Chapter 179 The Thorny Siren

"Similar to mysterious boiling, the special mark of the fourth awakening, 'burst state,' is the boiling itself, to achieve the effect of greatly increasing one's abilities.

It can be said to be the fusion of self with mystery, a complete explosion, allowing the awakened ability to enter its perfect state.

However, the side effects are also immense. After use, one's mutation may worsen, whispers may be heard in one's ears, mental faculties may gradually become disordered, and the mystery may become difficult to balance.

It is almost equivalent to a half-mysterious awakening.

Some of this data came from Wei Jingwu and others in the instance dimension.

More came from the intelligence of Yi Yueluxi. According to her, awakeners above the fourth awakening generally do not use the burst state unless absolutely necessary, as it is a double-edged sword.

But it is undeniably powerful. Why is the breakthrough from the third to the fourth awakening considered a major one, and why are fourth awakening awakeners nicknamed 'inhuman-level'? It is precisely because of this.

Not only is their combat power terrifying, but with the full explosion of their abilities, they become inhuman!

An awakened with a flame fist in its perfect state might become a flame demon, while an awakened with amplified strength might transform into a three-meter-tall giant with bulging muscles.

Hence, 'inhuman'!

Fang You explored, and soon found the knack.

Ability boiling, perfect state!

Whoosh—

The coverage of the Flame Belief suddenly expanded. Not only the belief, but all the light spots of life in the heavens and earth appeared within his perception.

The surrounding plants seemed to cheer for him, and white light particles of life, along with lights of various emotions and beliefs, poured in.

They encircled him, and his body was coated with a faint golden light.

Although he hadn't used the Phantom Step, he seemed to have detached from the earth's gravity and was slowly floating up.

A powerful oppressive force erupted like a hurricane, sweeping away the dust.

He reached out and grasped, and the lights of various beliefs converged in his hand like a river. At this moment, he felt invincible, as if a single thought could destroy a city.

Hoo~!

The golden light surrounding him quickly dissipated.

Fang You detached himself from that powerful, almost frightening state.

The life energy within him was somewhat chaotic, and faint whispers were heard in his ears, but they quickly disappeared.

He looked at his hands and clenched them tightly.

'The burst state is indeed powerful, so powerful that it's somewhat difficult to control, and it can easily create illusions for oneself.'

'I can practice it more when I have time to use the burst state more proficiently.'

Only abilities that are used proficiently are good abilities.

As for the significant side effects of the burst state? Well, he found that there weren't many. After activating the burst state for a short while, the side effects were almost nonexistent.

This might be related to his perfect awakening, with no lingering effects after awakening.

'And 'inhuman-level'... I don't have any inhuman characteristics in my perfect state. I'm still a handsome guy.'

After his awakening, the awakening bonus in the Inheritance Land slightly increased.

He told An Jianyou some key points, then let the girl enter the Inheritance Land. He stood by, guiding her through the fourth awakening.

To his slight surprise, An Jianyou passed the fourth awakening on her first attempt.

No second try was needed.

A miracle.

The girl cheered and shed tears.

'Mentor, I understand. I'll go write down my awakening experience later.'

'Mmm, and you need to develop your burst state for the fourth awakening as soon as possible.'

Fang You didn't linger and quickly arrived at the fourth floor of the base, where the planting area was located.

He held the treasure box containing the 'Thorn Seed' in his hand.

He had reached the fourth awakening, and it was time to attempt to enlighten the purple anomalous item, the 'Thorn Seed.'

To maximize the effect of the enlightenment, he deliberately came to the planting area and stood before a newly cleared patch of special soil.

He also brought in the master botanist, Liu Shang.

"What do you think?"

"Since this anomalous item is a plant-like life form, this special soil will be effective. And after enlightenment and growth... the more vigorous the plant, the stronger the effect compared to enlightening just a seed."

"For example, if you enlighten a fully grown vine, the special life born from it will likely be in its mature stage. But if you only enlighten a seed, even a purple-grade seed, what is born will likely be in its seedling or juvenile stage."

Liu Shang pondered for a moment and said, "But Mentor, you want to use this Thorn Seed yourself? Its side effects are very strong." She was a little worried.

"They are indeed significant, but if the enlightenment is successful, these side effects will naturally disappear."

Fang You said, "Of course, this matter has risks, so Mentor has also prepared one, two, three, and four backup plans."

He was now at the fourth awakening, and a fourth awakening 'inhuman-level' with very high base dimensions.

His life energy alone was 56.4 units, which was a massive amount. Even with the extreme side effects of the Thorn Seed, he estimated he could forcefully interrupt it.

At most, he would suffer some backlash.

However, this was already very dangerous, and he would not choose this method.

Fang You sat down, and the next moment, his soul seemed to emerge, forming a golden figure beside him.

From ethereal to solid.

Then, from his own body, which sat like a statue, he took the Glorious Scepter, the Angel's Tear, and the Heaven's Net Hand.

He then carefully opened the treasure box and took out the Thorn Seed.

