After half a day of travel, the Team had traveled through the forest that surrounded their home city and found themselves in a land of rock and rubble.
Compared to the lush forests they had just been a part of, this place seemed to be teeming with death. The sparse plants they found planted in the hardened land were withering and half dead. The sun beaded across their heads, bearing toward them with untold pressure now that the tall canopies could no longer protect them. And, the air seemed to hold miniature particles of dust that made them want to cough every so often.
"Don't breathe too heavily. In fact, if you can help it, don't breathe at all." Giveon warned.
This dusty air was both the source of the Mountain Barbarian's strength, but simultaneously a poison to practically every other creature.
Ironically, it was because of the existence of this dust that the Mountain Barbarians couldn't live long-term in the much more lush and fertile forest. Much like everything else in the world, there was a balance of give and take.
As cultivators of such high realms, they could obviously go even weeks without breathing as long as they had an ample supply of qi. So, this wasn't much of a problem.
Immediately, everyone held their breath and began to walk toward the looming mountain range not far in the distance.
Ryu curiously observed the floating dust particles. They were impossible for anyone else to see with the naked eye, but his eyes were obviously not normal.
'This isn't dust…' Ryu was somewhat surprised.
If it wasn't for his boredom, he would have taken Giveon's words at face value.
'These are spores. Specifically, a fungal spore. What an innovative idea. Do these Mountain Barbarians exist in real life? Or were they casually created by the Sky God who built this world?'
Despite being an Origin Grade Ruin Master, Ryu would never claim to have more worldly experience than a Sky God who had lived trillions of years of life. For him to do so would be nothing short of foolish.
As knowledgeable as he was, Ryu was certain that he didn't know everything. It was very possible for the Sky God who built this world to have come across such a Clan in their travels. And, since these Mountain Barbarians wouldn't be able to leave their small corners, they were likely hidden from the rest of the world as well.
Ryu's eyes glowed. Without anyone but Ailsa being any wiser, he took a deep breath, allowing a whole colony of these spores into his lungs.
Ailsa shook her head. 'You're always so reckless.'
'It's fine, I need to witness how they work personally. I've never seen a fungus like this before...' Ryu said softly. 'Worse come to worst, this is just a projection of my body. I'll heal whatever injuries that come when I cross into the Soul Birth Realm.'
Ryu began to observe the changes the fungus brought about. If it wasn't for the training he had undergone with his meridians, he would have never been able to do this. Watching the changes his individual cells underwent was ridiculous.
By Ryu's measurements, he had allowed about a hundred thousand spores into his body on just one inhale. Each one immediately latched onto an individual cell, boring into it and beginning to sprout.
Ryu was unmoved by the change. Most would be freaked out watching what amounted to a fungal infection growing inside their bodies, but to Ryu, it was as though he was observing someone else undergo such a thing.
Ailsa's face warped. '… Gross… Did you have to do that? You're ruining my image of you.'
Ryu smiled, but didn't say much in response. He was entirely focused on the changes.
'It breaks down the cells wall… Takes over the organelles to produce sustenance for its growth… Once it reaches a certain size, it rebuilds the cell wall much sturdier than it had in the past before dying. It doesn't seem capable of continuing the process…?'
Ryu came to a sudden understanding.
This was why Giveon had said not to breathe. If Ryu's conjecture was correct, there was something special about the cells and organelles of the Mountain Barbarians that allowed this process to not stop at the spore's death.
Whatever this difference was, it allowed the spore to remain alive and continue to reproduce.
'This is ingenious. So this was the creator of Body of an Herbologist's ultimate goal.'
Ryu's gaze flashed as he seemed to understand something. In fact, it felt like every page of that human skin Tome had compiled into a single roadmap, forming a vibrant future like a blinding light at the end of the path.
'If things are like this, whether I'm able to keep my corpse puppets alive during the refinement process would be meaningless. No… It wouldn't be meaningless, the most important thing would be finding ways to make sure that the spores were all evenly distributed… The easiest way to do this would be by having the future corpse puppet remain alive and continuously inhale these spores.
'That way, it would be able to enter the lungs and follow oxygen along every pathway of the body. Only then would it reach perfect coverage…'
Suddenly, finding a method of keeping the body alive for as long as possible had become even more important.
'Unless…'
Ryu fell into deep thought. If he simulated the beating of a heart and the expansion and contraction of the lungs, it might still be possible.
'I need to do experiments…'
Just as Ryu was falling deeper and deeper into thought, the roar of what sounded like a beast sounded up ahead.
"We've been found." Giveon called out. "Prepare for battle."
Ryu calmly looked up before a sharp icy air surrounded him. The spores that had been growing in his lungs were frozen away and healed in the blink of an eye with the use of his Ice Flame.
Compared to the number of spores he had inhaled, the number of cells in his body were countless times more numerous. He wasn't even worried about dealing with any aftereffects.
At that moment, Annette entered her full form, a vibrant violet dress flowing around her as arcs of lightning crackled.
"Remember our goal! The relic should be located at the center of their village! Avoid as many battles as you can and reach their Shrine as quickly as possible! Charge!"