Chapter 449 – Seed of Misfortune

The crafty merchant Chiqino had supplied Lu Yuan with eighteen blocks of bismuth iron waste ore in total.

Now, these bismuth iron waste ores, which were considered less than garbage by outsiders, had all transformed into refined bismuth iron.

“Although it’s not tested, the purity should be quite high…”

Lu Yuan stepped forward and casually picked up a metal block to examine it closely.

This was the product he obtained after devouring and absorbing the bismuth iron waste ore, extracting mainly the bismuth iron substance. It couldn’t compare with the bismuth iron processed through professional smelting procedures.

After all, it was just a lump of metal formed by his hand, with strength, hardness, and toughness that were undeniably substandard.

But.

If it were simply used as a Forging Material, this thing would definitely hold significant value.

“The real focus isn’t on this…”

Lu Yuan tossed aside the black metal block, redirecting his attention to himself.

His mind immersed in an internal visualization.

He could see that within Lu Qiyuan’s body, the core flesh and blood tissue that belonged to his true self had grown slightly larger than before.

Very little.

But there was indeed some recovery.

“The body fat substances in those bismuth iron waste ores, from the Source Worms, contained rich Life Energy, exactly what I need to restore my physical body…”

Lu Yuan had checked.

Source Worms, these creatures, primarily fed on plant sap and had a voracious appetite.

One nail-sized Source Worm could, given the chance, devour an entire area of primitive forest spanning hundreds of hectares.

Such an immense amount of plant essence concentrated in the tiny body of a worm-one can imagine the abundant Life Energy contained within.

Even though much of the Life Energy dissipated from the dead Source Worms, the remaining portion was still considerable.

In fact, many health supplements on the market today derived their ingredients from Source Worms, using live ones. Nobody extracted from the corpses of Source Worms, let alone the body fat gel embedded in bismuth metal ore.

“Too many impurities, and they’re toxic…”

“But for me, that isn’t a problem.”

Lu Yuan had inherited the [Devour] Talent from the Spirit Devourer Clan, allowing him to devour almost anything. A bit of poison was naturally no problem for him.

The impurities and toxins extracted from the waste ore were now all accumulated within Lu Yuan’s body, condensed into a tiny, twisted black dot.

“During the devouring evolution process, the Spirit Devourer Clan naturally accumulates a lot of ‘waste’ that is useless to the body…”

For these ‘wastes,’ the Spirit Devourer Clan had long developed utilization methods.

By accessing the main panel of [Spirit Devourer – God and Demon Species (Transcendent Mythical)], one could clearly see that beneath the [Devour] skill, which had already leveled up to lv2, a new skill had appeared.

lv1 [Seed of Misfortune]!

Also known as the “bad seed.”

These “Seeds of Misfortune” contained extremely potent toxins, capable of causing great harm and destruction once inside a living body.

Since they originated from within a member of the Spirit Devourer Clan and were under the control of the creator, in the Spirit Devourer Clan, “Seeds of Misfortune” were often used as a powerful means of control.

A single “Seed of Misfortune” could transform a rebellious opponent into a loyal servant.

“It’s somewhat like those deadly symbols or poisons used by villains in Xuanhuan Novels from my past life-if you’re disobedient, you die, and if you don’t want to die, you have to obediently become my servant…”

Lu Yuan reviewed the effect of the “Seed of Misfortune,” clicking his tongue in admiration.

He had to admit, the talent of the Spirit Devourer Clan was indeed incredibly powerful.

This race had evolved to a remarkably perfect state.

Their abilities and methods in every aspect were extremely formidable, no wonder they prided themselves as the Lord of All Spirits and the King of All tribes.

“Since every Spirit Devourer’s process of devouring and growth varies, with different ‘menus’, the effects of the resulting ‘Seeds of Misfortune’ also vary greatly.

Some Seeds of Misfortune can damage the physical body, and some can even corrode the soul.

The further the progression, the more terrifying and powerful the ‘Seed of Misfortune’ becomes…”

Lu Yuan glanced at his own [Seed of Misfortune], currently only the size of a grain of rice, having just formed, and with very low level experience.

“I don’t know what the effect of this little ‘Seed of Misfortune’ would be. I’ll have to find someone to try it on later…”

“With the ability to devour and evolve, I’ve now gained the means to control others as well. Hmm… I’m starting to feel more and more like a villain.”

Lu Yuan continued to examine his core.

“At last, I’ve found a feasible path to recovery. As long as I have a large amount of bismuth metal waste ore, my strength can quickly be restored…”

Having live Source Worms would be even better. However, just like those life essence-rich health potions on the market, live Source Worms are also quite expensive.

