I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

Chapter 144 Pilsner's Memories, The Primal Sage

[May trigger disturbing associations; proceed with caution while eating]

After hearing Ivan's words, Pilsson's still bloodshot eyes suddenly lit up.

"You said you could provide me with a virus?"

Evan nodded slightly: "Of course! My virus is much better than those of those sick people, as you just experienced."

Pilsson recalled those few minutes that felt like he was dying.

More than a dozen viruses attacked at the same time, tormenting him from the inside out, to the point that even breathing became torture.

He swallowed hard. As a researcher, he had always had a great desire and courage to explore the unknown.

This is why he paid such a huge price to stay with that disgusting teacher.

Knowledge! Power! And Truth!

These things held far greater appeal for him than physical pain.

The witcher in front of him could not only satisfy his curiosity, but also provide him with assistance in fighting against his teacher.

"No problem! I'm willing to cooperate."

Ivan sat in his chair and nodded slightly: "But if you want me to trust you, you must also show some appreciation."

3

"Give me a drop of spiritual blood! It's a necessary insurance."

Without any hesitation, Pilsson's spirituality quickly gathered, condensing into a crystal-clear drop of blood at the tip of his right index finger.

The drop of blood emitted a faint glow in the darkness, giving it an indescribable texture.

After all, the torment he had suffered over the years was far more severe than giving up a single drop of spiritual blood.

Evan took out the empty bottle he had left over from drinking the potion, carefully put the drop of blood inside, and tightened the cap.

Then he picked up the bottle of orange-yellow liquid, twirled it under the light, and asked, "What kind of medicine is this? What are its effects?"

Pilsson explained, "It's a purified extract of black tree spirits."

"The main effect is to increase our tree spirit's vitality and enter a sprouting state, which not only increases our strength and size, but also quickly heals injuries."

Then, fearing that this ignorant fool might not understand the meaning behind it, he added.

"This is not a magic potion; it's more like a regular medicine on a material level."

Ivan fiddled with the bottle, somewhat curious: "I never imagined monsters could be used like this. Why hasn't it become a large-scale replacement for potions?"

Pilsson sighed: "Because of the price, the material cost of this thing alone is almost fifty times that of a magic potion."

"Potions can easily harness a bit of animalistic instinct to gain immense power, and this stuff is made entirely from the residual properties extracted from a large number of monster corpses."

Evan immediately lost interest, but he still wrote down the idea to see if it would come in handy in the future.

He then handed the medicine bottle back.

Pilsson took the medicine bottle and, seeing that Ivan didn't intend to make things difficult for him any further, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He activated his abilities and began to heal his injuries.

Near the pierced chest and crushed spine, numerous tender green shoots sprouted from the fractured surfaces, then rapidly grew, hardened, and filled in.

The previously broken wood chips and dead bark gradually fell off, just like a large tree.

A few minutes later, the hollowed-out dead tree slowly returned to normal.

Then Pilsner reverted to human form.

He moved his shoulders and neck, and after confirming that everything was normal, he asked with some curiosity.

"I'm very curious, how exactly did you discover the medication hidden in my rectum?"

"This cannot be explained by mere insight!"

"Because a person's attention span is limited, a normal person would never put their precious sensory abilities into that position."

Ivan vaguely said, "I have some impression of this method because I once saw another genius use it to kill the enemy."

"I knew you had something up your sleeve just from the way you were exerting force."

Pilsson's eyes widened, his face filled with shock, and then he asked eagerly.

"I never expected to find a confidant in Bolton City! He must be a genius!"

"Where is he now? What does he do for a living? Is he still alive?"

"If I have the time, I would really like to have an in-depth academic exchange with him."

When Evan heard the words "in-depth academic exchange," his scalp tingled instantly.

He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Let's skip the in-depth conversation; that guy seems pretty busy."

Pilsson was a little disappointed, but didn't dwell on it too much: "Can I leave now?"

Ivan smiled and said, "Don't rush. This is the first time I've let an enemy go. I still need to make some careful arrangements."

