Chapter 172: Skill Fusion, Verdant Constitution!

What a delightfully pleasing panel!Looking at the cluster of Lv3 skills appearing on the panel, Cheng Ye couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile.

Compared to Jiang Chuan's luxurious panel with several red perfect talents, Wang Qing's highest talent was only rare grade.

But the issue was that Jiang Chuan's talents were forcibly elevated by residual transcendent state, and after being searched, they directly degraded to rare-grade 'Wild Grass Physique.'

However, Wang Qing's 'Wave Constitution' wouldn't degrade. The two were completely at the same level, just with different focuses.

The former favored endurance and stamina, while the latter excelled in self-healing and recovery.

"If I can get this Wave Constitution, my immortal freak route can continue progressing."

A trace of satisfaction flashed in Cheng Ye's eyes as he continued scanning down the panel.

The rare-grade 'Adapt to Circumstances' and 'White Strip in Waves' were also very practical. The former could quickly integrate into environments, making it a divine tool for lurking or evading pursuit in the wasteland. The latter was purely water-based skills, perfectly matching Hai Province's water-rich geographical environment.

It seemed that if natives of Hai Province didn't know some water skills, they'd have trouble surviving severe weather like typhoons and torrential rains.

As for Cool White Skin... Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh.

No wonder Wang Qing looked like a pretty boy. He had such an abstract talent skill, naturally fair skin, saving the trouble of sun protection.

Looking further down, Wang Qing's martial talent seemed mediocre, with only common-grade muscle points.

The specific skills weren't particularly outstanding either, with only Advanced Traps worth paying attention to.

When he saw several standard skills bearing the 'Fuhai Legion' name, Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Fuhai Legion? Could it be that Wang Qing is an mercenary from some sanctuary city?"

When his gaze swept to 'Advanced Ship Repair,' his speculation became more certain.

Sang Hezheng was already a veteran craftsman at Happiness City's Mechanical Department, and his highest information skill was only Lv3.

Yet Wang Qing not only had Lv3 information skills but also standard skill bonuses. It would be strange if there wasn't some background behind this.

"Although I can't use these information skills right now, I can search them all first!"

"Who knows, maybe someday when developing the Baishui River or coastal areas, I'll need to build ships."

Having lived through difficult days where every penny mattered.

Now that he had the Works Department's fast charging as backup and no longer needed to slowly accumulate energy values, Cheng Ye's appetite had grown considerably.

60% energy value was nothing as long as cooperation was sufficient.

"Search, Wave Constitution."

Searching Lv3 had a 25% probability, with 100% cooperation bonus, rising to 75% probability.

But perhaps due to the influence of the Calamity Heart Worm, Wang Qing's brain was completely addled.

The next second, the text on the panel rapidly combined, flowing as smoothly as searching for a guaranteed Lv1 skill, without even a hint of potential failure.

[Search Successful]

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Wave Constitution (Lv3; Talent; Rare)]

"Awesome!"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but cry out softly, not expecting the second Lv3 talent to come so quickly.

Energy value used up?

No problem.

He drove the second transport vehicle straight to the Works Department. The energy value that had dropped to 6% surged again under fast charging.

At 1 AM, when Cheng Ye returned to the community, the energy value had recovered to 56%, just 4% short of the next search.

But he wasn't in a hurry to interrogate Wang Qing. Instead, after parking the vehicle, he strolled into the convenience store at the entrance.

Since choosing the 'United Route,' he hadn't tried the new 'Fusion' function added by the system even once.

Now with sufficient energy value, it was perfect for practice.

Fusion required 50% energy value once. Before fusing skills for Fire Sprout, he planned to test with ordinary skills first to see if there were any hidden "pitfalls."

This way, he wouldn't accidentally affect the little one's growth when fusing for Fire Sprout later.

Pulling over two cases of yellow-bag nutrition paste, Cheng Ye first drank four bags to pad his stomach.

The panel unfolded in his vision.

The three categories [Search][Action][Information Fusion] were clearly arranged at the top.

Cheng Ye was already familiar with the Information Fusion interface, having entered it several times before.

