Chapter 23: Iron Bone Reforging, Thunderfire Forging Golden Body
The superpower system and the supernatural system naturally belong to two different categories, with their own abilities having some differences. Liu Ting initially thought that the coexistence of two opposing energies in one body would lead to conflicts, ultimately erasing his physical soul and all consciousness, eliminating everything about him from this world. So at the time of selecting materials, it was already a well-thought-out decision, which can be said to be very careful. However, he did not realize that different categories of energy systems could also lead to intense rejection, and once this rejection occurs, the consequences would not be less severe than the previous one.
Of course, nothing is absolute, and everything has the possibility of reversal. With the Wild Priest's decades of experience and insight, he naturally knows the horror of this reversal. He even witnessed a super-strong demon with wind, fire, and water elemental abilities fighting against an ancient giant dragon. The scene left a deep impression on the High Priest, and the demon's control over magical elements could only be described as divine. Although it can't be said that demons with multiple elemental abilities or different system abilities are necessarily more powerful than those with single abilities, those who have gained multi-faceted evolution do indeed have more qualifications to become the supreme ruler. To put it simply, a useless nose-dwelling insect that gains two abilities, even if they are the lowest level and not very effective, will still have far greater development potential than ordinary low-level demons, with a higher chance of evolving into mid-tier or even higher levels.
Liu Ting's body now possessed the power of lightning, magma, and the supreme dominance of the King Kong Beast. Through his unique physique, he forcibly absorbed these three abilities, intending to merge them into one and evolve into a higher form. Although it was dangerous, the rejection wasn't too severe, and there was a one-in-a-thousand chance of success. If he had continued to absorb the blood of other magical beasts before, no matter how many more he added, he would have ended up burning himself to death. With the help of the Wildman's High Priest, who wanted to assist Liu Ting in overcoming his difficulties and owed him a favor, Liu's emotions were controlled, and every part of his body, from joints and organs to individual cells, was resonating with the rhythm of the bell, creating visible ripples that passed through the blood vessels. This resonance helped Liu gather the chaotic energy within him, forming a halo of intertwined lightning and fire. The genetic material he obtained from the King Kong Beast's blood wasn't elemental energy and couldn't be manifested in his consciousness; instead, it was distributed throughout his body, transforming his physique into something like shining silver armor.
With a loud crack, the cocoon that was originally indestructible was torn apart by Old Liu with ease, as if it were just a piece of paper. The newly emerged Old Liu not only grew in size from 1.5 cm to 3 cm but also became more humanoid in shape. In fact, this is what happens when a blood-sucking mosquito absorbs the blood of other magical creatures and gains their abilities - it's an evolutionary process. During this process, ordinary insects have weak consciousness and can't think for themselves, they can only passively imitate the residual fragments of the absorbed magical creature's blood to evolve. After three transformations, their shape naturally becomes a combination of magical creatures and magical insects. Old Liu's soul is strong, and he has been thinking about becoming human every day, so in the first transformation process, he reshaped his body, and now when he comes out, he already looks 30% like a human. Of course, it's just "like" a human. To give an example, Akama, one of Illidan's subordinates in Magic Beast Contention, also looked very much like a human, with a nose and two eyes, but that face... Tsk tsk, if Old Liu hadn't just come out and was still excited, he would have fainted from seeing his own appearance. It made him realize that being an insect isn't so bad after all.
"Electricity!" Old Liu suddenly let out a loud, eerie cry. The originally sharp and unclear voice somehow gained a few hints of rhythm and cadence. A ring of lightning flashed, transforming into a fireball that was struck out by Old Liu with ease. With a rustling sound, another hole the size of a finger appeared in the nest built by the blood mosquito's painstaking efforts. Old Liu shook his head in disappointment, sighing as he said: "It's still too lacking... probably only at the level of an ordinary mid-tier magical beast, far from meeting my requirements... Ah yes, it was that Wang Ba Danzi earlier, affecting my evolution with that deafening noise, forcing me to complete this growth prematurely. Otherwise, my strength after growing up would have increased by at least threefold! NND, it's that little brat, go find him."
Liu Ting's words were indeed correct, the three demon beasts' blood he absorbed were all relatively powerful existences among mid-tier demons, and two of them had already reached the pinnacle of mid-tier demons, only one step away from breaking through to high-tier and becoming a hegemon. The mixture of these three energies was no less than directly absorbing the blood of a high-tier demon beast, of course, it was also 10 times more difficult for Old Liu to thoroughly digest and assimilate them into his own abilities compared to directly absorbing a high-tier demon beast's abilities. One misstep would mean all previous efforts were in vain, and he might not even be able to save his own life. However, if he succeeded, the rewards would be extremely rich, at least allowing Old Liu to understand the abilities of those three demon beasts more thoroughly, with a higher degree of fusion, and naturally being able to use more powerful abilities. Now that Old Liu had missed an opportunity to enhance his growth, he was naturally unhappy, shifting the blame onto the "interfering" sound of the bell, without considering whether he could have made it through on his own without the other party's help. Of course, these were just excuses, and the real reason for Old Liu's discontent was something else entirely.
In the midst of the stone forest, the barbarian high priest let out a faint breath, and his turbid eyes suddenly burst forth with an inexplicable light. He couldn't help but say, "What a strong soul ability, almost equal to that of a human! What kind of monster is this? I've never heard of it before! Just now, even if I didn't help it, it could probably complete its final growth step on its own!"
