Purple-Eyed Golden Peng

"Ah, as expected, you win some and lose some. But you don't need to worry about any of that just yet. I brought you here for one purpose only—blood fusion. I know this has been troubling you for a long time. Now, let me explain it properly..."

The Coiling Dragon Continent was a world ruled jointly by Spirit Cultivators and Spirit Beasts. Of course, humans were the true masters of the land. After all, humans were the most intelligent of all living beings. That was why they had produced countless experts, who had ruled the world generation after generation.

Of course, the Spirit Beasts of the Coiling Dragon Continent could hold their own against humans because they possessed an incomparable advantage: their innate physical gifts. Although their intelligence couldn't match that of humans, most of them were far stronger physically. Once Spirit Beasts reached a certain level of cultivation, they could also transform into human form. At that point, their strength and intelligence were almost no different from those of humans, and they could even surpass humans of the same rank. After all, every Spirit Beast capable of transforming into human form was exceptionally gifted, and their innate abilities often let them unleash tremendous power in battle.

These exceptionally gifted Spirit Beasts were often called Holy Beasts or Divine Beasts by humans.

Fortunately, there were very few Holy Beasts and Divine Beasts, so they posed no great threat to humanity's rule. After all, the human population was simply enormous.

It was this vast population that produced wave after wave of Spirit Cultivator experts. However, most humans had cultivation talent inferior to that of Spirit Beasts. Compared with Spirit Beasts bearing the bloodlines of Holy Beasts or Divine Beasts, they were even more hopelessly outclassed.

But human wisdom was limitless. After countless years of exploration, humans had discovered all sorts of ways to change their cultivation talent.

"Blood fusion" was one of them, and a highly effective one at that.

Blood fusion meant merging the essence of a powerful Spirit Beast's blood—the marrow-like essence of its blood—into a human's body, thereby altering the human's bloodline. This could improve their cultivation talent and even grant them some of the Spirit Beast's innate abilities.

Put simply, it was a way of transferring some of a Spirit Beast's cultivation talent, especially its physical gifts, to a human through a specific method.

The method sounded simple, but it carried enormous risks. The slightest mistake meant certain death. No—more accurately, it was a ninety-nine-in-a-hundred chance of dying, with not even one chance of survival.

After all, the bloodlines of any two different species were incompatible. Blood fusion forcibly joined them together, so the odds of failure were naturally very high.

Seizing that less-than-one-percent chance required many conditions.

First, the person undergoing blood fusion had to meet strict requirements. They needed a strong body and exceptional willpower, enough to endure the agony of having their blood replaced—like being cut apart by a thousand blades. They also had to be around ten years old. Any younger, and they wouldn't withstand the pain; any older, and their body would no longer be malleable. Either way, it was a dead end.

The Spirit Beast's true blood used for fusion also had to meet many requirements. The more closely a Spirit Beast resembled a human, the easier it was to fuse their blood. The best choice was the blood of a young beast. If none was available, a prime-age beast was acceptable, but the blood of an old, feeble beast was absolutely out of the question.

There were also many restrictions on the Spirit Beast's rank. In principle, the higher its rank, the better the cultivation talent after a successful fusion—but the greater the danger, too. High-ranking Spirit Beasts were also difficult to capture. Blood from a lower-ranking beast offered better odds of success, but the resulting talent would be greatly diminished.

Thus, people generally chose fourth- to sixth-rank Spirit Beasts for blood fusion. This offered the best chance of success while still providing decent cultivation talent. Spirit Beasts of even higher ranks were rare, and even if one was found, not just anyone could handle it.

The Spirit Beast chosen for Sanbao's blood fusion this time was a sixth-rank Crimson Flame Eagle.

This was only possible because of a super expert like Thirteen protecting him. Ordinary people would never dare set their sights on a sixth-rank Spirit Beast.

On top of that, blood fusion required an extremely precious high-grade Spirit Pill—the Blood Fusion Pill. An expert stronger than the Spirit Beast also had to subdue it and complete the fusion without killing it, because the blood marrow needed for the process had to be fresh.

Even if every condition was met, the ultimate success rate was still only one or two percent. That showed just how dangerous blood fusion was.

Fortune came with danger, and talent had to be bought with one's life.

By the time Thirteen reached this point, Sanbao was already quivering with excitement. He had actually hit that one-percent chance—his luck was incredible. "Thirteen, does that mean my luck is practically against the heavens?"

"You're lucky, but not that lucky. Your situation is different from theirs!" Thirteen said with a smile, shaking his head.

"How so?" Sanbao asked, bewildered.

"Do you know whose son you are? Do you know whose grandson you are? You're the Emperor's son and Saint Ancestor's grandson. In other words, you already carried the bloodline of the Divine Beast Purple-Eyed Golden Peng. Ordinary people are creating a bloodline, so a one- or two-percent success rate makes sense. You're only awakening yours, so the odds should be around thirty or forty percent. The difficulty is naturally worlds apart. If I didn't have some confidence, how could this old servant dare take such a risk?"

