand materialized and grabbed the speeding black sphere, forcing it to a halt.
The Mage’s Hand brought the black sphere before Li Wei.
After observing it carefully, Li Wei discovered it was some kind of organ from the Star Worm Queen’s body.
It was shocking. A single, detached organ possessed such astonishing vitality that it felt like an independent life form.
As the black sphere drew close to Li Wei, it vibrated slightly.
Then, countless tiny tentacles extended from the sphere’s surface, reaching for Li Wei as if trying to pierce his body.
Li Wei’s eyes narrowed, and he moved the black sphere further away.
Unable to reach Li Wei, the sphere’s extended tentacles tried to dig into the blue Mage’s Hand.
Unfortunately, the Mage’s Hand was not a living being, so the black sphere’s efforts were futile.
Li Wei could feel the black sphere’s desire for a new body.
"What in the world is this?"
Li Wei was thoroughly confused.
He had two choices: destroy it, or figure out what it was.
This thing was related to the Star Worm Queen—a living organ from a Legendary Level creature. Li Wei was reluctant to just throw it away.
After a moment’s thought, Li Wei chose to satisfy the black sphere’s desire and give it a new body.
Not his own body, of course.
Li Wei happened to have a living body on hand.
He took out the body of the White Nitro and brought it near the black sphere.
The black sphere extended a multitude of threads that drilled into the White Nitro’s body.
In the blink of an eye, the black sphere dissolved into countless threads and merged as one with the White Nitro.
The white fur on the Nitro’s body was dyed black, and it began to emit a peculiar aura.
"Shadow Attendant."
Li Wei sensed it. After merging with the black sphere from the Star Worm Queen, the Nitro was still missing one thing.
Li Wei had destroyed the Nitro’s soul long ago.
This body had no consciousness of its own, only instinct.
’If given enough time, the body might have developed a new consciousness.’
’But that wasn’t what Li Wei wanted.’
At Li Wei’s call, the Shadow Attendant appeared, burrowed into the Nitro’s body, and took possession of it.
Once the Shadow Attendant took control of the Nitro’s body, now fused with the black sphere, Li Wei quickly understood what the sphere was.
The black sphere was the Star Worm Queen’s Demon Core.
Calling it a Demon Core wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was something very similar.
It contained the Star Worm Queen’s core ability and Talent Ability.
The Star Worm Queen’s core ability was "Adaptive Evolution." After it broke through to the Legendary Level, this ability advanced to become "Super Evolution."
Li Wei had already witnessed the power of the Super Evolution Extraordinary Trait.
After fusing with the Star Worm Queen’s Demon Core, the Nitro gained the Adaptive Evolution ability.
Originally, after the Demon Core fused with the Nitro, a new consciousness for the Star Worm Queen was supposed to be born.
However, Li Wei had the Shadow Attendant occupy the Nitro’s body, interrupting the process.
Under the effect of the Adaptive Evolution ability, the Nitro’s body, which was originally not very compatible with the Shadow Attendant, began to change.
Li Wei watched as the White Nitro’s fur turned black, eventually becoming skin as dark as ink, with no discernible features.
The Nitro’s giant crow-like beak also disappeared, replaced by a featureless black, faceless head.
After watching for a moment, Li Wei realized, ’Isn’t this what the Shadow Attendant looks like?’
"Master, I can no longer separate from this body."
The Shadow Attendant reported.
Li Wei was slightly surprised, but after accepting it, he nodded. "Mm, I understand."
The Shadow Attendant continued, "I’ve retained the Shadow Transformation ability, but I can no longer take over new bodies."
Li Wei was pleasantly surprised, not expecting the Shadow Attendant to have retained its original ability.
Losing the ability to possess new bodies was an acceptable trade-off.
The Shadow Attendant extended its hand, and its palm split open as a long, black worm crawled out.
It said, "Although I can’t possess new bodies, this new ability, [Parasite], can also seize control of others’ bodies."
Li Wei was even more delighted.