Chapter 85. Transfusion
The chambers beneath the ground was a place Celestia had never been to. The fact that Tundra asked her first, was surprising. No. Not just surprising, but it's likely a point that would cause even the other wives to seethe in jealousy.
Yet the prospect of a spiritual beast bloodline was tempting. She had never known it to be possible, but if the methods came from the Ancient Titans, then she could only say it is only ignorance for thinking that way.
"I'll be the first? Is that- safe?"
"There is always risk, but of all the spirit beasts type we have, the Stormswept Great Eagle's blood is perhaps the most docile and easiest to work with. So I will say that I have more confidence in you, than any other. They come from the Great Eagle's lineage, and after some work I've been able to distill the spirit beast's bone and blood to its greater form, the Surging Heaven Eagle, arguably one of the top 500 bloodlines."
It isn't the best, but one of the great surprises for Tundra when processing the books were how malleable bloodlines were. The 72 Iterations claims that because the marrow is present in all mortal bones, and the creation of this bloodline only involves the insertion of fresh marrow and blood into three to four spinal bones, the theory went that stronger versions of the same 'tree' of bloodlines can be inserted into these three to four bones and, and the stronger bloodline would naturally supplant the existing bloodline within.
This meant, in theory, it was possible to get stronger and stronger bloodlines, though this has rarely been tried. Those in the seventh or eighth realm were reaching the point where bloodlines were just nice to have, but not a great differentiator.
For those born with native bloodlines, because the presence of the bloodlines' marrow is in all their bones and body, a complete replacement of every single bone marrow has never been successfully accomplished. It suggested that those born with innately weak bloodlines are disadvantaged compared to those with no bloodlines, since the option to 'upgrade' to stronger bloodlines through blood transfusion was available. However, the 72 iterations Scripture also posited that those with innately weak bloodlines can instead achieve something called blood augmentation and purification, where their bloodlines are distilled and evolved directly through a fairly lengthy consumption and filtration process.
But, cultivators were better spent strengthening their own spiritual realms instead, since that was truly where the difference in strength mattered. Dabbling in bloodlines outside the ten great primordials for those in the sixth and seventh realm was like playing with lesser toys. Interesting, and useful in some way, but not truly a game changer.
"Here. Lie down on this bed." There was a slanted bed for her to rest on, and various restraints meant to keep her pacified. She wouldn't be flat on the bed, but instead more like a diagonally resting on it.
Celestia looked around and found the entire setting quite frightening. There were glowing flasks filled with colorful types of blood. There were various spiritual tools and formations meant to do many things. Knives, blades, needles, and syringes.
There were even more tables filled with drawers of herbs and various pills. Celestia felt her hand tremble in fear, even though she already said yes.
Tia Truehaven stood wearing a silver robe, and stood in front of an array of tools. "She's the first one?"
"Yes."
"I'd think you would rather start with someone more... expendable."
"I understood the methods. Now, the question is whether you are withholding information from me." Tundra countered. "Besides, I have tremendous confidence in your abilities."
The elder from the Truehaven family coughed and genuinely looked pale. Celestia wondered whether she was just a pawn in a game between her husband and the unpleasant guest, but then again, she didn't think her husband meant to use her as a tool. "Very well then, let's start."
The bed felt cold. It wasn't comfortable. There were straps to ensure she remained on the bed.
Acupuncture needles went first, each of them landed with a tremendous amount of spiritual energies. Celestia thought it was quite horrifying that she had to be awake throughout the entire process, but then again, she had to be awake to control the new spiritual energies.
So, it wasn't a choice.
The needles were incredibly effective. All she felt was them poking her skin, and then, she felt nothing else anymore. Twenty needles throughout her body, and all she could feel was her head.
"Good. We're beginning." Tundra declared.
She felt nothing, but she saw, from the corner of her eye looking at a shining, mirror-like steel flask that her back was being cut open. There were parts of her flesh. Her bones.
When she killed others she had seen them spill out of the bodies. Mortals. Other cultivators. This was the first time she saw her own through reflections.
And still she felt nothing.
She saw her husband pick up what were six gigantic vials filled with a paste. A red paste that thrummed with power.
"Is that the bloodline?"
"Yes. This is the marrow." Tundra answered, a little amused that Celestia was still awake and didn't seem too disturbed by it. "It doesn't look like much in it's current form."
"I see."
Tia Truehaven, who was still watching and making sure that Tundra got it right, seemed amused. "I must give you credit, Lady Gale. I had expected you to lose it. Most of my own patients fainted."
"I don't deserve it. The acupuncture needles meant I feel nothing."
"Oh? Not even a bit?" Elder Truehaven's attention was now focused on the needles instead, as if amazed that they perfectly numbed out pain. She looked as if she wanted to take some out just to have a closer look, but a light zap from Tundra's wrists warned her enough.
"Focus." Tundra declared. "I wonder whether I am the student, or you are."
