Chapter 17: Soul Bead of the Spiritual Law (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Collections)

  Whoosh! The gigantic water man suddenly burst apart, splashing countless tiny water droplets everywhere. The powerful torrent rushed down and was immediately absorbed by the soil, vanishing into thin air in an instant, as if it had never appeared at all. In the spot where the water man once stood, a 2-meter-tall, robustly built man with the physique of an ancient Greek sculpture now took its place. To call him human might be stretching it a bit, for this being that resembled humanity lacked hair, and his skin was the same deep blue as the ocean, just like the water man before him, exuding an air of mystery that was hard to put into words. Upon closer inspection, he looked more like a powerful mutant from a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster with supernatural abilities. If one had to make a comparison, his appearance was uncannily similar to Manhattan Doctor, the strongest being in the movie "Watchmen". Moreover, around this mysterious visitor's body, layers of water ripples faintly undulated, emitting an extremely strong water-elemental fluctuation that could be heard from afar, even if one was relatively far away.

  Just as we were shocked by this unknown variant, wondering if it was time to escape, the pirated Manhattan doctor slowly walked over and said: "Little guy, are you the new leader of this native blood mosquito tribe? It seems that the original Blood Queen is dead, but her mission is also considered complete, leaving behind a clever child like you. From your killing of the steel-clad beast just now, your command ability and adaptability are still very good, and there has never been such an existence among the newly born native blood mosquitoes. Oh wait... ... You have extremely strong lightning power in your body, at least the blood of a mid-level demon or above can contain such powerful energy. It's unbelievable, looking at you, I'm afraid you've just been born for a short time, and yet you've gained such great abilities in such a short period of time, even if it's a bug god warrior who has received the blessing of the bug god... ... It's really enviable...

  "In the midst of 'Dr. Manhattan's' incessant chatter, Old Liu couldn't help but feel a bit dizzy - what was all this nonsense? This kid actually thought I was that unlucky queen's child, how infuriating! However, judging from his tone, it seemed like he was quite familiar with that original queen, so I shouldn't be in any danger for now. Hmm, might as well play along and see where I really am."

  Lao Liu was also extremely cunning, afraid of being seen through by this strong and out-of-the-ordinary guy. So when he saw him walking over, he first showed a thick guard, then continued to pretend to be stupid and confused, sending out a questioning spiritual wave through his own antennae: "Who are you? Why have you come to my territory?"

  "Dr. Manhattan" exclaimed, "It's astonishing that a newborn insect like you can communicate with me so fluently! I'm getting more and more interested in you!"

  Damn it! Old Liu secretly cursed, but on the surface he remained calm and continued to ask foolishly: "Who are you? Why have you come to my territory?"

  "I am Holg, the warrior of the Water Witch tribe and the ruler of the nearby Pabai River basin. Thousands of years ago, my ancestors were also native Blood Mosquitoes like you. Now, I have been ordered by our great queen to come to the rainforest near the Pabai River to take care of your Blood Mosquito tribes, hoping that one day we can help you grow and evolve into a new tribe." As Holg said this, he narrowed his eyes, showing infinite reverence and respect for their queen, looking exactly like someone who had been successfully brainwashed.

  Of course, this has nothing to do with Old Liu, but at this moment, he is listening extremely seriously, not daring to miss a single word. Compared to when he was in school and didn't know how to focus, this is many times more attentive. If those teachers from back then who had suffered from Old Liu's mischievousness knew about this, they would all be so angry that they'd die on the spot. But let's not bring up old matters. Let's continue listening to this big fool's revelations: "Looking at you, becoming a regular magic bug is no longer a problem, and since you've absorbed the blood of an intermediate-level magic beast, after your first molt, you'll definitely obtain this rare ability. Unfortunately, you're not the true Blood Mosquito Queen, so you can't lay eggs and let other original Blood Mosquitoes inherit it. Otherwise, with your current intelligence and talent, you'd be able to give birth to a brand new tribe of original Blood Mosquitoes that have mastered the Thunderbolt Mystery. What a pity... what a pity..."

