Druid

Lei Mo had asked Torista for quite a lot of her blood and prepared the liquid ingredients he needed. The preparations were soon complete.

He took out a stone plate with a Transformation Rune already inscribed on it. Painting over it with the materials prepared from Torista's blood should produce the same effect.

This was the method Lei Mo had come up with to create Druids in batches, and it was his first experiment.

Only Transformation Runes inscribed by Lei Mo would take effect. Unless he found a shortcut, he would work himself to death.

As the liquid materials seeped into the inscribed Transformation Rune,

"Bzz—"

the Transformation Rune activated on its own, transforming into a new combination of runes.

A vortex slowly took shape within the rune combination, then floated off the stone plate.

With a "whoosh," it plunged into Torista's soul.

Torista sat cross-legged, her expression solemn. No one knew what she was trying to comprehend.

At the time, Lei Mo had received a piece of information that told him the Transformation Rune's name and function.

Half an hour later, Torista awoke.

"My lord! Is this called a Transformation Rune?"

Torista asked.

"Didn't you receive all the information about this rune?"

Lei Mo was puzzled.

"No, my lord! I only got a name—Transformation Rune!"

Torista replied.

Lei Mo took out a drop of Wind Leopard Essence Blood.

"Follow your instincts and try to refine this drop of Essence Blood!"

Lei Mo instructed Torista.

"Yes, my lord!"

She sat cross-legged. Torista cupped the drop of Wind Leopard Essence Blood in both hands, stared at it for a moment, then closed her eyes.

The Essence Blood suddenly vanished. Gradually, a breeze began to stir in the room. The wind grew stronger, sending the books and papers on the desk fluttering into the air.

The wind grew stronger still, gradually turning into a gale that rampaged through the little room.

Torista kept her eyes closed, her beautiful silver-white hair whipping about.

"Ah—"

With a cry of pain, green fur rapidly sprouted all over Torista's body.

Her hands were the first to become leopard paws, followed by her legs and feet. Her back arched, and she turned over to crouch on the floor.

Her head was the last to change. In the blink of an eye, a sleek green Wind Leopard stood in the room.

The Wind Leopard Torista had transformed into was a Level Six Magical Beast and couldn't speak. She could only stare at Lei Mo in astonishment with her leopard eyes.

Lei Mo took the enormous mirror he had prepared in advance from his ring. The mirror alone had cost a pretty penny.

Torista paced before the mirror, her gait graceful.

He had to admit, this transformation suited her.

She raised a front paw, looked at herself in the mirror, then at her paw, and finally turned to Lei Mo.

"All right, I'll step outside. You have a spare set of clothes, don't you?"

Lei Mo left the room and closed the door.

After a while, the door opened. Torista had already changed into a fresh set of clothes.

"You must have felt it. After transforming into a Wind Leopard, you truly become one. You can also cast wind magic. This counts as a form of cultivation."

"If my guess is right, once you reach the peak of Level Six, you can refine and absorb the Essence Blood of a Level Seven Magical Beast, though the absorption may be slow."

"Once you successfully absorb it, you'll become a Level Seven Druid and gain the ability to transform into a Level Seven Magical Beast."

Lei Mo described his findings and some of his theories in succession.

"Thank you for making this possible, my lord!"

Torista slowly knelt again, and for some inexplicable reason, Lei Mo sensed a mental connection.

Could the Transformation Rune I inscribed have linked Torista to Soul Space?

What if I spread this rune far and wide?

Would that mean Soul Space had already made contracts with countless souls, simply waiting for their return someday?

Lei Mo couldn't help letting his imagination run wild again.

This was a good way to make up for the Totem Pillars being fixed in one place.

Can everyone become a Druid?

Lei Mo wondered. Divine Wind Bear Bill couldn't, though—oh, right, he wasn't human. This would take more testing.

"Go find a few family members who are at Level Six. Does anyone else in your family have Elf blood?"

Lei Mo instructed Torista, then asked as an afterthought.

"No, my lord! The family is in decline. I'm the one in charge now, and my uncle handles the day-to-day affairs."

Torista had developed an inexplicable sense of reverence and respect for Lei Mo.

My lord is incredible. He actually created an entirely new cultivation system! What a monumental achievement!

Torista thought, never realizing that her admiration had gone a little overboard.

"Are the people from the Coriti Clan still harassing you?" Lei Mo asked.

"Ever since you made a public appearance with the Minair family and kept showing up around the city, no one from the Coriti Clan has come again."

Torista answered respectfully.

"All right, go get ready. There's no rush; just have everything prepared within a few days."

After everything that had happened and the way events had unfolded, Lei Mo needed to settle down and think.

What risks does creating this school of cultivation pose to me?

Anyone could learn this. At worst, he could inscribe more Transformation Runes and spread them around. He still needed to find out what limitations they placed on cultivators.

In the Minair family's main hall, Lei Mo took out a huge piece of Blue Stone and an ordinary steel dagger. He circulated his battle aura, the dagger's keen edge flickering in and out, and cut the Blue Stone into a cube modeled after a magic cube.

He inscribed Sturdiness Runes on five of its faces, using the blood of a Level Nine Earth Element Magical Beast.

Then he inscribed the pattern of a Transformation Rune on the last face and activated it—without adding any blood-based materials.

After the Sturdiness Runes on the five faces activated, light rippled across the stone. The already-hard Blue Stone turned a bluish-black.

The Blue Stone cube was now many times harder than steel, probably second only to a divine artifact!

Torista found eight Level Six warriors. Lei Mo took some of their blood, mixed in medicinal powder and other ingredients, and prepared eight batches of liquid.

Using a beast-hair brush, he painted the runes one by one. The first failed, and so did the second and third. One after another failed, all the way to the seventh person.

Just as Lei Mo was starting to think that people with human blood couldn't become Druids at all,

"Bzz—"

the Transformation Rune he had just painted on the Blue Stone platform floated up, slowly shifting into a new rune combination. A vortex took shape within it.

With a "whoosh," it plunged into the seventh person's soul.

The seventh person sat cross-legged, his brow furrowed as if he were experiencing some kind of Dreamscape, his eyes rolling around and around.

After a while, he stood up and respectfully bowed to Lei Mo.

"Thank you for making this possible, my lord!"

Lei Mo promptly sensed a mental connection. It seemed that becoming a Druid through the Transformation Rune was equivalent to comprehending the rune on Franklin.

Thinking of this, Lei Mo picked up Franklin and went to the Minair family's garden. He stuck Franklin into the ground, and Franklin instantly grew to a hundred meters tall.

Lei Mo stared at the spot on Franklin's body where the Transformation Rune had been, wanting to see if he could gain any new insight into it.

"Ah—where's the Transformation Rune?"

Lei Mo's mind stalled. He had long grown accustomed to how special this rune was.

Before he had understood anything about it, he had already carved the rune into his mind.

What had happened to it? Where was the rune? Lei Mo couldn't accept this reality for a moment. He had still wanted to dig deeper into the Transformation Rune's abilities!

"Franklin! Franklin!"

Lei Mo shouted in his mind, shocked and frantic!