Chapter 88: Chapter 80: Failure at a Critical Moment

The halo of spiritual power in the Gray Monkey’s mind was slightly smaller than Tang Mo’s. Her spiritual power cautiously approached, splitting into two strands in an attempt to envelop the Gray Monkey’s.

But the Gray Monkey’s spiritual power was too ferocious. In an instant, before she had even completed half the encirclement, Tang Mo’s spiritual power was already running out.

’This isn’t working.’ She took out a Spiritual Attribute Intermediate Crystal Core. While controlling her spiritual power, she began to continuously absorb the core’s energy.

She had used this method before when merging two Space Treasures. It worked very well in a crisis.

But taming a mutant beast was clearly far more difficult than merging Space Treasures, and it demanded a great deal more spiritual power.

Basic Crystal Cores were completely insufficient to cover the consumption, but she only had so many Intermediate spiritual power Crystal Cores...

Steeling herself, Tang Mo stopped absorbing them one by one and instead began absorbing them by the handful.

A massive amount of spiritual power motes instantly surged into Tang Mo’s body.

This crude method of absorption was fast, but not thorough.

A single Intermediate Crystal Core was worth ten attribute points, but she was only absorbing two or three at most.

But right now, this was the only way she could use the Crystal Cores. There was no way she could take out the Spiritual Flower.

If she took it out, it wouldn’t just be her who could feel the abundant spiritual power—the Gray Monkey would as well.

Providing spiritual power indiscriminately would be of no help to her at all.

This new, accelerated pace instantly replenished Tang Mo’s spiritual power, allowing her to gain a slight upper hand in the battle raging in the Gray Monkey’s mind.

The Gray Monkey showed no signs of weakness, however. Once enveloped by Tang Mo, it struggled and resisted with all its might.

Tang Mo’s spiritual power was now almost sufficient, but the immense backlash from the Gray Monkey’s resistance was becoming more than she could bear.

’It’s not enough. My Comprehensive Attribute Value is still too low to tame a mutant beast. I’m too weak. I can’t withstand the pressure from this backlash.’

But retreat was now impossible. The moment Tang Mo showed any sign of fatigue, the Gray Monkey’s spiritual power would press its advantage and overwhelm her.

Instead of taming the mutant beast, she would be the one who was tamed.

How could Tang Mo accept such a disgrace to humanity? She would rather die here today than retreat.

To conserve some energy, Tang Mo dropped to the ground. She pushed all her Intermediate Crystal Cores into a pile beside her, regardless of color or attribute, and began absorbing them handful by handful.

’My attribute values aren’t high enough?’

’I’m too weak?’

’Fine, I’ll just get stronger right now. I refuse to believe I can’t win against a single monkey today!’

The backlash grew increasingly powerful. To withstand it, Tang Mo’s own attribute values climbed higher and higher.

Five cores...

Ten cores...

Twenty cores...

One hundred cores...

Tang Mo was growing stronger at a visible rate, fighting back against the immense backlash.

But her body was also reaching its breaking point and beginning to collapse.

’Just a little longer. It’s almost done.’

Tang Mo gritted her teeth, her head drenched in sweat from the excruciating pain.

Her body could no longer handle the power of the Crystal Cores, but for the sake of the unseen battle, Tang Mo gritted her teeth and continued to absorb them.

The force of the backlash could shatter her mind in an instant, turning her into a drooling imbecile. Meanwhile, pushing her body past its limits made her feel as if every cell was rapidly expanding, every blood vessel was being forcibly toughened, and her entire body was being torn apart from the inside.

Compared to instantly becoming an imbecile or being defeated by the Gray Monkey and enslaved, enduring this agony was the more acceptable option.

’Almost there, just a little bit more!’

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With her last ounce of willpower, Tang Mo forced her spiritual power to envelop the Gray Monkey’s.

’Success!’

In that instant, the two strands of Tang Mo’s spiritual power closed seamlessly, completely trapping the Gray Monkey’s.

The Gray Monkey’s spiritual power was now like a captive. In the next few seconds, Tang Mo’s spiritual power would guide it into forming a contract, officially marking it as tamed.

A surge of joy filled Tang Mo’s heart, but just as she was about to take the next step, her vision suddenly went black. Her mind reeled with a deafening ROAR, and she involuntarily fell backward.

In the moment before she blacked out, Tang Mo had one last thought.

’It’s over. Everything is over.’

’I pushed my body past its limit... I was only a few seconds away...’

In the instant she collapsed, the last thing Tang Mo did was withdraw her spiritual power from the Gray Monkey’s mind and use it to protect her own.

Forcing the body to bear an excessive amount of energy in a short period has a tremendous impact on both the mind and the physical form.

Tang Mo’s spiritual power was already extremely high to begin with. Combined with the spiritual power from the Crystal Cores she had just frantically absorbed, her mind had a massive reserve. Because of this, her brain likely wouldn’t be instantly destroyed; it could mitigate much of the energy overload, and she might still have a chance.

Her body, however, was another story.

Tang Mo’s physical strength wasn’t very high to begin with; she was relatively fragile. Now, after completely collapsing under the immense energy, it would be nearly impossible for her body to recover.

Even if recovery were possible, it would take a very long time. Lying here in a forest teeming with mutant beasts, she was a sitting duck.

The world went dark. For an unknown amount of time, Tang Mo was lost to all consciousness, plunged into a deep slumber.

When Tang Mo opened her eyes again, the sky was dark.

The bright moonlight spilling over the treetops held no romance; the chorus of beastly cries from all corners of the jungle sounded like the soundtrack to a horror film.

’Looks like my last action was the right one,’ Tang Mo thought. ’My mind is fine, and I’m still conscious.’

But when she tried to move, she discovered she couldn’t control any part of her body. She couldn’t even blink.

Just as she’d expected, her body had completely broken down.

Tang Mo didn’t panic. At a time like this, it was more important than ever to stay calm.

She could still use her spiritual power. Tang Mo directed it to flow through her body, simultaneously checking the condition of her various bodily functions and beginning the healing process.

The situation was dire.

Most of her blood vessels had ruptured. Although her skin was unbroken, her body was filled with internal bleeding.

Her internal organs were all damaged as well.

It was only because her Life Force was so high that she was still alive. If it had been any lower, she would have stopped breathing the instant her body collapsed.

She had over 1,600 Intermediate Crystal Cores in more than 800 pouches.

Just now, absorbing them first by the handful and then by the pile, she had used up nearly two-thirds of her entire stock.

And while not all of that energy had been absorbed into her body, the amount that had was still immense.

The fact that Tang Mo could even open her eyes now felt like a great kindness from the world.

Her spiritual power coursed through her body, mending her ruptured blood vessels one by one.

At this rate, she estimated she would regain control of her body if she just lay here for a month.

Tang Mo thought with forced optimism.

’What’s one month?’

’It’s only a single month.’

’A month...’

’Alright, I’m really not going to make it this time.’

Never mind how many mutant beasts would trample past her during that month; even if she wasn’t eaten, her body couldn’t possibly endure a month of hunger and thirst.

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