Chapter 91: Chapter 90: An All-Encompassing Transformation

The Resources Building stood tall in the center of Tianjiao Base, like an iron tower piercing the heavens. When Jiang Qiu arrived, Liu Qi and a young man with black hair streaked with white were waiting at the entrance.

"Jiang Qiu, this is Committee Member Lin Xiao."

At Liu Qi’s introduction, Jiang Qiu’s pupils constricted.

’So young, and already a committee member?’

His tone became even more cautious and respectful. "It’s an honor, Committee Member Lin."

"Mm."

Lin Xiao nodded, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Qiu like a red flame, and commented casually, "The Su Fragrance made from the Vermilion Li Essence Blood was originally meant for Lin Wei. However, since your aptitude is more outstanding, it’s only right that you use it for a medicinal bath. I hope your prodigious talent can advance even further."

He led Liu Qi and Jiang Qiu through the Resources Building’s security corridor, heading deeper into the facility under the watch of row after row of single-eyed cameras.

"The Demon Blood Fragrance is generally used when one attempts to Cast Jade Sinews. However, since you’ve already reached the skull stage in your cultivation, using it now isn’t too early. If the opportunity arises, you might even awaken the Bloodline Talent of the master of Dongqi Lake."

In the empty corridor, Lin Xiao’s deep voice mingled with the rhythmic CLACK-CLACK-CLACK of their footsteps. Jiang Qiu followed behind him, his heart pounding in his chest.

His general knowledge classes had mentioned that a Bloodline Talent was an ability the Demon Race gained as they continuously broke through to higher Realms. The higher the Realm of the Demon Race member, the closer their acquired Talent was to their ancestors’, and the more powerful it became.

Some Bloodline Talents could conjure world-shockingly powerful storms with a single breath. Some could forge an unparalleled external bone armor capable of withstanding a full-power blow from a high-Realm Martial Artist. And some Bloodline Talents were similar to [Martial Arts Talent]—allowing one to grow stronger simply by consuming.

An Ancestral Great Demon would certainly possess a Bloodline Talent of this caliber. However, as a member of the Human Race, if he wanted to inherit it, he had to consider compatibility. An unsuitable constitution could lead to a fatal backlash.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qiu took a deep breath, his heart thumping wildly.

"The Su Fragrance refined from a Demon Race’s Essence Blood is highly aggressive towards Non-Martial Artists. But you don’t need to worry too much. The facilities here are top-notch, and I’ll be here to ensure your safety," Lin Xiao said, stopping in front of the final door. "As for how great a transformation the Demon Blood Fragrance can bring you, that will depend on your willpower, your compatibility with the Vermilion Li Essence Blood, and a bit of luck."

"But the most important thing is willpower. As long as you can endure for more than three days, the transformation will be anything but small."

"Okay."

CLICK—

The large door opened. Lin Xiao led Jiang Qiu to an enclosed room that resembled a Nutrition Chamber, explained a few things about its operation, and then stepped back out.

"Watch over him carefully. Don’t let anything go wrong. We don’t have a second dose of an Ancestral Great Demon’s Essence Blood."

"Understood."

Liu Qi nodded, watching Lin Xiao disappear beyond the door as it opened and closed. He then turned his gaze to the now-sealed Nutrition Chamber, a hint of expectation in his solemn eyes.

...

Inside the Nutrition Chamber, the four walls and the floor were all cast from alloy, engraved with distinct, light-and-shadow patterns, much like the grooves on the Qi Blood Bow or the floor in the Virtual Training Pod.

There were no cameras here, only a bathtub in the center and a vial filled with a blood-red liquid. Bubbles constantly roiled to the surface inside, only to be forced back down by the narrow confines of the vial.

Following the instructions Lin Xiao had given him before leaving, Jiang Qiu turned on the faucet. Hot water gushed out, and in a few moments, steam filled the air as the water level rose past the two-thirds mark.

He gripped the vial’s cap and gave it a sharp twist, but it didn’t budge. Not until the muscles in his arms bulged slightly did the cap come loose with a POP. An ancient aura escaped from within, pressing down like a thundercloud under the dome of the Nutrition Chamber.

’What a tyrannical feeling.’

A thrill of trepidation shot through Jiang Qiu’s heart. He licked his lips and slowly tilted the mouth of the vial toward the tub.

