Mutating the Bloodline
Creating a bloodline core was simple.
All you needed to do was gather your blood essence in one spot and condense it as hard as possible. And like diamonds, it would start to crystallize under immense pressure, forming a core.
However, that wasn't what Xue Bai was worried about. The part that he was worrying about was how to infuse the elemental essence into the crystallizing bloodline core while also keeping it stable.
Thankfully Huli Jing was next to him to help him throughout the process, as just the middle Heaven-grade bloodline was as tough to control as a collapsing star. But making his low Heaven-grade space element stay in the same spot alongside it was almost impossible.
Directing his consciousness inside himself, Xue Bai found the many drops of blood essence throughout him and managed to corral them in a spot opposite his heart.
"Senior Huli, I've gathered them. Help me keep it stable while I gather my elemental essence." Xue Bai quickly shouted.
Nodding, Huli Jing put his palm onto Xue Bai's back and easily corralled the rowdy bloodline within Xue Bai, ensuring that it didn't move even an inch.
Finding his elemental essence was more complicated than finding his blood essence, but it didn't take long as, within ten minutes, Xue Bai managed to bring it to where Huli Jing corralled his bloodline.
The next step was to fuse the two together. And with Huli Jing's powerful soul, the infusion process was as smooth as possible, to the point where they combined as if they were originally one.
Finally, the last step was to give it enough pressure to crystallize into a core.
"COMPRESS!" And with a loud shout, Huli Jing started to compress the newly fused bloodline.
The process happened quickly, and within an hour, Xue Bai finally created his new mutated bloodline core.
"You're right. It didn't hurt at all!" Xue Bai spoke with a smile.
"Why would I bother to lie to a child?" Huli Jing snorted with displeasure.
He was blunt earlier when he said it would hurt. Why would he lie when it wouldn't? If it would hurt, he would simply say so.
Xue Bai gave the man a bright smile before ignoring his muttering and going to the mirror to investigate his new appearance.
After he had eaten the Celestial Void Fruit, Xue Bai's eyes and hair were entirely purple. But after his new bloodline mutation, his once snow-white ears and tails were a shimmering purple, as if a nebula were contained within them.
Moreover, his eyes adopted the same look, a radiant purple that could intoxicate someone should they stare too deeply into his eyes.
"This is so beautiful." Xue Bai muttered softly.
After staring at his eyes long enough, Xue Bai tore his eyes away from the mirror to look at Huli Jing, only to see him flickering as if he would dissipate soon.
Panicking, Xue Bai thought his newest friend would die!
"Senior Huli! What's happening to you?" Xue Bai asked with concern.
"I have already found someone to inherit my legacy. Therefore, there is no point in my remnant soul staying here any longer." Huli Jing answered.
"But you said it could stay here for another million years? So how are you going to die already?" Xue Bai asked, panic lacing his tone.
"I never said I was dying, fool. I had prepared a physical body in the Immortal World in the event that I would die prematurely. The body has been ready for around 10 thousand years. Now I merely need to enter it with my remnant soul." Huli Jing explained.
The rock in Xue Bai's heart dissipated, and he sighed with relief. Huli Jing was the first person besides his family he felt close to. Having him die not even a day after he met him would leave a sour feeling in his heart.
"Before I leave, this secret realm is going to collapse in on itself in ten hours. There isn't anything of value to you here, so you should tell those other children in here to leave alongside you." Huli Jing spoke while Xue Bai was thinking.
"Wait, Senior Huli, I have a request." Xue Bai remembered what he needed to do before he left.
"I only have an hour. Say it quickly." Huli Jing responded impatiently.
"In this secret realm, there should be four groups of people. Can you find all the people with a devil claw brand on their attire?" Xue Bai asked.
Like Wang Yichen, the members of the Wang Clan also wore a set of blood-red robes with a devil claw branded onto them. Only Wang Yichen and the Wang Clan heir, Wang Yu, were allowed to wear a robe with a claw on the back.
The rest had to have the claw at their breast.
"Yes, easily. There are currently 20 of them here. And they are all mostly in the Muscle Nourishing realm. Why? Are they your companions?"
"No, the opposite. I need to kill them. Can you do it for me, Senior?"
"I am an immortal. Though I have lost my physical body, I am still strong enough to flatten this entire plane should I wish to. And you want me to kill a group of kids?" Huli Jing didn't know whether to be angry or laugh at such a request.
"How am I supposed to kill them? I'm only in the Vein Transformation realm." Xue Bai cried out.
"You have a high Heaven-grade bloodline, for heaven's sake. So go and find a few peak stage Muscle Nourishment realm demonic beasts and coerce them into being your lackeys." Huli Jing berated.
Suddenly, he felt like the heir he had chosen was a little lacking in the mental department.
"You're right!" Xue Bai forgot about his new bloodline and was thinking about how to face the Wang Clan members head-on.
