Hummingbird Falcon

"Master? What do you need?"

Franklin's voice sounded in Lei Mo's mind.

"What about the Transformation Rune on you? The one I mentioned before, the one that looked and felt so complete!"

Lei Mo was somewhat impatient. Had Franklin stored the rune away, just like the Soul Rune?

"Hm? Did that rune disappear? I didn't notice anything."

Then Franklin fell silent for a long time.

Lei Mo almost thought Franklin had malfunctioned like a robot!

"Franklin! Franklin!"

Lei Mo called out repeatedly in his mind, growing genuinely anxious. He hoped nothing had happened to Franklin.

"Master, I'm here! I checked, and nothing is wrong. But the rune you mentioned really has disappeared."

After a moment of silence, Franklin continued.

"I thought carefully about that rune. It only appeared after I met you. Before that, no soul had ever comprehended it."

"Not only that, it never manifested on any of my sub-bodies. That's why I could never find a soul that had comprehended the rune, no matter how many times you asked me to search!"

"If you hadn't kept bringing it up, I wouldn't have paid it any attention. Now that it's disappeared, I don't feel anything at all, as if it never existed."

Franklin's successive replies left Lei Mo a little dumbfounded.

"What do you mean? Could I have somehow created a rune on Franklin?"

Then what was the reason? Had my thoughts manifested the Transformation Rune, and now that I'd fully comprehended it, it was gone?

"Wait—it hasn't disappeared!"

Lei Mo sank his consciousness into the Soul Ocean and instantly arrived in the space where his soul resided. He gazed at the Nebula Soul, which never failed to fill him with awe whenever he saw it.

The nebula-like soul revolved with the precision of a magic array, moving like countless clockwork gears. It seemed slow, but was actually spinning at tremendous speed.

Lei Mo thought he could faintly make out the Transformation Rune. At times, it appeared within the nebula; at others, it vanished from sight.

The nebula-like soul seemed both real and illusory. Each time he observed it, he seemed to gain a new insight. At that moment, countless uses for the Transformation Rune welled up in Lei Mo's mind.

The most stable thing within the entire Nebula Soul was the shadow of the towering Totem Pillar.

In size, it was almost as large as the nebula-like soul, but it was wrapped within the nebula.

Lei Mo inexplicably reached an understanding. After the Transformation Rune's phantom fused with the Transformation Rune he had made, it might have violated the laws governing the universe.

It had no choice but to explode, scattering and merging into the Nebula Soul to evade being erased by the laws of the universe.

"So my Transformation Rune is the most special one? Could I even transform into a divine beast?"

Lei Mo couldn't help letting his imagination run wild, dreaming up all sorts of impossible delights.

Divine beast bloodlines and Innate Divine Abilities were the most extraordinary things in this world. How could a Druid transform into a divine beast?

The inherited knowledge Lei Mo had received when he comprehended the Transformation Rune had also told him that the most he could transform into was a Saint Realm magical beast.

Lei Mo hurriedly put a stop to that unrealistic thought.

Don't think about it, don't think about it. I'm already drooling just thinking about it.

" You, come forward!"

Back in the main hall, Lei Mo pointed to the eighth person.

The seventh person's success had just given Lei Mo a great deal of confidence.

He used an animal-hair brush to paint the liquid mixed with the man's blood onto the stone disc. The eighth person—failure.

"I have plenty of ways to help you. Although the seven of you can't become Druids, you can still become Rune Warriors."

Looking at the seven men, their faces full of disappointment yet too afraid to show it, Lei Mo brought out his ultimate weapon.

The mysterious telepathic connection between Torista, the seventh man, and Lei Mo made him feel that he could spread the Rune Warriors' path.

At least he could spread it on a small scale. Since it involved Lei Mo's blood, he didn't dare to go too far.

"You seven, wait here for now! You, come with me!"

Lei Mo called over the seventh man and led him to a relatively open area, where he took out a drop of magical beast Essence Blood.

"Try absorbing and refining it! And what's your name?"

Lei Mo handed the drop of Essence Blood to the seventh man.

"My name is Cole Minair, sir."

As he spoke, Cole sat down cross-legged.

He cupped the drop of magical beast Essence Blood in both hands and slowly closed his eyes.

The Essence Blood suddenly vanished. Right after that, feathers sprouted all over Cole's body, and his nose lengthened and turned gray, becoming a beak.

His body rapidly shrank. His hands disappeared and became a pair of bluish-gray wings, and his legs turned into bird's talons. Then a tiny bluish-gray bird, less than twenty centimeters tall, stood on the ground.

"Try to see if you can fly."

Lei Mo instructed him.

"Flap, flap—"

The little bird beat its wings, shooting upward like lightning and vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Looks like my guess was right. A Druid can refine Essence Blood regardless of the difference in size!"

When Lei Mo had been able to transform into a Divine Wind Bear and Torista into a Wind Leopard, he had realized that both the Divine Wind Bear and the Wind Leopard were enormous.

That was why he had arranged what had just happened. The tiny magical beast—the Hummingbird Falcon—had only been caught because Franklin had expanded his Divine Domain.

Despite its diminutive size, it was a genuine peak sixth-level magical beast. Its wind magic was extremely powerful, but all of it was geared toward increasing its speed.

It had no offensive magic. Its main method of attack was to use its beak to pierce an enemy's body at incredible speed. Because it was so small, it could pass straight through its target like a sharp blade, making it extremely deadly.

"Flap, flap—"

The Hummingbird Falcon returned and landed in front of Lei Mo. It shook out its feathers and changed back into Cole.

"Thank you, sir!"

Cole dropped to one knee in front of Lei Mo.

"Sir, you're amazing! Your methods are truly beyond understanding!"

An unbounded admiration for Lei Mo welled up in Cole's heart. He had no idea that he now possessed the ability to remain undying as a soul, much less that, from his soul to his body, he would belong to Lei Mo in the future.

"Cole, try to see if you can fuse with this drop of Essence Blood."

Lei Mo took out a drop of Wind Leopard Essence Blood. There had been so little Hummingbird Falcon Essence Blood that taking even one drop had nearly cost it its life. It was still recovering.

Lei Mo had fed it a drop of Golden Liquid. Otherwise, it was unclear whether it would have survived.

"Sir, I can't absorb it!"

Cole handed back the drop of Wind Leopard Essence Blood with both hands.

"My guess is that you need to advance one level in strength to fuse with another drop of magical beast Essence Blood. Or perhaps you can only fuse with the Essence Blood of a magical beast at the same level as you. We'll have to test it."

"Go on. Report to Torista. Since your surname is Minair and Torista trusts you, work hard at your cultivation and restore the family's former glory!"

Lei Mo waved him away and returned to the main hall. The seven people were still standing respectfully to one side.

"Each of you, use your battle aura! Let me take a look!"

Lei Mo ordered them directly.

After watching each of them use their battle aura, Lei Mo had made up his mind.

He split the seven of them into two groups: four would use runes suited to them, while the other three would use runes that didn't match.

The truth was, Lei Mo only knew Water Element, Fire Element, Earth Element, and Light Element runes, so he had no choice but to do it this way.