Sumi cried for a long time before unsteadily rising to her feet.

Looking around, she finally picked up the rebar that had once impaled Giacomo and began to walk out.

After gaining her abilities, she had been captured by Giacomo and subjected to relentless torture for over twenty days, leaving her mind in a state of utter chaos, with her sense of time and space completely distorted.

She wanted to find James Lone but inexplicably went in the wrong direction.

Crack!

A large black insect suddenly sprang out from beneath the leaves, viciously biting her ankle, shattering the bone with a sickening crunch.

Yet, Sumi remained expressionless as she stabbed the insect with the rebar, killing it on the spot.

Ignoring whether the creature was poisonous, she dug out the flesh and swallowed it whole.

The insect's blood, filled with corrosive acid, burned her mouth, esophagus, and stomach.

Sumi remained unfazed, numbly consuming the insect, its flesh somehow healing her internal injuries almost instantly.

She wandered aimlessly, brandishing the rebar through the dense woods, only to eventually stumble onto the escape route.

Three men had gathered, sharing food together, when they suddenly spotted a naked, pale woman walking through the trees, a chain tightly fastened around her neck.

The men's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Whoa! Look at that!"

"Oy! A chain? You must be quite the little tease!"

"Hey! Come join us for some food!"

Sumi didn't hesitate; she sat down and began to eat.

One man chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her neck. "Now that you've had our food, what do you plan to pay us back with?"

Sumi looked blankly at the man. "I don't have any money."

The three men burst into laughter.

"Yeah, I can tell! Hahaha!"

"You've got nothing on you! Just a chain! Hahaha!"

"Money? Did she just mention money? That's hilarious! What good is money?"

"Without cash, then how about we trade your body instead?"

One man reached toward her.

Sumi stared at him vacantly, her fingers suddenly extending, and she forcefully gouged his eyes.

Then—

Thud!

Blood sprayed from his eyes as he screamed in agony, struggling, "Ah! Get her off me! Get her off me!"

The other two, shocked by her sudden attack, quickly swung their fists at her head.

"Damn it! Let go!"

"You bitch! Let go!"

Without uttering a sound, Sumi weathered their blows, blood trickling down her forehead, but she remained unaffected.

Her grip tightened around the man's eyes until he finally lapsed into unconsciousness from the pain.

"Damn it! You'll die!" One man immediately pulled a dagger from his belt, plunging it into Sumi's lower back with fury.

Thud!

Sumi turned her head, staring directly at him, then slowly pulled the dagger from her wound.

Her injury visibly healed before their eyes.

The man recoiled in terror. "W-What are you?!"

Sumi yanked the dagger free and lunged at him chaotically, stabbing aimlessly.

One stab, two stabs, three stabs...

The man quickly began to spit blood, losing the strength to fight back.

The other man, in a panic, turned to flee.

Sumi hurled the dagger at him.

Unfortunately, her aim was off; it struck the man's back, causing him to stumble.

Regardless of the danger to herself, Sumi lunged at him, biting into his flesh.

The man screamed painfully, "Help! Help me!"

Minutes later, her face stained with blood, Sumi donned the men's clothes, moving blankly down the escape route like a horrifying sorceress.

"Where did he go...?"

...

James Lone stood dumbfounded in front of the giant tree.

This was no ordinary tree; it was an exaggerated version of a peanut plant!

Peanuts are typically herbaceous plants, standing 30 to 80 centimeters tall.

Yet this peanut plant towered over 200 meters, its upper branches exceeding the limits of James Lone's perception. He couldn't even gauge its true height.

In awe, James Lone flew up, soaring above the purple mist.

The sun shone brightly, and birds circled around.

Before him stood an enormous peanut plant.

It was at least 500 meters tall!

James Lone found it hard to comprehend this mutation.

While mutated pine trees could reach heights of 500 to 600 meters, many species naturally grow to 20-30 meters, stretching only several times their original size.

Most plants exhibited mutations in a similar fashion—typically only a few times larger, at most a hundred times.

But this peanut plant had ballooned thousands of times!

James Lone's curiosity piqued.

What on earth had happened?

He quickly descended back into the purple mist, standing beside the cave.

The cave was pitch dark.

The most peculiar aspect was that the purple mist inside was so dense it felt almost liquid, reducing visibility to less than a meter!

Moreover, when James Lone's perception entered the cave, it faced significant interference, dropping down to just 20 meters.

This was a first-time experience for him!

Since ordinary survivors could dig out mutated peanuts and bring them back, it suggested the danger level wasn't excessively high.

"I should go take a look!"

Resolving to investigate, James Lone ensured his willpower armor was fully engaged.

Phantom!

He slowly sank into the earth near the cave's entrance.

James Lone exercised caution, avoiding the usual tunnels dug by the survivors.

He descended about ten meters from the cave, carefully observing the surrounding area.

Inside, every short distance had a torch, but now that no one was tending to them, they had all gone out.

Everywhere bore signs of human excavation, and several shovels lay discarded on the ground.

The root system of the massive peanut tree entwined like thick serpents beneath the soil.

Soon, James Lone spotted a mutated peanut.

He penetrated the soil and pulled it free.

From its exterior, this peanut looked almost like a regular one, though it exuded a tantalizing aroma.

James Lone felt an impulse to consume it.

This sensation reminded him of a previous item: the fruit of enlightenment!

"It looks so similar!"

Without further thought, he placed the mutated peanut into his inventory.

One mutated peanut would suffice.

The women could replicate it infinitely for him.

His interest was piqued as he wondered why the purple mist was so thick in this area.

Continuing deeper into the soil, he noticed that the mist thickened even more as he descended.

At around 20 meters down, it was no longer mist but fully transitioned into liquid.

James Lone realized his perception could no longer penetrate the red liquid.

He deduced this was the reason for the perception interference he experienced.

After taking a closer look for several minutes without detecting any immediate danger, he returned to the cave and stared down at the red liquid, its surface swirling like rolling water.

Here, there were no visible signs of human activity.

Contemplating for a moment, he debated whether to explore further down.

Curiously assessing his surroundings, he found nothing dangerous, aside from limited visibility and pervasive darkness.

Why had those people perished?

James Lone attentively felt his own physical state.

No changes occurred.

This was puzzling.

After pondering for a while, he finally noticed something peculiar: pure source energy, represented as qi, continuously seeped from the red liquid!

Since his constitution surpassed 100, his breathing automatically absorbed this source energy, which he had become accustomed to, so he hadn't paid much attention to it before.

Such a phenomenon had never happened outside!

For him, this was a sanctuary for cultivating source energy!

But for ordinary people who hadn't practiced breath techniques, might they end up being poisoned by the source energy instead?

Was that why they'd died?

James Lone couldn't say for certain.

The thick, liquid-like purple mist concealed whatever dangers loomed beneath.

If only there were a way to dilute it.

After careful contemplation, he decided to take out the bloodstone gem.

The bloodstone immediately began absorbing the purple mist, releasing swirling particles of source energy.

He carefully submerged the bloodstone into the red liquid.

An extraordinary transformation unfolded.

Hiss!

The bloodstone devoured the red liquid voraciously, rapidly generating liquid source energy!