DRIP...

A large, concentrated drop of liquid fell into the water, blooming like a crimson Other Shore Flower.

SPLASH!

Jiang Qiu stripped off his clothes and lay down in the water, as if resting in a sea of flowers on the shores of the Yellow Springs. He shuddered instantly. "Why is the water cold?"

The billowing steam hadn’t even had a chance to touch his face before the ice-cold medicinal water seized his body and dragged it down, as if a thousand-pound stone were sinking into the sea. In an instant, his eyes, and then the top of his head, were submerged.

The bathtub, which should have been just big enough to lie down in, now felt deeper than the Mariana Trench. He sank deeper and deeper as immense pressure assailed him from all directions. The only thing he could grasp was more, even colder water.

His chest was crushed, making it impossible to breathe. His soul couldn’t keep up with his body’s descent and buzzed as it separated, peeling away. In the blink of an eye, he saw his own body fall into a lightless, colorless abyss.

Suddenly, all the pressure vanished. His soul drifted alone, his vision blurring, as if at sunset on a moonless night.

No pain, no light, no warmth, no direction, not even a place to stand. It seemed he could just... float like this forever...

"I can’t just float like this," Jiang Qiu murmured, his soul clenching its fists. "I want the transformation from the Demon Blood Fragrance! I want to break through to the Jade Sinew Realm! I want to crush King Niu! I want to take the top spot among the Ten Great Prodigies!"

The cry from the depths of his being struck his soul with a BANG. In that trembling instant, a flicker of heat, like a spark igniting a bonfire, suddenly flared up.

Soul and body overlapped. Will and blood ignited each other. He clenched his fists, his eyes wide, as ten thousand tons of pressure descended upon him in an instant.

At this moment, he was like a glass marble under a hydraulic press—utterly fragile!

The extreme pressure was like standing on the edge of a skyscraper in a force-ten gale, like falling from ten thousand meters with a faulty parachute, like being unable to twist open a bottle of nitroglycerin during a sudden heart attack.

Perhaps he had been boiled in oil for seven days and seven nights, or perhaps it was only for the blink of an eye. His skull fractured under the pressure, and his myriad thoughts shattered into glass shards with a CRACK.

His consciousness, now as minuscule as a speck of dust, fell completely into the bottomless abyss...

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

But his heart was still racing, pumping out an endless stream of hot blood. His ten fingers were still clenched into fists. His pupils, wrapped in a web of blood vessels, though devoid of spirit, still shone like starlight on black jade.

[Demon Blood Body Refining x1]

[Steel Bone]

[Body Casting Points: 4/4]

[Body Transformation]

[Steel Skull]

A panel appeared in the depths of his mind. His soul, which had been scattering like wisps of cotton, was suddenly sucked back in, like a river reversing its flow into a whirlpool. Vaguely, he heard the fractured pieces of his skull CLICK back together.

A warm current overflowed from his Celestial Spirit Acupoint, flowing down his neck, spreading along his ribs and spine to the bones of his limbs, finally reaching the very tips of his finger joints.

[Steel Arm], [Steel Foot], [Steel Skull], and the bones and Copper Skin and Iron Flesh that had been refined to the hardness of steel throughout his body, now fused into a complete whole.

[Copper Transformation] + [Steel Arm] + [Steel Foot] + [Steel Skull] → [Steel Body]

[Flood Dragon Jade Sinews (Gestating)]

[Qi Blood Points: 0/100]

[Flood Dragon Tong (Switchable)]

The bottomless abyss suddenly resembled the vertical pupil of a Flood Dragon opening its eye. The instant their gazes met, it was as if an ant were staring up at a dark green moon. A cold chill, like an Ice Cone, pierced through his eyes, and a sharp pain bored into his brain like sulfuric acid.

SPURT—

He blinked hard, his upper body shivering as he leaped out of the bathtub. Jiang Qiu gasped for air, HUGE GULPS, as the now-cold medicinal water trickled down the contours of his heaving pectoral muscles.

The water appeared as a mix of gray and white. The bathtub was a pale grayish-white, the alloy walls a deep grayish-white. The entire world was nothing but shades of gray.

No, Liu Qi and Lin Xiao, who were striding in from outside the door, were red, like two humanoid Red Flames. But Lin Xiao’s red was so deep it was almost black...