Chapter 280: Chapter 276: Cordyceps Symbiosis

“Huh?”

Seeing the Silkworm Grass daring to pull one over on him, Bai Qi’s eyes immediately flashed with danger. Alpha had already raised the Sword of Death intending to finish off the Silkworm Grass.

Ahem, dear hero, please don’t be hasty, allow me to explain,”

Seeing the situation, Silkworm Grass quickly retreated a few steps and said,

I mnot joking, my condition is genuinely strange.”

“Strange? Do enlighten us.”

A hybrid of plants and insects is indeed rare.

Silkworm Grass quickly organized its thoughts and a sorrowful aura suddenly emanated from it.

“Once upon a time, I was a carefree Dream Vine, entwining around this ancient tree every day, absorbing its nutrients, sharing the dreams of the tree and the surrounding plants. My life was carefree.”

“But one day, the ancient tree died, there were no companions to share dreams with, and I fell into a deep sleep.”

Hearing this, Bai Qi interrupted Silkworm Grass’s words, “So, you’re a Dream Vine?”

Silkworm Grass shook its head, “Hero, don’t be hasty, I haven’t finished my story.”

“There’s more to this story?”

Hearing this, Bai Qi immediately became interested and decided to have Schuck conjure a chair to sit on, casually instructing Gamma to pick a few Angel Fruits to snack on.

Enjoying a snack while watching the show? How can one not?

Silkworm Grass fell silent for a moment, and its aura suddenly changed, becoming cheerful.

“Once upon a time, I was a happy Soul-eating Worm, residing in different creatures. I constantly advanced by accruing more experience through freedom in the world. One day, I was attracted by a compelling fragrance, which led me to a valley…”

“Wait a minute, you were a vine, then a worm. Are you truly a Silkworm Grass?”

Bai Qi listened halfway and couldn’t help but interrupt Silkworm Grass, who exclaimed in frustration.

Silkworm Grass? This name is indeed befitting of my current state.”

Silkworm Grass sighed, “Although I’m not certain about the cause, but I can now be considered a combination of both – Soul-eating Worm and Dream Vine.”

“A combination of the Soul-eating Worm and Dream Vine?”

Bai Qi was taken aback, recalling the information on Soul-eating Worms.

[Name]: Soul-eating Worm

[Nature]: Insect System

[Bloodline Level]: High-grade Lord

[Introduction]: The Soul-eating Worm can seize control of the host by gnawing at its nerves, brain, and manage to nourish itself with the host’s flesh and energy. Once it surpasses the host’s level, it replaces it with a stronger host. It’s a loathed existence by both ferocious beasts and humans alike.

“So, it’s a parasitic insect?”

Bai Qi instantly realized, looking at the Silkworm Grass’s half insect, half grass appearance, he asked, “So, you’re a Soul-eating Worm that’s parasitizing a Dream Vine?”

“Not entirely.”

Silkworm Grass shook its head, “Although I’ve seized control of the Dream

Vine, my soul has also been invaded by the Dream Vine and has taken over my body. So, I am also considered a Dream Vine.”

Ah, woo…

(I suddenly feel a little dizzy…)

After hearing Silkworm Grass’s explanation, Beta felt like his brain was about to crash. Schuck, on the other hand, was frantically calculating the probability of this situation.

As for Alpha and the others, they were completely at a loss.

However, Bai Qi quickly grasped the situation.

“According to your words, the Soul-eating Worm first parasitized the Dream Vine, but the Dream Vine’s soul captured the body of the Soul-eating Worm.” “In simple terms, you killed yourself, but then resurrected yourself, you and yourself are in a very strange symbiotic state.”

Silkworm Grass nodded and said, “It’s roughly what I meant.”

Ba Qi looked at Schuck, “Schuck, is the probability of this situation occurring high?” 6

Schuck shook his head, “The Soul-eating Worm itself is parasitic, that’s not strange. However, it is rare for a Dream Vine to invade the soul of another creature. Their condition seems to be due to simultaneous activation of their abilities, which resulted in both bodies and souls being entwined.”

“However, this should only be theoretically possible. Normally, one side should successfully plunder the existence of the other, a fusion situation shouldn’t occur.”

Schuck was puzzled, his curious eyes observing Silkworm Grass incessantly.

Thump thump.

(Could it be that after the Soul-eating Worm swallowed the control center of the Dream Vine, it was regarded as a new control center, so both souls did not reject this body, and instinctively chose to merge? Hmm, is this similar to the grafting of plants?)

“I don’t think so, grafting is only a fusion of plant limbs, it has nothing to do with the soul, it should be for some other reason,”

Thump thump.

(But the body and the soul are not inseparable, apart from the Undead, the soul should exist m every part of the body, especially the brain, which is the core position.)

“But…”

Under Bai Qi and the others’ confused gazes, Schuck and Delta began an intense debate. While Bai Qi, the master of the two pets, wanted to step forward to mediate, he found he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

No way, it was too much of a profession, even wild guesses wouldn’t work.