As his thoughts flowed, the page instantly switched, revealing what still looked like a book but with a fantastical feel reminiscent of Western magic tomes.

The thick cover gleamed with dark gold luster. When opened, it divided into left and right blank pages, with all the skills he'd searched so far neatly arranged below, including information skills.

Cheng Ye tried using his consciousness to drag "Wild Grass Physique" to the left side of the book.

Rustle.

The skill list on the left instantly disappeared, and the blank page suddenly glowed with soft light.

Like playing a video, gray-brown soil slowly spread out, and a tender green sprout broke through the earth, stubbornly stretching its leaves in invisible wind and rain. The entire page was enveloped in a layer of crisp green light, emanating endless resilience and tenacity.

He then turned his attention to the right interface. Sure enough, all skills below Lv3 had hidden away, leaving only "Wave Constitution" floating quietly.

Cheng Ye dragged it to the right blank page with his consciousness, and the same fantastical scene played out again:

An endless deep blue sea spread across the page, sea wind howling as a wave surged up from beneath the horizon, carrying fine foam and crashing toward the shore with thunderous force. The page glowed with moist blue light, carrying the ocean's magnificence and tolerance.

"Amazing, truly amazing!"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but whisper in amazement.

Compared to the mysterious space he'd been pulled into during previous advancements, the visualized fusion scene before him gave him more of a sense of "touching the essence of skills."

The tenacity of wild grass, the magnificence of waves, could be so intuitively presented on paper.

Just then, a thin purple line extended from the top of the wild grass on the left, precisely connecting to the waves on the right.

The next second, a notification window slowly appeared:

[Reconstruction Objects: Wild Grass Physique (Lv3; Rare), Wave Constitution (Lv3; Rare)]

[Detected that both skills are rare grade, fusion guarantee level for this attempt: Rare]

[Basic Fusion Cost: 50% Energy Value]

[Special Note: Fusion cannot be canceled once started, additional energy value can be invested (every 50% energy value = 1 random direction mutation)]

[Confirm Fusion?]

Investing energy value for mutations was obviously a bottomless pit.

Once you had this idea, you'd keep randomizing forever, never satisfied.

Without trying out the optimal solution first, Cheng Ye wasn't greedy. His current core purpose was clear: fuse skills to save skill slots.

"Confirm Fusion!"

As his intention settled, all notification windows instantly disappeared, and the energy value in the upper right corner of the panel was drained like water, plummeting from 56% to 6%.

Immediately, the scene on the paper began changing dramatically.

The area representing Wild Grass Physique on the left suddenly erupted with clustered emerald light, the green glow carrying strong aggressiveness, spreading toward the right like wildly growing vines, as if wanting to tear the waves' power over to compensate for itself.

The Wave Constitution on the right wasn't to be outdone. The originally calm sea surface instantly churned, blue light bursting forth as towering waves rose, carrying a momentum to destroy everything as they crashed toward the left side's green light.

"Damn, this fusion is going to start a fight?"

An indescribable sense of oppression instantly enveloped him. Cheng Ye blinked and suddenly felt as if he was standing on vast earth, witnessing two prehistoric beasts fighting.

Wild grass rose from the ground, growing into a giant plant ten thousand zhang high, its roots extending into the earth like coiled dragons.

The waves transformed into floods that blotted out the sky, each crash carrying earth-shaking roars.

The two collided and tore at each other, green and blue light weaving into a chaotic sea of light, making even the air seem to tremble.

Fortunately, this battle didn't last long.

After ten-plus seconds, the purple line connecting them suddenly began tilting toward the wild grass, as if some invisible force was guiding it.

The waves' fury gradually faded, the towering tsunami slowly receded, finally becoming docile water flow that condensed into rain clouds hanging above the ten-thousand-zhang wild grass, gently sprinkling raindrops.

At first it was light drizzle, moistening the grass blades.

Then it suddenly became a violent storm, bean-sized raindrops pounding the grass stems without causing any damage, instead making the grass even greener.

Finally, the rain gradually lessened, returning to the initial light drizzle.

