New Trait

After ten consecutive days of traveling and fighting in the wilderness without bathing, Su Shijie and Su Ren both reeked of an overwhelmingly foul stench.

The blood splattered on them, mixed with all sorts of other substances, made them smell like two enormous dead rats.

Aside from the overpowering odor, the nonstop running around had also left them thoroughly exhausted.

Su Ren especially—though he was stronger and more determined, he lacked Su Shijie's innate recovery ability and could not capture emotions to recover.

With less than an hour of rest per day on average, the exhaustion on his face was impossible to hide.

Yet beneath this relentless, day-and-night effort, they had also reaped immense rewards.

They had earned as many as 1.7 million Credit Points alone!

The Soul Power Su Shijie had absorbed was equivalent to more than fifty evil spirits. Added to what he had saved previously, he now had a reserve equivalent to seventy evil spirits.

The remaining three Awakened Rank potions had also all been used up, raising Su Shijie's evolution level from early Awakened Rank Level 3 to late Level 4.

"Whew, can this smell even be washed off with a bath? It's way too intense."

Su Shijie felt uncomfortable all over, sticky and grimy.

"Let's go to the shelter's bathhouse and scrub ourselves down. Business there must be booming right now.

"But first, we need to find a place for you to undergo your transformation."

"Okay..."

Since they had been constantly on the move, and his father had told him to test whether he could endure without undergoing Bloodline Transformation, Su Shijie had tried holding it back.

Once he had enough Soul Power for Bloodline Transformation, he would feel the urge to transform, and that urge grew stronger as more accumulated.

But the willpower he had tempered with Agony Potions allowed him to suppress it easily. Unlike his previous transformations, he did not transform the instant he met the requirements.

He had now accumulated Soul Power equivalent to seventy evil spirits, while his next Bloodline Transformation required around thirty-two. A bloodline upgrade was therefore guaranteed.

He could allocate the remainder to his traits as needed. After all, it would certainly take a long time to accumulate enough for the transformation after this one.

Su Shijie then released the suppression on his instinctive desire and let it surge forth completely. The familiar pleasure of Bloodline Transformation rose from the depths of his soul, while the Soul Power he had accumulated through sheer will was released, completing a new round of transformation.

As the Bloodline Transformation began, Su Shijie discovered that he was gradually gaining a new trait—an ability that seemed capable of directly interfering with the soul?

Illusion? His father seemed to have mentioned a trait like that.

Was it because they had relied on traps the entire time while hunting that Transformation Tier Spirit Deer?

Through his instinctive understanding of the trait, Su Shijie roughly grasped its effects. Through any direct or indirect means of influence—such as eye contact, voice, movements, suggestion, scent, and so on—he could immediately interfere with an enemy.

As long as the other party's senses could perceive it, the conditions for interference could be established.

It was somewhat like certain tricks used by magicians, causing the opponent to experience illusions and make misjudgments. To some extent, it should be able to counter danger intuition.

The overall effect was not especially powerful, but it was quite a good support ability. Definitely not a loss.

Once the transformation was complete, Su Shijie's overall strength rose by around ten percent, and his bloodline level increased by another level, officially reaching the equivalent of a Count Bloodline!

He was currently at late Awakened Rank Level 4. In terms of pure physical stats, he had already surpassed late Level 5, only slightly weaker than early Level 6.

His displayed stats had officially surpassed those of his older brother and sister.

The City Lord's Mansion of Prosperous Sky City and the Bug Knight's family both had Count Bloodlines.

Of course, their ancestors had produced Transcendents, while he was still only at late Awakened Rank Level 4. The gap was rather large.

But as long as he was given enough time to grow, his future was undoubtedly bright.

After sensing it out, he estimated that the next Bloodline Transformation would require the equivalent of seventy or eighty evil spirits. Of the thirty-eight portions remaining, Su Shijie allocated them to strengthening his traits.

First came telekinesis, the trait he currently relied on most. He spent Soul Power equivalent to sixteen evil spirits to upgrade it once again, bringing it to Level 7, 2+5. The force it could control had reached seven percent of his own strength!

The force telekinesis could control had now exceeded 120 kilograms, while its controllable range had also broken through 120 meters.

With his current control strength, he could already manipulate six star crossbows for high-speed mobile combat rather than having to keep them stationary.

His flexibility and combat capability had greatly improved.

Although telekinesis could not directly pass through Spiritual Creatures, as long as he used some kind of medium—such as his Protective Suit—he could already lift himself up.

The problem was that his strength was still a little lacking. After activating psionic evolution, his body mass had also increased considerably, and he carried quite a bit of equipment. With just over 120 kilograms of force, he could only lift himself up, looking as foolish as if he had hung himself from a wall. It had no practical combat use for the time being.