"Do you have any more questions before I leave?" Huli Jing asked impatiently.
"Yes, how can I hide my tail and ears? They are too eye-catching." The seductive aura he now had was a huge problem. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Xue Bai wouldn't have the face to walk out of his room if he constantly ignited a fire in men every time he left.
"Just focus hard enough on your bloodline core. This should be second nature to you." Huli Jing answered.
Listening to the man, Xue Bai once again focused his consciousness within himself and willed his bloodline to suppress itself. And after a minute of concentration, the extra details disappeared.
Now, as his elemental essence was transferred into his bloodline core, Xue Bai's eyes and hair had returned to their normal hue, a matte black with a hint of purple laced within. However, while he lost the seductive aura, he still kept the beautiful transformation.
"Thank you, Senior Huli!" Xue Bai thanked the man with a sincere bow.
However, Huli Jing waved his hand dismissively at Xue Bai's gratitude.
"It was a give and take. If you knew who killed me, then you wouldn't be thanking me."
"Senior Huli, who killed you?" Xue Bai asked before the man left for good.
"I wrote it in the spatial ring on the desk. Besides the note, there are also enough resources for you to cultivate to the Xiantian Great Realm smoothly. But after that, you'd be on your own. Also, there is a seal on the note, and you can't break that seal unless you had a cultivation matching mine when I passed. So if you can't even reach my peak, then you shouldn't bother to know." Huli Jing answered before he finally faded away.
Saddened at the disappearance of Huli Jing, Xue Bai once again gave a deep bow before preparing to leave the cave abode.
Picking up the spatial ring and walking out of the cave, Xue Bai's eyes become cold.
"Wang Clan members, I hope you wrote your wills." Xue Bai spoke aloud as he jumped into the pond once again to leave the trial area.
Now that Xue Bai knew the route back, the swim out of the trial area was faster than entering it.
And after another short time wasted swimming, Xue Bai exited the pond and arrived back in the cave he started in.
Thankfully, rather than changing his clothes, Xue Bai now had a fire element affinity!
Using it to his advantage, Xue Bai conjured a small ball of fire and started to dry his soaked clothing.
Though Xue Bai didn't know much about the space element, the fire element was his strong suit. In the game, he had cultivated to the peak of the Immortal Ascension realm with a fire element affinity Martial Vein.
After drying himself off, Xue Bai left the cave and climbed the mountain the cave was at the bottom of.
Now with his stronger soul, Xue Bai remembered everything about the secret realm, and the strongest demonic beast in it lived at the top of this mountain.
So after subduing it and the rest of the demonic beasts that lived alongside it, Xue Bai was confident that he would have enough power to wipe out the Wang Clan members.
Moreover, before Huli Jing left, he gave Xue Bai the locations of the Wang Clan members while leaving a small soul imprint on each of them.
And Xue Bai was the only person who could sense the imprints.
From what Huli Jing sensed, of the 20 Wang Clan members who entered the secret realm, there were four at the peak of the Muscle Nourishing realm, and the rest were at various stages in the Muscle Nourishing realm—all but one person.
Usually, in secret realms, a huge party entering a secret realm would split into groups and search for fortuitous encounters independently.
However, oddly enough, the entire group of 20 Wang Clan members had stayed together as a unit, protecting one person who stayed in the center. And the person in the center was the anomaly.
From what Hulu Jing told him, the person being protected was only in the Blood Exchange realm. The anomaly was only at the 2nd stage of the realm, which, for a secret realm with peak stage Muscle Nourishing realm demonic beasts, was suicidal.
But to make up for his lack of strength, the 19 Wang Clan members walked in a tight circle formation with him in the center.
Obviously, he was a person of high prestige.
"It shouldn't be Wang Yu. That demon spawn would enter the Bone Strengthening realm this year. And the only other person in the Wang Clan who could order this many people while being this weak should be the Grand Elder's grandson." Xue Bai thought to himself.
"Well, it just makes my job easier to do." Xue Bai just shrugged it off and continued climbing.
The overlord of the secret realm was in the Bone Strengthening realm. No matter how the members of the Wang Clan were huddled up, they would all die anyway.
Climbing to the top of the mountain didn't take very long, but with less than 10 hours left before the secret realm closed, Xue Bai climbed as fast as he could.
He didn't want to be forever locked in a secret realm.
Also, after he wiped out the Wang Clan members, Xue Bai planned to search the secret realm himself. He knew where a few natural treasures that could help his cultivation were located.
As Xue Bai planned for the future, he realized he had finally reached the top of the mountain. The peak of this mountain was odd, and unlike most mountains, this one's peak was utterly flat and covered in trees that towered over the clouds, giving him a sense of awe.
But he wasn't given any moment to appreciate the scenery as, within a minute of reaching the top, a hawk with an almost 2-meter wingspan flew out of a tree and charged at Xue Bai.
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