The elder frowned. She looked like she hated to admit it, but her supposed apprentice in the ways of blood transfusion was more experienced than her. "You've got all the steps down."
The regressor began to work. He used an extremely small, thin spoon and began to scoop out some of the bones. "Alright, Celestia, I'm beginning to replace the marrow. I will keep the original marrow if you want to look at them later."
Celestia thought about it, and groaned. What was she going to do with parts of her own body that were removed? "I won't know what to do with it."
Tundra smiled, as she saw him scoop up a strange paste out of her bones and placed them into a spiritual container. "I'll keep it then. Now, eat this. Will need it to help prevent your own spiritual energies from resisting the spirit beast's marrow."
He tossed a pill perfectly into her mouth. She almost felt like she wanted to gag, but the pill melted quickly.
She still felt nothing.
Even as the big pile of paste was compressed and condensed into the few small bones along her spine, her body felt nothing. This took a few breadths, and went on for so long that they could talk about more mundane stuff.
Almost half a day later, this step was complete. Elder Truehaven was both impressed and horrified. "It's almost as if you've done this before."
"No I have not. But it has similarities to some medical arts. I'd say on principle, it even has some connections and may be inspired by the methods of the barbarian's spiritual root transplants."
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Ugh. Don't say that in the presence of my elders. They do not enjoy being associated with the faraway barbarian clans."
"Faraway? They are just next to the Ancient Titans!" Tundra chuckled, as the bones were slowly returned and set back where they belonged. He tossed another pill into Celestia's mouth. "This will help the healing."
She squirmed slightly, as she began to feel some pain.
"Ah, the pacification is fading. Let me fix that." Tundra stood briefly and tapped the multiple spiritual needles embedded all over her body, and the pain vanished once more.
"Are- are we done?" Celestia asked, curious. She still couldn't feel her body, but from the reflections it almost seemed like he was. He took a needle of some kind, heated it over a golden fire and began to stitch her flesh together with threads made from her hair.
"Almost. The methods proclaim a six candle-long period to allow the new marrow to fuse with your body, so I will keep your spiritual energies suppressed for this time." Tundra declared, as he briefly checked through a stack of books on the table. It appeared to be the so-called 72 Iterations, but Celestia couldn't read the full title from her awkward angle. "So, lady Truehaven, was there anything I missed?"
"No. A fine work, I must say. Have you considered joining the Ancient Titans? You have the potential to be a great blood transfusion master." The elder almost wanted to clap, but she didn't. The underground chambers were a weird place, and their voices echoed.
"Good." Celestia felt Tundra's eyes look at her, and he looked warm. Gentle. "Do you feel alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine. I felt nothing."
They waited some more. Tundra recommended some breathing exercises, while they waited for the six standard candles to finally finish.
"I will begin to take out the first set of the needles in about fifty breaths. The pain should be mostly numbed, but it will be the spiritual energies that will cause you trouble. You should begin to gather spiritual energy in your core. According to the scriptures, you will feel as if there is an additional set of meridians within your body. You will have to connect to them, and these set of meridians will be the new bloodline."
"Additional meridians?"
"It's a metaphor of the ancients." Tundra said. "I ask that you give me a better name once you feel what it's like."
Time passed, and the needles were removed. Celestia began to feel her body once, and was pleasantly surprised how painless it was. Her spiritual energies circulated through the meridians and spiritual paths, and then, there was the strange, throbbing sensation coming from that particular part of her spine.
It really did feel like an additional set of meridians.
"So?"
"I'm afraid the ancients were right. That description is fairly accurate. I'm going to connect the rest of my spiritual realm to this new... meridian now."
It was as if she pulled a string from her spiritual realm, and extended over to this new meridian, like creating a canal to supply water to new farmland. The sensation that came back was also immediate. She was stunned momentarily, as she was swamped with new feelings and senses.
Her husband watched like a hawk, and she could see in his presence like...
Wait. What's the waves coming off everything?
She blinked, and the waves vanished. She realized then she could turn it on, and off. "Oh."
Tundra kept quiet and waited for her to elaborate.
"I think... these are the effects of the bloodline?"
"It will take some time to spread. You also need to practice with it. A bloodline is quite like a muscle, it also gets stronger when you use it and harmonize it with the rest of your cultivation.
At that point, Tia interjected. "Internally within the Ancient Titans, we don't like to refer to bloodlines as a muscle. Some strengths are inherent to the bloodline. Instead we use the term, a bloodline is like a tool, like a spiritually bound weapon, you need to gain the skills to use them well, even if without skill, there are already things you can do."
"Ah. That is perhaps a fair assessment too." Tundra nodded at Elder Truehaven's clarification. "Get some rest. You will have to familiarize yourself with the bloodline for at least a few weeks or months."
***
"Well, that was successful." Elder Truehaven declared once Celestia left. "You've got it figured out in the first try. I still find it unusual that you've chosen your wife as your first experiment."
