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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 85: Essence Blood Conception

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When Muk-su completed its Transformation, its body trembled slightly, and black ash-like powder fell away.

Only then could Jegyeong clearly see Muk-su's new form, reborn from a Wood Demon into a Great Demon Beast.

The imposing figure that had made even towering trees look like saplings had vanished without a trace. All that remained was a single thin tree that looked barely grown.

Yet the vitality radiating from that small tree was far stronger and more mysterious than before.

"You made it through."

He had already expected it, but Jegyeong finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations."

Muk-su's drooping body trembled.

A sound like wind brushing through leaves followed.

"Th-thank... you."

"Huh!"

Jegyeong's eyes widened slightly.

He looked over the faintly trembling branches and swaying leaves, then mentally replayed the voice he had just heard.

"You've improved."

"Yes."

"Good. Very good."

Jegyeong nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Then when will you be able to bear Spirit Fruit? Can you do it now?"

"......"

Muk-su's branches suddenly shook violently.

This time, though, no voice came out.

* * *

Muk-su had become a Great Demon Beast, but unfortunately, it would need time before it could bear Spirit Fruit.

No one knew how long that would take.

Muk-su itself did not seem to know.

'It can't be helped.'

For the time being, it was fine.

He had set aside a considerable stockpile to regulate the supply of Spirit Fruit. If he maintained the current volume of trade, it would last for around three years.

But if Muk-su still could not bear Spirit Fruit after three years...

'I'll have to increase its food.'

If it ate more, it would grow faster.

Ah, now that it had become a Great Demon Beast, should he change its food to Great Demon Beasts as well?

'That'll be troublesome.'

Hunting Great Demon Beasts was not impossible, but there was much to consider.

He could hunt as many giant clams like the ones he had encountered on his way back as he wanted, but idiots like those were rare. Great Demon Beasts generally had their own territories, and they possessed a certain degree of Spiritual Intelligence, making it difficult to slaughter them as he did Water Demons.

'If I do this, I should target foolish ones. Ones that live alone.'

At first, he had doubted whether it was possible, but the more he considered it, the more tempted he became.

'I'll try it after I've digested the remaining spiritual treasures and completed my Molting.'

Originally, he had obtained the Precious Wheel Jade Liquid as insurance for Muk-su.

He had hoped it would help Muk-su cross the Great Demon Barrier if it proved difficult, or at least preserve a thread of vitality if Muk-su failed and its life was endangered.

Yet Muk-su had crossed the Great Demon Barrier with the Clearwater Heartroot alone, so the Precious Wheel Jade Liquid had become Jegyeong's share.

'I think this alone will let me undergo Molting immediately.'

The moment he removed the seal from the jade bottle, a fragrant scent rose along with an extremely condensed mass of Spiritual Energy.

Jegyeong instinctively knew that this single bottle of Precious Wheel Jade Liquid would be more effective than hundreds of Spirit Stones.

"Haa."

The moment the Precious Wheel Jade Liquid passed down his throat, Jegyeong closed his eyes.

As expected of a spiritual treasure renowned for its stability, it placed no burden on him at all.

A moment later.

Crack! Creak!

Sounds of something breaking and twisting began to erupt repeatedly from Jegyeong's long body.

Hissss-

His harsh exhalation spread as smoke, then turned into thick mist that covered the surroundings.

Anyone who witnessed the sight would likely have shuddered in fear.

Within the dense fog, only the sounds of something breaking and his growl-like breaths disturbed the silence.

"Huff."

After drawing another rough breath, Jegyeong felt that this Molting was slightly different from the previous ones.

His body felt hotter than before.

He guessed it was because he had consumed two spiritual treasures.

'Come to think of it, could this Molting be considered a Divine ability of my Bloodline?'

The inheritances of the Demon Race were passed down through Bloodlines.

Such inheritances could be knowledge, instinctive power, or strange Divine abilities. There was no absolute hierarchy among inheritances, but special and powerful ones often included Divine abilities.

From that perspective, his Molting, which had long since departed from the usual concept of molting, could reasonably be considered a Divine ability or something close to one.

As long as he absorbed enough Spiritual Energy, he could activate it, and each Molting made his body stronger.

Judging by its effects alone, could it not be called an innate Body Cultivator Divine ability?

Creak!

A particularly loud crack rang out.

Jegyeong opened his jaws wide.

Partly because of the pain, partly because of the indescribable relief.

Something spilled from his open mouth.

When he finally looked down, he saw the teeth that had been firmly rooted in his mouth only moments ago.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of teeth like finely honed blades lay scattered across the ground, faded and cracked.

That was only the beginning.

Soon, fist-sized scales began to rain down.

Most shattered into tiny fragments as soon as they fell from his body, but some reached the ground while retaining their shape.

Whoosh!

At some point, flames suddenly burst forth and wrapped around Jegyeong's entire body.

Dense Demon Flame endlessly tempered his newly transformed and growing flesh.

"Kraaaah!"

A vicious roar echoed out, and the walls and ceiling cracked with sharp snaps.

The Human Race cultivators scattering Spirit Rain outside Black Jiao Palace, along with the Water Demons swimming near the island, trembled in fear.

A few faint-hearted ones even rolled their eyes back and lost consciousness.

Some time later.

Jegyeong felt both exhaustion and fullness throughout his body as he examined the changes brought by this Molting.

First, his already enormous body had grown larger again.

One hundred sixty meters? One hundred seventy?

