Ashen God
Chapter 640 - 639: Reproductive Isolation

Chapter 640: Chapter 639: Reproductive Isolation

Of course, close combat was essentially the same; after all, when Zhang Yanhang fought the Goblin Chief Nu Shan, it was exactly like this. With the first punch, he forced Nu Shan into a near-death state, triggering the "Lightning Heart (Elementalization)" with a life-extension effect. But that only resulted in Nu Shan taking one more punch.

By the second punch, Zhang Yanhang had already killed him with a normal attack. Therefore, in this respect, Zhang Yanhang’s close combat damage also had a lot of overflow damage.

However, in close combat, Zhang Yanhang didn’t maintain a high frequency of excessive damage like the Six Roots Pure Soul Gun because he could freely control the force of his attacks. The main reason being, if he went all out every time, it would greatly increase physical exhaustion; thus, most of the time, he would hold back his strength while fighting.

[Success in slaying a Second Tier Two Star Monster ’Demonized Emperor Crocodile (Normal)’ ×1, Soul points +75.]

[Success in slaying a Second Tier Two Star Monster ’Demonized Emperor Crocodile (Normal)’ ×1, Soul points +75.]

[Success in slaying a Second Tier Two Star Monster ’Demonized Emperor Crocodile (Normal)’ ×1, Soul points +75.]

...

After skillfully pulling the trigger and spraying bullets at the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles, Zhang Yanhang soon heard the killing notification again. By now, the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles in the Demonized Swamp had all been exterminated by Zhang Yanhang.

If he were to go back to check the completion rate of the Settlement Treasure Box in the Western Forest now, it would have definitely increased significantly. Although an S+ was probably still out of reach, at least an S rating was well within his grasp. In any case, it certainly wouldn’t remain at A+.

After dealing with the five Demonized Emperor Crocodiles at the bottom of the pool, Zhang Yanhang did not leave immediately but floated in place, quietly waiting for the Drop treasure boxes to refresh.

By the way, although Zhang Yanhang did not have gills and couldn’t breathe underwater directly, he certainly wouldn’t suffocate stupidly like a crocodile. Although he couldn’t breathe underwater, he had an Energy Shield, which allowed him to indirectly obtain oxygen, effectively granting him the ability to breathe underwater.

As for the specific operation, it was actually quite simple. All he needed to do was to set the water as the barrier object without isolating the oxygen because, as is commonly known, water actually contains a lot of oxygen.

In fact, the principle of fish gills is roughly the same, relying on the exchange of water flow to extract oxygen while expelling carbon dioxide. Such a simple principle was naturally easy for Zhang Yanhang’s Energy Shield to imitate.

Moreover, even if one couldn’t filter oxygen from the water, he only needed to fill the Energy Shield with a bit of air, and that would be enough. He was not an ordinary person; as an Awakener, and a Second Tier Awakener at that, his body was gradually getting rid of the restrictions related to oxygen consumption. With just a little bit of oxygen, he could stay active for a long time.

After all, the world record created by an ordinary person is holding one’s breath for half an hour, so Awakeners have no reason to be worse off than ordinary people. In practical terms, Zhang Yanhang even felt that his ability in this aspect was almost on par with crocodiles, able to hold his breath for several hours.

However, if his body was in an active state, it would definitely greatly increase the consumption of oxygen, a physiological limitation that could not yet be avoided. But Zhang Yanhang estimated that once his body’s functions were completely powered by Energy, he probably wouldn’t need to worry about this problem anymore.

Nevertheless, by that time, he might experience reproductive isolation from ordinary people. But as for this matter, he even felt that it was already fast approaching because, in many respects, Awakeners and ordinary people no longer had much in common besides their human form.

Zhang Yanhang estimated that after his promotion to Third Tier, this situation would likely worsen even further. Of course, for someone like him who had always sought ’Self-Immortality,’ such matters were not a concern at all since he never cared about that aspect in the first place.

A few seconds after waiting in the water, the corpse of the Demonized Emperor Crocodile nearest to the surface revealed a blue quality Drop treasure box. He immediately rushed forward to pick it up and put it in his Waist Bag, then he began to make his way to the surface of the lake.

