Chapter 282: Buried Treasure

Joo Joowon guessed that this should no longer be possible. At most, the flesh might retain the ability to fill one’s stomach.

Of course, that was not necessarily certain. The physical bodies of extraordinary creatures had already been tempered by extraordinary energy. Their basic attributes were still there. Even if all the energy had been taken away, those changes could not be erased.

Although Joo Joowon’s mana bar consisted of Star Fortune and Star Fiend, he was not completely without quanta energy. He knew that ether energy would not appear in every corner of the body, at least not at the current stage.

Quanta energy was more like an independent "organ" outside the body. It was like the mobile phones humans had before the apocalypse. People could use them and could not easily live without them, but the phones did not grow on their bodies. At most, they could be considered external organs.

After spending so much time looting the spoils, the harvest was quite good. The only regrettable thing was that both the zombie cores and the Mysterious Remnants were in a contaminated state. Joo Joowon could not use them at all.

One had to understand that after becoming a transcendence being, Joo Joowon could already make use of the energy inside them. Although he could not absorb it as experience points, he could still use it to temper his body, swallowing it like Hwi and Byeol did. However, with them in this contaminated state, he definitely did not dare to use them.

Regardless, he would not give up these spoils.

Joo Joowon ran through the entire surrounding area. He even made a special trip to search inside the tree hollows, determined not to miss any remaining items. He wished he could tear up the entire layer of grass. Even if a dung beetle came over, it would still have to leave something behind.

With such thorough searching, his harvest was naturally quite substantial. The cores of various qualities added up to as many as one hundred and fifty or sixty. This showed that the earth fire must usually have been the local tyrant of the area.

The entire mountain was so quiet because the earth fire had probably killed off every species living there. At most, some egg-laying insects, such as mosquitoes, had managed to escape its notice. Not a single mammal remained.

Earlier, when Joo Joowon had been running around in the water, he had not seen many aquatic creatures either. Clearly, the earth fire had not even spared the larger fish.

Now, everything had become Joo Joowon’s gain.

However, considering the entire mountain and the creatures living nearby, was this number large or small?

One had to remember that several dozen mutated beasts and zombies had come running over just today. From the condition of the mountain, it was also clear that the earth fire had no understanding of sustainable development. Even if it usually restrained itself somewhat, it probably did not restrain itself by much.

If calculated this way, the number seemed somewhat strange.

Joo Joowon shook his head. Thinking about it this way also had its problems. Who did not increase their level one day at a time? Naturally, the more time passed, the greater the harvest would become. In the early stages, that was not necessarily true. After all, how much could those Level 1 or Level 2 little zombies provide?

...No, that was not right.

For players, low-level zombies could only provide beginner equipment and one or two points of experience. However, that did not mean they had no remains left behind. It was just that the Age of Apocalypse probably looked down on such tiny gains. It only condensed zombie cores from elite monsters and bosses, while ordinary zombies only provided experience and drops.

If things were calculated this way, then small amounts accumulating over time might actually add up to a considerable number.

No matter how desolate a mountain was, it was still a large mountain. It was impossible for only one or two animals to live there. It had a complete ecosystem. From mammals to birds and insects, everything that should be there would be there.

Joo Joowon immediately began calling for reinforcements. No, he was calling for fire.

Earth Fire: "???"

It had just been about to claim that it had nothing to do with this when it sensed a pressure filled with killing intent rushing toward it. It could only point the way unwillingly.

Although it did not eat these things, it was not stupid. It could not possibly fail to sense how abundant their energy was. Therefore, after hunting and eating its fill in the past, it would carry these things to specific locations and bury them. From time to time, it would stimulate the energy inside them, attempting to create a high-quality energy flame.

Ordinary flames were not very comfortable for it to inhabit. Naturally, it wanted to possess a flame "shell" that would allow it to display its abilities more effectively.

On the other hand, it also wanted to transform the great mountain into a true "volcano" and treat this place as its territory. Therefore, it had also been trying to create an earth vein filled with fire elements.

For a spiritual lifeform like the earth fire, which had a somewhat sneaky and crafty nature, this had originally been its backup plan. It had never expected Joo Joowon not only to capture it but also to overturn the lid of its coffin.

However, given the current situation, it could only pinch its nose and accept it. Nothing was more important than staying alive.

When Joo Joowon followed the earth fire’s directions, he could not help being shocked.

A large amount of common-quality remains had piled up inside the underground cavern. The energy was so abundant that it had almost liquefied, giving the surrounding soil a rich and fertile appearance. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no matter how delicate a crop was, as long as it was planted here, it would definitely grow healthily.