Winter Winds City, Silver Meadow Inn
At the same luxuriously decorated hotel where Jodye and company were lodged, an elder sat with a middle-aged man and a teenage boy in a spacious suite discussing something important behind a sound isolation barrier. These men all wore black robes, but the young negus boy’s brocade robes were obviously of vibrant quality.
“Do we really need to go through all of this trouble?” asked the teenage boy.
“It will be well worth it, just you wait and see,” was the response of the handsome middle-aged man.
Several miles away at a hotel owned by the same personage and called Silver Brooks Inn, secretly watching them through a surveillance crystal ball, there were three elders in a far smaller private room. These elders were wearing white robes that were full of runes and magical snake patterns, and sitting at a table observing the room that Sigma Octanis and the other two were in.
“This Sigma is a veritable problem. Our operation is at risk now that he and that negus brat are involved, but the others seem to trust him more than us!” spoke a heavy set elder with a husky voice. “Let me do the deed, I need to prove my rank! Just as well, here’s the perfect opportunity.”
“Do not speak rashly, you will only embarrass yourself!” spoke another short and ugly old man with missing teeth. “This man Sigma Octanis is not to be trifled with easily! Our cultivation levels may be similar, but he has the most exquisite spellcasting ability in the south. I would likely need the mystic wand boss lent us to defeat him.”
If Sigma were here, he would recognize the ugly old man as Roger Flankz! One of the Vice Sect Masters of White Serpent Cove!
“It would be a great waste to use such a top class artifact on a worm like Octanis. His strength is not that scary, I think,” said a robust man with a white serpent tattoo on his left eye. This was none other than Garuda, another Vice Sect Master for White Serpent Cove, “You take Hugo and make sure we have a tight hold on Neofrost’s leash for cooperation. Remember, we can glamour the hotty, as she’s merely a concubine of that Lord Krimi Nile. He will not go to war over a mere tainted concubine, plus how would he even know? Hahaha… but remember, do not to touch the little girl! There is a treasure on her that can eradicate the soul of anyone below the expert level, maybe more! Her father would surely be alerted once harm befalls her.”
“Ah… about this, brother,” said Roger Flankz while sounding hesitant, “I received an intelligence report during the earlier meeting. It was not very favorable.”
“Excuse me? What unfavorable report, spit it out!” screamed Garuda.
“The men already did the very thing you just asked us to prevent. They tried to glamour the little girl, but now their lifeless corpses float in the river. We’re not sure how they were killed at all. Also… well, we still have the woman under our full control. The glamour works very well on her. In fact, she gets very frisky,” said Roger a little absentmindedly, but he quickly straightened out his face when he felt Garuda’s glare, “As I was saying the woman is fine. But as for the girl, River, she has escaped for a full day now.”
“What?!” Garuda suddenly stood up in a fury, his chair reduced to ashes the instant his qi momentum rose. They lost the girl? The girl was the only one they were never supposed to lose! She was their trump card against the pharaoh, the card they used to control Neofrost. The Sect Master would definitely murder him if she were lost. Garuda bellowed at the other two mean at the top of his lungs, “Get all the men on the streets! We have to find that little bitch before she finds Neofrost! Move the f*** out now, what are you dumbasses doing?!”
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Meanwhile,
[Summon Time: undefined]
River Nile was terrified and shivering, thinking that she was about to be burned to a crisp in the next few seconds. However, after waiting for a few breaths and not feeling the expected heat, River was baffled. There was nothing hot but rather a calm wind on her back. River fear subsided a bit as she was prompted to lift her head which had been buried in Jodye’s bosom. What she saw left her in a daze.
“So… pretty…” River exclaimed softly, her little hands covering her mouth in amazement.
“Man, I truly possess the luck of the stars,” sighed Jodye Trill in relief as he stroked the furry head of his Twilight Sphinx cub, who had just walked over adorably to cuddle with him. Jodye and River were covered by a serene ice shell that glowed resplendently in three different colors. The had a three-meter diameter with Jodye as the center. The scarlet-blue flame curtain in contrast with the pink, purple, and silver serenity ice shell left quite the visual impact. The seemingly extreme heat from the eighth level Vicious Red-scaled Lizard could do absolutely nothing in the face of this serene ice shell. There wasn’t even a single drop of melted water or perspiration. The dome was solid as an ice rock.