Although he could breathe in the water, he really didn’t want to stay there any longer. However, it wasn’t due to any peculiar reasons like a fear of the deep sea; he simply didn’t want to waste any more time. After all, all the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles in the area had been cleared, so there was no point in staying any longer.

After returning to the surface of the lake, Zhang Yanhang began to ponder whether to go directly and implement the Fifth Stage of the Demonized Swamp clearing plan, to begin clearing the swamp area located north of the Demonized Swamp.

After some quick thought, Zhang Yanhang felt that since he had plenty of time right now, there was no need to rush. He thought he might as well open a treasure box before proceeding to clear the swamp area.

As things stood, after slaying the last five Demonized Emperor Crocodiles, Zhang Yanhang had successfully completed the thorough clearing of the entire Lake Region, adding another thirty square kilometers to his clearing progress.

Therefore, the clearing progress of the Fourth Stage of the Demonized Swamp clearing plan for the Lake Region had smoothly increased from the original 50% to 100%.

If this part concerning the Lake Region’s clearing progress was calculated into the overall Demonized Swamp clearing plan, then Zhang Yanhang’s total progress in clearing the Demonized Swamp area had increased from the original 81.3% to 88.8%, improving the overall progress by another 7.5%.

"Speaking of which, 88.8%, this current clearing progress is oddly auspicious. However, I did somewhat underestimate myself before. I thought that reaching six-sevenths of the total clearing progress would already be quite good, but now I’ve directly reached eight-ninths of the clearing progress.

Even if I were to round it up a little, it would immediately be considered nine-tenths of the progress. In other words, only a small portion of the area remains before the entire Demonized Swamp Zone is cleared."

After clearing the entire Lake Region just now, Zhang Yanhang had altogether cleaned up three hundred and fifty-five square kilometers of the Demonized Swamp area. The total area of the Demonized Swamp was only four hundred square kilometers, so Zhang Yanhang now only had to clear the remaining forty-five square kilometers to completely clear the entire Demonized Swamp.

Of course, the remaining area that needed cleaning was only approximately that much; for the sake of convenience in calculation, he had also factored in the four large rivers that divided the entire Demonized Swamp area into five sections. Therefore, the purported forty-five square kilometers of the Swamp Area were somewhat inflated.

In terms of the actual situation, only about thirty square kilometers of the swamp area need to be cleansed by Zhang Yanhang.

Thus, from this perspective, he has indeed already cleared ninety percent of the demonized swamp area, which can be roughly approximated as three hundred and sixty square kilometers.

"I’ve only spent three days, and I’ve already cleared an area of three hundred and sixty square kilometers. At the beginning, I truly underestimated myself. Based on the current cleansing situation, I should really be able to carry out a rapid cleanse of the urban areas of Qin Island City.

Roughly three days should be sufficient to cleanse the three districts of the city twice, averaging out to once every thirty-six hours. The power system of an Awakener is indeed a bit too strong; just being at Second Tier, I can already achieve this extent.

If I wait until I’m promoted to Third Tier, I’m afraid I’ll truly be able to quickly cleanse the entire Qin Island City, which covers an area of twelve thousand square kilometers, including the lower-level cities, counties, towns, and villages."

But even so, Zhang Yanhang certainly wouldn’t become arrogant. After all, a Fourth Tier Awakener like the group leader can already carry out quick cleanses of provincial-level units. In this respect, he still has a long way to go and must continue to strive.

"Moreover, it’s not even quarter past eight, and I’ve already cleansed an area of three hundred and sixty square kilometers. There are still more than three hours left today; even if I open some treasure boxes first, I should definitely have enough time to collect Peppa Pig’s precious life."

Zhang Yanhang rescanned the area around him and found that indeed there were no other demonized creatures still alive. The entire lake region was now desolate, with only a large amount of carcasses and the eerily quiet crimson lake surface showcasing the hunting fruits of his recent endeavor.

