Beast Taming: I can evolve indefinitely

Chapter 277 Cordyceps Symbiosis

"Um?"

Seeing that Cordyceps dared to play tricks on him, a dangerous glint appeared in Bai Qi's eyes, while Alpha had already raised the sword of death, intending to finish off Cordyceps.

"Ahem, hero, please don't be in a hurry, let me explain."

Seeing this, Cordyceps quickly took a few steps back and said, "I'm not joking, my condition is indeed very strange."

"Strange? Tell me about it."

A hybrid of plant and insect is indeed rare.

Cordyceps briefly organized his thoughts, and a sense of melancholy suddenly emanated from him.

"Once upon a time, I was a carefree dream vine, twining around this ancient tree every day, absorbing its nutrients, and sharing my dreams with the tree and the surrounding plants. My life was quite carefree."

"But one day, the ancient tree died, and with no more companions to share my dreams, I fell into a long slumber."

Upon hearing this, Bai Qi interrupted Cordyceps, saying, "So, you are a Dream Vine?"

Cordyceps shook his head and said, "Hero, don't be in a hurry, my story is not finished yet."

"Is there more to the story?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Qi immediately became interested and simply had Shuke conjure up a chair for him to sit on, while also having Gamma pick a few Angel Fruits to eat.

Let's eat some melon seeds, how can we live without them?

After a moment of silence, the cordyceps' aura suddenly changed, becoming cheerful.

"Once upon a time, I was a happy spirit-devouring insect, constantly increasing my experience by residing in different creatures, roaming freely between heaven and earth, until one day, I smelled an alluring scent, and attracted by this scent, I came to a valley..."

"Wait a minute, you're acting like a vine one minute and a worm the next. Are you really a cordyceps?"

Bai Qi couldn't help but interrupt Cordyceps halfway through, and complained.

"Cordyceps? That name is quite fitting for my current state."

Cordyceps sighed and said, "Although I don't know what caused it, I can indeed be considered a combination of the Soul-Devouring Insect and the Dream Vine now."

"A combination of a Soul-Eating Insect and a Dream Vine?"

Bai Qi was taken aback, and the information about the Soul-Devouring Insects immediately came to mind.

[Name]: Soul-Eating Insect

[Type]: Bug

[Bloodline Level]: High-ranking Lord

[Introduction]: The Soul-Eating Insect can seize control of its host by gnawing on its nerves, brain, and even its body. It can also nourish itself with the host's blood and flesh energy. Once its level surpasses that of its host, it will replace itself with a stronger host. It is a creature hated by both ferocious beasts and humans.

"I see, so it's a parasitic insect-like creature?"

Bai Qi suddenly realized, looking at the cordyceps' half-insect, half-grass appearance, and said, "So, you're a spirit-devouring insect that's parasitized by the Dream Vine?"

"Not entirely."

Cordyceps shook its head and said, "Although I have seized control of the Dream Vine, my soul has also been eroded by the Dream Vine and my body has been taken away. So, I am now also considered part of the Dream Vine."

Awooo...

(I suddenly feel a little dizzy...)

After hearing the explanation from the cordyceps, Beta felt like his brain was about to crash, while Shuke was frantically calculating the probability of this situation.

As for Alpha and the others, they were completely confused.

However, Bai Qi quickly figured it out.

"According to you, the Soul-Devouring Worm first parasitized the Dream Vine, but the Dream Vine's soul then took over the Soul-Devouring Worm's body."

"Simply put, it means you killed yourself, but you also resurrected yourself. You and yourself are in a very strange symbiotic state."

Cordyceps nodded and said, "That's about the gist of it."

Bai Qi looked at Shuke and asked, "Shuke, what are the chances of this happening?"

Shuke shook his head and said, "The Soul-Eating Insects are parasitic, so it's not strange. But the Dream Vine rarely erodes the souls of other creatures. This should be considered as activating their abilities simultaneously, which has resulted in both their physical bodies and souls being entangled together."

"However, this is only theoretically feasible. Normally, one side would successfully plunder the existence of the other, and a fusion would not be possible."

Shuke looked puzzled, his curious eyes constantly examining the cordyceps.

Bubbling.

(Could it be that after the Soul-Eating Insect devoured the control center of the Dream Vine, it became the new control center, so neither soul rejected the body and instinctively chose to merge? Hmm, similar to grafting plants?)

"I don't think so. Grafting is just a fusion of plant limbs and has nothing to do with the soul. It must be for some other reason."

Bubbling.

(However, the body and soul are not inseparable. Apart from undead creatures, the soul should exist in every part of the body, let alone in a core location like the brain.)

"but……"

Amidst the bewildered gazes of Bai Qi and the others, Shuke and Delta engaged in a heated debate. Bai Qi, the owner of both pets, tried to step in and mediate, but suddenly found himself unable to get a word in edgewise.

