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Chapter 42: Devouring & Merging
If integrating bloodline imprints strengthens my body directly, could I end up having the power of a bear, the speed of a leopard, the stamina of a horse, and more? If I can enhance my physical abilities like this, that’s amazing!
While contemplating, Tang San began integrating the final bloodline imprint. This was the most important part of the process, as it was the fifth, and the number of bloodline imprints would surpass his cultivation order. Success meant he hadn't reached his limit in the number of abilities he could infuse, which was obviously a good thing.
Of course, even if he failed, it wasn’t that bad. His previous experiment had shown that he could remove and replace the bloodline imprints, so he could always swap less useful abilities for better ones.
With noticeable improvements to his body from the Ironhide Shield and the Falcon Eye, Tang San began to hope his judgment was wrong, as he really wished to integrate the Aetherhorn Deer’s Discerning Heart's Gaze. This ability enhanced perception, a rare ability and even more precious than those directly boosting combat power.
Sadly, as expected of a man with his experience, his guess had been right on the mark.
The energy vortex swelled noticeably as he tried integrating the Discerning Heart's Gaze into it. The four internal imprints shimmered, and as the light representing Discerning Heart's Gaze began to merge, a strong repulsion force was generated, threatening to push it out.
Indeed, it seemed that things were as he had guessed. Each cultivation order would allow him to integrate only one additional ability, not an infinite number.
Tang San wasn't too disappointed. Certainty was most important to him, which was why he had tried to absorb three other abilities. With his judgment confirmed, he could choose his future cultivation and enhancement path.
It's okay if it doesn't work. Slow and steady wins the race.
Nourishing the Discerning Heart's Gaze imprint did, however, use up some of the Mysterious Heaven Technique’s power, slowing his progress. He would have to decide later which to keep and which to replace.
As he was about to give up on integrating the Discerning Heart's Gaze, Tang San suddenly felt a tremor among the four imprints within his energy vortex. Immediately after, a strong attraction force emanated from one of the imprints.
The Discerning Heart's Gaze imprint, which had been moving away, suddenly paused, then was swiftly drawn in by the imprint emitting an attraction force and slowly began to merge into it.
What is going on...
Tang San instantly tensed up, not with anxiety but with nervous excitement.
He didn't interfere with the change, and he just brought his mind to its most focused state, silently observing the interaction between the two imprints.
The imprint that generated the suction was the newly settled White-Crested Falcon's Falcon Eye ability. It looked as if it intended to pull back the Discerning Heart's Gaze and absorb it.
However, this absorption was clearly difficult. The Discerning Heart's Gaze struggled intensely as if it didn't want to be devoured by the Falcon Eye. But the Falcon Eye's resolve to devour it was tenacious, and Tang San immediately felt a significant drain on the energy of the Mysterious Heaven Technique.
This Falcon Eye ability is interesting; it's absorbing my Mysterious Heaven Technique power to devour the Discerning Heart's Gaze. It seemed that, hierarchically, the Aetherhorn Deer’s bloodline ranked above the White-Crested Falcon’s, so the latter's imprint needed the energy of the Mysterious Heaven Technique to assist.
The crucial question is, can they merge?
No merging had occurred with the more powerful Wind Blade, nor did Leopard Flash and Ironhide Shield show any change, only the Falcon Eye.
Falcon Eye versus Heart's Gaze—could it be that bloodline imprints could devour each other if they had something in common? Was this a mutation or a hybridization?
Tang San couldn't help but have some peculiar thoughts, but he didn't attempt to interfere with this merging and devouring. He simply observed silently, allowing the Falcon Eye to absorb as much Mysterious Heaven Technique power as it needed.
Tang San silently activated his Mysterious Heaven Technique, restoring his expended energy.
Notably, the Falcon Eye's consumption was quite substantial. With Tang San's fourth-order Mysterious Heaven Technique, a third of his power was depleted instantly. But he also noticed that a third of the Discerning Heart's Gaze imprint had been pulled into the Falcon Eye imprint.
The Falcon Eye imprint itself had become noticeably brighter. Its order didn't seem to increase, but it was definitely brighter.
The original color of the Discerning Heart's Gaze was a greenish-blue, while the Falcon Eye was a white bloodline imprint. Now that they were fusing, the Falcon Eye imprint was turning light green, deepening in color. It was actually somewhat similar to the Wind Blade imprint but even brighter.
Interesting, this is truly interesting.
As the devouring sped up with the strengthening of the Falcon Eye imprint, when Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Technique power was nearly two-thirds depleted, the Discerning Heart's Gaze imprint finally vanished completely, merging thoroughly with the Falcon Eye, transforming into a emerald-green imprint. On its surface, a faint white flow appeared.
This was clearly not just a simple devouring; the Falcon Eye had not only enhanced itself but also clearly inherited some of the Discerning Heart's Gaze's functions. Otherwise, the imprint's color would have remained white instead of undergoing such a change.
While Tang San silently restored his energy, he pondered over the evening's immense gains.
He had learned enormously! The most crucial part was understanding the upper limit of his ability imprints and their potential for evolving by devouring other imprints. In particular, the latter made him quite excited.
Tang San found this world entirely new and unfamiliar. Yet, once he grasped some of its threads, he could slowly sense its true essence and use the abilities provided by the dimension itself to get stronger. For that reason, rather than recovering his former abilities and progressing in his cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, it seemed far more of a priority to clarify the effects the Mysterious Heaven Technique had on bloodline imprints and how he could make use of them.
With this discovery, the direction for future enhancement became clear. To his joy, the already imprinted abilities were not immutable; they could be stripped away, sacrificing the order of the bloodline imprint, and they could also merge with other similar abilities.
He was the sole practitioner of the Mysterious Heaven Technique, which made him unique. In his current weak state, he wasn't actively targeted by the powers of this plane. Whether that would change in the future was a consideration for when he reached the god level.
For now, Tang San's strength had greatly increased—instead of two abilities, now he had four, with one being a fusion of two bloodline imprints.
The night passed without incident. The small inn safely welcomed dawn.
No Flash Leopard or Wind Wolf demons came, which meant that everything that had happened the day before had stayed there. As for what had happened after the Collision Contest, the three occupants of the inn could not care less.
Early in the morning, just as dawn broke, Tang San awoke from his meditation. It was his daily cultivation routine.
Pushing open the window, he gazed intently at the pale light of dawn on the horizon. The auspicious purple qi brought by the sunrise each morning was the perfect opportunity for him to cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes.
A faint purple hue emerged in his eyes, and suddenly, Tang San's pupils constricted. To his surprise, his vision seemed magnified, as if the horizon had been drawn closer.
At that moment, a hint of purple emerged on the distant horizon, signifying the arrival of the auspicious purple qi.