NOVEL NEXT Chapter 579: The broodmother
Inside the cocoon, Damon's consciousness floated in a sea of pain and clarity. His veins burned, his organs twisted, and yet his awareness expanded infinitely. He could feel every drop of venom around him, every molecule of toxin in the air. He could command them with thought alone.
But that was not all. Suddenly, an immensely powerful aura swept over him. Almost immediately, the beasts that had scattered away once again found the strength to crawl back to him.
Countless beasts were clawing at the cocoon and smashing themselves against him, trying to tear open the cocoon. However, it was all useless.
The cocoon was not completely unguarded. Apart from its own poisonous aura, blood tendrils also erupted from the cocoon, slashing and devouring all the beasts trying to attack it. Even otherwise, the poisonous aura that seeped out of the cocoon was becoming stronger and stronger by the second.
The normal beasts could no longer even come near the cocoon. Even so, they dared to charge forward in a mad rush, which resulted in their unsightly explosion and doom. But more and more followed when the few died.
Endless waves of more beasts and bugs charged ahead, all towards their death. When it was finally clear that no amount of venomous beings would be able to destroy the cocoon, another wave of powerful aura swept past the whole cavernous network.
A pair of eyes opened at the bottom of the endless cavern, where even richer miasma existed, poison so thick that the small trace amount of miasma was constantly digging and burrowing deeper and deeper into the ground, almost reaching the very center of the world.
And just as the eyes flashed open, this miasma blasted upwards towards the cocoon.
The ground trembled. The poison surged upward in a cataclysmic torrent, a pillar of viridian flame mixed with black sludge that carved through the layers of the hive like a spear from hell. The sheer force of it tore through rock and bone alike, erasing entire nests of lesser beasts in an instant.
But even when faced against such a potent poison, the cocoon did not break. It stood unmoved amid the chaos, wrapped in pulsating layers of blood and toxin.
Instead, it started devouring the very poison that threatened to annihilate it.
The pair of eyes at the bottom turned cold. "Who dares… devour what is mine?" A voice boomed, and the next second, the massive figure at the bottom of the cavern disappeared. It exploded outward, no longer bothering to isolate itself from the world around it.
But before it reached the surface, it swept a cold glare at the cocoon, and a slash containing something more than just mana appeared. Even the cocoon couldn't withstand something like this.
The next second, the cocoon exploded outward in a shockwave of green, black, and purple light. The pair of eyes looked at the cocoon in disdain and did not pay attention to it any longer, exploding to the surface, to the outside world.
However, right at the moment, a figure stepped out of the cocoon, completely unaffected. Poison rained like a storm as Damon stepped forward, his aura vast and calm, yet suffocating. A big grin was plastered on his face as a single system notification blinked before his eyes.
Ding! [Nine Million Poison Body: Second Cycle Completed]
A bunch of continuous system pings followed this.
Ding! [You have achieved: Nine Million Poison Body Supreme Venomous Physique Awakening]
Ding! [You have achieved a New Passive Trait]
[Nine Million Poison Body Rebirth: All poisons become vitality, all venom becomes healing.]
Ding! [You have achieved a New Passive Trait]
[Nine Million Poison Body Physique: Your flesh transcends mortality. Each cell is shielded by microscopic venom-forged scales, invisible to the eye yet harder than legendary armor. Physical and elemental attacks are devoured by adaptive toxin membranes that feed on hostile energy.]
Ding! [Your Venom-Heart has been upgraded]
[Nine Million Poison Body Venom Heart: Your heart no longer pumps blood alone. It now circulates a refined venom-blood hybrid. Resistance to poison increased exponentially. Affinity with poison element increased exponentially]
Ding! [Your Toxic Blood has been upgraded]
[Nine Million Poison Body Toxic Blood: Toxic venom flows within your veins and has become one with your blood. When your blood spills, everything it touches withers and corrodes according to your will. Your blood can now infect the air, soil, and even mana particles, turning the very environment into an extension of your poison domain.]
Ding! [You have achieved a New Passive Trait]
[Plagueborne Dominion: Your spilled blood seeps into the surroundings, establishing an area of influence where all toxins answer only to you. Enemies within this range suffer decay and hallucination, while allies become immune to poison and receive accelerated regeneration.]
Damon closed all the notifications with a look of satisfaction. This was everything he had gained from the Venom King's legacy so far, and each and every single one of the upgrades was nothing short of monstrous.
His entire being thrummed with power, his blood a volatile fusion of poison and vitality, his flesh resonating with an unholy balance of decay and regeneration.
He flexed his fingers and watched faint wisps of emerald smoke coil from his skin, dissolving into the air before reforming into fine, translucent scales that shimmered briefly, then vanished. The feeling was intoxicating. Unfathomable power bubbled within him.
He knew he had only just successfully completed the second cycle of the Nine Million Poison Body. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel that he was on the verge of something else. Another massive breakthrough. Something that was right there but was also out of his grasp.
Damon frowned for a moment, wondering what it was, and then decided to shift his attention to the other new feeling he had. His body felt a lot more sturdier now in all ways and manners, sturdier enough to completely not feel the strain of his restrained primordial mana core any longer.
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