Under the continuous nourishment of rainwater, the ten-thousand-zhang wild grass began visibly shrinking, roots withdrawing into the soil, leaves folding, finally returning to page size.

Only this time, the scene in the picture had changed.

On the soil that originally only had a tender sprout, wild grass grew frantically, quickly spreading into a small "wild grass carpet." The emerald leaves layered upon each other, radiating vigorous life force.

More remarkably, each blade of wild grass had strange patterns on its surface, half consisting of intertwining dark green vines, the other half flowing light blue water patterns.

The two colors were distinctly separate at the center of the leaves yet perfectly merged along the veins without any awkwardness, instead creating a harmonious symbiosis.

The next second, all visions on the page suddenly disappeared, leaving only blank paper.

Then, lines of deep purple text lit up in the center of the panel:

[Detected that collector's current energy value is insufficient, cannot trigger 'Random Mutation' mechanism]

[This information fusion process is complete, fusion result stable]

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded new fusion skill: Verdant Constitution (Lv3; Rare)]

"Success?"

Joy flashed in Cheng Ye's eyes.

Perhaps because Wild Grass Physique originated from Jiang Chuan's Cloud Grass Constitution, it was essentially a higher perfect grade.

The primary-secondary relationship between the two was clearly dominated by Wild Grass Physique, and the final result still retained plant characteristics.

Opening the Verdant Constitution details now, the description had also changed.

[Verdant Constitution (Lv3; Rare; slightly enhances life force)]

"After fusion, it changed from two moderate enhancements to a slight enhancement?"

The description also became the general term "life force." Cheng Ye couldn't figure out the specific changes for now.

However, he'd know what changes there were by trying it out.

"Equip, Verdant Constitution!"

As his words fell.

An empty slot in the skill panel flickered slightly, and deep purple light replaced the empty position.

The four characters "Verdant Constitution" appeared within.

Hum!

Unlike previous skill equipment where surging power rampaged wildly.

This time, a fine tingling sensation first spread from the Baihui acupoint on his head, followed by a gentle stretching and widening of bones and meridians, as if making space for new power.

Cheng Ye couldn't help but groan softly.

But having experienced the illusions from equipping Fire Sprout before, his tolerance had greatly increased.

In just the instant of slight dizziness, the scene before his eyes completely changed.

Beneath his feet was no longer cold flooring but moist, soft soil. Root systems were frantically extending through soil crevices with greedy force, penetrating deeper underground.

The air around him was filled with the scent of morning dew and grass. Looking down, he was amazed to see his torso had transformed into a green grass stem, swaying in an invisible wind and growing taller segment by segment.

"This is... making me experience it again?"

Cheng Ye's heart stirred.

During the previous information fusion, he had only observed the confrontation between wild grass and waves from a third-person perspective.

But now, he was that wild grass.

He could sense wind, sunlight, rain and dew, and vigorous life force!

The azure waves arrived as expected. Only through this experience did he understand the gap between Wild Grass Physique and Wave Constitution.

The blue waves couldn't shake the grass's root system at all, only raging impotently.

After several more wild surges, they could only retreat in frustration. Rain clouds soon gathered in the sky, fine rain sprinkling down.

The moment raindrops fell on the leaves.

The illusion disappeared.

Thump... thump... thump...

Familiar heartbeats came from his chest, but more vital than with Wild Grass Physique.

Cheng Ye looked down to see the wild grass totem in the center of his chest slowly awakening. Beside the originally single green aura, a clear blue strand suddenly wound around it. The two colors intertwined and rotated, gradually merging into a more vivid emerald!

The badge pattern on his skin surface also changed accordingly. The originally still wild grass patterns now began slowly stretching, new buds emerging from leaf edges, even the root patterns becoming more detailed and full, as if about to burst through his skin the next second.

More wonderfully, with each pulse of the totem, he could feel a warm power flowing through his blood vessels. Wherever it passed, his limbs filled with stretching comfort, like drought-stricken land finally receiving sweet rain, every cell cheering as it absorbed vitality.

"Life force."

All visions disappeared, seemingly bringing no intuitive changes like before.