"Close your eyes first, don't worry! I won't hurt you."

Faced with this witcher who spoke of ignorance as if it were perfectly reasonable and whose mental state was clearly not normal, Pilsson dared not put up any resistance.

He obediently closed his eyes and remained motionless.

A silver key appeared in Ivan's palm. He casually paid a secret, then plunged the silver key into Pilsner's forehead.

At the moment of penetration, Ivan saw Pilsner's spirit be completely suppressed, losing all desire to resist.

"I want all his memories about the Y-virus parasite."

Pilsson felt somewhat dazed, as if he had just had a very short dream.

Then he heard Ivan's voice: "Alright, open your eyes."

Pilsson opened his eyes, looked himself over, and finding nothing different, instinctively asked, "What did you do to me?"

-

Ivan said casually, "It's just a little psychological suggestion. I don't want you to tell other people too much about me."

Pilsson nodded in understanding, and then the light fell on the pair of antler crowns and the withered wooden sword on the table.

"Can you return these two magical artifacts to me? Otherwise, I won't be able to explain myself when I go back."

"The host has already been lost. If I lose the two magical artifacts as well, I won't be able to explain it to my teacher."

Ivan toyed with the antler crown and the withered wood sword: "What are the uses of these two magical artifacts?"

Pilsson explained, "The antler crown is fireproof and is used to compensate for the core weakness of our tree spirits."

"Once activated, the Drywood Sword can transform into the tongue of a swamp tree spirit. The venom it secretes can essentially control the enemy instantly without endangering their life."

After listening, Ivan handed the two magical artifacts back with little interest: "Take them."

He couldn't really use the effects of these two magical artifacts.

He doesn't need fire prevention, and if he tries to control it, he has a virus.

Moreover, this thing looks like it belongs to the Red King's laboratory.

Even if it were given to Hill and Richard, it would be easily recognized and cause trouble.

Pilsson took the ritual implement, gave Ivan a deep look, and then bowed.

"Thank you for sparing my life."

"If you want to contact me later, you can go directly to Poker Street."

"As for the Y-virus parasite, I will help you find a suitable candidate."

As he spoke, a few cold glints flashed in his eyes.

It's clear that he has many enemies in the Red King's laboratory.

Those suitable candidates are most likely the targets of his revenge.

He then disappeared silently into the darkness outside the window.

After Pearson left, Ivan first rearranged a shrouding ceremony in the house.

A pale yellow film once again covered the entire apartment.

After everything was finished, he lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and accessed the memories extracted from Pilsner's mind.

Then he regretted it the next second.

Because the very first image of this memory was incredibly jarring.

He never expected that Pilsner's first memory of the Y-virus parasite would be gained during his time with his teacher, Old Tree Roots.

Although I couldn't see the other teacher's face clearly, judging from the texture of his skin and his build, he was about forty years old and a bit taller than Pierson.

The screen is filled with a lot of brutal and visually overwhelming gameplay.

This is no longer a matter of normal desire; it is a perverted behavior purely aimed at inflicting pain.

"No wonder this kid hates his teacher so much."

Ivan stroked his chin. "Could his teacher be from Britain?"

Keep reading.

It was during that process that Pearson first saw the Y-virus parasite.

At that time, the parasite was inside his teacher's body.

During the process of the old tree's roots becoming entangled, the teacher also used the spores within to torment the Pirson tree.

Evan also saw the actual effects of these spores for the first time.

Once inside the body, they grow rapidly, producing numerous incredibly hard thorns and spikes.

Those spikes looked like they were made of countless barbed wires woven together, and wherever they grew, they completely controlled the muscle structure of that area.

Because if you move even slightly, the sharp spikes piercing from dozens or even hundreds of directions simultaneously will cause your muscles to spasm instantly.

Pilsson cried incessantly from the pain, but the more pain he felt, the happier his mentor laughed.

It took two full hours before the tree spirit could use its germination method to completely cut off that area, allowing new tissue to grow back and restore normal function.