Jodye was thrilled, as he had clearly just escaped death by magical fire. He simply wouldn’t fear regular fire, but was this a regular fire? No, this was a fire backed by dragon force. Its strength was totally abnormal. “The aura Eureka is releasing right now is more powerful than that Trickster30Trickstermonster clan beast with third rank lifeblood. when a level 9 vicious beast with god beast lifeblood reaches level 10 they evolve into low-level demi-god beasts possessing superior intelligence without their own complete demi-god physique. Due to their frail forms, they use their lifeblood powers to condense a cocoon or origin qi that takes on the form of other beasts. Tricksters fight to obtain the ‘life force’ required to condense a monster core by condensing enough god beast lifeblood. Condensing the monster core allows the trickster to upgrade its physique to that of one closer to a god beast and cultivate different lifeblood inheritances. Vicious beasts with a hint of origin god beast bloodline in them merely become higher level tricksters upon evolution, with a more complete true form. Tricksters are only born through the evolution of a vicious beast. Injuries received by tricksters in their true forms risk reducing their level since they must burn their lifeblood essence to recover and transform again. Level 1 Trickster = 1,000 BP Level 2 Trickster = 1,250 BP Level 3 Trickster = 1,600 BP Level 4 Trickster = 2 AP Level 5 Trickster = 4.5 AP Level 6 Trickster = 9 AP Level 7 Trickster = 14 AP Level 8 Trickster = 21 AP Level 9 Trickster = 30 AP we saw when I first found her… though not by much. Is this the strength of an infant level god beast? Sheesh… How scary… I wonder what rank your bloodline limit has reached.”
Though he thought like this, Jodye was secretly relieved. Eureka had answered the summons of his heart at the last moment and turned his situation around. Without wasting another second, Jodye activated his other source artifact [Pharaoh’s Law4Lawthe rules and principles that create, govern, and maintain the energies of the universe. When laws come into harmony they form different systems naturally, with as many functions as the laws in harmony. For laws to enter a state of harmony, they must be compatible and have a proper conduit such as a star, or anything with its own unique Origin source law. With a good enough conduit it is possible to make incompatible laws reach a state of harmony, but in such a scenario there is a high chance of the force turning cancerous. The condensation of law energy produces what is known as Force or Qi..], which manifested on his head. He instantly felt his mind turn much more composed, and his anxiety melted away.
“Greetings, Host! That was a close call, LOL!” came the robotic voice of Trippy, instantly stressing Jodye out.
“Is something wrong, Trippy?” Jodye sent his thought. After all, Trippy would never speak to him randomly, only if there was something important it needed to communicate. These things were usually directly related to his thoughts or mentality towards certain subjects. The artifact spirit would often speak up to stop him from going astray.
“This artifact spirit has detected a weak true dragon bloodline in the vicinity. Although this bloodline is not very powerful, the host is also extremely weak and feeble! LOL!” giggled Trippy, in a weird and emotionless way. Trippy was seemingly growing more personality, but Jodye wasn’t so sure he liked its personality at all. Trippy continued, “Ingesting the diluted dragon blood will be the best tonic at host’s current level!”
“What is the benefit of consuming this blood again?” asked Jodye Trill via telepathy, as he sized up the eighth level Red-scaled Lizard. So this thing indeed had some dragon blood in its veins, huh?
“What a great question, Host! Lol. I’ll answer you!” responded Trippy. Jodye wasn’t sure whether or not this was sarcasm, as the tone made it impossible to read any emotion at all. “Host has the bloodline of the Primal Dragon Clan! However, currently, the host has condensed only two drops of primal dragon essence. This isn’t even the equivalent to a gold rank one bloodline! However, by consuming other true dragon bloodlines, the host can increase the production of primal dragon essence. With a Volos bloodline at 15%, the host can condense only eight more drops of primal dragon essence! This is the equivalent to a gold rank one bloodline, or silver rank five bloodlines, or bronze rank eight bloodlines! However, once host consumes true dragon blood, the Volos bloodline within the host can be enhanced from 15% to nearly 21%!”
Jodye felt his headache. What was all this about bloodlines again? Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranks? What did they represent?