"Purple-Eyed Golden Peng? A Divine Beast bloodline? I don't understand!" Sanbao was clearly confused once again.

Thirteen quickly explained further, and only then did Sanbao begin to grasp the situation.

It turned out that besides humans and Spirit Beasts, there was another powerful presence on the Coiling Dragon Continent: the descendants of humans and Spirit Beasts. These people were also known as members of the Divine Beast Family, or the Talent Family.

Most Spirit Beasts could transform into human form after reaching the eighth rank, equivalent to a human Spirit Saint. They became beings much like humans, and the descendants they had with humans were almost all heaven's favored children. They inherited not only human intelligence but also the physical gifts of these Holy Beasts or Divine Beasts. Nearly all of them eventually became some of the continent's greatest figures, and even their descendants produced experts in droves.

This was what people called a Divine Beast bloodline, also known as a Talent Bloodline. The greatest advantage of possessing one was a cultivation speed far beyond that of ordinary people. After all, their physical gifts were far superior, and their innate abilities were beyond the reach of ordinary Spirit Cultivators.

Of course, Heaven was fair. Though every one of these people was exceptionally gifted, they were few in number and had very poor fertility. Their bloodline power also weakened with each generation.

Even so, they remained the continent's most powerful forces. The imperial family of the Tianlan Empire, the Luo Clan, for instance, had inherited the bloodline of the Divine Beast Purple-Eyed Golden Peng.

"Then if I'm a member of the Divine Beast Family, why have I had no cultivation talent since I was little?" Sanbao was secretly delighted. It seemed he had been born into a good family after all—he had somehow landed among the continent's most outstanding Talent Families.

"It's simple. Your grandfather, your father, and even your eldest brother all had extremely potent Divine Beast bloodlines. By rights, your bloodline couldn't have been weak. After Saint Ancestor examined you carefully, he discovered that you had a very rare Latent Bloodline in the Luo Clan.

"You weren't supposed to have any chance to cultivate in this life. But Saint Ancestor was extraordinarily wise. After considering every possibility, he finally came up with a way to save you: blood fusion.

"Your Latent Bloodline needed blood fusion to awaken. We've been preparing for this all along. You were still young in those earlier years, so I never told you. But now, even though you've succeeded, Saint Ancestor, the Emperor, and the young master are probably all gone..."

As he spoke, tears filled Thirteen's eyes...

"Thirteen, you seem to have a very close relationship with my family?" Sanbao had no memories of Saint Ancestor or the Emperor, nor any impression of Thirteen's past, so he asked aloud.

"You little rascal! That's the fourth or fifth time you've asked me that, and now you're asking again. When I was eight, Saint Ancestor took me from a pile of beggars. Later, he taught us how to cultivate. Then the Emperor was born. When he was about your age, I and several of your uncles served him. Now it's your turn. These old bones of mine are still here, but Saint Ancestor..." Thirteen's voice grew even heavier.

"All right, Thirteen. Now isn't the time to grieve. Shouldn't we leave these Thousand Desolation Mountains first?" Seeing Thirteen lost in old memories, Sanbao quickly changed the subject.

"We can't rush. I've only recovered two or three tenths of my strength. If I were alone, leaving the Thousand Desolation Mountains wouldn't be too difficult, but I can't risk it with you in tow. We'll have to wait a little longer!"

If they had to wait, then wait they would. Sanbao was overjoyed. His Divine Beast bloodline had been awakened, and he would surely become a super expert one day. He would never again be the pitiful little nobody he had been in his previous life.

"Thirteen, does that mean I can start cultivating now?"

"It's still too early. You've passed the most dangerous stage of blood fusion, but many trials still await you. The Crimson Flame Eagle and the Purple-Eyed Golden Peng in your body belong to the same bloodline, but the eagle is only an ordinary Spirit Beast. It won't be easy to fully awaken your Divine Beast bloodline with its help. I estimate it'll take about a year. During that time, the clashing bloodlines will gradually weaken your body. You can only begin cultivating a Spirit Technique once your bloodline has truly awakened."

"So I still can't cultivate yet. I have to wait another year. Fine, one year isn't that long. I'm only ten this year, so I'll be just eleven next year. I have plenty of time..." Sanbao silently muttered to himself.

"Thirteen, I'm a little hungry~" Sanbao was taking advantage of being "young" and had started speaking without restraint.

"I prepared for that. Here, take these." A flash of green light passed through Thirteen's hand, and several wild fruits appeared in it.

"W-what's this?"

"This is a Spirit Weapon—the Storage Spirit Ring. It can hold things!" Seeing Sanbao's confusion, Thirteen lifted his withered finger, which wore a black metal ring.

"You'll learn all this later. Don't make such a fuss~"

As he chewed the wild fruit in his hand, Sanbao silently steeled himself. "Another year. Coiling Dragon Continent, just you wait."