"That old bastard deserves to die!" Evan's fists clenched as he watched.

Soon, the next memory will arrive.

This time, Pearson saw a large number of culture tanks in his field of vision.

The culture tanks were not filled with regular liquids, but with various incredibly thick and viscous black sand-like substances.

At first glance, it looks like quicksand, and it is divided into one glass tank after another.

Each culture tank contains a tree root that appears to have been growing for a long time.

The roots spread upwards from the bottom of the tanks, eventually intertwining and fusing together among dozens or even hundreds of cultivation tanks to form a tree.

The tree's material was quite peculiar.

The surface of the tree trunk is not bark, but has a texture similar to human skin.

His skin was jet black, with fine pores and sweat glands.

The leaves on the tree looked like they were pieced together from countless human hairs, swaying slowly in the windless environment.

In my memory, Pilsson was kneeling on the ground, cheering loudly.

"Ah! Great primordial sage! You have finally descended!"

"The Primordial Sage—"

Ivan wrote down this new vocabulary.

Subsequent memories became dull.

For a long time, Pilsner’s main task was to nurture that ancient tree there.

During the process, Evan also learned what those sticky, sandy substances were.

A culture medium formed by the special processing of a large amount of concentrated human and animal feces, mixed with various strange bacteria and fragments of monster corpses.

What troubled Ivan even more was that, in the process of preparing these sand-like substances, they seemed to have an indescribable attraction for Pilsson.

Almost every student, including Pilsson, who was responsible for stirring these things, would secretly stuff several large mouthfuls into their mouths when no one was around.

The intense satisfaction he felt after each meal, the feeling of "I'd be willing to die right now," was transmitted through his memories, plunging Evan into deep self-doubt.

"vomit!!!"

"Damn it! I can't just look at these memories anymore!"

"Even I, Yi Laoba, can't stand it anymore!"

He quickly scrolled past those boring and disgusting memory fragments.

Then he saw that the tree had borne fruit.

The fruit has a pale white structure and is shaped like an egg.

Its surface is smooth and without any texture, but under light it refracts a cool blue luster that doesn't belong to the material world.

Pilsson and the other students were then expelled, and they were never allowed to touch the tree again.

After that, Pearson was assigned some projects related to virus experiments.

It was during this process that he saw footage of himself undergoing drug trials at Yuri's clinic.

This includes the entire process of how Ivan's blood poisoned him and rendered him unconscious.

"No wonder this guy is so familiar with me; it turns out he already knew me from back then."

From this memory, Ivan also saw another important piece of information.

They also have a secret sanatorium outside the city, which is used to concentrate and cultivate various viruses.

Of the people who had previously tested the drug with him, apart from Kairi, who was kept as the husband of Nyogda's family, the rest were eventually sent to that sanatorium.

Their core purpose in cultivating the virus is to allow it to absorb enough spiritual energy, and then use these active viruses to feed the Y virus parasite.

Virus A, Virus B, Virus C—and so on—these are all the lunchboxes for the parasites of Virus Y.

These viruses absorbed the nutrients from other viruses and then became nourishment for the Y virus.

Ivan nodded, which at least proved that Pilsson was telling the truth.

Time continues to flow.

I recall a scene from Pilsner's visit to Keri's home to investigate the Nyogda family.

"Wow, do I have a special connection with this guy?" Evan exclaimed.

The scene then shows Pilsson frequently visiting Nijo's clinic, and interacting with a beautiful woman who wears a sexy white coat every day, whose face is obscured.

The woman seemed to seduce him every time, and Pilsson would always harshly berate and humiliate her.

"Mrs. Cammy—" Evan noted this detail down in his mind.

Finally, the memory returned to about a week ago.

Pilsson was taken by his teacher to a secret room where his right arm was embedded in a device behind the wall.

Then comes the implantation process of the Y virus parasite.

Extremely painful!

Pilsson's spirituality was severely damaged in that process.

At the very moment of the implantation, Pilsner saw a huge illusion.

The strange tree that was cultivated before has now grown a human face.