Cheng Ye stood up, clenching fists, kicking legs, turning around, still not feeling any difference from before.

Even the ravenous eating urges that usually followed skill fusion didn't emerge.

"No way, was the fusion wasted?"

He frowned and sat down, patiently waiting one or two minutes, still feeling no difference.

After thinking, Cheng Ye simply unequipped the skill to sense the changes without Verdant Constitution.

After four or five seconds, he felt like something was missing from his body, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

Equipping it again, an extremely weak warm current flashed through his heart, so fast it seemed like an illusion.

"Could it be..."

Catching that fleeting trace of power, Cheng Ye's eyes lit up.

He tore open a yellow nutrition paste bag on the table, tilting his head back to suck the sweet osmanthus-flavored liquid.

After one bag, the weak power in his chest seemed to solidify slightly.

After another bag, this time it was no longer an elusive sensation. The warm current slowly spread through blood vessels to his limbs, clear enough to sense the trajectory.

"So I need to actively supplement rain and dew, stimulating life force growth?"

Cheng Ye suddenly understood.

Previous skill fusions were driven by instinctive hunger. This time, Verdant Constitution returned the initiative to him.

This was probably Verdant Constitution's peculiarity.

It could be a wild grass or a verdant field, all depending on how he, the talent owner, supplemented it.

If so, what was there to hesitate about?

For the first time without being urged by hunger, Cheng Ye's performance was even more frenzied.

Four or five nutrition paste bags were torn open simultaneously, brought to his mouth as cool liquid gurgled down his throat without pause.

The liquid immediately transformed into warm energy as soon as it slid past his esophagus, continuously flowing toward his heart like watering a sleeping seedling.

No fullness, no hunger, he was like a wild grass waiting for nourishment, only knowing "absorption."

Nutrition paste bags were emptied one after another, packages piling into a small mountain on the table. After about forty-plus bags, his chest suddenly felt burning.

Like a green flame blazing, large warm currents gushed from his heart, rushing along muscles and bones to all limbs.

Crack.

A barely audible crisp sound came.

Cheng Ye looked down in amazement to find his forearm skin had actually cracked fine fissures, the surface becoming brittle like dried bark. Then, a thin layer of dead skin began flaking off.

He raised his hand to touch his cheek, fingertips also rubbing off fine skin fragments. Even his neck and ankles were simultaneously shedding skin, like undergoing complete metabolism.

The bones in his body also joined in, "crack crack" sounds rising and falling like bones being reassembled or muscles and bones being repeatedly stretched, bringing strange comfort amid soreness.

Most surprisingly, his scalp suddenly itched. When he reached up to touch it.

His hair fell like catkins, not a single strand staying on his scalp, instantly becoming bald.

Hair loss?

Just as Cheng Ye stared at the hair fragments in his palm in bewilderment, familiar hunger finally surged forth!

Whoosh!

This appetite was slightly weaker than when fusing Fire Sprout but more impactful, like waves of rising tide battering his rationality, urging him to quickly replenish energy.

Cheng Ye's expression changed as he grabbed the remaining nutrition paste from the box, almost instinctively pouring it into his mouth.

This time there was no process of liquid entering his stomach. It was directly absorbed by his body as soon as it reached his mouth.

Fortunately, yellow-bag nutrition paste had far higher energy density than regular versions. After finishing the first case of 100 bags, he only drank to the 4th bag of the second case before the violent hunger receded like a tide.

After 5 more bags, fullness surged up and all burning sensations gradually calmed, leaving only gentle warmth.

"When fusing Fire Sprout it was 120 bags, this time 109 bags?"

Cheng Ye counted the stacked nutrition paste packages on the table, joy flashing in his eyes.

This data far exceeded his initial expectations.

As his life level was elevated by Fire Sprout, his constitution was also constantly strengthening. Theoretically, new talent benefits would inevitably be "diluted."

Yet the physical leap brought by Verdant Constitution was even more rapid than when he first fused Wild Grass Physique.

Cheng Ye couldn't help speculating this was probably related to his life limit being opened.

