Chapter 898: The Thing About Dragon Blood.
The following is a scholarly article about [Dragon Force] and dragon blood, which would later serve as the main research material for the [Mutation Inheritance] and [Evolution Inheritance] phenomenon, written by a man knowing terms that shouldn’t be known by world of Valresta, just yet.
…
It is a known fact that there is a strange power hidden in blood. More specifically, those who carry the blood of aether beasts, Bloodliners, are able to tap into powers that most other mortals would never be able to access in their lifetime…unless they’re born with it.
There have been attempt to try and implant these abilities into others via the means of surgical implantation, and there have been techniques to try and emulate these abilities.
Unfortunately, the former would normally end in death due to incompatibility of the flesh, while the latter was always weaker than the real thing.
As such, it’s considered a hard fast rule that Bloodliner abilities are only accessible by those born of their blood. However, like every rule in existence, there exists an exception.
Dragon blood and [Dragon Force].
For reasons unknown to the wider community, dragon blood is both a universal donor and a universal acceptor, antigens be damned.
Alongside this medical anomaly though, the mere act of having dragon blood in one’s veins allows them to tap into [Dragon Force], a type of aether that seems to overpower regular aether through sheer natural might.
In other words, what is a dam in comparison to an earthquake, a campfire in the face of a flood or a taser in the face of a tornado?
Sad attempt at poetry aside, there is one massive drawback to dragon blood that not many people know: taking too much dragon blood, and allowing it to go untamed, will cause one to become a dragon.
In a manner similar to a virus, dragon blood will mutate the cells of their vessel into a form that is more suitable to wield their power.
This is why those who first inject themselves with dragon blood will usually develop small traits such as horns, scales, tails and wings, depending on the species of dragon, of course.
Additional injections at this point will then either lead to death, a strengthening of one’s abilities in regards to [Dragon Force] , or continued mutation that ends with the recipient becoming a dragon altogether.
These results tend to be directly connected to one’s cultivation, so those with exceptionally powerful cultivation bases are more likely to survive the process.
This all said…there is an additional phenomenon that is rarely mentioned in academic circles because it’s hardly ever seen: [Evolution].
This is a phenomenon unique to dragon blooded aether beasts.
Unlike mortal cultivators, aether beasts always seem to turn into dragons after infusing themselves with enough dragon blood…unless they fulfill a certain condition.
Nobody but the beasts themselves know what this condition may be, but when it is achieved, it allows them to become something…more.
It’s hard to describe in words, but the best way I can explain this is to share a moment from my own history.
Once upon a time, I had stumbled upon a strange, giant cocoon made of flesh in the middle of a crater.
I had no idea what it was, or where it came from, but I could sense from my position that it was radiating a very potent combination of aether and dragon force.
I was just about to go down the crater to get a closer look, until the damn thing suddenly hatched. And from the cocoon emerged…a pig. More specifically, it was a Giant Boar, a tier two aether beast.
At least…that what I had initially thought.
Confused by the sight, I was tempted to go down and investigate in person…until I saw the damn thing suddenly develop a set of dragon wings out of nowhere and fly off into the distance.
I was fairly certain I was going mad at the time, because I saw that as it flew away that the boar had taken more and more dragon-like features.
But now, having studied here at the $(&;$$(;, ,I can say for certain that I discovered a truth about the power of dragon blood.
One that may not change the world, but will definitely challenge it.
Because if dragonic transmutation is not the end point of dragon blood infusion…what is?
______Post explosion of light…____________
“Holy-!”
“Shield your eyes!”
[Why does everything cultivation related seem to involve explosions?!]
Thanks to Jinju Ren’s earlier warning, Patriarch Zhen Shi and Hermit Zhong Wei managed to defend themselves in time to prevent the energy and sharapnel originating from the dragon cocoon from causing them any injuries.
That said, they couldn’t do much about the sudden burst of light other than to shield their eyes and wait for it to die down.
