Chapter 2290 Finding A Vulnerability
The toughness of the roots was unbelievable to the group.
Though they didn't stop their efforts right away.
"Let me try." Crown Prince Feng Shun said as spars started to cover his hands.
~BZZZT~
The sparks soon turned into arcs of lightning that filled the area with buzzing sounds. A terrifying amount of power flowed from Crown Prince Feng Shun, causing the very air to tremble. The sheer amount of Immortal Qi fluctuation coming from him were alarming and the walls were starting to tremble.
The dust in the air started to stick to the ground and the walls due to the static charge being deployed. Everyone in the group took a step back, knowing that it won't be good to be close for this skill similar to Lin Mu.
Crown Prince Feng Shun gripped air, as if he was holding something, causing the lightning to condense. It soon turned into a long spear that had a jagged blade, as if it were a lighting bolt!
"Storm King Immortal Arts: Grand Bolt!" Crown Prince Feng Shun chanted before throwing it at the roots.
~ZAP~
The Thunderbolt shaped spear traveled at the speed of lightning and struck the roots, causing the air to twist.
~BOOM~
Then in the next fraction of a moment, a giant explosion was heard, as a blinding white light was released. A massive amount of Lightning Elemental immortal Qi fluctuations filled the air, causing the hair on everyone's bodies to stand up.
Little Shrubby who was in his smaller form, turned into a large fur ball due to it.
Though the explosion settled down, just as fast as it had happened. Only the smell of ozone was left in the air now, even the stench of Death Qi being burned away with the power of lightning.
~WHOOSH~
Crown Prince Feng Shun waved his hand, clearing the smoke out and allowing everyone to see.
"It really is Unbreakable…" Crown Prince Feng Shun muttered.
They could only see the scorch marks where the bolt had struck, but no actual damage had been inflicted onto the roots. "This is an impossibly high level of durability… it's already on the level of a Top Grade Immortal Armor." Lady Kang couldn't help but assess. "Don't think my skills will do much to it either, if its like this." She was going to try too, but now knew it was best not to waste energy on it.
Lin Mu who had witnessed it all, was now having further doubts about the Chimera Plant. At the same time, he was also impressed by it, realizing just how strong of a 'weapon' the Chimeric Fiend God had made.
'This is just one… If multiple of these were used in a war, just how would someone even win against it?' Lin Mu wondered.
"They're not all tough like this." In this a voice was heard in his mind.
Xukong who had sensed the strong energy fluctuations was forced to see just what was happening around Lin Mu. And when he saw through Lin Mu's memories he couldn't help but be surprised too.
"Senior Xukong… what do you mean by that?" Lin Mu asked while the others thought of potential solutions in silence while some comprehended what they could even do here.
"While the Chimera Plants are tough, they certainly aren't as tough as this," Xukong replied. "With the level of skills that were used on it, a normal Chimeric Plant would have certainly been destroyed. But this one has endured it all." He added.
"So, this is an exceptional one?" Lin Mu guessed.
"The Chimera Plants can gain different properties based on what kind of fuel the Chimeric Seed will absorb. Considering the fact that there was a massive amount of Death Qi present here in this plane… It must've granted it a durability beyond what should be normally possible." Xukong explained. "Heavens… Won't that make the Chimeric Plant impossible to destroy?" Lin Mu spoke. "And this is just the plant's own durability. We still don't know what kind of Chimeric Beasts it could potentially produce other than the weak ones we encountered." He added.
"Hmm…" Xukong thought for a bit before answered. "The Chimera Plants were designed to be tough, since it would be a grave weakness if its roots could be destroyed by the enemies of the Chimeric Fiend God. The same can probably say for its stem and shoots that are probably spread in other areas.
But… There is still vulnerabilities that it will have." He stated.
Hearing that, Lin Mu felt a greater hope.
"What are they?" He asked.
"The weakness of the Chimeric Plant is also where it is the most dangerous… Its Fruiting Body." Xukong revealed.
"A fruiting body?" Lin Mu furrowed his brows. "Isn't that something fungus and mushrooms have?" he recalled.
"Yes… But the Chimera Plant isn't a normal plant anyway." Xukong replied. "It is in these Fruiting Bodies that the fruits of the Chimera Plant are produced… The Chimeric Beasts." He added.
Hearing that, Lin Mu got a few ideas in his mind.
"So it should be something like a 'womb'… and inherently weak due to its function." Lin Mu spoke.
"Exactly." Xukong confirmed. "While you might not be able to damage it from the outside, if you can get inside the Fruiting Body, you'll certainly inflict damage onto it." He explained.
"I see… So now we just have to look for the Fruiting Bodies," Lin Mu muttered. "I suppose that will be easy as long as we go along the roots." "Possibly." Xukong replied. "But there's always a chance the Chimera Plant would have started to divide and spread its shoots further than its initial location." He clarified.
"So the Chimera Plant can multiply in numbers?" Lin Mu frowned.
"It very well can. It is designed to be as hardy and fecund as possible after all." Xukong confirmed.
"Great…" Lin Mu let out a sign. "So we'll just have to find the Fruiting bodies before it spread too much."
"Yes. But as long as you've found a set of roots, you'll also be able to find the Fruiting Bodies. And since the Chimeric Beasts are produced by the Fruiting Bodies, you can also tract them down through the movements of the Chimeric Beasts themselves.
There will be a high population of them around a Fruiting Body." Xukong explained. "Though this won't be permanent, so you will have to be fast once you discover clusters of Chimeric Beasts the Fruiting Body will eventually close and move somewhere else to better spread the beasts." He added.
"I'll keep that in mind." Lin Mu said before thinking of possible ways they could track down the Fruiting Bodies. 'I suppose we need to first take a look at what a Fruiting Body is like… Once we know that, we'll have a better idea on how to find more of them.' He thought before looking at the group.
~huu~
He took a minute to organize his thoughts and spoke.
"I have a method that might just work." Lin Mu said before explaining all that Xukong had told him.
"Hmm… So its strength is also its weakness… Quite poetic." Ziran said, stroking his chin in interest.
"This is good. If it's a Fruiting Body, then it should be above ground and as such easier to spot from the sky." Crown Princess Shang spoke, comparing it with the plants that she knew about. "Plus, I think Daoist Mu Lin and Daoist Chu can whip up something that can track large numbers of Chimeric Beasts, can't you?" she smirked.
"I can, yes." Lin Mu nodded his head. "As long as we can narrow down on an Energy Signature for the Chimeric beasts, it'll work." Daoist Chu could already think of several formation arrays that were made for things like this.
"Amithabha, then we should haste." Monk Hushu spoke up. "It is not good to let foul creations like these to exist for too long." "I agree." Elder Hu nodded his head. "The longer it takes us, the more the Chimera Plant will spread."
"It's only been a year, and it has grown to this extent. There might be a chance it has already spread." Qiao De was concerned about the time they had been forced to isolate. "It'll be fine." Crown Prince Feng Shun stated. "At most, we'll have to spend a couple years more in this trial. But that just means we get more opportunities to gather the credits." He said with confidence.
"That's true." Lady Kang said, having a few more ideas. "If we eliminate most of them except for a single Chimeric Plant, we might just be able to 'farm' the Credits." She suggested.
"With a few precautions and arrays to isolate the plant… I suppose that can be done." Daoist Chu thought about the viability of the plan.
"I do not know if we should tempt fate with something like that." Monk Hushu was not convinced about that though. "It is not wise to play with foul creations such as this."