In the captain’s quarters of the Grand Fortune, a sealed container sat before Shi Ming.

Inside were the three small rootlets he had retrieved from the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s lair.

On the outside, they looked like the fine roots of a ginseng plant, the kind Shi Ming had seen in his past life—so light and wispy they could be blown away with a single breath. Yet, they were surprisingly tough and even contained a trace of Destructive Power identical to that of the Great Black Heaven Dragon.

The Sea-Rising Cherry Root was the 64th-ranked wondrous item on the List of Wondrous Items.

Now, however, an Awakened suspected to be from the [Nine Cauldrons] had taken it, leaving only these three small rootlets behind.

’Eye of the World, acquire intelligence.’

[BEEP... BEEP...]

[Collating intelligence...]

[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence report generated.]

[Tiny Rootlets of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root.]

[The power leaked by the Great Black Heaven Dragon in its sleep underwent a special fusion with a peculiar plant growing in lava, giving birth to the 64th-ranked wondrous item, the Sea-Rising Cherry Root. Within its branches lies Destructive Power, concentrated and accumulated over thousands of years, yet it is relatively gentle. After consumption, the Sea-Rising Cherry Root will allow the body to slowly develop a resistance to Destructive Power, gain a faint Destructive Origin Power ability, and achieve energy resonance with the Great Black Heaven Dragon.]

[Note 1: After consuming the Sea-Rising Cherry Root, the body will be affected by Destructive Power, causing a nine-pronged pattern to appear on parts of the skin. The prominence of the pattern indicates the progress of digestion. When the pattern disappears, digestion is complete.]

[Note 2: Digesting even a tiny fragment can produce resistance. However, to bathe in the blood of the Great Black Heaven Dragon and obtain its power, the more of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root you digest, the better the effect.]

[Note 3: Those with a Physical Strength value below 100 cannot consume this item.]

Reading the information from the Eye of the World, Shi Ming seemed to understand the purpose of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root.

If the corrosive effect of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s blood on the human body was a disease, then the Sea-Rising Cherry Root was a relatively mild [vaccine]. By getting inoculated in advance and adapting to the Destructive Origin Power within, one could achieve energy resonance and make the body more receptive when bathing in the blood.

’So I just eat this thing directly?’

Shi Ming picked up the three rootlets, placed them in his mouth, chewed for a moment, and swallowed.

It was spicy and intense.

In his mouth, it felt like fire, like swallowing lava filled with knives. Then a burning sensation started in his stomach. It wasn’t a feeling of heat, but rather something more like his body’s rejection response.

Before long, Shi Ming broke out in a thin layer of sweat.

But that was the extent of the minor reaction.

In less than twenty seconds, all other sensations vanished.

A faint, ten-centimeter-long pattern appeared on the right side of Shi Ming’s neck. It looked like a plant branching into nine segments, or perhaps an abstract version of the Great Black Heaven Dragon.

Compared to the Right Arm Red Pattern beneath the clothes on his arm, it looked quite inconspicuous.

’I’ll just consider this bit of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root an appetizer for now. After I complete the commission for the Twelve Stars, I’ll see if I can use other channels to trade for the rest of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root from Da Yu or the Nine Cauldrons.’

After dealing with the Sea-Rising Cherry Root, he separated out 1000 grams of the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s blood.

The Right Arm Red Pattern began to stir restlessly again.

A small amount of Holy Hall-grade blood was far from enough for him to acquire a skill, but it could further activate the power within the remains of the Eye of the Divine and randomly evolve one of its residual skills.

[Belonging to the Eye of the Divine:]

[A: Arm of Power: ???]

[B: Eye of Intelligence: Evolved into "Eye of the World"]

[C: Brain of Creation: ???]

His right arm cautiously and slowly touched the heavy blood.

’Which skill will evolve this time?’

He once again felt the Right Arm Red Pattern surge. His entire arm began to burn, every cell cheering with delight... The power was devoured, surging into his right arm like a tide, where it was rapidly consumed and digested.

...

...

...

Da Yu.

A research accident had recently occurred at a branch of the Xirang Research Institute.

A young researcher had ingested a slice of a mutated Sea-Rising Cherry Root and suffered a violent rejection reaction.

His veins bulged all over his body.

His neck and face were covered in dense, nine-pronged red patterns.

His skin looked like lightning-struck wood, a terrifying sight.

Not only that, but his body temperature had soared to an extreme high in a short time, especially in his abdomen, approaching the limits of human endurance. If his teacher, Chongwen, hadn’t applied for half a remaining leaf of "Snow-Capped Jade," the young researcher would likely have died from his own recklessness.

His "self-sacrifice" did not lead to any further research breakthroughs.

On the contrary, Xirang nearly lost a young researcher, and the project they were in charge of was delayed once again.

Chongwen looked at his student in the monitoring room and sighed.

With their infiltration capabilities, the Lighthouse had long known about the Holy Hall Sea Beast in Fujing Mountain and were itching to make a move. Even without the publication of the *Compendium of Wondrous Items in the Endless Ocean (Volume 2)*, they had already planned an expedition.

The Xirang Research Institute took advantage of the situation, announcing the news about the Sea-Rising Cherry Root. It was a blatant scheme to publicize the true purpose of the Lighthouse’s expedition, putting their actions under the spotlight. This would also make the King-level Wandering Ship more cautious and prevent them from causing too much chaos.

As for conquering the Great Black Heaven Dragon?

They didn’t think the Lighthouse would achieve any significant results in the short term.

Never mind whether they could even kill the sea beast; the Dragon Blood alone was extremely destructive. Even Da Yu’s "toughest" S-rank Awakened, Nine Abysses, would find it difficult to withstand its power.

Nine Abysses was the prodigy of the younger generation of warriors.

He possessed an S-rank skill called "Idealism Flow."

Its principle was that all things are manifestations of the mind.

When he closed his eyes, the world fell silent with him. When he opened them, the world became bright and vivid. If he believed an object could be analyzed, then that object absolutely possessed the potential to be analyzed. If he believed something was impossible, then it was definitively impossible.

But there was one crucial precondition—

when activating "Idealism Flow," he needed an extremely strong sense of conviction!

As long as he believed it from the bottom of his heart, it would become reality. If he was just spouting nonsense and couldn’t even deceive his own subconscious, Idealism Flow would fail.

It was a powerful S-rank skill. Besides combat, it was especially suited for researching strange and bizarre things.

It could also be used to "exploit bugs" in reality, making reasonable but "utterly useless prophecies" about certain matters.

For example,

Chongwen had once asked him if the Xirang Research Institute could uncover the secrets of the Sea-Rising Cherry Root.

Nine Abysses had answered, "Yes."

Another question: "If it’s possible, why hasn’t the experiment made any progress?"

Answer: "We haven’t found the catalyst yet."

Another question: "Can the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s skills be inherited by humans?"

Answer: "They can."

Another question: "What kind of person can inherit its skills?"

Answer: "A descendant of the dragon."

Isn’t someone who inherits the skills of the Great Black Heaven Dragon a "descendant of the dragon"?

How ridiculous was that?