Back to the moment Bai Mo braced for the impact.
In the instant before the great tide crashed over him, Bai Mo felt as if he was engulfed by an endless torrent of information, information that seemed to contain the answers to all questions, past and present.
However, before he could even process what information he desired, he felt himself being swept away by the great tide of Spirit Qi, and could only haphazardly snatch at a few fragments.
Once the tumult subsided, Bai Mo lay on the ground, carefully examining the information. He discovered that most of it was garbled, utterly incomprehensible. The only discernible parts were the composition of Spirit Qi and the existence of Spiritons.
Moreover, regarding the essence of Spirit Qi itself, only its constituent parts could be identified. Information on synthesis methods and other related details had all turned into jumbled code.
While he felt a deep sense of regret for the incompleteness of his gains, Bai Mo was still thoroughly satisfied with the rewards of this adventure.
Having learned the essence of Spirit Qi and the existence of Spiritons, his future direction now had a clear outline. For him, this was a far greater gain than any material acquisition.
Furthermore, a question that had long plagued him was finally resolved. For someone with an insatiable curiosity, this was an incredibly wonderful thing.
Next, Bai Mo turned his gaze towards his two "brothers in misfortune."
Under the influence of the dense Spirit Qi, this "dragon" and "tiger" had both developed considerable sentience. Given enough time to gain sufficient worldly experience, and coupled with the immense power they gained by seizing the opportune moment in the spirit tide, they would undoubtedly soar to great heights, as long as they didn't actively court death.
However, Bai Mo had no intention of taking them as spirit pets.
After all, this was reality. There were no blood-bond recognition rituals or soul contracts from novels to guarantee a spirit pet's loyalty; hoping an animal with intelligence no less than his own wouldn't betray him in the future would likely come down to sheer luck.
Though in novels, Bai Mo often saw protagonists effortlessly acquire spirit pets. A few pats or a roasted chicken, followed by a few words like "Follow me, and you'll have a bright future," would instantly turn them into loyal subordinates, and they'd even come with an eternal loyalty buff.
But he admitted he didn't possess the kind of "kingly aura" that would make his "tiger body tremble" and cause subordinates to prostrate themselves in worship. Thus, he decided not to bother with such a thankless task.
On the other hand, he had never considered trying to kill them with the mindset of "If I can't have it, no one else can," just to see if there were any monster cores or magic crystals inside.
Leaving aside the fact that, having also emerged from the spirit tide, their naturally robust bodies meant they were far less injured than Bai Mo, he himself wasn't some battle-crazed berserker whose combat strength increased with the severity of his injuries.
In his current state, riddled with injuries, it would be good if he could even muster 50% of his fighting strength. If a real fight broke out, it was anyone's guess who would end up whose subordinate.
Secondly, his experiences with the two beasts during this period had given Bai Mo a feeling akin to "fellow travelers in misfortune, meeting by chance, no need for prior acquaintance."
Ever since he acquired the great secret of qi cultivation, his mind had never truly relaxed. Every day he had to scheme how to put on an act so his changes wouldn't be discovered. Many times he could only hide alone. For someone who was originally used to a simple life, the pressure this brought was immense.
Yet, facing these two wild beasts, he could drop his mask, shed his pretense, and let go of all his secrets to relax. He didn't want to destroy such a precious atmosphere.
"Grumble~" Bai Mo's stomach suddenly rumbled. At that moment, an intense wave of hunger pulled him back from his state of relaxation. This prolonged absorption of Spirit Qi to modify his body had brought about immense energy consumption. After understanding the composition of Spirit Qi, Bai Mo roughly deduced the principle behind how Spirit Qi transformed the body.
When Spirit Qi came into contact with the body, the Spiritons within it, carrying information about all things, would induce the body to undergo structural changes more rapidly, pushing it towards optimization.
While the supply of Spirit Qi had not yet dissipated, the energy contained within would first be extracted to support the body's structural changes. However, once the Spirit Qi supply ceased, the energy required for the changes would be drawn from the body itself. This was the reason qi cultivation initially led to hunger.
Originally, after evolving his energy-absorbing skin, Bai Mo's need for energy from food had already greatly diminished.
But this time was different. Due to prolonged exposure to high-concentration Spirit Qi, too many structural changes were occurring simultaneously within his body. The energy consumed every moment was more than even his twice-evolved energy-absorbing skin could supply. He had no choice but to activate his original energy acquisition system—eating.
Driven by hunger, he unhesitatingly left his spot and ran towards where he remembered parking the SUV.
According to Bai Mo's prior preparations, the car contained enough supplies to feed a normal person for two months. Anxious to find the food in the jeep, he now completely disregarded the consumption of energy within his body, using his full psionic power to sense the location of the SUV.
In less than 10 minutes, he found the jeep, which had been swept 3 kilometers away by the spirit tide. Fortunately, apart from the vehicle being overturned, the supplies themselves were undamaged.
He ignored the scattered mess on the ground, picked up a can directly, forcefully tore open the lid, and crammed the meat from the can into his mouth in a few swift motions.
Then he immediately ripped open a pack of compressed biscuits, and swallowed them with a few gulps of water. He continued like this until he had consumed nearly thirty servings of food; only then did his hunger abate considerably. It was only then that he had the presence of mind to ponder something truly strange.
Why, after eating so much, did he feel no stomach distension at all...?
Pondering the question, he tried eating another piece of dried meat. Then, he used his psionic power to observe his own body. He discovered that his digestive system had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Firstly, the slow absorption of nutrients by the small intestine was gone. The functions of nutrient absorption and classification were now directly taken over by his drastically enhanced stomach.
The dried meat he consumed completely melted within two seconds in his Spirit Energy-infused digestive fluid. Useful substances were directly transported by his blood to the necessary organs, while the remaining solid matter was moved to the large intestine.
Most remarkably, the energy-containing substances within the dried meat he ingested were directly "squeezed" by the Spirit Energy digestive fluid to produce new Spirit Energy. This new Spirit Energy was then directly supplied to all the tissues that required it.
He found that many of the body's previously complex processes had begun to simplify, reducing several steps.
After losing its supply of glucose, and simultaneously under the induction of Spiritons within the Spirit Qi, his mitochondria had completely evolved into Spirit Energy converters, functioning in conjunction with his energy-absorbing skin to draw in Spirit Qi. They would convert the absorbed Spirit Qi into Spirit Energy for the body's use.
Theoretically speaking, Bai Mo was now a creature that no longer required oxygen.
"My current energy sources are primarily two: one from the digestive system, and the other from the energy-absorbing skin."
He suddenly realized that apart from wearing a human skin, the internal operating mechanisms of his body had less and less in common with humans. For the first time, he questioned whether he could still be considered human, biologically speaking.