Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 191: The Stone of Vitality

As for this sudden change, don’t blame Chu Tianyu for acting recklessly. Although he had never seen this strange stone before, let alone understood it, he instinctively believed it was still within the realm of what nature could produce—the essence of heaven and earth. Whether it could absorb dark mists or exhibit signs of vitality, it should be considered a carrier of energy, just like the Purple Void True Dragon, Ink Dragon, and Blue Serpent within him, as well as the lunar energy he possessed.
That’s why Chu Tianyu dared to approach so closely. Even when he was strongly drawn to and completely enveloped by the amber stone, falling into a coma, he felt no panic or fear, for he was convinced that the power of the two dragons within him and his lunar energy was unmatched by any other force.
If this stone was indeed a manifestation of the essence of heaven and earth, then Chu Tianyu had no need to worry about it harming him, as few things could surpass the power of those two true dragons. If it were merely an ordinary object rather than an embodiment of that essence, then with his body already filled with the power of heaven and earth, he wouldn’t care about such a small amount of energy.
Thus, even in a coma, if Chu Tianyu could be conscious now, it would be a “coma” he could face with peace of mind! Perhaps his coma was not only peaceful but even a state of happiness.
The amber-colored stone attracted the lunar energy from Chu Tianyu, and eventually, they merged together as if blending seamlessly. The immense energy resonance generated was what caused Chu Tianyu to lose consciousness in that final moment. The amber stone then emitted a rainbow glow, covering only itself and Chu Tianyu, though the light grew brighter. At the same time, a strong fragrance spread, causing various green grasses, flowers, and fruits resembling strawberries to sprout instantly on the previously lifeless ground…
Mixed within the rainbow light was also the yellowish lunar energy from Chu Tianyu, which moved around like a mischievous spirit, seemingly enjoying the abundant nourishment.

As that lunar energy flowed, what had initially seemed somewhat hazy began to grow stronger, with the surrounding radiant light acting like soil that nourished it, allowing it to thrive. Due to the continuous increase in lunar energy, the outer layers of colorful light had to constantly draw new light from the stones to meet the growing demand.

The amber color of the strange stone itself gradually faded, as if all its essence had been devoted to the colorful light it emitted. However, just as this integration reached its peak, the situation suddenly reversed—the stone’s colorful light began to absorb the lunar energy from Chu Tianyu’s body instead.

Strangely, Chu Tianyu’s body offered no resistance, and the absorbed essence was released back out. As absorption continued, the stone had to expend its own energy just to cover the costs of “fueling” this process.

If Chu Tianyu had been conscious, he would have been puzzled by this phenomenon—how could his usually domineering Dark Dragon allow other life forces to absorb its essence? Such a situation was unimaginable to him.

When the stone’s radiant light reached its maximum, its dazzling brilliance cast a surreal glow over the entire area. Yet clearly, the stone, capable of absorbing the mist from the entire forest, could not handle all the lunar energy within Chu Tianyu’s body. Its capacity seemed to have reached a limit; if it continued absorbing, it would shatter into dust.

So, the absorption process reversed once again, flowing back into Chu Tianyu’s body. After several such cycles, the two forces intertwined in a way that didn’t resemble consumption or conflict—there was no clear winner. But as they kept moving back and forth, like entering and exiting through city gates, Chu Tianyu and the stone suffered greatly. The stone, being inanimate, felt nothing, but Chu Tianyu, even in a coma, experienced involuntary muscle spasms as the two energies ravaged his body.

Especially when the energies surged through his body, every cell seemed to expand hundreds of times, causing intense pain to spread instantly throughout his body. At such moments, Chu Tianyu would involuntarily curl up, with blood-red sweat beads oozing from his skin…

Suddenly, with a loud “boom,” under the continuous collision of the two energies, the amber could no longer bear it and shattered on the spot, turning into a pool of colorful stone powder on the ground. With no carrier left, the two energies had no choice but to be drawn back entirely into Chu Tianyu’s body.

