Research

Research Chapter

Upon arriving at the laboratory, Athos took his leave. Lincoln took out the jade bottle from Athos and summoned another Low-God Magic Beast to extract its essence blood. He mixed the two drops of essence blood together, using his wind-attribute divine power to catalyze the fusion while continuously adding various precious ores and plants. After one day, a cyan, spherical, transparent crystal the size of a soccer ball appeared in Lincoln's hand.

Walking before the "Cocooning Pool," Lincoln quietly sorted through his research findings. In truth, the Dragonblood Warrior's act of drinking live dragon blood to activate their bloodline is remarkably similar to the ancestral hall baptism for bloodline awakening. The only difference is that one is complex and mysterious, while the other is simple and brutal; yet, their essence is identical. This is why one can significantly improve physical fitness and reduce bottlenecks below the Saint-level, while the other can directly elevate one to godhood and awaken innate divine abilities.

Two Saint-level attendants were pouring a large quantity of grass leaves into the pool. These leaves functioned similarly to Blue Silver Grass, intended to alleviate the pain during bloodline awakening. Lincoln named them Blue Silver Grass. The water in the Cocooning Pool was also specially prepared and kept warm year-round to maximize bloodline activation. The truly effective component, however, was the Awakening Crystal; only when it combined with the mysterious factors hidden deep within the bloodline could it trigger the awakening.

And the essence blood of Milotic was the key to facilitating this fusion.

Everything was ready. The offspring of the Magic Beast outside the door was summoned in, trembling with anxiety. As long as he could successfully awaken his bloodline, he could swear an oath of secrecy to the Supreme God and leave this cage-like, god-created plane to venture into the four Supreme Planes and seven Divine Planes. Furthermore, according to the promise of the Lord God, he would even have the qualification to choose to go to another Material Plane—a price that many powerhouses in the Divine Planes could not afford!

Fortunately, over the past hundred thousand years, no incidents of failed awakenings resulting in body explosions had occurred; otherwise, he would not be thinking about success, but about death.

Of course, attempting a bloodline awakening would not devour the soul. As a Magic Beast that had never attained godhood, he could still venture into the Underworld after death.

Lincoln tossed the crystal into the Cocooning Pool and then said to the dual-horned Saint-level Magic Beast, "Go ahead, I wish you success!"

The Magic Beast gulped, closed its eyes, and jumped in. The pool water gradually merged with the crystal, then wrapped around the beast in layers. The Blue Silver Grass soaking in the pool water also began to entwine around the dual-horned beast.

I hope it succeeds, Lincoln thought to himself. Over the years, Lincoln had first managed to awaken the bloodlines of the offspring of water-attribute Magic Beasts, and later succeeded with the offspring of other single-attribute Magic Beasts. However, he had never succeeded with multi-attribute Magic Beasts.

Currently, he was attempting two directions: first, enabling the offspring of multi-attribute Magic Beasts to awaken their bloodlines, and second, separating the bloodlines of multi-attribute Magic Beasts so their offspring could awaken as single-attribute Magic Beasts.

Count Moken explained, "My wife is unwell and recuperating at home, so she is unable to go out. Moreover, she is quite distressed about missing Her Highness the Princess's engagement banquet."

Upon hearing this, Aier smiled gently, "I have some pills in my carriage that are particularly effective for treating illnesses. They work wonders for ailments not caused by sharp weapons. A few years ago, I gave a few to the prince of the Yero Kingdom, and his lifelong condition was cured immediately. Later, you can have your servant come to collect some. Consider it my gratitude for the Count's care and concern for our merchant guild, as well as a small gesture wishing your wife a speedy recovery."

Lincoln shook his head helplessly. He would be happy to accompany Aier to enjoy the scenery, but he found participating in these social activities utterly dull.

The bloodline research failed, and just as Lincoln was preparing to continue his research into Magic Beast talents, he suddenly paused and burst into laughter.