Just then, Old Liu's spirit was lost in the sea of consciousness, unable to extricate itself. The high priest quietly released a thread of his spirit, following the sound waves of the bell instrument into Old Liu's consciousness, probing the situation with this strange and unusual blood mosquito. If he was lucky, he could even leave his spiritual imprint on its consciousness sea, taking advantage of its inability to resist and capturing it.
However, what the barbarian high priest did not expect was that Old Liu's soul was so strong, completely unlike a newly born insect still undergoing arduous growth. It was even stronger than an average human! Therefore, as soon as the high priest's spirit entered Old Liu's consciousness sea, it was discovered, and Old Liu woke up prematurely.
Old Liu, who had almost been tricked into becoming a fool, was furious. He flew out of his nest with a sharp cry, sending out an attack signal!
A group of barbarians who had fallen to the ground suddenly changed their expressions, stood up one after another, and took out bottles and jars from their waists to apply on themselves. The young man named Eagle even raised his hands high, and with a "whooshing" sound, two short knives tied to his arms with iron chains flew out of his wrists. His whole body shook, and a blood-red glow burst forth as if it had substance.
"Eagle, what are you doing? Don't be a hero, quickly apply the powder on your body, this way we can hide from these bugs." The middle-aged man hastily scolded Eagle and said, applying two handfuls of powder from the bottles to himself, while pouring the rest onto the young man's body.
The high priest, however, just chuckled and said, "Stop it. The leader of this primitive Blood Mosquito tribe is indeed very interesting and should be quite intelligent. Our little tricks won't fool him."
"What's going on!?" The middle-aged man's face changed even more, staring dead at the blood mosquitoes that were flying all over the sky and had already surrounded them. He gritted his teeth and said: "Hawk, protect the High Priest and leave first, I'll stay with the others to deal with these blood mosquitoes."
"No need. Mang Shan, didn't you notice? If it wanted to attack us, we wouldn't be able to leave even if we tried. The leader of this tribe is quite an interesting little fellow," the High Priest smiled faintly, barely managing to finish the sentence amidst a severe coughing fit. The bell in his hand suddenly shook, and he continued, "Besides, I'm not that useless yet."
Just as the high priest shook the bell, Liu Ting's heart suddenly trembled, and a chill ran through his entire body, almost seeping into his soul. His command over the tribe was momentarily disrupted. This made Old Liu extremely wary of the dark, sinister old man before him. Although he had never seen human footprints in this world before, he didn't have the luxury to ignore the differences between himself and them, nor could he simply run up to them with a foolish grin on his face. On the contrary, every living being here was extremely dangerous, requiring utmost caution at all times. Moreover, according to Master Holk's records, these savage people who possessed the ability to control magical beasts and insects were described as extremely cunning and evil beings. Old Liu naturally didn't dare to be careless again, his tension level rivaling that of when he encountered the mysterious water demon Holk.
The blood mosquitoes that had been surrounding the four sides only circled around themselves without attacking, and the middle-aged man from Mangshan also gradually relaxed, asking the High Priest in a low voice: "High Priest, can you subdue the leader of this tribe?"
The high priest murmured: "It can be done, but based on what I just understood, subduing it would be a very unwise decision."
"Could it be that this leader hasn't absorbed the abilities of the King Kong Beast? But it's clearly already grown to mid-tier!" Mang Shan asked in puzzlement.
"On the contrary." The high priest's eyes burst out with an astonishing light, and he said solemnly: "It not only completed its growth, but also successfully absorbed the steelization ability of the King Kong Beast. Its body has accumulated the abilities of thunder elements and fire elements, that is to say, it has not only evolved one ability, but has absorbed at least three ordinary mid-tier or higher magical beasts' blood, dissolving these abilities into one, completing a super evolution."
"What?" Mang Shan's experience and knowledge were naturally incomparable to those of the High Priest, who dealt with demonic insects and beasts every day. He had never encountered such a situation before, but relying on his understanding of demonic beasts, he rubbed his hands together and said thoughtfully: "Isn't that saying that this mid-tier demonic insect has actually gained the capital to advance to a higher tier? However, no matter what, even if it grows into a high-tier insect, it can't be compared to a demonic beast of the same tier. Moreover, it's an original blood mosquito, a type of group-dwelling demonic insect that relies on its tribe's power to exert its full strength."
"You seem to have forgotten about the Floodwater Witch." The High Priest said slowly.
"Impossible!?" Mang Shan was shocked again, staring at the ugly and strange blood mosquito in the air, and said in shock: "Great Priest, are you saying that this guy can evolve into those aquatic creatures like water bugs?"
"I don't know, but it's absolutely possible." The high priest's eyes were also fixed tightly on Old Liu, and the gaze intersected with Old Liu's, instantly igniting a spark of passion.
"What do you mean, High Priest?" Mang Shan asked urgently.
"I want to communicate with this strange little guy and see if I can get its recognition, and cultivate it into a totem that guards our tribe. With the potential of this little guy, it can become a high-ranking magic insect, or even a higher existence. Using it to replace the original Golden King Beast is completely fine. And our chances of winning are even greater. So I will cultivate it into the guardian totem of our tribe." The High Priest withdrew his gaze and looked around at each of the barbarians, saying something that shocked them all: "It's also the first totem of the resurgence of our Barbarian Empire!!!"
