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Chapter 102: The Cleansing of Time
When there’s no comparison, there’s no injury to one’s pride.
Tang San, a newcomer, shone in the two combat classes, overpowering all other students almost with ease; even Wu Bingji, the senior brother, couldn't defeat him. Gu Li, with his exceptional talent, lost as well. Tang San had practically schooled all the students of the Redemption Society, and there was no one who wasn’t convinced by his abilities.
This made the teacher responsible for the combat classes question his own teaching methods. Naturally, Tang San's suggestions for the combat class struck a chord in such times.
After dinner, Tang San returned to his room to cultivate alone. Today's cultivation held particular significance to him.
His understanding of devouring bloodline imprints was slowly improving, and Tang San realized that the powers of the imprints he devoured but did not integrate into his energy vortex would gradually dissipate. The time they remained in his body varied depending on the tier of the imprint.
This meant that, apart from the positioned bloodline imprints, no matter how many types of imprints he absorbed, they would all gradually disappear until they were completely gone. And he had just made the decision that he no longer needed the Ironhide Shield!
The allure of the Chrono Croc Transformation was too great for him, and Tang San had a hunch that its integration would truly change his understanding of this world.
The tier of the Ironhide Shield was not high, and its order was low as well. Tang San didn't really mind discarding it, as it wouldn't affect his overall combat strength by much, only slightly weaken his defense. By contrast, if he put the Chrono Croc Transformation to good use, he could get far greater results than anything Gu Li could achieve.
Tang San's spiritual power was significantly more potent than Gu Li's. Although time could not actually be described in terms of elements, Tang San's memories made the attributes of time very clear to him. To control time, strong spiritual power was essential. The bloodline power he had devoured from Gu Li could, at most, provide him with a third-tier Chrono Croc imprint rather than the second-tier original. Even so, with his mighty spiritual power, the effect he could achieve and the abilities he could use would undoubtedly be incomparable to Gu Li's.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Tang San focused inwardly, observing the five imprints he already possessed.
The Wind Wolf Transformation imprint was still the most prominent among the five imprints. Although it wasn’t all that high-level, being only a fourth-tier demon bloodline, after absorbing the entire bloodline power of the Wind Wolf chieftain, Feng Xiong, it had reached the pinnacle of the fifth order with no room for further advancement. Tang San would need to cultivate his Mysterious Heaven Technique to the sixth order and devour a sixth-order Wind Wolf’s bloodline power to improve further.
In addition, the remaining four imprints were the fourth-order Flash Leopard imprint, the third-order Ironhide Shield, the fourth-order Discerning Eye, and the second-order Golden Roc Transformation.
Each of the five abilities had its strengths, but the bloodline tiers of the first four were rather low. After all, there hadn't been any opportunities to strengthen them, apart from the Discerning Eye.
Tang San now had an idea: if the Demonic God Transformations he imprinted were the abilities of the gifted students from the Redemption Society around him, then evolving these imprints wouldn't be an issue. As long as his classmates' strengths progressed, he could advance. This approach was much easier than searching for demons to devour and absorb.
Take Cheng Zicheng, whose Golden Roc Transformation was at the fourth order. Although Tang San had only absorbed enough to give him a second-order imprint, he would eventually reach the fourth order through regular interaction and gradual absorption. If Cheng Zicheng advanced to the fifth order, Tang San could naturally achieve it, too.
Therefore, helping Cheng Zicheng in her cultivation was essentially helping himself.
Similarly, Wu Bingji's Ice Nymph Transformation was already at the sixth order. If Tang San devoured his bloodline imprint, he could at least gradually rise to the peak of the fifth order and reach the sixth order once he broke through in his cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Technique. In fact, he could push his cultivation to advance by devouring Wu Bingji's sixth-order bloodline power.
The only issue currently was the lack of space for new imprints.
The Wind Wolf Transformation's ability was absolutely irreplaceable at this point. He had to continue using it, lest he risk revealing his full abilities.
Tang San highly valued the Leopard Flash ability, which gave him speed akin to teleportation. Although the bloodline tier of the Flash Leopard clan also wasn't high, merely the same tier as the Wind Wolves, the Leopard Flash ability was incredibly handy. The Flash Leopard bloodline imprint only seemed less powerful because it didn’t give him any other abilities.
The seventh-order Shan Ling had demonstrated considerable strength in Wind Wolf Town. Therefore, Tang San was reluctant to give up Leopard Flash, at least not until he found a better option. In the future, he planned to see if Leopard Flash could be merged with other Demonic God Transformations to produce a favorable mutation.
The Ironhide Shield, being the least used, was his choice for replacement. Its defense was decent, but it was only at the third order. Given Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Technique and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his defensive needs weren't that great. He initially planned to absorb defensive bloodlines from other types of demons for fusion and strengthening, but discarding it now was worthwhile for the sake of the Chrono Croc Transformation.
The potential for growth of the Discerning Eye went without saying. Tang San had already decided to get some of the Celestial Fox bloodline power from Du Bai, even if it was only at the first order, to try to fuse it into that imprint. If that failed, he would find a way to reconstitute the Discerning Eye. Then, he could try absorbing Wu Bingji's bloodline to prepare for his breakthrough to the sixth order of the Mysterious Heaven Technique.
There was not much to say about the Golden Roc Transformation; the ability to fly was just too important. He would absorb bloodline power from Cheng Zicheng, elevating his Golden Roc Transformation to the fourth order.
The arrangement of the five bloodline imprints was well-settled. Tang San's path for the future was becoming increasingly well-defined. It wasn't just about elevating himself; he also needed to find ways to help those companions whose bloodline powers he had absorbed to improve as well. This mutual development strategy would enhance their collective strength and benefit everyone involved.
Wu Bingji's perception was exceptionally high. Under Tang San’s guidance, his understanding of the ice element had been elevated to a new level. Breaking through to the seventh order in the future was well within reach. Thus, the same applied to others; wherever he could assist, he would. Although Tang San was no longer the God King he once was, his insights were far deeper than those of the Redemption Society's teachers, making him a far superior mentor to these students.
Under the influence of Tang San's spiritual power, the Ironhide Shield was gradually stripped away from his energy vortex. Then, with great care, Tang San drew over the white light orb representing Chrono Croc Transformation, integrating it in the empty position.
He had managed a rather intense bout of bloodline energy absorption today. The opportunity arose from Gu Li using the Chrono Croc Transformation ability three times in succession, which brought his bloodline fluctuations to their peak and at the same time drained his spiritual power. Thus, Tang San could afford to be more forceful with his absorption without being noticed, elevating the Chrono Croc Transformation to the third order. Though it was only the initial level of the third order, it was still quite powerful.
The Chrono Croc Transformation slowly merged into the vortex, and the white imprint gradually stabilized.
Suddenly, it was as if something exploded in Tang San's mind. Everything around him seemed to slow down in that instant.
Even the bloodline fluctuations within his body and the operation of the Mysterious Heaven Technique became slower.
In the deepest depths of Tang San's sea of consciousness, a point of golden light, as small as a needle's tip, flickered in and out of existence. The flickering rate seemed to fluctuate, suddenly accelerating at times and then slowing down again, causing Tang San's mental power to fluctuate unstably with it.
Various strange epiphanies continuously emerged in his mind; this was the essence of time.
Had someone else experienced such a change, they might have risked mental breakdown. But not Tang San. As a former God King, he had a unique understanding of the mysteries of time. In addition, his son and grandson in that life also possessed powerful abilities related to time, and he had closely watched their growth. Calming himself down, he silently experienced the passage of time, feeling as though his body and spirit were being cleansed.