Fusion of the Sacred Blood Crystal

"Whew~"

The hatch of the disc-shaped spacecraft slid open. A bald man flew out.

Not far away, an extremely ordinary pitch-black C-grade spacecraft sat idle in the void.

Soon, a graceful woman of Universe Rank emerged from the ship. She wore a mask, her features hidden.

Thor thought to himself, I wonder who this is to that kid Li Dui, and why all the secrecy.

The cosmic coordinates were correct. The spacecraft and the Universe Rank stage six woman were also right.

This area was a Void Zone, with barely even meteorite fragments around. No one would come here just to lie in wait for a scam.

Thor tossed the World Ring over. The masked woman caught it, gave a slight bow, then turned straight back into her ship and departed.

From start to finish, the two hadn't exchanged a single word.

Thor stretched a few times in the void. He'd spent over half a year on the ship getting here. Along the way, he'd been genuinely worried something might go wrong and mess up his little brother's business.

Mainly because that kid Li Dui had been dead serious. He'd forbidden Thor from even mentioning this matter in the Virtual Universe.

Thankfully, everything went smoothly, and he safely handed off the task.

Letting out a relieved breath, Thor returned to his own E-grade spacecraft and headed back the way he came, toward the Battle Axe Secret Realm.

Duhan Star, the manor.

Li Dui opened his eyes.

He had sent a clone along with Du Ya. In just over two years, the C9 spacecraft had reached the rendezvous point—mostly because the clone had teleported them through most of the journey.

Now that the goods were in hand, Li Dui could barely contain his eagerness.

Inside that World Ring were many Universe Crystals, materials, treasures, and more. The most important things, of course, were the Sacred Blood and the Number 3 clone acting as security.

With two clones available, they could take turns resting. Li Dui simply decided to have them teleport back directly. Having the C9 fly back would take about four years—far too slow.

The clones could alternate rest and barely manage three teleports per second, getting back in under a year.

Time slipped by.

As the returned Li Dui began holing up in 16001 day after day, barely going out, the Battle Axe Secret Realm, which had been lively for a few days, settled back into its usual rhythm.

On Duhan Star, the vast manor was always free of outsiders. Only occasionally could one spot the twenty Star Rank nine Spirit Readers.

One day, a pitch-black spacecraft slowly entered Duhan Star's atmosphere, heading toward the Star Lord's manor.

Seeing the ship, the people of Duhan Star spontaneously bowed in salute.

This new Star Lord rarely showed herself and was quite mysterious. But since taking over Duhan Star, she had neither raised taxes nor conscripted the people into labor. She had only organized a Manor Guard Army of tens of thousands to patrol and stand watch outside the estate—and even that came with a salary.

Thus, the people of Duhan Star held great admiration for their Star Lord.

Du Ya delivered the ring into Li Dui's hands. Li Dui gave her a few instructions and sent her out.

With her and Qila guarding the manor, there would be no trouble.

As for Li Dui himself, he now had three clones by his side, more than enough to handle any sudden incidents.

He took out the Sacred Blood and held it in his palm. Li Dui felt as though this thing could steal a person's soul with its beauty.

Fuse or not?

That really was the question.

Thoughts swirled through Li Dui's mind. If I don't fuse, with a hundredfold gene base, I'm not weak by cosmic standards.

I just need to cultivate steadily. When my realm is higher in the future, I can make up for the gene multiplier gap later. That's fine too, right? I'm not in a hurry anyway. Everything ahead will be blocked by Luo Feng. I'm not the protagonist. Sticking to the sidelines, playing a supporting role—isn't that good enough?

No sooner had these words settled in his heart than another thought smashed them to pieces.

I was inexplicably dragged into this world. Day in and day out, for safety, for freedom, I've been planning, scheming, calculating. It's been nearly two hundred years. Every single day—cultivating, hoarding resources, fearing this and that, carefully revealing so-called talent.

All for what? To improve myself in every way, to have the confidence to one day stand up and say whatever I want, do whatever I want.

Now I've got this huge opportunity in my hands. And just because fusing might kill me, I'm scared?

To hell with that. Where in the world is there absolute safety? Am I definitely safe hiding here? Even a super powerhouse like the Giant Axe Founder died. Even the God King of Jin died. Let alone an ant like me. A slightly stronger battle shockwave would drown me.

Besides, I don't believe I can die with my Brother Quan around. It's just one drop of a Universe Master's blood, isn't it?

Li Dui pressed two fingers together and slashed across his chest, then grabbed the Sacred Blood and pressed it directly against the wound.

Silently, a terrifying will descended instantly into Li Dui's sea of consciousness. In an instant, the entire sea was flooded with blood-red light.

Li Dui's will felt as though it had lost its place to exist, crushed into fragments in a single moment, turning into strands of blood light that merged with the environment of his consciousness sea.

He let out a long breath in his heart. No wonder that book said fusing Sacred Blood kills you instantly.

Which Immortal could withstand this? Of course, not including me—I'm not an Immortal, I'm Universe Rank, right? Li Dui's heart was wild with joy, his thoughts running rampant.

If it weren't for the Ring, Li Dui would indeed have died. Not a shred of resistance would have been possible.

The blood light in his sea of consciousness slowly, bit by bit, began to dissipate.

After a full day and a half, the blood light vanished completely. Li Dui felt his earlier judgment was very accurate. This thing wasn't something even an ordinary Universe Venerable could withstand.

With rich experience in cheating his way through fusing Xueluo Crystals, Li Dui knew the real fusion was about to begin.

It began.

The surface of the Sacred Blood suddenly glowed with a blood-red radiance, and within it seemed to condense a beast with a lizard-like body and a horned head.

From the beast's horn, a blood-red filament emerged, slowly burrowing into the wound on Li Dui's chest. Then, the filament merged with Li Dui's blood, flowing across his skin without leaving a trace, yet it looked as if it were about to sketch some kind of pattern.

The process was slow, and nothing was clear yet.

Previously, when he had fused a hundred Xueluo Crystals and activated the power of Xueluo, a relatively complex blood-red pattern would appear on his chest.

But that pattern naturally emerged after successful fusion—it was different from the current situation.

Li Dui thought this fusion process seemed slow and might take several days.

Unexpectedly, over forty days passed, and the lizard-like beast within the Sacred Blood crystal sphere was still exuding blood-red filaments. By now, though, the beast's color had become extremely faint.

The blood-red filament guided Li Dui's own blood, flowing irregularly across his chest for over forty days. It must have traced a rather intricate pattern.

Finally, the last bit of filament sank into Li Dui's chest. The Sacred Blood crystal sphere silently turned to powder, gently falling to the ground.

It was a success. Li Dui activated the power of Xueluo. Indeed, the activation method was the same. Indeed, a very complex pattern appeared on his chest—far more complex than Li Dui had imagined. Far more complex than the path the filament had traced with his blood.

Then again, its flow might not have been drawing a single line—perhaps it was imprinting a stamp instead?

Li Dui quietly sensed his affinity with the various Origin Laws. How many times greater was it now?

He had no idea that he had unknowingly broken the gene multiple limit. In this regard, he had enjoyed the treatment of a Universe Master.