"The demonized saber-toothed tigers in the Western Forest and the demonized emperor crocodiles in the lake region have all been wiped out. Besides, the Lucky Slot Machine third prize pools in Raccoon City, Goblin Plain, and the demonized swamp had already been cleared before the monster hunt started. Now I should go straight back to Dulda Apartment to open treasure boxes."

While speaking, Zhang Yanhang activated his Teleportation Technique and instantly returned to the decrepit wooden bed in room 301 of Dulda Apartment in Raccoon City.

Before opening the treasure boxes, Zhang Yanhang first opened his soul points balance to take a peek. This time, having continuously cleared both the Western Forest and the lake region, the soul points he gained should definitely be substantial.

[Soul Points: 176353 (+83927)]

"I actually obtained 83927 soul points, which is unexpectedly a bit high in terms of soul point gains. I remember the last time I killed over seven thousand demonized creatures and in total only got 63442 soul points. This time, I only killed over five thousand demonized creatures but have already obtained 83927 soul points, which is more than twenty thousand more than last time."

Zhang Yanhang believed the key role should be attributed to the demonized emperor crocodiles in the Demonized Swamp Lake Region. After all, killing an emperor crocodile could yield seventy-five soul points, equivalent to eight demonized maned tooth beasts.

So, while he apparently only wiped out just over three hundred demonized emperor crocodiles, in reality, it was equivalent to nearly three thousand demonized maned tooth beasts. The five thousand demonized saber-toothed tigers that Zhang Yanhang killed were equivalent to six thousand demonized maned tooth beasts.

Therefore, in terms of the actual situation, he indeed gained the equivalent of having killed nine thousand demonized maned tooth beasts, which naturally would be much higher than the seven thousand set in the Eastern Forest region.

"Moreover, although the number of monsters I killed this time is much less than last time, only over five thousand, the area I cleansed was larger than last time.

The Eastern Forest in the Second Tier Stage only covered one hundred thirty square kilometers, while the Western Forest and lake region I cleansed this time, in the Third Stage and Fourth Stage, total one hundred thirty-five square kilometers. That’s five square kilometers more than last time, making the increase in soul point gains even more normal."

If Zhang Yanhang had to give an exact number of monsters he killed, he thought it should be 5649. This time, the monsters he killed were essentially all from the preset number of demonized creatures in the Western Forest and lake region, making the calculation quite straightforward.

Among these, if he were to calculate the proportion by quantity, it should be the demonized saber-toothed tigers from the Western Forest that made up the bulk of the kill count, having eliminated five thousand of them.

But if it were possible to calculate based on soul point gains, he felt that it might be the demonized emperor crocodiles, which numbered just three hundred and forty-nine.

Even if you add the ten demonized emperor crocodiles from the Lucky Slot Machine third prize pool in the demonized swamp, for a total count of three hundred and fifty-nine, Zhang Yanhang still had confidence in the emperor crocodiles.

After all, their treasure box drop rate is three times that of a First Tier Monster like the demonized saber-toothed tiger, which requires killing twenty to drop one treasure box, and the soul points provided by the boxes have always far exceeded the gains from killing.

So now, although the quantity of demonized saber-toothed tigers seems to have a large advantage, after opening the treasure boxes later, the soul points supplied by the demonized emperor crocodiles will probably be the highest.

Because Zhang Yanhang didn’t encounter any other monsters in the Western Forest and lake region, the total of 5349 combined demonized saber-toothed tigers and demonized emperor crocodiles was the entirety of his kill count.

The additional three hundred monsters naturally came from Raccoon City, Goblin Plain, and the Lucky Slot Machine third prize pool in the demonized swamp, with each contributing a hundred monsters.

"Thanks to the 92426 soul points I saved earlier, just with the killing aspect of these 83927 soul points, I’ve successfully increased my soul point balance from the original 92426 to 176353 soul points.

In this way, even with only the gains from killing, I can directly enhance the Indestructible Golden Body to Original LV.6 and then also upgrade Death Wave to Original LV.5."

Looking at the current situation, Zhang Yanhang felt that after opening the drop treasure boxes later, he should definitely be able to gather the soul points needed to smoothly upgrade the Death Wave Skill to Original LV.6, and even beyond that, he should be able to save some for the promotion to Third Tier.