There's no way around it; it's too technical, you can't just make things up even if you want to.

Huh?

(This dog wants to ask, does the Dream Vine even have a brain?)

"Shut up!"

Plurp plurp!

(Shut up!)

Shuke and Delta both turned to look at Beta. Realizing he had asked a stupid question, Beta quickly turned his head away and pretended nothing had happened.

However, it was precisely because of this that Shuke and Delta stopped arguing and began to patiently study the cordyceps.

"To completely fuse the bodies and souls of two beings, their original consciousness must be preserved, otherwise, it would easily lead to a split."

(That's right, meaning this consciousness was actually born later, and the ability to possess the memories of both must have been obtained from the remaining memories.)

"But to successfully merge, they can't rely on themselves alone. I can't detect any trace of two life forms, so there must be some external help involved."

(Delta thinks so too.)

The two pets instantly exchanged opinions and both looked at the big tree in front of them, while Bai Qi also seemed to be deep in thought.

Although the ancient tree looked like it had been dead for a long time, Bai Qi could still sense a bit of life and a unique aura. Clearly, it was no ordinary plant.

After all, in this world, whether it's plants or animals, or even a stone by the roadside or a long sword in the hands of an ancient person, they can all be nurtured by time and become spirits and pets. Moreover, judging from what Cordyceps just said, this ancient tree also has dreams, which means it has obviously already given birth to a spirit.

Crackling.

(Boss, judging from the remaining aura, this ancient tree was probably a sixth-tier monarch-level creature in its lifetime, or even higher.)

"Sixth-tier monarch level? Perhaps even higher!"

Bai Qi was taken aback upon hearing this, and Shu Ke suddenly added, "According to the tests, there is an 81% probability that this ancient tree is a Tree of Knowledge, an 18% probability that it is a Tree of War, and a 1% probability that it is an ordinary ancient tree."

"The Tree of Knowledge, one of the three great ancient trees alongside the Tree of Life?"

Bai Qi looked at the ancient tree in front of him with some surprise, as it was clearly impossible to connect it with the three great ancient trees.

Listening to the conversation between the one person and the four beasts, Cordyceps timidly raised its hand and said, "Well, in my memory, it does seem that the identity of this tree was mentioned. It should be the Ancient Tree of Knowledge."

"What a pity, it really was an ancient tree of knowledge."

Having received confirmation of the cordyceps, Bai Qi no longer had any doubts, and a sense of regret immediately arose in his heart.

The Tree of Knowledge is a creature that is said to know everything in the world. It would be incredibly awesome to subdue it. Even if you can't subdue it, extracting the core of the tree before it dies would at least be a legendary resource.

Ok?

The core of an ancient tree?

Bai Qi suddenly rushed to the ancient tree of knowledge. Through the holes in the trunk, he quickly found one of the huge hollows, where he could still faintly feel a strong vitality.

"Where is the core of this ancient tree of knowledge? Where has it gone?"

Bai Qi turned around, grabbed the cordyceps, and loudly questioned it.

"The core of the ancient tree? You mean that delicious berry? I was so hungry while I was sleeping that I ate it."

"have eaten!"

Bai Qi glared angrily and shook the cordyceps up and down forcefully, seemingly trying to shake out the core. Shu Ke, on the other hand, set up a full set of surgical tools, clearly intending to dissect it directly.

Fortunately, Bai Qi wasn't that ruthless. After struggling for a while, he chose to give up.

According to the discussion between Shuke and Delta, the cordyceps can fuse two bodies and souls to create a completely new consciousness, but it requires the assistance of external objects.

It is clearly the core of this ancient tree of life.

Click-clack.

(Master, how about we let Gamma stew him? He should be able to absorb some of the core's energy.)

Gamma, who had always been taciturn, finally spoke, but what he said almost made Cordyceps faint.

He was sleeping peacefully at home, how did he end up attracting such a group of demons?

Or should we find a chance to run away?

Thinking of this, Cordyceps glanced once more at Bai Qi and the four pets who were discussing whether or not to cook him, and then quietly retreated.

But before she could retreat for long, Cordyceps felt a chill on her back. A black longsword had appeared behind her without her noticing, while the sword's owner, Alpha, remained guarding Bai Qi's side.

It's over, there's no escaping it.

Cordyceps felt utterly hopeless and completely gave up on escaping. It simply lay down in front of Bai Qi and the others, looking completely helpless.

Seeing this, Bai Qi couldn't help but laugh. He grabbed the cordyceps and climbed onto Delta's back.

"Anyway, the mission is complete. Let's go back and turn it in first, and then we can study this guy properly."

The probability of gathering the Soul-Devouring Insect and the Dream Vine, along with the core of the Ancient Tree of Knowledge (at least at the sixth rank), is not high, and the probability of fusing them together is even lower.

Leaving such a rare creature in the wild is not Bai Qi's usual style.

(End of this chapter)