Tian Jing looked at the boxes that occupied half the dungeon and asked, "Is that all?"
"There are three more full rooms."
Zeng Jingrong asked the somewhat excited Tian Jing, "Are they useful to you?"
"I don't know."
Tian Jing hadn't considered herself at all. In the apocalypse, there were no ability users like her who suddenly lost their powers:
"However, these rice grains might allow the team members to level up. Especially the ability users who went with you to the Devil Desert."
"Don't worry about them for now."
Zeng Jingrong shook his head. "You try to recover first, then I'll try to improve. If it can be improved, it will only be distributed as prizes."
Tian Jing agreed. No matter how many of these serums there were, they were non-renewable resources.
Her gaze fell again on the rice grains in the test tube in her hand:
"The serum you got back then wasn't like this, was it?"
"No."
Zeng Jingrong shook his head. "The serum was a colored, turbid liquid."
"I used the terror of the Devil Desert experimental base to collaborate with Interpol to investigate their domestic experimental bases, and by the way, I brought back all their serums."
"When the retrieved serums were being stored in the dungeon, a team member knocked over a box and discovered the change in the serum."
"If it weren't for the fact that your body hadn't recovered, I would have let you see this serum long ago."
"You're so excited, do you know why the serum changed? And why do you think these rice grains can level up abilities?"
Just as she had expected.
Tian Jing smiled. "Zombie crystal cores can level up, but they have very severe side effects. The liquid serum should have had substances mixed in to reduce side effects, but the side effects still remain."
"Matvey and the others found a trace of energy from the Ginseng Guben Wan that purifies the side effects in their bodies. Coupled with Shen Wei, this spy, they wanted to control me. Not only could I relieve their side effects, but I could also continuously produce antidotes for them."
"The serum changed in the strong magnetic field of the dungeon. Now, the rice grains in this test tube are the purest energy from the crystal cores, and they are purer than any energy for cultivating abilities."
"When cultivating abilities with these rice grains, it's best to go to the labyrinth. It circumvents the rules of the world and should also increase ability levels."
"Of course, the type of ability should also be distinguished by the color of the rice grains."
Upon hearing this, Zeng Jingrong immediately rummaged through the boxes. "Pick out all the green ones. They're for you first."
Tian Jing watched Zeng Jingrong search with a smile. She understood his intentions.
In fact, compared to Zeng Jingliang and Zeng Jingchu, she felt closer to Zeng Jingrong. From the beginning, Zeng Jingrong had an agenda with her, and he clearly stated his goals, which she didn't dislike.
Just like now, Zeng Jingrong still had his objective, which was to have her recover. Once she recovered, the advantage of their country's special skills team would be obvious.
Even though Zeng Jingrong had ransacked the foreign ability user bases, there were bound to be some who escaped. Those ability users wouldn't stop researching and upgrading serums.
Her ability was once at the highest level and was very stable, not achieved through serums.
Not publicly announcing the loss of her ability didn't mean others couldn't guess. With the speed of the internet, the news of that lightning strike should have spread worldwide.
Zeng Jingrong wanted her to recover and to use her true strength to intimidate, rather than relying on her past reputation.
Furthermore, if she could recover, she wouldn't be able to shake off the matters of the special skills team, and Zeng Jingrong, as the captain with only a Level Four ability, wouldn't feel inadequate.
Another point was that if everyone couldn't level up anymore, then Ranran, who only had a Level Six wood-element planting ability, with the backing of her Level Nine ability, could convincingly take over as the captain of the special skills team.
As Zeng Jingrong searched, he muttered, "If you have any left, give them to Ranran. If there's still any left, keep them as prizes."
"If you can't recover, and if Ranran and I can't level up, then these things are just scrap. Find a way to get rid of them."
Zeng Jingrong quickly sorted out a box of green serums. After the two of them left the dungeon, Zeng Jingrong called Li Weixin and had him take Tian Jing to the labyrinth.
Li Weixin was also full of anticipation for his mother's ability to recover. After escorting his mother to the labyrinth, he wanted to stay and help.
Tian Jing thought about it and agreed. "This rice-grain-sized thing is called a spirit core. You can absorb it by holding it in your hand. You'll use your ability to guide the energy from my hand, just like when I first guided you to cultivate your ability."
Li Weixin, who had helped Zeng Jingrong pour rice grains from the test tubes, nodded.
A box of green serums yielded half a bowl of rice grains and half a basin of turbid liquid.
Zeng Jingrong asked how to deal with these liquids.
The liquids still contained many impurities from the crystal cores and certainly couldn't be poured away casually.
Tian Jing thought for a moment and said, "Buy some sealed bottles, fill them up, and put them back in the dungeon. See if any more substances precipitate out."
Zeng Jingrong took out his phone and sent a text message, then stood guard for Tian Jing and Li Weixin.
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the labyrinth, Tian Jing held two green rice grains in her right hand. Li Weixin sat beside her, with his hand on her right wrist, channeling his ability to draw the energy from the rice grains from her palm.
As soon as he channeled the energy from the rice grains, Li Weixin was startled. The energy was too great, and he had channeled it too quickly. The two rice grains in his mother's palm turned to ash in an instant.
The mother and son exchanged a look. Li Weixin asked his mother how she felt.
"It hurts!"
Tian Jing thought of the sharp pain she had just experienced and felt a lingering fear. "Between my palm and wrist."
Li Weixin used his ability to sense the area his mother had mentioned and then said with surprise, "It's effective. The meridian from your palm to your wrist has opened up by about two inches."
Zeng Jingrong was very excited to hear this. "Continue."
Tian Jing, however, shook her head. Even if she could endure the pain, she might not have enough spirit cores.
"There are 12 main meridians on each side of the body, plus the Ren and Du meridians. Just opening these 26 main meridians will require how many spirit cores?"
Zeng Jingrong said without hesitation, "All of them will be used for you. Open as many as you can. After opening the 12 meridians on your arms and the Ren and Du meridians, you'll be able to cultivate on your own. You can then use your old cultivation methods to open the meridians in your legs."
Li Weixin also nodded. "If you open the two side meridians and the Ren and Du meridians first, and then we work together, perhaps the fifth and sixth meridians won't require so many spirit cores?"
Tian Jing knew that the more meridians opened, the more energy would be needed. However, what Zeng Jingrong and Ranran said made sense. As long as her meridians were open, she could cooperate and use her own cultivation methods.
She picked up two more green rice grains and held them in her palm. Li Weixin continued to channel his ability. As expected, only an inch and a half was opened, and the pain doubled.
But looking at the two pairs of hopeful eyes, Tian Jing couldn't express her pain.
This time, she grabbed a handful of green rice grains. The pain of a single burst was more unbearable than intermittent pain, but in terms of energy usage, a single burst was more effective.
"Ranran, be faster this time. Don't mind my pain, as long as there's energy left, keep pushing."
Li Weixin nodded. Although he couldn't feel his mother's pain, he knew that reopening closed meridians must be extremely painful. If it were him, he would also choose to finish the pain all at once and then rest.
This time, after opening this meridian completely in one go, a part of the Ren meridian on her chest was also opened.
Tian Jing was in so much pain that sweat poured down her face.
Seeing her pale face, Zeng Jingrong said that they would stop for today and continue tomorrow.
Tian Jing disagreed. She asked him to go back and move more serums. This kind of pain, like drilling into flesh with an electric drill, if not done in one go, she was afraid she would back down.
Seeing Tian Jing's persistence, Zeng Jingrong had no choice but to go back and move more serums.