Reclaiming the Secret Skill

The deep night was silent.

Inside the tent, it was dark, shutting out the cold outside.

Zhen Jin lay on a mat made of dry leaves and grass, covered by a thin blanket.

Before, he and Zi Di had been sleeping rough, but now, the conditions were quite comfortable and warm.

Waves of weakness still lingered in his body.

This was a side effect of drinking the potion.

Neither the comfortable sleeping environment nor the physical fatigue and weakness could make Zhen Jin fall asleep.

The young man's eyes remained wide open, his brows tightly furrowed, replaying the feeling of emptiness he had experienced after drinking the potion and then spitting out ice and blood.

"That's right, it's almost the exact same feeling!" Zhen Jin was now absolutely certain.

Back then, when he was dealing with the Blade Spider, he lacked the crucial dagger and couldn't cut the spider silk, putting him in an extremely dangerous situation. But at the critical moment between life and death, his hands had suddenly transformed into sharp claws, piercing directly into the spider's body.

Because of this, Zhen Jin counterattacked from a desperate situation, killed the Blade Spider, and turned the danger into safety.

Afterward, his hands returned to their original state, and a deep, indescribable feeling of emptiness spread from within his body.

These two feelings were identical.

"The principle of the healing potion is to condense all the ice magic within my body into a ball and induce vomiting."

"So, this feeling of emptiness should be the sudden and massive consumption of magic within my body."

Zhen Jin attached great importance to this discovery.

Because this mutated ability contained immense value.

In the current situation, if Zhen Jin could never activate Battle Qi, then he would find it difficult to exert his true strength.

If he were to face a desperate situation again and could still transform his hands back into sharp claws, he would undoubtedly have a powerful trump card.

After all, in the face of this trump card, even a Silver-level Blade Spider was killed with a single blow.

"According to my current line of thought, when Zi Di treated me back then, she actually unintentionally created a Transformation Potion?"

"And because of this, I've mastered the transformation of the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear?"

Transformation Potion is a magic potion, created by powerful Potion Masters, and can even temporarily turn a person into a dragon.

In the past hundred years, Transformation Potions have become popular among the upper class of the human race.

The key figure is Duchess Amy.

This duchess was not only personally powerful and incredibly influential, but also very fond of beauty.

She herself had developed thousands of different Transformation Potions.

Unlike the approach of earlier Potion Masters in creating Transformation Potions, the vast majority of the potions created by Duchess Amy were very basic.

Their effects were very slight.

After drinking them, people would often change their skin color, hair color, or make their nose bridge a little higher, their eyes a little bigger, and so on.

Currently, the Amy Transformation Potion is a household name in the Saint Brilliance Empire market and has been a bestseller for years. This business has also become the largest source of profit for Amy's territory.

Zhen Jin recalled carefully.

He charged to his death and killed the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear. He was severely injured and on the verge of death, falling unconscious several times. In the gaps between unconsciousness, he had blurry vision.

He remembered one scene quite clearly—Zi Di directly infused Bear Blood into his body.

According to Zi Di's later explanation, she was in a desperate situation at the time and had to take a risky attempt. Fortunately, her gamble succeeded!

"The Bear Blood contains a large amount of Magic, just like when I ate goat meat. This Magic lurked in my body. After transforming, this part of the Magic was consumed, causing me to feel intensely empty."

"Of course, besides that, there's another possibility—it's still Battle Qi."

"This situation is more complicated."

"At that moment of life and death, perhaps my potential was stimulated, and I instinctively unleashed Battle Qi in an instant."

"This Sea Island prohibits the activation of low-level Magic and Battle Qi, but the actual upper limit of the prohibition has not yet been accurately measured. Perhaps, I have Silver-level cultivation. At the critical moment, I temporarily broke through the seal/blockade and unleashed Silver-level Battle Qi."

"Silver-level Battle Qi isn't the key."

"The key is that at that extremely perilous moment, my bloodline also awakened!"

Once a bloodline awakens, a person's appearance changes.

For example, a knight with dragon bloodline will grow dragon scales on their body surface.

Another example is a sorcerer with a hydra bloodline. After their bloodline awakens, their human round pupils will turn into vertical snake pupils.

Marquis Jin Mangke of the Saint Brilliance Empire is a Saint-level expert who has been very active on the battlefield in recent years and has a great reputation. Whenever he fights fiercely, Battle Qi fills his entire body, stimulating his bloodline to awaken. This causes golden, fragmented lightning to surround him, and his originally black hair completely turns golden, the strands swelling and forming clumps, as if they are engorged muscles.

Bloodline awakening is not common. Even among experts, only a portion of them possess it.

This is because only when the bloodline within the body reaches a very high concentration is there a possibility of such an awakening.

"If I have Silver-level cultivation, given my current age, I must be exceptionally talented. And this talent means I possess a considerably strong bloodline! It's not strange for bloodline awakening to happen to me."

"It's just that my bloodline, tracing back to its origin, should be the Gold Bee Queen. After the bloodline awakened, it should have the characteristics of a queen bee. How could it be a pair of sharp claws?"