The intense shock and agonizing pain made the unconscious Chu Tianyu snap his eyes open. He threw his head back and let out a long roar, spreading his arms outward in a frenzied manner. However, the roar lasted only a few seconds before Chu Tianyu collapsed backward and fell into a coma once again.

At the same time, the entire lake began to boil as if in turmoil, with huge bubbles constantly emerging, and a layer of white mist gradually covering the surface. Not far from Chu Tianyu and the pile of shattered stones, a violently spinning vortex suddenly appeared on the lake, constantly splashing water outward.

With a sound like “gugu ga—” and the noise of something breaking through the water, a yellow figure surged upward from the water and landed right in front of the pile of stones. Then came an even more earth-shattering roar, as if the entire forest was shaking.

The sound was shrill and furious, as if something precious had been lost. Even the unconscious Chu Tianyu was awakened by the thunderous noise. After all, with his body now transformed by lunar energy, such impacts were only momentary and could not harm him fundamentally. And as Chu Tianyu had thought, with the Ink Dragon in his chest, there were not many energies that could cause damage to his body!

Chu Tianyu slowly opened his eyes in a daze and saw a yellow figure in front of him—the source of the sound. He shook his head vigorously to clear his mind before examining it carefully.

It would have been better not to look, but upon seeing it, Chu Tianyu was shocked. The yellow figure turned out to be a giant toad, over a meter tall. The loud noises came from it, and as the sounds persisted, several protrusions on its back expanded and contracted like breathing, looking eerily strange.

Seizing the opportunity of Chu Tianyu’s sudden awakening, the toad seemed to channel its pain from losing the amber stone onto Chu Tianyu. Its two eyes, the size of copper bells, glared fiercely at him, clearly focusing all its attention on him. It must have assumed that all these changes and the disappearance of its beloved stone were related to this man lying on the ground.

Although Chu Tianyu wasn’t wronged, he was puzzled—weren’t toads and frogs supposed to have dull eyes? Yet these ones here had gleaming eyes, and more importantly, their gaze was far from friendly… Chu Tianyu had no intention of getting up or moving, lest he startle the “frogs,” as he still wasn’t clear about his own situation or what had just happened. He remembered being holding onto that amber stone, but now the stone was gone, with a pile of powder on the ground and an ugly toad there… Before Chu Tianyu could recall more, the toad took action first. After identifying Chu Tianyu as its enemy, it immediately sprayed thick mist at him, then rushed forward swiftly, its massive body pressing down on Chu Tianyu in an instant. With such a short distance, Chu Tianyu had no time to react. Who would have thought this guy would attack so suddenly? He couldn’t even check his own condition and simply relied on his accumulated energy and lunar power. He channeled his strength, exploding his leg power and delivering a kick at the toad’s abdomen. The toad wasn’t expecting this seemingly weakling to resist, so it grew even more aggressive, using its entire body to press down on Chu Tianyu. When Chu Tianyu’s kick hit the toad’s abdomen, he was surprised to find that his energy was still intact, and the force of his strike was extremely strong, indicating a significant increase in his energy. But an increase in strength didn’t necessarily mean he could defeat his enemy. No matter how strong the blow was, it had little effect on the toad’s slippery abdomen. From that brief contact, Chu Tianyu was shocked to discover that the toad’s body functioned in a similar way to his own—both could recoil like springs under impact, absorbing damage, and then, once the enemy’s strength ran out, they would launch a counterattack using the absorbed energy along with their own strength.

At this moment, Chu Tianyu’s fist was not only numb from the shock but his entire body was also thrown far away by the impact, almost falling into the lake. Although the moon energy protection covered his body and failed to harm Nala, being forced to this extreme by just a toad made Chu Tianyu feel extremely embarrassed. Especially since he had developed a fighting spirit through battles in the wilderness recently, he could no longer tolerate such things happening to him. Thus, driven by this situation, Chu Tianyu’s fighting spirit was ignited as well. His eyes stared fiercely at the toad as it continued to attack, and with a sharp shout, he moved swiftly, unleashing his technique “Break the Army” repeatedly…