"It seems President Aier is truly wealthy enough to rival a nation, even viewing attendance at Her Highness the Princess's engagement banquet as merely a change of pace." A crisp, young girl's voice came from behind, carrying an unfriendly tone.

Aier also smiled, "This is my husband, Lincoln. Lincoln, this is Count Moken, who has been very supportive of our merchant guild. And this, I presume, must be the daughter of Count Moken's house. I wonder why your wife did not come?"

Lincoln and Aier turned around, curiously sizing up the young girl. Although she was dressed luxuriously and was quite beautiful, her expression was arrogant, and this targeting felt rather inexplicable. Lincoln turned to look at Aier, who shook her head innocently. They could naturally sense the people nearby, but they hadn't paid much attention to a stranger with no strength.

Count Moken expressed his thanks repeatedly, and Aier took Lincoln by the hand to excuse themselves and move ahead.

In the royal capital of the Putuoluo Empire, the royal banquet hall.

An endless stream of carriages stopped on Dragonhorn Avenue. One after another, heads of houses, wives, young masters, and young ladies in formal attire and grand dress walked along Dragonhorn Avenue, chatting and laughing in small groups, making this wide and usually deserted avenue exceptionally lively.

Lincoln smiled and shook hands with Count Moken, then said nothing more.

Seeing this, Lincoln sighed, "Another failure." Although it failed, Lincoln did not leave immediately but carefully observed the changes in the dual-horned Magic Beast, thinking that perhaps some detail might help him succeed next time.

Lincoln and Aier were disguised as gem merchants, playing at life in the mortal world. Under the crushing strength of a Deity-level powerhouse, all obstacles were smoothed away. In just five years, the Aier Merchant Guild had become a behemoth known throughout the continent, welcomed and courted by many nobles. To Lincoln, running a merchant caravan was meaningless and held no interest; it was merely a small amusement in his long divine life. The operation and decision-making of the caravan were entirely handled by Aier.

Half a day passed, and Lincoln observed the situation in the pool; the bloodline crystal had been more than half consumed.

His main energy was focused on researching the second category, after all, even if he succeeded with multi-attribute beasts, reaching seven attributes would be extremely difficult.

"Themis, don't speak nonsense. Apologize to President Aier at once." A steady, middle-aged male voice followed immediately.

Another half day passed. The crystal stopped consuming, but the aura within the cocoon began to drop instead of rise.

"I'm sorry, President Aier. Themis has been spoiled by me. I will certainly reprimand her when we return." The middle-aged man smiled, his gaze shifting to Lincoln, "I haven't seen this gentleman by your side before. Could you introduce us?"

"Lincoln, look, they are all high-ranking nobles of the Putuoluo Empire, the true upper crust of this empire," Aier said with a smile, greeting others as she spoke. "Over there is the family of Count Hall, and in front are Duke Ampere and his wife." Seeing Lincoln's expression of listening with one ear and letting it out the other, she teased, "I know you don't want to be here, but after eating delicacies all the time, it's nice to have something light occasionally."

Time Reversal, Wata Plane.

After walking a few steps away, Lincoln finally couldn't help but laugh, "You're still peddling those lousy pills of yours everywhere." These pills were merely ordinary medicinal herbs that Aier had diluted with a trace of water-attribute divine power, containing some applications of healing laws, which is why they had a strong curative effect on mortals, though they couldn't reach the level of rapid wound healing or limb regeneration.

Aier rolled her eyes, "You will never understand the joy of setting aside brute force and managing a merchant guild with heart." After saying this, she brushed past Lincoln and walked ahead.

Lincoln smiled and shook his head. Setting aside brute force? It was still relying on strength to suppress those discordant factors. Although the existence of these factors was disgusting, generally speaking, running a merchant guild meant facing these things. In this world, in the face of absolute strength, let alone running a merchant guild, even managing an empire was like playing house.