"Perhaps I have other bloodlines in my body?"

That's also possible.

Human nobles often have decadent private lives, and their bloodlines are often mixed. Moreover, some bloodlines, if not stimulated, will remain dormant for life.

"Under the stimulation of death, I unleashed Silver Battle Qi, and a mysterious bloodline in my body awakened, causing my hands to transform into sharp claws. But why are they specifically the same sharp claws as the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear? Is it really a coincidence?"

Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Zhen Jin still felt that the first possibility, the Transformation Potion, was the most likely.

The latter possibility of bloodline awakening is not non-existent, but the probability is relatively small.

So, this brings up a completely new question.

"Do I still have the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's Magic in my body?"

"Is this Magic still eroding me?"

The consequences of Magic erosion are very serious.

Different bloodlines are fundamentally unable to coexist peacefully.

If a human noble has two bloodlines within them, one is basically higher and the other lower, one strong and the other weak. In the subsequent cultivation process, the higher bloodline will become stronger and stronger, eventually expelling the lower, weaker bloodline.

If both bloodlines are high-level and neither is willing to yield, it becomes quite troublesome. One must cultivate a specific Battle Qi Formula, focusing on the balance of these two bloodlines. The balance can be with one bloodline as the primary and the other as secondary, or it can be with both bloodlines maintaining equal strength. Once the balance is broken, a fierce conflict will form between the bloodlines, and the transcendent's fate will be grim, resulting in injury or death. Bloodline determines aptitude, and aptitude is the key to mastering power in the future.

The human race's pursuit of bloodlines is forever persistent and fanatical.

Nobles will try every means to marry strong individuals with high-level bloodlines, intermarry among themselves, and lead chaotic private lives. Aside from personal desires, this is all to produce family descendants with excellent aptitude.

Among all races, humans are skilled at reproduction, far surpassing elves and dwarves in this regard. However, among the descendants born to nobles, those with outstanding aptitude are always a minority.

Furthermore, the stronger the life form, the more difficult it is to reproduce. The cost of reproduction is also very high.

Besides reproduction, humans also employ other crooked methods.

For example, using magic, making potions, creating living environments, trading with demons, etc., to forcibly implant high-level bloodlines into the body.

Forcibly mixing high-level bloodlines is not impossible, and there are even many ways that can temporarily succeed.

But the results are often tragic.

First, the human body mutates, producing terrifying and unsettling deformities. This deformity is not just physical but also mental. Many examples have shown symptoms such as madness, babbling, confusion, and dementia.

Second, the stability of the original life is completely broken, lifespan is drastically reduced, and survival time is not long.

Finally, the soul perishes.

Zhen Jin has never heard of a case where external force was used to obtain a bloodline and it was completely successful.

Bloodlines are so precious and crucial.

High-level bloodlines bring excellent aptitude. Excellent aptitude, after the brewing of time, forms powerful strength.

And strength means power.

The reason human nobles are nobles and can lord over the vast majority of their own kind is precisely because they have such a solid foundation.

Bloodline is the cornerstone and pride of noble existence!

"Zi Di treated me and unintentionally created a Transformation Potion. This Transformation Potion can cause my hands to mutate, turning into the sharp claws of a wild beast. This means that the bloodline of a Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear has been mixed into me using external force."

"This low-level bloodline will contaminate my own noble bloodline."

"If the degree of this contamination is relatively high, my cultivation aptitude will also decrease because of it."

Transformation Potions cannot be abused.

Abuse has serious consequences and comes at a heavy price.

"Regardless of whether I am currently Silver-level or Gold-level, I am still very young, and the road ahead is still very long. These are just starting points, absolutely not the end."

"If this Transformation Potion makes my future dim, it would be a huge loss."

Bronze, Black Iron, Silver, Gold.

Above these, there are Legend, and there is Saint-level.

Above Saint-level, there is even stronger!

Who wouldn't want to become a legend, a Saint-level, or even stronger?

Zhen Jin didn't want to see his growth hindered by the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's blood, his potential and hope diminished, and his originally bright future turn dim.

I feel empty because my internal magic power has been greatly depleted. So, has the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's magic power been completely used up?

My hands mutated once before. Could that have consumed all the corresponding magic power? Is there any residue left in my body now?

After that time, no matter how I tried, my hands couldn't change. Does this prove that the related magic power in my body has been exhausted?

Including this time, I drank the potion, and the foreign magic power in my body was gathered into a ball and expelled.

Zi Di's potion is for frost magic. Is it also effective against the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's magic power?

Perhaps I should reveal everything and ask Zi Di to help me design a targeted emetic potion?

Zhen Jin's thoughts were complex, and he was indeed weak. Not long after, he fell into a groggy sleep in the tent.

Where is this? Am I dreaming?

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he found himself in a spacious area.

In front of him was a wooden long table, on which bows and arrows were placed. A hundred meters away, three targets stood upright.

The wooden table was crudely made, with a rough style. The targets were straw figures, with a circular white cloth hanging at the head position. The white cloth was painted with multiple layers of concentric circles, and the innermost circle was specifically filled with red dye.