Tundra sat, and took up some paper to write notes. "I am innately familiar with Celestia's physique."
All their shared assisted cultivation meant Tundra understood Celestia's spiritual realm well, and also had a thorough understanding of her body and physique. He knew where and how her meridians and spiritual realms behaved, whether there were any unusual behaviors in the various parts of her spirit and body.
In other words, he knew her well enough to very reasonably predict how everything would interact, and thus could confidently intervene if anything went wrong.
Celestia's spirit was also already familiar and generally accepted his presence, that he could extend his spirit into her soul to help out with minimal resistance even if she was unconscious. It was true that he could experiment with more 'disposable' candidates like outer or inner disciples, but he wouldn't understand these candidates in the same way, and not just that, their souls would resist him. That could complicate any recovery.
Elder Truehaven merely looked at her own set of notes, and frowned. "It isn't a bad choice."
Tundra looked at her, and his mind conjured up his old memories of the corrupted elder. He said, with all the seriousness he could muster. "You should have a bloodline."
That declaration made the woman pause.
The two stared at each other, and maybe she thought he would flinch. He didn't.
So she was left to ask. "Why?"
"A bloodline does more than just give strength." He answered.
"More?" She paused and touched her chin. She briefly glanced at her notes. "Wait. Was your goal something else?"
He said too much, so he got up. "I will now go make some pills and observe my wife's rest."
***
But he didn't. As he walked out, he briefly passed by Elly's part of the mansion, and felt Edison's presence.
And so, like a parent with no consideration for his children's need for privacy, he barged into his room, and called out. "Son."
Edison was alone and looking out of the window. His wife said he's been doing that a lot. He weakly answered, but didn't even turn to see him. "Father."
His son's aura was almost nonexistent. He is still a 4th realm cultivator. His defeat should not be the end for him personally. He wondered whether he had gone soft. He must have, because he didn't ignore his son like he would've had. "Are you well?"
Edison did not answer that at first. But after a moment, he answered. "No."
"I see." Tundra wanted to say something. But this was the accumulated gap from his absence. He couldn't bridge it. Awkward.
The base of their relationship as father and son was flawed, and now under stress, it couldn't hold the weight of the challenges they faced.
"I'll be starting the bloodline transfusions. You will have your chance soon." He realized that in some friendships, the exchange of goods wasn't important. The acts of loyalty and being present was what his friends valued. Here he was trying to paper over those gaps and their broken relationship with promises of power and strength.
Edison didn't reject his statement. He merely sighed.
Tundra closed his eyes, a strong part of him wanted him to stop this farce. Maybe he should listen to it.
There is a point at which he has to stop reaching over and work on other parts of his family who equally deserve his attention. "Edison, this bloodline transfusion will be the last of what I impose on you. Where you go from here, I will no longer say."
That caught Edison by surprise. He turned briefly, and the father and son's eyes met. In his son's eyes, he saw shock.
Now it was the father's turn to sigh. It is what it is. He turned and walked away.
***
Anna's fists were charged and they slammed into Tundra's shields. Annaly too, tried to attack. Both mother and daughter's attacks didn't go anywhere.
"This is stupid, grandfather." Annaly cursed. She didn't know why she went along with Anna's suggestion to try and fight him.
"No, Annaly." Tundra, however, found it worth it. "What is important is this. Dodge."
A spiritually connected spear chased the younger woman, and she looked afraid as hell. She screamed. She shouted and flailed as the spear came for her like a furious mad dog. The spear barely cut her.
Anna knew he was making it so much slower than it actually is.
"You don't get a chance to laugh, Anna." Tundra declared, as a second, much faster spear now was added to the fray. Then a third spear, and a fourth. "You can block it, if you want."
"Father!" Anna cursed, but she had no time to say anything after that. There were four spiritual weapons chasing after her. The two girls soon found themselves breathless as they tried to avoid Tundra's flying spirit spears.
The dodging practice went for an hour, while Elder Yavin Redaxe watched nearby. "You're back, Sect Master. They look like they could use a good dip in water."
"Ah, yes. How's your wedding preparations?" Tundra smiled at his disciple. The wedding was in a few days. He rose a small step to the second stage of the fifth realm.
"Well. Everything is ready. It seems my father-in-law and my brother-in-law, however, found some new allies that will now be coming for the wedding." Yavin has a strangely sinister smirk.
"Oh. What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing. The allies that they chose don't appear to be particularly interesting. They are from the Southeast Fists Sect, they are a sect located far south from here, their Sect Master is only in the sixth realm. But I found their recent rise interesting and it seems there are other factors that's pushing them up."
Tundra realized what he meant, and reached into his spatial pouch. He handed a protective talisman to his disciple. Something rated for the high 7th realm. "Keep it on yourself. Your wives should stay back. I'll go check on the spiritual formations, just in case."