Huh?

(I wanted to ask, does the Dream Vine have a brain?)

“Shut up!”

Bloop Bloop!

(Silence!)

Schuck and Delta both turned their heads to look at Beta, who quickly turned his head away pretending that nothing had happened after realizing he had asked a foolish question.

But precisely because of this, Schuck and Delta stopped arguing and started studying the insect grass patiently.

“To allow two life forms’ bodies and souls to merge completely, there’s no way it can keep the original consciousness, otherwise it’s easy to induce splits.” (Exactly. In other words, this consciousness was born later on. Being able to retain both memories should be assisted by leftover memories.)

“But to successfully merge, it’s impossible to rely solely on themselves. I cannot detect any traces of two separate organisms. There must be some external assistance.”

(Delta believes so too.)

The Twin Pets exchanged their opinions instantly, then looked at the tree

before them. Bai Qi seemed thoughtful.

This ancient tree seemed to have been dead for quite some time. However, Bai Qi still sensed a bit of vitality and an unusual aura. Apparently, this wasn’t just any simple plant.

After all, in this world, whether an animal or plant, even a roadside stone, the sword held by ancient people, might turn into a pet beast nurtured by time. And according to the insect grass, this ancient tree even possessed a dreamland. This indicated it had already acquired a spirit.

Rattle!

(Boss, judging from the remnant aura, this ancient tree might have been a six

stage king-level creature, or even higher.)

“Six stage king-level? And possibly higher!”

Upon hearing this, Bai Qi was taken aback. Schuck suddenly stated, “After examination, there is an eighty-one percent probability that this ancient tree is a Knowledge Ancient Tree, eighteen percent that it’s a War Ancient Tree, and one percent that it’s a normal ancient tree.”

“Knowledge Ancient Tree, one of the three ancient trees known for the Tree of Life?”

Bai Qi looked at the nearly withered ancient tree before him with surprise, apparently unable to link it to the three famous ancient trees.

As they heard the conversation being carried out by Bai Qi and the four beasts the insect grass shyly raised its hand, saying, “Um, I seem to remember something about the identity of this tree in my memory. It should be the Knowledge Ancient Tree.”

“So it truly is the Knowledge Ancient Tree. What a waste.”

Having confirmed it with the insect grass, Bai Qi no longer doubted it and instantly felt a sense of regret.

The Knowledge Ancient Tree, a creature rumored to know everything in the world. If he could have tamed it, that would have been splendid. Even if not, extracting the Tree Core before its complete death would at least have been’a mythical resource.

Huh?

Tree Core?

Bai Qi suddenly jumped in front of the Knowledge Ancient Tree. Through the hole in the tree trunk, he quickly found a large hollow space and vaguely sensed a rich vitality.

Where is the core of this Knowledge Ancient Tree? Where did it go?”

Bai Qi turned around, gripped the insect grass forcefully, and questioned loudly.

Tree Core? Are you talking about the delicious berries? When I was sleeping, I was so hungry that I ate it.”

“Ate it!”

Bai Qi’s eyes widened with fury. He began shaking the insect grass violently looking like he was trying to shake the core out. Schuck even set up a full set of surgical tools, clearly planning on a direct dissection.

Thankfully, Bai Qi wasn’t crazy enough to do that. After struggling for a while, he chose to give up.

According to Schuck and Delta’s discussion, the insect grass was able to fuse two bodies and souls, giving birth to a completely new consciousness, which required the help of an external object.

Clearly, it was the core of this Life Ancient Tree itself.

Slurp slurp.

(Master, how about letting Gamma stew him? It should be possible to absorb a

bit of the core’s energy that way.)

GaGma, who had always been reserved, finally spoke, and his words almost scared the insect grass to faint.

How had he ever ended up provoking such a bunch of demons while resting peacefully at home?

Should he… try to escape?

Thinking about it, the insect grass once again glanced at Bai Qi and the four pets who were discussing whether to cook him, and then quietly began to retreat.

However, not much later, the insect grass felt a cold sensation on its back. A black long sword had been hanging behind it unknowingly, and its master, Alpha, was still guarding Bai Qi’s side.

That was it. There was no chance of escape.

The insect grass felt hopeless and gave up on the plan to escape completely. It simply lay down in front of Bai Qi and the pets with a nonchalant attitude, ready to give in to fate.

Seeing this, Bai Qi couldn’t help laughing. He grabbed the bug grass and climbed onto Delta’s back.

“Anyway, the mission is complete. Let’s go back and submit it first, then further study this creature.”

The Spirit Eater Bug and the Dream Vine, plus the Knowledge Ancient Tree Core

of at least sixth stage. The chance of these three coincidentally merging together is not high. And even comparing these rare creatures to Bai Qi’s general conduct, there’s no way he would leave it in the wild alone.