As soon as it was taken out, the seed seemed to sense a human presence. Tiny tendrils emerged, attempting to pierce his finger to draw blood, but failed to break through the defense of the Heaven's Net Hand.

Fang You actively injected his life energy.

He immediately established a connection with this strange seed, able to control it as if it were his own arm. However, he knew that once the absorption of life energy began, it would be difficult to stop. Once his life energy was depleted, the backlash from the anomalous item would arrive.

Not daring to waste time, Fang You threw the seed out.

It landed on the special soil. Under his control and the growth instinct of the Thorn Seed, the seed burrowed into the soil, and thorny vines broke through the surface, becoming thicker and thicker, like dark green pythons twisting and dancing.

Fang You carefully checked his consumption.

He found it wasn't significant, consuming about two units of life energy per minute. This wasn't small, but his high level and abundant energy compensated for it.

Anyone else would have been drained by the Thorn Seed within minutes.

At this moment,

The thorn vines were still under his control, as if they were extensions of his own limbs. He held the Glorious Scepter, tilted it forward, its tip pointing at the wildly dancing vines in the distance, and a brilliant golden light erupted.

The ability of the legendary anomalous artifact—Enlightenment!

A very profound power, which he still couldn't comprehend, was transmitted, enveloping the wildly dancing thorn vines.

Instantly, the life energy that was only slowly draining began to pour out like a dammed river breaking free.

5 points!

10 points!

20 points!

40 points!

In just over ten seconds, his abundant life energy was almost entirely depleted, and the thorn vines were still far from being fully enlightened, even just reaching the 'minimum standard.'

As expected, it was a massive energy consumer!

He had anticipated this. The enlightenment of the Ancient Tree Qingmu had almost drained him completely.

And Qingmu was only a third awakening, and its origin was just an ordinary ancient tree. In terms of level and potential, it was far inferior to the Thorn Seed.

Fang You stopped injecting his own life energy and began to draw from the energy accumulated in the Angel's Tear.

This anomalous artifact could store up to 600 units of life energy, and when he brought it over today, it already contained over five hundred units.

A very large amount.

It also dissipated quickly. The Angel's Tear, which was emitting a faint blue glow, was visibly dimming.

It was dimming faster than he had anticipated.

100 points!

200 points!

300 points!

The rate of consumption only began to decline after over four hundred units of life energy had been consumed, indicating that the enlightenment was nearing its limit.

His limit, the Thorn Seed's limit, the Glorious Scepter's limit.

Enlightenment!

Buzz—!

The entire thorn vine truly came alive. The thorny dark green vines intertwined, forming a giant cocoon of vines.

A moment later, the vine cocoon bloomed like a flower, its petals opening from the sides, and a human figure emerged from within.

She had a graceful figure, clad in simple clothing woven from vines and leaves. Her long hair was as red as blood, and thorny vines extended from her hands.

"Ding!"

"Notification: You have enlightened a magical plant life form, 'Thorn Siren,' and she possesses extraordinary potential."

——

"Thorn Siren (Fourth Awakening)"

"Mystery: 0"

"Talent: Heart of Thorns"

"Abilities: Thorn Seed (Toughness, Lifesteal), Rapid Growth"

"Evaluation: This is a plant life form born from various serendipitous encounters, difficult to replicate. She is currently like a blank slate, but possesses formidable combat power and learning ability."

He had truly enlightened a fourth awakening life form!

Moreover, unlike the flawed and depleted potential of the Ancient Tree Qingmu, the Thorn Siren was not only a complete special life form but also possessed purple-grade potential.

Most importantly, she had ascended instantly.

A fourth awakening, inhuman-level expert! Her combat power was likely even stronger than the Ancient Tree Qingmu, and she was not as immobile.

Compared to an anomalous item that required manipulation, constantly consumed energy, and might not even be able to deal with fourth awakening opponents, enlightening her into the Thorn Siren was undoubtedly...

A huge profit!

A massive profit!

Fang You was ecstatic.

Enlightenment complete!

Life energy was no longer draining, as the anomalous item 'Thorn Seed' had disappeared, leaving only the special life form 'Thorn Siren'!

However, perhaps because the thorn vines had grown with the life energy he injected, there was an additional special connection between him and the Thorn Siren.

He immediately used a Minor Apostle Recruitment Token on the siren, who was like a blank slate.

As he pondered how to arrange her, Liu Shang, in a decidedly unladylike manner, ran up to the Thorn Siren, looking her over from head to toe, making the newly born siren somewhat flustered.

"Mentor, please let me train her."

"It's not impossible, but I want the Thorn Siren to become a primary combatant. Don't train her into a harmless gardener."

Liu Shang looked slightly disappointed. Fighting and killing were not as pleasant as planting trees and vegetables.

But since her mentor had said so.

"No problem. While combat is not a lady's pursuit, ladies must also learn necessary combat skills to remain elegant and composed when facing enemies and engaging in fierce battles."

She bowed slightly, then took the siren's hand and walked towards the training ground.