Chapter 392 - 362: Heaven-Sent Genius

Chapter 392: Chapter 362: Heaven-Sent Genius

He took a deep breath and extended his Divine Sense into the Jade Scroll. A vast amount of information instantly flooded his Divine Sense Perception.

After several long hours, Chu Mu reluctantly set it down.

’A heaven-sent genius...’

Chu Mu murmured, a rare sense of admiration appearing in his eyes.

It took a long time for Chu Mu to calm his turbulent emotions and look at the Jade Scroll in his hand again.

In his decades as a Cultivator, this was only the second time he had felt something close to admiration, even reverence.

The first time had been that Divine Fire Atlas.

There was no difference between the two.

The Divine Fire Atlas was the work of a senior from the Longevity Sect who had spent his entire life exploring the mysteries of fire. The countless novel ideas and experimental records within had left him breathless.

This Jade Scroll, on the other hand, came from the Immortal Dao Sect. It was nameless, and based on its contents, it read more like an experimental log.

It was just like the casual notes he habitually jotted down when observing and researching a particular subject or skill.

The entries were scattered and unsystematic, but they recorded the author’s insights and moments of inspiration.

It was unknown who recorded this Jade Scroll, but it contained the research notes of some anonymous senior.

And it was... research on Demon Beast Bloodlines.

The ideas within were even more fantastical than those in the Divine Fire Technique, yet these concepts didn’t seem entirely baseless.

The research began with bloodline mutations. The senior believed that since Demon Beast Bloodlines could mutate, it must be possible to artificially manipulate these mutations.

The direction of this research was bloodline fusion.

To explore the unknowns of bloodlines by fusing different ones together.

This senior even believed that after undergoing transformation through the fusion of different bloodlines, one could eventually achieve an Ancestral Return to a primordial bloodline.

If an ordinary person had such a wild idea, it would likely remain just that—a wild idea.

But this Jade Scroll contained detailed experimental explorations.

Moreover, these experiments had already shown tangible results.

The only shame was that the experimental records were incomplete. There were only a few entries, they weren’t systematic, and they were full of gaps.

And this man’s fusion of the Profound Water Golden Pattern Crocodile bloodline, Flood Dragon Bloodline, and Flying Bird bloodline was the very case documented in one of the experiments.

This entry detailed the experimental process of fusing these three bloodlines, as well as the various changes that occurred after the fusion.

According to the record, the product of fusing these three different bloodlines would possess the characteristics of all three. This meant that the one who fused this bloodline was, in effect, a bearer of three Demon Beast Bloodlines.

And they would possess all the wondrous effects of those three bloodlines!

Unfortunately, according to the experimental records, the man’s bloodline fusion was only in the initial stage. It still had major flaws that hadn’t been rectified, and it was a very long way from the final, flawlessly integrated state.

However, even in these records, this final, flawless integration seemed to be merely a theoretical concept.

At least, within this Jade Scroll, the few experimental records all stopped at the initial fusion stage, with no subsequent entries.

’It should... be possible...’

Under the Spiritual Radiance Blessing, Chu Mu’s brow was tightly furrowed.

The records in the Jade Scroll were fragmented and incomplete, all stopping at the initial stage of bloodline fusion. There was no mention of the potential benefits or drawbacks of a complete fusion. Whether the theoretical flawless integration could be achieved, or if a complete fusion was even possible, remained unrecorded and uncertain.

But it didn’t seem entirely impossible, either.

After all, bloodline mutation originated from the combination of different bloodlines.

If you traced any existing Demon Beast Bloodline back to its origin, you would inevitably find a vast system of bloodline groups.

In reality, the only difference between the fusion described in the Jade Scroll and so-called natural bloodline mutation was the distinction between artificial intervention and a flawless integration born from chance.

Chu Mu glanced at the sleeping Wangcai, lost in thought.

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Mu looked out at the boundless sea beyond the island.

It seemed he now had another reason to stay in the Vast Sea Land for a long time.

Chu Mu put away the Jade Scroll and didn’t dwell on it further. Be it the bloodline fusion he was now studying or the Bloodline Divine Techniques he’d previously sensed, unraveling their mysteries would not be an overnight task. It would surely require a long period of exploration and research.

For now, his top priority was still his Cultivation.

The pursuit of truth on the Immortal Path was built upon the foundation of the lifespan granted by one’s Cultivation.

He could still distinguish between primary and secondary objectives.

He scanned his surroundings, observing the environment. A moment later, with a swipe of his hand, the Sea Chart Jade Scroll he had made himself was in his grasp.

The island was located to the southeast of Crescent Island, at a distance of about seventy to eighty thousand li.

The island had no Spirit Vein; it was just an ordinary reef.

In the Vast Sea Territory, Spirit Veins were almost all on the seabed. Islands with Spirit Veins were few and far between, but ordinary islands like this one were naturally as common as blades of grass, simply innumerable.

He pondered for a moment, then scanned the island once more. He had already made a decision.

’This island... will do for a place of seclusion.’

He went to a cliff on the southwest side of the island. With a flash of Saber Qi, he carved out a simple cave.

He laid down some Array Prohibitions, and a simple Cave Mansion was complete.

Seating himself cross-legged in the cave, Chu Mu waved his hand, and dozens of Jade Boxes appeared before him.

In his six years of Demon Hunting overseas, he had obtained thirty-eight Demon Pills. From wiping out that group of Cultivators, he had gained another eleven.

To date, he had a total of forty-nine Tier Two Demon Pills!

Chu Mu stared at the Demon Pills, pondering for a moment. Then, several Jade Scrolls appeared before him. These scrolls contained the knowledge of the Alchemy System and the Pill Recipes he had collected in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

In alchemy using demon parts, every part of a Demon Beast could be used as an ingredient for pills.