He was not certain, but he seemed at least ten percent larger than before.

As his body grew, his strength grew as well.

Even though he was utterly drained and hungry, power overflowed through his entire body.

Yet these familiar changes were not what caught Jegyeong's attention.

'This...'

Jegyeong sensed something small that had formed near his heart.

It was a gathering of power and, at the same time, the essence of life.

Compared to his gigantic body, it was exceedingly small and insignificant. Yet its presence was no less intense than his strongly beating heart.

As he studied it gravely, Jegyeong soon recalled a spiritual treasure he had consumed a few days earlier.

The more he observed the small thing settled within his heart, the more similar it seemed to that spiritual treasure.

'Essence Blood?'

His guess soon became certainty.

Jegyeong could feel the faint Aura flowing from the tiny amount of blood, perhaps no more than a drop, slowly changing him.

The change was slow yet immense, slight yet unmistakably a transformation in quality.

* * *

After completing his Molting, Jegyeong inspected the Storage bag of the fugitive Human Race cultivator.

It contained a few lower-grade Spirit Stones, several Medicinal Pills for cultivation, and a few Spiritual Artifacts with varying degrees of damage.

None of them were items a Foundation Establishment cultivator would find useful. They were likely taken from some unfortunate Qi Refining cultivators.

By the Foundation Establishment Stage, the possessions of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators were usually beneath one's notice. Still, there were always thrifty people willing to squeeze even the liver from an ant.

'Hm.'

Jegyeong did not spare even a glance for things like Spirit Stones and Spiritual Artifacts.

What interested him were two Jade Slips, one recording a cultivation method and the other a secret art.

The cultivation method was a water-aspect Foundation Establishment cultivation method, likely the one that cultivator had practiced.

A cursory examination showed nothing special about it. It was the sort of cultivation method one could obtain anywhere as long as they had Spirit Stones.

Still, since it was a Foundation Establishment cultivation method, it would probably fetch a decent price.

'This... is a secret art?'

The cultivation method had disappointed Jegyeong somewhat, but the secret art was quite interesting.

It was a divine soul secret art called the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art.

It claimed to suppress an opponent's divine soul and turn them into a puppet, but after studying it closely, Jegyeong found that description somewhat exaggerated.

Normally, suppressing the divine soul of an opponent at the same realm was even harder than overpowering them directly.

The Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art also briefly explained this point.

'This secret art was made to subdue opponents with low Spiritual Intelligence from the start.'

Jegyeong quickly grasped the essence of the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art.

In his view, it was fair to say that this secret art had been created to deal with the Demon Race, especially Demon Beasts.

Many Demon Beasts had poor Spiritual Intelligence, and Water Demons were especially prone to it.

'It could also be called a beast-taming art.'

Jegyeong suddenly remembered the water-balloon-like creature inside the Beast-Containing Pouch.

Now that he thought about it, that creature might also have been subdued by this secret art.

'If used properly, this secret art could be a fairly good way to make a living.'

Thinking back to the auction on Stonewall Island, worthwhile Demon Beasts were worth no less than ordinary spiritual treasures.

If one cultivated the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art properly, they could safely and cleanly subdue ordinary Water Demons. In terms of earning Spirit Stones, it could be even better than most cultivation arts.

'Was this why that cultivator was being chased?'

Jegyeong checked everything in the Storage bag, but he found nothing more valuable than this secret art.

'To lose one's life over a single secret art like this.'

He clicked his tongue inwardly, but on further thought, it made sense.

In the end, no amount of Spirit Stones was ever enough. Rogue Cultivators with nowhere to rely on were especially the sort to show murderous intent over a single Spirit Stone.

To people like that, such a secret art could feel as precious as any spiritual treasure or rare cultivation method.

'Not bad.'

Jegyeong repeatedly recited the formula of the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art.

Its intended use was not important to him.

Subdue Demon Beasts? A single look or roar from him was enough. There was no need to use a secret art.

What interested him was the very method of approaching another's divine soul.

'Interesting. But I need to approach this carefully.'

A divine soul was not something to meddle with carelessly.

Jegyeong was certain that the water-droplet-like creature in the Beast-Containing Pouch had been subdued by the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art, and he was also certain that its divine soul had been thoroughly ruined.

The cultivator must have made a mistake while trying to subdue it.

They were supposed to subdue it, but instead they had turned it into an idiot, no, a living corpse.

'That's one more thing I need to cultivate.'

He had even less time than before, but Jegyeong was pleased.

He had strengthened his body through Molting and increased his demon power through cultivation methods, but he had never properly studied the divine soul, let alone cultivated it.

He had considered that aspect of cultivation for some time, but cultivation methods and secret arts involving the divine soul were so rare that they were prohibitively expensive.

He had consoled himself by saying he would obtain one when he could afford it, yet he had acquired one like this.

'It's a secret art rather than a cultivation method, but it isn't bad as a reference.'

Jegyeong carefully placed the Jade Slip containing the Tiger Might Soul-Pressing Art into his Storage bag, then shook off the stiffness in his body and rose.

He left Black Jiao Palace and summoned Hyeon-gwi.

Then he ordered Hyeon-gwi to search for several Water Demons, including the Wing-Splitting Fish.

"Find out whether they're in these waters and, if they are, where they are."

"Understood."

After giving the order, Jegyeong returned to Black Jiao Palace and swallowed the last remaining spiritual treasure, the Vermilion Radiant Toad.

Footnotes:

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