Setting aside that foolish idea of hanging himself up, he was now even qualified to equip a deadly weapon like a Gauss Anti-materiel Rifle!

Though what he seemed to lack was money and purchase authorization...

Actually, electromagnetic crossbows were pretty good—affordable, effective, and cost-efficient.

He could endure losing one star crossbow after that gunman had blown it apart before, but if an expensive one got destroyed, he would cry his eyes dry.

He did not need anything flashy. He valued practicality and cost-effectiveness!

Equipment could wait until he had money...

After telekinesis took the largest share, he used fifteen of the remaining portions to strengthen the newly acquired "Illusion" trait.

Illusion immediately overtook the others after being upgraded four times, becoming a Level 5 trait at 1+4. Tough Skin, which had been obtained during his earliest transformation, remained at Level 4, 1+3. However, seeing that seven portions remained, Su Shijie, with his slight compulsive tendencies, decided not to put them in.

Although trait strengthening allowed him to invest however much he wanted, since it would not immediately raise it to a whole number, he decided against it. He could save them in case they were needed to make up the numbers for telekinesis or Bloodline Transformation.

"How is it? Did you gain a new ability?"

Perched on a tree branch to keep watch for Su Shijie, Su Ren smiled when he saw Su Shijie open his eyes.

"Sharingan!"

Su Shijie gave Su Ren an extremely chuunibyou glare, then was astonished to discover that the illusion's power was far greater than he had imagined!

Was it due to the enhancement? No, not exactly. It was because of his Evil God essence.

He had heard his dad mention this trait before. It was supposed to be for support and interference—creating illusions, covering up a killing move at critical moments, and so on.

It was basically an enhanced version of feinting east and striking west.

But when he had used it on his dad across levels despite not being proficient with it, even if he had caught him off guard, Su Shijie had vaguely felt a sense of control.

Or rather, it felt somewhat like when one of his tentacles landed a direct hit. It was less aggressive, but came with a more detailed level of control.

It scared Su Shijie so much that he immediately wanted to dispel the effect.

He mustn't accidentally turn into an unfilial son.

But the next moment, Su Shijie felt an icy chill against his neck. His dad's hook had already cut through the skin on his neck.

"Don't suddenly pull something like that. I almost couldn't hold back."

Su Ren withdrew his hook with lingering fear and said speechlessly.

He really had been startled just then. All of a sudden, he felt as though tentacles from the void were surrounding him from every direction, as if he had already been tied up.

After swiftly breaking free through sheer willpower, he had instinctively almost struck back.

Then, with a strange expression, he asked Su Shijie, "Why is your illusion so strong? How much did you enhance it?"

Touching the bloody mark on his neck, Su Shijie stuck out his tongue slightly as he said, "The intensity is probably about five times the original, but I don't think that's the only reason. It might also have something to do with my own abilities."

"No wonder. But the 'illusion' trait can be developed and mastered in depth. It has countless uses; it isn't just for intimidation and misdirection. You can unlock its potential through everyday practice.

"If you could combine it with your usual techniques and movements, I might not have reacted so quickly just now. At a crucial moment, it could directly decide the outcome of a fight."

Su Ren spoke thoughtfully. At a critical moment, even an instant of hesitation could get someone riddled with holes.

"Mm, I will."

Illusions were somewhat similar to telekinesis, but had tremendous potential for development. If telekinesis controlled weapons to inflict physical destruction, then illusions were attacks aimed directly at the mind.

Suggestion, reducing hostility, misleading the enemy, even controlling the five senses—if such things could be perfectly developed, they would also be highly effective outside of combat.

And if he could reduce hostility and blend it into daily life, then even people whose evolution level far surpassed his and whose souls were far tougher would probably find it difficult to notice. Compared to charging in with tentacles, where it was either his death or theirs, this illusion technique truly offered far greater control.

It was absolutely worth researching further.

And given how his own traits enhanced illusions, perhaps with future improvements and greater familiarity through practice, he might even be able to create combinations that interacted with his tentacles.

This hunt had been a little exhausting, but it had definitely been an enormous profit!

Still, Su Shijie did not get carried away. Aside from the benefits of the Spirit Deer migration, this time he had also spent all the capital he had accumulated from gaming over the past few years.

Moreover, as both his evolution level and bloodline level increased, further advancement was becoming increasingly difficult.

Just thinking about how his next bloodline upgrade would require the equivalent of seventy or eighty Evil Spirits gave him a headache. How could normal hunting possibly let him slaughter enemies as easily as before?

"I already have enough to digest for a while. A person can't be greedy."

After realizing that his mindset had become a little unbalanced, Su Shijie reflected on himself...