Once the light did die down though, the group found themselves in a rather nasty situation.
“OOKIE!”
“Huh? What the-WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS AURA?!”
“Not good!”
A situation that came in the form of a humanoid monkey aether beast that aimed to smash down on Hermit Zhong Wei like a thunderbolt.
However, Hermit Zhong Wei was one of those old fellows in a profession where people died young. In other words…
[Eight Point Cedar Palm!]
He wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
Wood attributed aether surged around Hermit Zhong Wei’s form before coalescencing around his hand.
Once the aether was fully locked, loaded and molded, Zhong Wei thrusted it forward and launched an attack that took the shape of a giant palm made of red lacquered cedar wood with a bagua diagram carved into it’s center.
The power behind this palm was strong enough to carve a pathway right through a mountain made of granite, but not enough to level it.
In other words, it should’ve been strong enough to send this weird monkey monster flying into the distance.
CRACK!
“Oh, that’s not good.”
Instead, the monkey monster smashed into the wooden palm and began to push back against it.
A long groaning sound echoed throughout the jungle as the monkey monster kept pushing, a sound that most people associated with the sound of falling trees.
‘Shit! This is…starting to get heavy!,’ Zhong Wei thought to himself through gritted teeth as he kept pouring aether into the palm and push back the monkey monster.
Luckily for him, he didn’t have to wait too long.
[Coiling Serpent Finger!]
“Ook!”
Just as the first cracks and splinters were about to form upon the cedar palm, Zhen Shi came in from the side and launched a finger strike against the monkey monster’s abdomen.
The shadow of a coiling serpent appeared around his hand briefly before rushing forward and strike against the monkey, sending the beastie flying away from the cedar palm.
“Gah! What the fuck?”
However, it wasn’t without injury that Zhen Shi managed to pull off this feat.
“How the hell -gah!,” Zhen Shi cursed as he realigned his broken finger, using a bit of aether to repair the damage as best he could.
In the split second Zhen Shi managed to send the monkey flying, the beast had retailiated and managed to break his finger despite it being coated in a layer of [Regalia]. This meant that the monkey beast either had a means to mitigate aether based defenses, or was so overwhelmingly powerful that he could outright overpower such defenses.
A part of Zhen Shi hoped it the was the former more than the latter, because he’d at least have a fighting chance.
However, just as he allowed this thought to pass through his mind, a sudden surge in aether caused him and Zhong Wei to turn their heads towards the direction of the monkey, that was still airborne.
“Wait a minute…”
“Uh oh.”
To be more precise, Zhen Shi aimed to slam the beast into the ground, instead, the monkey had somehow managed to fly upward.
Thankfully(?), they didn’t have to wonder about this change in directions and aether for too long.
FWIP
“OOKIE!”
“Oh, fuck.”
The monkey beast had suddenly stopped spinning mid-air, revealing to the old warriors that he had somehow developed a pair of leathery, scaly wings that were pitch black and rather evil looking.
It didn’t take too long after this reveal for them to figure out what this thing monkey beast was originally the Diabolic Onyx Dragon that was initially guarding the [Tempering Spirit Pool].
“Wait a minute…shit!”
Not only that, but the monkey had stayed still long enough for Zhen Shi to finally identify what they were dealing with, and he was not for it in the slightest.
In fact, he was so perturbed by the beast’s appearance, he summoned his [Astra] in preparation to defend himself.
Evidently, this precautionary action took Zhong Wei by surprise, especially when it was followed up by Zhen Shi telling him to arm himself right this very instant.
“What the hell?”
“Stop staring and get your [Astra] out, now!”
“What? Why?”
“Because that thing is a Martial Mimic Monkey and it’s about to -”
“OOKIE!”
“Use our own attacks against us.”
“Shit!”
The next thing either of them knew, the Martial Mimic Monkey had launched an [Eight Point Cedar Palm] directly at them.