  Old Liu rolled his eyes, indicating that he was ignoring the nonsense, but what Hork said next made Old Liu's spirit lift and become thoroughly excited. All he heard was this Water Demon sighing in admiration after a while, then continuing to say: "However, with your development direction, you should be able to become a combat-type magic bug that strengthens individually. If one day your strength reaches the level of a high-ranking magic bug, you can also get an opportunity to enter our Water Demon clan's Water God Temple. At that time, if you gain recognition from the sacred objects in the Water God Temple, maybe you can also evolve into a high-level evolution body like us Water Demons... Hmm? I'm confused, I actually said so much to you. Even if you're smart and talented, you're just a newborn child, how could you understand these things? This time, it's not because of my momentary negligence that your tribe suffered such a great loss. Fortunately, there's you, this strange little guy, otherwise, I would definitely not be able to avoid being scolded by the elder of our clan. Alright, I have a Soul Law Pearl here, which can merge into your body and contains the research and analysis results of my years of studying magic bug evolution. Now, I'll give it to you, hoping it will help this strange little guy."

  Old Liu is still in human form, his expression at this moment would be with a big smile on his face and eyes narrowed into a line. But in his heart, he was shouting: "I've made it, I've made it! He's actually a foolish guy who really thinks I'm the descendant of that unlucky female emperor. MD, I didn't expect that I can still evolve. Wait, what did he say earlier? Accepting the recognition of some treasure in the temple, I can evolve into something like him? Haha, I've made it big! After a few days when I figure out the situation here, I'll go steal that treasure."

  Huo Er didn't know that the little guy he had taken a liking to, who possessed extremely strong potential, was paying attention to him. If he knew about Lao Liu's sinister thoughts in his heart, he would immediately transform into a water element giant and blast him into smithereens. This somewhat foolish-looking Panbai Shui Yao warrior didn't know where he came from, but suddenly produced a bead that shone with azure light, and casually tossed it at the still smiling Lao Liu.

  "My god, what is this thing. There's a hidden weapon!" Old Liu, who had come back to his senses, saw a bead that was about 10 times the size of his own body flying towards him and cursed loudly: "It's so big, it's going to merge with my body, you're trying to take my life!" The bead, which was flashing with a blue light, naturally didn't care about Old Liu's curses. Hulk also couldn't understand what this little guy was shouting about, but felt that it was very annoying. He said somewhat unhappily: "Be quiet. You'll affect the absorption of the Soul Gem. This treasure is extremely precious, if we fail, there will be nothing left."

  Just as Liu was about to dodge the Soul Orb that Holker threw at him, he was enveloped by this mysterious treasure in a burst of surprise. He then dissolved into tiny droplets in a soft blue light and quickly merged into Liu's small body. After that, it exploded in Liu's consciousness sea, turning into a vast knowledge base and countless mysterious tadpole texts, neatly arranged in a circular shape, exactly the same as the Soul Orb. The knowledge base contained in the Soul Orb was indeed enormous, enough to knock out an ordinary person's consciousness in an instant, making him an idiot. However, it is unknown whether Holker threw Liu a very precious treasure, which can maintain its stability while being absorbed into a biological body, and was completely and almost perfectly absorbed by Liu. Of course, this was only the initial absorption, just like Spider Queen filling her brain with a large amount of knowledge in a duck-like manner, leaving only a general impression. To truly assimilate these knowledge and use them skillfully, Liu still needs to constantly review them.

  "It seems to be a good fusion." Hulk nodded and suddenly turned around, walking into the rainforest, leaving only one sentence with deep meaning: "I will continue to stay here to take care of you, but I won't interfere with your daily life. Unless it's a situation like today, I'll appear. Hope you can understand Gaya's jungle law, if you're not strong enough, you'll become food for other creatures, so keep trying, keep getting stronger. Hope next time we meet, this little guy is still alive..."