He stood up again, suddenly clenching his right fist. His forearm muscles instantly tensed, veins protruding like coiled dragons as terrifying power far beyond before condensed in his palm.

Throwing a forward air punch, the punch wind tore through air, actually producing a "whoosh" sound that echoed buzzingly.

"This..."

Cheng Ye was stunned. He took another step forward, standing before the convenience store counter with legs slightly bent, then stomped hard.

His body was lifted by invisible force, actually jumping nearly one meter high from a standing position, his vision instantly clearing the counter top over two meters high.

When landing, his feet collided with the ground, producing a "boom" muffled sound that even made the floor tremble slightly.

"My weight?"

Cheng Ye looked down at his feet, suddenly realizing something was wrong.

His build was clearly the same as before, but the weight sensation when landing was completely different.

Uncle Dong's large scale was still in the basement. Cheng Ye stepped onto it, and the displayed number left him in a daze.

107kg!

The last time he weighed himself it was 86kg. Now he was 21kg heavier, nearly forty pounds?!

But strangely, looking at his arms and abdomen, there was no fat accumulation. His build was even more proportioned than before. In wasteland aesthetic terms, he looked even leaner.

"Am I... still human?"

Cheng Ye stepped off the scale in bewilderment, pinching his arm muscles with his fingertips. They felt hard as iron yet wrapped in amazing elasticity, completely different from ordinary muscle texture.

He simply grabbed his jacket and quickly returned to his fifth-floor room, pulling out the detector from the Xinghuo four-piece set under his bed.

Placing silver patches on key positions at his wrist, chest, and thigh, Cheng Ye opened his Xinghuo communicator and clicked to begin testing.

Soon, the displayed data left him completely stunned.

65.

What was Li Changfeng's score again?

62?

Cheng Ye's pupils suddenly contracted as he opened the previous measurement data on his Xinghuo communicator, which showed a limit of 37.

One Verdant Constitution had directly increased his strength by 28 points, nearly doubling it!

Moreover, the simplest and most brutal numerical improvements would definitely become increasingly difficult later.

He walked to the mirror, examining his bare torso.

His previously casually trimmed short hair had already fallen out, new inch-long hair growing like steel needles standing upright, radiating an intimidating aura that warned strangers away.

His skin was no longer ordinary smooth texture but had a matte sandblasted luster, as if covered by a thin protective film.

The totem badge on his chest had completely changed appearance, nearly doubling in area. The originally lonely wild grass had become spreading verdant growth, vines and water patterns intertwining at the edges with tiny lights flowing within.

Most remarkably, the blood vessels under his skin had completely disappeared. Only when deliberately tensing muscles would veins protrude like coiled dragons, carrying a predatory beast's oppressive presence.

After moving around several times, Cheng Ye took a deep breath and slowly threw punches according to Tiger Force techniques.

As his fists repeatedly cut through air, the low whooshing sounds became clearer and more powerful.

After two or three minutes, he deliberately slowed down, no longer pursuing power but focusing on sensing the flow of internal strength.

Suddenly, he pulled back his fist sharply, his eyes flashing with undisguisable amazement:

"Tiger Force, completely mastered!"


Tiger Force, which yesterday still had 10% progress remaining for mastery, had been completely mastered with Verdant Constitution's formation.

And it seemed more than simple mastery.

During recent punches, he could clearly sense the contraction and relaxation of corresponding muscles with each exertion, even having vague perception of minute movements.

This precise control sensation was unprecedented.

"It seems the elevation of life level first enhanced my physical talent."

Cheng Ye quickly understood the key, "And Verdant Constitution happened to fill this talent ceiling. The two combined gave me such clear power perception."

Once again, he truly felt the chasm between transcendents and ordinary people.

Not just combat power, but fundamental growth paths and growth speed.

His gaze fixed on the panel, Cheng Ye suddenly felt uncertain about his current combat strength.

Previously his strength already matched warriors with six opened muscle points, far exceeding ordinary four forces.

Now with test values nearly doubled, his real combat power definitely couldn't be summarized by just "doubling."

"Time to find Instructor Miao to search for the remaining four forces. Also need to test my current combat strength!"