Strictly speaking, aside from the difference in raw materials, this Alchemy System was not fundamentally different from the one in the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World.

What he needed to do was still the same: understand the properties of his materials.

The only difference was that before, he had to familiarize himself with the properties and effects of Spirit Medicines. Now, he had to familiarize himself with the properties of Demon Pills and the Spiritual Materials from various parts of Demon Beasts.

This familiarity was essential for his Alchemy Skill, and just as essential for his Artifact Refining Skill.

He took out the stack of Storage Talismans from his robes. As his thoughts churned, various parts of Demon Beasts, still stained with blood, appeared in piles around the cave.

He casually picked up one of the Demon Beast Spiritual Materials, and the Spiritual Radiance Blessing descended. Beneath the heightened intellect, his focus was as absolute as ever.

Tides rose and fell, day turned to night. In the Endless Vast Sea, the passage of time seemed to be the most insignificant thing.

In the blink of an eye, nearly two years passed.

The island remained the same; two years had not changed it in the slightest.

Over long ages, nourished by Spiritual Qi and weathered by the sea, the island had become as hard as metal. In the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World, such durable stone would have likely been mined to exhaustion long ago.

However, in the Endless Vast Sea, the Cultivators who could reach this place obviously wouldn’t give a second glance to a reef that couldn’t even be considered a Spiritual Material.

Inside the cave, Wangcai lay quietly in a corner. Its daily life consisted of nothing but eating and sleeping. Ever since they entered the Vast Sea, its diet of Tier Two Demon Beast flesh had been almost constant.

After several years of feasting, nourished by the abundant Blood Qi from its meals, the improvement in Wangcai’s Cultivation compared to before entering the Vast Sea was undeniably significant.

It probably wasn’t far from reaching the Tier Two Late Stage.

Meanwhile, in another part of the cave sealed by a Stone Gate, the Great Sun True Flame had been illuminating the chamber for several months.

With the ample support of the Spiritual Radiance Blessing, it took him less than a year and a half to complete his research and understanding of the Demon Beast Spiritual Materials on hand.

At the very least, he now knew the effects of these Demon Beast Spiritual Materials by heart.

And so, the refining of Elixirs had naturally begun long ago.

With dozens of Demon Pills from Demon Beasts of different Attributes and bloodlines, it was a given that the Elixirs refined from them would also be different.

The flickering firelight in the cave continued for nearly another month before finally extinguishing.

The dozens of Jade Boxes before Chu Mu had been replaced by dozens of Jade Bottles, all of them containing... Tier Two Elixirs.

Chu Mu closed his eyes and meditated for several hours before finally rising. With a wave of his sleeve, the dozens of Jade Bottles were swept into his Storage Ring.

From a total of forty-nine Demon Pills, he had refined a total of forty-nine batches of Elixirs.

Of the forty-nine batches of Elixirs, even though only about half were suitable for advancing his Cultivation due to the differing effects of the Demon Pills, it was more than enough for him to break through to the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

It would even allow him to take a large, steady step forward within the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

The moment he pushed the door open, a black shadow shot toward him. Chu Mu tensed instinctively but immediately relaxed.

"You’ve gotten sturdier!"

Chu Mu kneaded Wangcai’s iron-hard muscles and bones, unable to hide his smile.

In this Endless Vast Sea, only Wangcai could stay by his side like a shadow.

"Here, eat this."

Chu Mu took out an Elixir and stuffed it into Wangcai’s mouth.

Of the forty-nine Demon Pills, aside from the twenty-some whose properties were suitable for his own Cultivation and could be refined for his use, he had not kept the rest.

He had either refined them into Enlightenment Pills for Wangcai based on their medicinal properties, or he had refined them into Elixirs to enhance Wangcai’s Cultivation, tailored to its bloodline.

By his estimation, with a constant supply of Demon Beast meat and the nourishment of these Elixirs, if all went smoothly, it wouldn’t take too long for Wangcai to break through to the Tier Two Late Stage.

After a bout of roughhousing with Wangcai, which seemed to dispel much of his accumulated loneliness, Chu Mu walked out of the Cave Mansion. The island looked no different than it had two years ago.

The bare reef seemed to have been unchanged for ten thousand years. The sea surface occasionally rippled as fish churned, hunting and being hunted—another seemingly eternal constant in the Endless Vast Sea.

"Haaa..."

Chu Mu let out a long, turbid breath. Inhaling the faint, bloody scent on the sea breeze, he felt his spirits lift.

He stood there in a daze for a long time as dusk slowly fell. The world grew dim, and under the moonlight, the shimmering surface of the sea was faintly visible.

Only then did Chu Mu casually find a large rock to sit on. He took out a pot of Spirit Wine and a piece of Demon Beast meat—from which beast, he couldn’t quite recall. He roasted it over a fire, and the long-missed taste of cooked food filled his stomach, giving him a rare touch of the mortal world.

"Here, you have a cup too."

In a rare cheerful mood, Chu Mu downed a cup of Spirit Wine and poured another into Wangcai’s mouth. Man and beast exchanged cups, drinking to their hearts’ content.

It wasn’t until late at night, after several pots of Spirit Wine, that Chu Mu finally got up. Still somewhat drunk, he entered his Cave Mansion and immediately fell asleep.

He slept soundly for several days before waking up, fully refreshed.

The Cave Mansion was sealed once more. Under the concealment of the Array Prohibitions, it would be difficult to find any trace of it unless a Cultivator came here with the specific intention of searching.

Inside the Cave Mansion, another period of seclusion had begun.

「...」