Flame-Burners Association, Exchange Building.
Anthony Silvercoin was unexpectedly absent, and the receptionist had been replaced by a female Zero-Ring sorceress.
Dressed in alluring furry attire, her body partially beastified under the corrosion of her transcendent bloodline. In a soft, syrupy voice, she asked, "Scholar Eno, how may I assist you?"
"This... wasn't it always Anthony before? How did the treatment suddenly improve?" Yin Ming asked in surprise.
"Scholar Eno enjoys the same treatment as a First-Ring Wizard, which is why the president personally received you before. The president just happens to be away today, so it is finally my turn to receive you," the rabbit-eared sorceress replied with a gentle smile.
Yin Ming: "..."
For a moment, he had no idea what use this treatment was supposed to be.
Yin Ming did not bother looking at the meager display shelves and directly said, "I need a First-Ring Devouring Snake stomach pouch, a storage wizard artifact. Zero-Ring Maple Spirit Tree seeds. And a First-Ring Quasit True Name Totem, three Crimson Blood Crystals, plus a little adamantine and Starmithril Mercury."
The Devouring Snake Bag was a storage item. Its internal space was only three cubic meters, yet it was the only First-Ring item in the Exchange Building.
Its price was steep—300,000 Merit Points, equivalent to 3,000 Element Crystals. The Scavenger Gourd would have to operate for nearly a year to produce that much.
The materials for the External Core were adamantine and Starmithril Mercury.
Yin Ming only exchanged enough to refine three of them.
Even after enhancement by the gourd, these two materials could only bear transcendent bloodlines up to the Second Ring.
At the Second Ring, there were elemental creatures like Lava Trolls, transcendent plants like Twisted Treants, and transcendent creatures like Winged Serpents.
Although he had yet to obtain the Second-Ring True-Name Totem Mystic Runes for Treants and Winged Serpents—
Without obtaining the Eight-Nine Mystical Art Nourishment Chapter rune, there was no meaning in continuing to increase the upper limit of Second-Ring bloodlines.
"..."
He returned to his residence.
Yin Ming refined three Primordial Elixirs with the Crimson Flame Ring, then optimized and perfected them through the gourd.
Life became regular once more. Every day, he meditated and cultivated, nourishing the three Primordial Elixirs.
In his spare time, he fiddled with transcendent magic plants, went to the scholars' Ember Building to read, and sat in on the public lectures of other scholars who were fishing for attention.
At night, he entered Nightmare Space to familiarize himself with the External Core Manifestation and practice his spear techniques.
When luck was on his side, Zero-Ring Wizard Apprentices would even come knocking on their own. He would casually hunt them down and extract transcendent knowledge. However, the transcendent knowledge mastered by Zero-Ring Apprentices had an extraordinarily high repetition rate.
"The External Cores have been nurtured! Time to condense the fourth Manifestation!"
One month later.
Inside the meditation chamber.
Once the metal sphere developed a sensation of flesh and blood intertwining, Yin Ming began preparing Bloodline Potion 2.0.
The Quasit "Bloodline Origin" could not be stored in the gourd, so he could only prepare the other materials beforehand, then toss the Blood-Origin Crystal into the prepared potion.
As the Blood-Origin Crystal gradually melted, Bloodline Potion 2.0 was complete.
Like resinous gel, it gave off an Abyss-like dim glow. Suspended between solid and liquid, it was vastly different from the Bloodline Potions he had refined in the past.
"Sizzle, sizzle..."
As the Gold-Eroding Water reacted, a totem mystic rune was traced across the External Core's surface.
Yet the Bloodline Potion did not fill the gaps. Only after a complete First-Ring rune had been traced did the reaction abruptly finish, fusing into one with the Metal External Core.
[First Ring: False Dretch Ancestor.]
Yin Ming lightly tapped it with his finger, continuously pouring in magic power and spiritual power.
The External Core's totem mystic rune glowed brightly. Elemental energy continuously gathered, constructing a Monkey Quasit Manifestation.
"What is this...?"