Lu Yuan initially considered this point and casually asked Lu Feng about it when he was at the Ellis Market. He had already researched that any drug on the market related to replenishing life essence costs over ten thousand Duoling Coins.

Meanwhile, Lu Qiyuan’s personal savings only amounted to a few tens of thousands of Duoling Coins.

For an average family, tens of thousands might seem like a lot, but in the circle of nobility, what’s that amount of money good for? Practically nothing.

It could be spent on just one fine dining experience.

Even if Lu Yuan bought the cheapest potions, he could only afford two or three, which wouldn’t be enough for his needs.

“Though Lu Lingfeng was strict with Lu Qiyuan, his mother spoiled him immensely, so he was never short of pocket money. But Lu Qiyuan spent all his money pursuing Vinia and on games…”

The top-tier Mecha skins filling the virtual combat platform warehouse were the best evidence of this.

The main reason Lu Qiyuan thought of going out to pick Meteors late at night was that he was out of money and couldn’t afford other gifts for Vinia.

“But if it weren’t for this guy’s reckless spending and his sycophant tendencies, I wouldn’t have had the chance to ‘rebirth’ using his body…”

“So, the current issue now is finding a source for the bismuth metal waste ore.”

Although bismuth metal ore is seen as less valuable than garbage, you can’t just buy it anywhere. Even if you could purchase it freely, buying large quantities of bismuth metal waste ore over an extended period, with all of it mysteriously disappearing, would definitely raise suspicions for anyone with a bit of sense.

“I need a stable and covert way to dispose of the waste ore without attracting attention,” Lu Yuan thought to himself. “Ideally, I’d like a channel where I can also sell the extracted bismuth metal for money.”

As he pondered, he casually summoned his Light Brain to search for information on the main distributions of bismuth metal resource planets in the Empire, the locations of waste ore garbage planets, and Source Worm distributions.

While searching, he unexpectedly stumbled upon an intriguing piece of information.

“Huh?!”

Lu Yuan blinked at the data that popped up in front of him, unable to contain his surprise.

“Is it really… this convenient?!”

“That makes things much easier…”

…

Surrounded by lush greenery, the tranquil and beautiful tree-lined path was filled with pairs of young men and women walking together. Most of the men wore well-tailored dark blue jackets adorned with golden pattern trimmings on the collars and cuffs, exuding a noble and handsome aura. The women wore knee-length, waist-fitted dresses with white lace at the hem, appearing both graceful and elegant.

This was the Duoling Shield, one of the top-tier nobility academies on Planet Dadu, No. 2045.

Inside a large, white-spired building, in a room with a stunning red ruby embedded in the wall above the door, a few elegantly poised young men and women were sitting or standing, whispering and chatting.

Suddenly, someone rushed in from outside, calling out loudly, “Big news! Big news!”

Everyone in the room, who had been casually chatting, instinctively turned their attention to the person who had burst in.

“What’s this big news?”

A red-haired youth, lounging lazily in his seat, with a nose ring and earrings, asked the newcomer.

The latter, catching his breath, pointed to his personal terminal, which resembled a pocket watch, and quickly said, “Didn’t you see the message I posted in the group? Lu Qiyuan, who was recently trending in the school’s news… has dropped out today!”

“Dropped out?!”

Everyone in the room was taken aback.

Someone instantly burst into laughter.

“Haha, he pretended to be sick and hid at home for more than half a month, but in the end, he still couldn’t hold on and chose to drop out!”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t want to come to school either. Who likes to be the laughing stock everywhere they go?”

Another person chimed in while laughing.

The red-haired youth who had first spoken couldn’t help but sit up upon hearing the news. He then pulled a girl sitting next to him into an embrace and laughed, saying, “I didn’t expect Lu Qiyuan to actually drop out. Tsk tsk…

Speaking of which, this whole thing started because of you, Vinia. Don’t you think you should comfort him a bit?”

The girl in question, Vinia, had long magenta waves of hair, skin as white as Milk, and bright blue eyes. She was undeniably beautiful and elegant.

Facing the red-haired youth’s teasing, she remained calm, replying indifferently, “What does this have to do with me? Lu Qiyuan and I aren’t even friends. He brought this on himself with his own one-sided feelings.”

“What a cold-hearted woman you are. I wonder how heartbroken Lu Qiyuan would be to hear this…”

The red-haired youth shook his head in mock sympathy, then leaned in closer to Vinia, whispering seductively into her ear, “We’ll need to find someone else to buy our breakfast now. You know I can’t stand the food here at school…”

Vinia blushed at the red-haired youth’s intimate and unabashed behavior, her body involuntarily squirming as if feeling uncomfortable. But she eventually lowered her head and softly murmured an “okay.”