This was an archery range used for practice.

There were only two people in the archery range.

One was Zhen Jin, and the other was a middle-aged man with a straight posture, two slender mustaches, and a face slightly tilted upwards, always carrying a hint of aristocratic arrogance.

Zhen Jin recognized this middle-aged man.

This was his father, and also the current Clan Leader of the Hundred Needles Family.

Due to the fragmented memories, Zhen Jin lacked emotion towards the middle-aged man in front of him, but the previous few scenes of memory surfacing allowed him to learn about their close relationship.

"Father, I have come at your summons," Zhen Jin found himself speaking.

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader nodded slightly: "You have been back from the Imperial Capital for a few days now. I will test you to see if your training in the Imperial Capital has slackened. This time, we will compete in archery. If you can win against me, I will bestow upon you that Swift Bee."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Jin's eyes immediately lit up.

A Swift Bee was a flying mount. Although it could only fly about three meters off the ground, it was still priceless and rarely circulated on the market.

In the Empire, only a minority of nobles possessed the technology to cultivate Swift Bees. The Hundred Needles Family was one of them.

But the next moment, Zhen Jin heard himself speak in a sad, hesitant tone: "But Father, your arm..."

Zhen Jin immediately understood: the time this scene occurred should have been shortly after the Hundred Needles Clan Leader and Qing Kui's battle.

Zhen Jin had seen related memories and knew that his father, the Hundred Needles Clan Leader, was powerful, but in the struggle with Qing Kui, due to carelessness, he had an arm severed.

Indeed, with only one arm left, how could the Hundred Needles Clan Leader hold a bow and shoot arrows?

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader didn't care: "It's fine, you shoot first."

Zhen Jin then picked up the long bow, skillfully nocked an arrow, and with a whoosh, shot the target's head.

Perhaps the Zhen Jin at that time was in a low mood, so he didn't hit the bullseye.

Zhen Jin placed the long bow on the long table.

It was the Hundred Needles Clan Leader's turn.

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader smiled slightly, reached out to unbutton his clothes, revealing a hidden pocket on the inside.

On the hidden pocket were meticulously arranged ten long needles with fine stitching.

These needles were of the same length, each about the length of an adult's index finger. They seemed to be made of crystal, yet they also emitted a faint cloudy white color, not completely transparent.

"Watch carefully, my son." The Hundred Needles Clan Leader used his index and middle fingers to pick out one of the White Crystal Long Needles.

The next moment, his Golden Battle Qi was activated and infused into the White Crystal Long Needle.

The White Crystal Long Needle instantly flashed with a brilliant golden glow.

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader faced the target and flicked his finger lightly.

Whoosh!

A sharp, piercing whistle that cut through the air immediately sounded in Zhen Jin's ears.

At the same time, he saw the golden long needle streak through the air, leaving behind a bright line of light.

The line of light extended straight, hitting the target squarely, and then with a loud bang, the entire target was completely shattered into dust!

"This is?!" Zhen Jin's mouth slightly opened, his face full of shock.

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader smiled and explained: "There are many types of Battle Skills, some of which are secrets that cannot be easily shown to others. People call them Secret Skills. What you are seeing now is the Secret Skill passed down through generations in our Hundred Needles Family - Sharp Needle Rumble. Do you want to learn it?"

"Yes! Please teach me, Father." Zhen Jin shouted, his spirits clearly lifted, sweeping away the previous dejection and gloom.

The Hundred Needles Clan Leader immediately began teaching and handed a White Crystal Long Needle to Zhen Jin.

Zhen Jin took this opportunity to observe carefully and couldn't help but think: This White Crystal Flying Needle is unusual, at least Gold-level equipment!

Afterward, Zhen Jin found that he tried many times but did not succeed.

"You have grasped the key points, and the execution process is not wrong. It's not strange that you haven't succeeded," the middle-aged noble explained. "The reason for your failure is that your Battle Qi reserve is too small. Executing the Sharp Needle Rumble Secret Skill consumes a lot of Battle Qi. Even with Gold-level cultivation, you can only continuously unleash ten needles."

"Based on your current total Battle Qi, if you infuse it all, you should be able to barely unleash one needle," the Hundred Needles Clan Leader then estimated.

Zhen Jin smiled bitterly: "Father, in that case, wouldn't it be a bit dangerous for me to use this Secret Skill?"

Using all his Battle Qi just to barely unleash one needle.

If this needle didn't hit the target during a battle, then without the support of Battle Qi, Zhen Jin's situation would be very difficult.

The smile on the Hundred Needles Clan Leader's face gradually faded, and his expression turned serious.

He stared at Zhen Jin, saying meaningfully: "My son, reality is always cruel. Whether in battle or other aspects, you will always be in danger."

"Many times, you will find that unleashing one needle with all your might is precisely the wisest choice."

"Temporarily exhausting all the Battle Qi in your body, this empty and painful feeling is very uncomfortable. But sometimes, we have to do this."

"Don't be afraid of risk, and don't be afraid of sacrifice!"