For three days and three nights, an endless stream of blood was brought into the room, where it transformed into giant blood orbs that floated in midair.
These blood orbs continuously channeled blood into the largest orb at the center, replenishing whatever was consumed.
Inside the central blood orb, Yu Xian's body underwent subtle changes from time to time. For instance, when he refined the Baxia bloodline, dragon horns sprouted from his head; when refining the Tianma bloodline, wings grew from his back...
After three days and three nights of refinement, his combat strength finally reached 43. By accumulating small increments, it had increased by a full 27 points.
This was equivalent to refining twenty-seven God-rank powerhouses—one could easily imagine how massive the boost was.
In truth, while his combat strength had only increased by 27 points, the real benefit lay in how his abilities had become far more versatile. Though individually weak, they covered virtually every domain without leaving any blind spots.
For example, the Baxia bloodline not only significantly enhanced his defense, but also granted him the ability to breathe underwater. The Tianma bloodline drastically boosted his flying speed, granting him a substantial advantage in aerial combat.
Then there was Qiuniu, which allowed him to manipulate sound waves while immensely sharpening his hearing. The Pixiu bloodline bestowed upon him the power to ward off evil, causing ordinary foul and filthy things to keep their distance. The Huodou bloodline enabled him to consume fire as food and granted a certain level of control over the power of calamity; combined with the blood curse technique from his Primordial Pure Blood, he could even curse enemies across great distances, plaguing them with misfortune.
However, the remaining bloodlines would not be nearly as easy to refine. Be it the Yinglong, the Nine-Tailed Fox, or the Golden-Winged Great Peng bloodline, all required vast amounts of energy to refine, so he set them aside for later.
With a thought, Yu Xian instantly absorbed all the remaining blood in the room into his body. He slowly descended from the air to the floor. The immense energy inside him merely stirred slightly, yet it warped the surrounding air.
Watching the Yu Xian before them, both Yu Lie and Bai Jinze felt a tremor of dread in their hearts.
In the past, Yu Lie could see through Yu Xian's attributes with a single glance. Now, he could not see Yu Xian's attributes at all. He felt only an intense palpitating fear, as if even the slightest hint of murderous intent from Yu Xian would spell certain death for him.
Yu Xian also realized that his strength had grown too quickly, leaving the energy in his body somewhat volatile. Fortunately, he was not a cultivator of this era and faced no danger of an energy backlash.
He was like a born monster. Controlling the power within him was as simple as eating or drinking water; he only had to be slightly mindful not to let any 'grains of rice' spill.
In the space of a single breath, he reined in his aura, calming the turbulent energy.
He walked over to Yu Lie and smiled. "Minister, I'm done."
"Then how wide is the gap between you and Edward now?" Yu Lie asked immediately. Bai Jinze also stared intently at Yu Xian; this question concerned the safety of all Huaxia.
Yu Xian gave a thumbs-up and grinned. "Edward is 100, and I'm at 43. I'm still short by about 57."
"Still that big of a gap?" Bai Jinze muttered worriedly, not understanding the true significance of the combat strength scale.
Yu Lie, on the other hand, already knew the standard. He laughed heartily. "Good, good, excellent! Little Yu, if there are any other resources you need, just name them. As long as the country can provide them, it's not a problem!"
"I still need the rest of Little Dumb's siblings," Yu Xian said.
Yu Lie nodded in agreement. "Understood. I can make that call. We'll head to the Bronze Sacred Tree shortly to fetch the remaining little Golden Crows."
The three of them then exited the room. Bai Jinze had already prepared the highest-standard ingredients for a banquet three days ago. Unable to refuse such warm hospitality, the three shared a meal with several staff members. Yu Xian signed quite a few autographs and posed for photos with some fans.
After leaving the Transcendent Matter Research Institute, Yu Xian and Yu Lie returned to Qilin headquarters. Without pausing to rest, they headed straight to the containment facility, where Yu Xian dripped his blood onto the remaining Golden Crows perched on the Bronze Sacred Tree to claim their loyalty.
"All set. Is there anything else you need?" Yu Lie asked with a smile, looking at the nine little golden birds fluttering above Yu Xian's head.
Yu Xian shook his head. "That's enough. Next, I'll increase my strength as quickly as possible, and then... take down Edward!"
"Good. Then I wish you a swift victory and boundless martial fortune." Yu Lie patted Yu Xian's shoulder and smiled.
The two returned to Qilin headquarters. Yu Xian bid farewell to everyone and teleported away using a spatial bubble.
***
Mars.
Yu Xian materialized inside a bubble.
Frowning, he waved a hand over his head, shooing the nine little Golden Crows higher as they squabbled for the right to perch on his head. But the moment he lowered his hand, the nine birds began fighting over it again.
"You're forcing my hand!" Yu Xian muttered to himself, glaring at the nine little Golden Crows.
He promptly trapped all nine little Golden Crows inside spatial bubbles. Free of their disturbance, he could finally settle down and examine the specific changes in his body.
After absorbing an immense number of bloodline fragments, he now possessed numerous abilities. In practice, however, most were of little use or merely served to amplify his other powers.
His primary capabilities remained the ones he was already accustomed to using.
Yet one ability had truly seen a massive enhancement: fire manipulation.
He opened his hand, and a ball of blood-colored flame flared in his palm. Under his control, the flame gradually sharpened until it narrowed into a thread of blood-red light.
Guided by his will, the thread of blood floated out of the spatial bubble and brushed against a boulder. In an instant, the rock was sliced cleanly in two. Wherever it passed, no matter could withstand its cutting edge.
The temperature of this thread of blood was unimaginably high—roughly five trillion degrees. Yet the heat was so concentrated that it barely affected the surrounding environment; only the matter being cut would ever feel its searing intensity.
Most importantly, Yu Xian could apply this move through his eyeball bubbles. Wherever his eyes were, he could project these ultra-high-temperature flame beams.
"Demon's Poison!"
After testing his fire manipulation, he condensed a single drop of venom on his fingertip.
This was Deimos's ability. When Deimos's corpse had been recovered, his blood had naturally been extracted as well.
Although Deimos was a high archdemon, his racial heritage was actually quite pitiful. He had not been born with Dragon-rank strength; rather, he had fought his way up step-by-step through countless life-and-death battles.
The only part of his bloodline that held the slightest value was his venom.
This venom traced back to his earliest ancestor, a low demon champion known as the 'Poison Demon.' However, after generation upon generation of breeding, the Poison Demon's innate talent had steadily degraded, leaving Deimos with nothing more than diluted scraps.
Even with the Blood Demon Stream: Infinite Autophagy Method, Yu Xian could only trace it back to Deimos's great-grandfather's generation. Nevertheless, the venom Yu Xian produced now was a hundred times more toxic than anything Deimos could have created.
He let the droplet of venom fall to the ground. Instantly, using the droplet as its center, the earth dissolved into a furiously bubbling swamp.
"Not a bad ability!"
Satisfied, Yu Xian commanded the venomous swamp on the ground to shrink until it condensed back into a droplet of venom and returned to his hand.
The toxin could be controlled entirely at will, making it another potent trump card.
Yu Xian was already looking forward to his next clash with Edward.
Chapter 190