The others around them chuckled, seemingly used to such displays.

…

“He hasn’t come. Ever since that incident, Xu Mingguang hasn’t come to school at all. His family came here twice, but that was a while ago, and nobody has seen them recently. I heard the school can’t even get in touch with his family now…”

At the entrance of the Duoling Shield Academy, two well-behaved and robust boys stood in front of Lu Yuan, answering his questions.

They were Xu Mingguang’s “friends”-or more accurately, Lu Qiyuan’s followers-from his time at Duoling Shield.

“Alright, I got it,” Lu Yuan replied after listening to the two, nodding his head and getting ready to leave.

The two couldn’t help but ask again, “Qiyuan, are you really planning to drop out?”

Lu Yuan halted his steps, turning back to see the complex but somewhat reluctant expressions on their faces, which softened his attitude a bit. He nodded and answered, “Yes.”

“Where will you go after dropping out? Golden Thorn? Or the red eagle?” They rattled off several academy names similar to Duoling Shield, but Lu Yuan just shook his head.

“Nowhere for now. I plan to take about six months off.”

The two were taken aback but quickly nodded in understanding, “That’s good. Once everything settles down, you can come back, and nobody will remember…”

As they spoke, they noticed Lu Yuan waving goodbye and walking away swiftly. Their comforting words came to an abrupt halt as they watched his figure fade into the distance, mouths agape but unable to find the right words.

“Looks like he’s really leaving…”

Lu Yuan walked through the wide, pristine square at the entrance of Duoling Shield Academy, his expression calm. Today, he had come to the academy to personally handle his withdrawal-or more accurately, his leave of absence-and also to call out Lu Qiyuan’s two followers to inquire about any news regarding Xu Mingguang. The result was just as he expected.

He was now quite certain that Xu Mingguang was unlikely to appear again. He even suspected that Xu Mingguang’s family might have been kidnapped or worse.

Otherwise, why would they abandon both work and studies entirely?

Lu Yuan figured that as the news of Xu Mingguang’s family’s disappearance spread over time, people would start to cast suspicion on the Lu family.

Indeed, if something unfortunate had happened to Xu Mingguang’s family, Lu Yuan, having recently been entangled with Xu Mingguang, was the most suspicious at this stage.

“Never mind, I’ll set aside the matter of the Magic Cube for now. The priority is to solve the immediate problems first. Once my strength is restored, recovering it won’t be a concern…”

Lu Yuan decided to temporarily stop thinking about the golden Magic Cube and proceed step by step according to his plan.

Just as he was lost in thought, suddenly…

“Whoosh-“

A sharp, rushing sound came from behind him. Lu Yuan’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he instinctively sidestepped…

“Bang!”

A small ripple appeared on the body of the hover car parked not far in front of Lu Yuan, as a stone tumbled to the ground. Lu Feng’s figure appeared silently beside the hover car.

Lu Yuan turned and looked coldly in the direction the stone had been thrown.

About ten meters away stood a slim girl with a ponytail, glaring at him fiercely.

Dressed in the Duoling Shield school uniform, she was evidently another Student from the Academy.

“Where is Xu Mingguang’s family now? Speak up! I warn you, Lu Qiyuan, don’t go too far!”

Lu Yuan listened to the girl’s threatening words, squinting slightly.

He had just been thinking that the disappearance of Xu Mingguang’s family could easily bring suspicion upon him. And now, someone acquainted with Xu Mingguang was already confronting him to demand their return.

Judging by the girl’s appearance, attire, and demeanor, she seemed to be of nobility. It was surprising that Xu Mingguang had such a “close female friend” at school.

Not intending to respond, Lu Yuan glanced at the girl briefly before turning away.

The girl attempted to follow him, but two other girls, also in school uniforms, pulled her back.

From a distance, he could faintly hear her shouting phrases like “It must be him!”, “Even if it’s not him, he’s definitely involved”, and “Bastard”.

Approaching the hover car, Lu Yuan noticed Lu Feng, his bodyguard, giving him a peculiar look.

It was uncertain whether this look was due to Lu Yuan narrowly avoiding the girl’s projectile or his calm demeanor in the face of her harsh words.

“Let’s go,” Lu Yuan instructed, ignoring Lu Feng’s glance.

Without a word, Lu Feng nodded.

The hover car gracefully lifted off, drawing an elegant arc before rapidly speeding away into the distance.