What exactly was a crystal?
What exactly was a crystal? No one knew. The old civilization only mentioned stones, which were all kinds of stones in animals and humans.
For example, gallstones and kidney stones!
Crystals? He didn't know if the Sariras of that era were real and not fake, but real and naturally produced Sariras.
Tang Ling was not a scientist after all. Even though he was curious and wanted to search for more knowledge, he did not have the time or the environment to study it thoroughly.
All he could say was that crystals were a unique product of this era and would usually appear in the major muscle of the heart.
Tang Ling had never seen a crystal before, but according to the information he got, he knew that the blood red crystal with a hint of purple did not appear out of nowhere like a stone embedded in the heart.
Instead, it felt more like it grew in the heart and was connected to the heart by blood.
The major muscle around the crystal would also change and become tougher. The closer the muscle was to the crystal, the stronger the changes would be.
It felt like the cells in the heart were slowly mutating and eventually turning into a crystal.
What was the nature of a crystal? Tang Ling had no idea. He did not even know if he could observe the cells in the crystal.
However, the changes were reasonable. Otherwise, the heart of the ancient civilization would not have been able to support the strength and speed of the modern civilization.
At least, it was the same for humans. The stronger the living being, the higher the chance of producing a crystal.
As for insects … Tang Ling thought about it as he quickly bandaged his wound and smashed the black-winged mantis to death. Given his strength, it was still possible for him to deal with an immobile black-winged mantis with some effort.
Then, it was time for him to search for the crystal.
Insects did not have a heart like humans. Instead, along the middle of their back, there was an organ known as the dorsal blood vessel. It was a combination of the heart and the blood vessel. Similar to the major muscle, the muscles that compressed the beating and pumped the blood were also there.
Tang Ling was eager to search for the crystal, so it was impossible for him to neglect such knowledge.
Without further ado, Tang Ling used the sharpest knife in his hand and borrowed it from Orston for a week to dissect the black-winged mantis.
When the exposed dorsal blood vessel showed signs of toughening, Tang Ling's heart raced.
He touched the tough spots and searched for the center point. All he could do was pray that the center point had crystallized and mutated.
Tang Ling's movements became unusually slow until he felt an unusual hardness in his hand. Then, he stopped abruptly and eagerly looked at the hardness.
Very small, only the size of half a thumb.
The bewitching blood-red color emitted a faint fluorescent light. The texture was very exquisite and translucent.
When he took it out and held it against the sunlight, he could see a few very, very fine purple threads inside.
So this is a crystal? Is this the crystal that costs 50 Hope credits per gram? Holding the 3 grams of crystal in his hand, Tang Ling felt surreal. He quickly calculated that even if he completed all the missions he could in the past 20 days without rest, he would not be able to earn 80 Hope credits, yet this little crystal was worth at least 150 Hope credits?
Tang Ling tightened his fingers and gripped it tightly. It did not feel like he was holding a rock at all.
It was warm and delicate, as if it had a life of its own. It made people love it from the bottom of their hearts and wanted to possess it.
What luck!
Even a level-3 mutated beast might not be able to produce a crystal if its entire heart started to harden and not just a part of it.
Tang Ling got it from a level-3 mutated insect.
Moreover, judging from the grade of the crystal, it should at least be of good quality.
However, it was not the time to indulge in it. Regardless of how close he was to the border, he was still on the battlefield and accidents could happen at any time.
Moreover, the black-winged mantis was considered one of the more valuable ones among the level-3 mutated insects.
Its front limbs and wings were items that the Hope Barrier would purchase with Hope credits.
Its flesh was not a lot, so it was also within the purchasing range of the Hope Barrier.
Tang Ling obviously could not deal with the black-winged mantis's carcass here. If he was unlucky enough to run into an accident, he would not be able to maintain his best battle form since he was injured.
Moreover, there were no weaklings on the battlefield.
After putting away the crystal, Tang Ling could not think of a better way to deal with it, so he picked up the mantis's carcass and sprinted towards the thick forest.
The black-winged mantis weighed around 100 kgs, but after losing so much blood, it was weightless. Plus, with Tang Ling's strength, the weight was nothing.
**
The place that Tang Ling regarded as the feeding ground was obviously the best place to deal with the black-winged mantis's carcass.
On top of that, it was close to the battlefield.
God of Luck was on Tang Ling's side this time. Sprinting at full speed and grabbing the tactical backpack that he had hidden on the tree, Tang Ling managed to reach the feeding ground in less than five minutes.
There was no danger along the way.
However, dissecting the body was a troublesome task. There were many hard parts on the black-winged mantis' body. Fortunately, he had Orston's precious military stiletto. Otherwise, Tang Ling would have to spend a lot more time with his steel dagger.
Even so, the mantis was dismembered crudely, but the important parts were the small piece of hard armor in front of its chest, the forelimbs that were cleverly hollowed out, the wings, and the legs. Tang Ling did not miss any of them.
Tang Ling tried his best to fit everything in the elastic tactical backpack, but the large forelimbs and wings could only hang on the hook of the backpack. It was a helpless choice.
Fortunately, it was rare to run into people in the north forest. Tang Ling did not believe that he would be robbed.
As for the meat, after he washed it, he roasted it whole and ate it.
He would need to replenish himself after a battle. Even if the meat exceeded his body's daily needs, he could use the eating method that Su Yao taught him to digest the meat quickly and convert it into energy for his body.
Patting his stomach in satisfaction, Tang Ling felt the power of the Level 3 mutated insect's meat. Even though he had dug out all the tiny seams of the body, there was less than 5 kgs of meat left.
However, the 5 kgs of meat would allow him to avoid hunger for at least two days. He would also have the time to complete some missions and earn some Hope credits.
More importantly, the quality of the meat was much stronger than the king beast meat.
Getting stronger would start with eating! It would start with eating!
Satisfied, Tang Ling carried his spoils and endured the exhaustion. He decided to hide his spoils in that place, his secret base, and then return to the Hope Barrier.
This bountiful harvest might give him a chance to sleep for a few hours tonight.
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