The instant the Monkey Quasit's body solidified—
Yin Ming's gaze blurred, and he suddenly felt as though he were falling from a great height. Half his consciousness was sucked into the Metal External Core.
His consciousness controlled the Quasit Manifestation's movements, and he could even share its vision. Just like controlling his own body, he could manipulate the Quasit Manifestation as he pleased.
It was as though he possessed two bodies at the same time, yet also as though those two bodies had been linked into one by some mysterious power.
This was fundamentally different from his other Manifestations. Though they were also controlled by thought, they were more like piloting giant mecha with his mind, without that sense of possessing an actual body.
"This Quasit Manifestation body has an illusory hidden rune."
Yin Ming sensed the Sea of Consciousness between the Quasit's brows and, sure enough, discovered a profound rune hidden there.
A cloud of mysterious mist concealed most of the rune. The exposed portion did not form a closed energy circuit, with head and tail connected.
Yet this seemingly incomplete rune existed in defiance of all reason and performed the function it was meant to perform.
Because this rune was complete and flawless. It merely ignored the distance of space, forming one complete rune.
"This is the Monkey Quasit's Bloodline Origin Ancestral Talisman. A small portion belongs to me, while the greater portion belongs to the Abyssal Will."
Yin Ming's consciousness sank into the Monkey Quasit's Source Rune, where he sensed 962 faint bloodline threads.
Two of those threads had snapped and returned to the blood crystal, meaning that two Monkey Quasits had unfortunately died in the Abyss. Yet their True Name Imprints had not been reclaimed, so Yin Ming could create their bloodlines again.
"This is— a Quasit True Name Rune?"
Yin Ming was suddenly startled. The power fed back from the bloodline into the Manifestation contained a mysterious great might that actually dispersed the mist shrouding the True Name.
Besides the originally complete First-Ring True Name, a Zero-Ring True Name Rune was also revealed.
This meant that this Quasit Manifestation could break through the First-Ring limit.
And as long as the 962 Monkey Quasits bred a vast clan—or his own strength increased—this Manifestation could even break through to the Second Ring.
"Thud..."
Suddenly, his magic power and spiritual power were exhausted.
The Metal External Core fell, while the Monkey Quasit burst like a bubble and scattered into countless points of elemental light.
Yin Ming memorized the Zero-Ring True Name Rune, but there was one problem: where could he find Bloodline Origin Crystals to make Bloodline Potions?
"Hiss..."
He bent down to pick up the Manifestation External Core.
Yin Ming suddenly sucked in a cold breath.
At some unknown time, a Zero-Ring True Name Rune had appeared on the External Core's surface.
"This thing can even generate runes on its own? Autonomous growth-type equipment?"
"Good thing it's only an External Core. If this were branded onto my body and condensed into a true body, wouldn't that be disastrous?"
Though it was developing in a beneficial direction, Yin Ming usually kept his distance from anything beyond his control.
"..."
[Name: Yin Ming (Yasum Eno).] [Method: Vast Sea Meditation Method.] [Realm: Junior Wizard Apprentice (Mirror Reef, second level).] [Lifespan: 18/97.] [Constitution: 31.] [Magic Power: 4/20.] [Spiritual Power: 4/24.] [Normal Brain Optimization: 6%.] [Wizardry: Crimson Flame Ring, Wizard's Hand, Flesh Strengthening, Shadow Touch, Touch of Corrosion, White Phosphorus Flame...] [Runes: Soul Severing, Abyssal Summoning, Abyssal Sacrifice, Nightmare Spirit (Zero-Ring access).] [Immortal Arts: External Elixir Art, Seventy-Two Forms: 4/72 (Second-Ring limit).] [Knowledge: Demon Tongue, Wizard Script, Potion Studies, Magic Plant Studies.] [Potions: Healing Potion, Bloodline Potion, Element-Revealing Potion.] [Items: Pure Character Law Fragment, revolver, ...]
"..."
Yin Ming placed himself into the gourd.
He carefully checked himself from head to toe. Only after confirming that he had not been affected in any way did he finally set his mind completely at ease.
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