“I’ll answer you host!” said Trippy in its childish but robotic voice, however, it’s voice then turned totally mechanical for an instant before returning to normal, “Access denied. Oops! Weird. Sorry host, it looks like I can’t answer you after all!”
Jodye was annoyed, “So should I just… drink its blood then?”
“I suggest that host just eats the whole being! Sounds scrumptious, lol!” Responded Trippy, “Also, this artifact spirit can extract the true dragon blood essence from this creature and help the host refine it directly! However, consuming its flesh is also good for the host!”
This telepathic conversation between Jodye and his source artifact spirit took less then a breathe’s time. There was still a world of blue-scarlet fire outside of the shell of pink, purple, and silver ice. At this moment the ouroboros on the cover of the [Cosmos Revolving Grimoire] lit up with purple light, which shot into Jodye’s head like a laser.
Jodye Trill’s eyes brightened with the light of intelligence. The heavenly grimoire had just given him new information! If he were to subjugate this beast with the [Cosmos Revolving Grimoire], instead of killing it and eating it, then the heavenly grimoire would be able to strip its entire being on a molecular level and reform it into a beast slave. By doing so, the blood essence would be extracted as well as the nutrients in its flesh. All of which becoming benefits transferred into Jodye’s body. This was simply a fantastic application of the summoner function that Jodye had nearly forgotten about. The grimoire had explained this to him back when he first met Eureka but in far less detail.
In simpler terms, Jodye had the option of a blood contract or a slave contract. The blood contract would last until Jodye died, or the beast soul overpowered his own soul. This was less than ideal, as in Jodye’s opinion there was no point in contracting a beast that was weaker than himself. Eureka was an exception because she had already recognized Jodye as her closest kin.
Jodye couldn’t bear to devour her.
However, the slave contract would completely dominate and devour the targeted creature and bind him to Jodye’s soul and lifeblood. If Jodye died, his beast slaves would die with him. How could they stand to see him die if this was the case?
Sylvester told him before, the benefits of enslaving were intense. Subduing a beast with this method was the equivalent to devouring its old life to strengthen himself while binding its soul to work as Jodye’s protector. However, this process was not instant, the amount of time it took to complete depended both on Jodye’s cultivation level and the level of the beast being contracted. After being enslaved, the creature would have its potential unleashed. From a certain point of view, Jodye was giving the beast slave an all new life full of glory.
“Devouring power… could this be the effect Sylvester’s soul has had on mine?” Jodye Trill seemed to suddenly understand something about source artifacts, leading to him reaching a series of other conclusions. This was like finding the one piece of the puzzle that made the rest of the picture make sense. Placing the remaining pieces became much easier! Jodye even felt his origin power reached the bottleneck of the Scholar Realm due to his comprehensions. He couldn’t possibly advance any further before breaking through the realm.
Jodye mused silently, “The abilities of source artifacts are influenced directly by my main soul or the combination of my host soul and three hollow souls. This new life of the so-called main soul, Joseph Goldwolf, is basically the true union of our incomplete souls!”
Typically, this union would have minimum effects on one’s growth.
“However, if the laws of fate summon your consciousness to the destiny platform and bestow you with a source artifact, then your hollow souls evolve into combat souls! Depending on the type of source artifact you bonded with, your combat souls would have different effects on your artifact and growth! The soul is the key to unlocking the body’s potential!”
In truth, Jodye was simply no longer the agent Trill Jodye of the past. That was merely his host soul’s previous life! However, even if Jodye knew this, he couldn’t change a nature he had already developed. At his core, he would always identify as Trill Jodye.
“Soul… spirit… body. If the soul is the key to unlocking the body’s potential, then the spirit must be the door! My spiritual meridians are the gateway between my physical body and ethereal soul! My host soul is fused with the Volos warrior Janair Mazi’s soul. We have become one, or the main soul. The Volos are the Divine Dragons of the Legendary Realm. However, my soul is synchronized with Sylvester and Xavier’s souls. What does this mean exactly?” Jodye Trill was thinking rapidly, and his eyes were swimming with faint golden lights as if he had entered enlightenment, “It means that we remain separate but grow together. They’ll feed off of me like parasites, but in return, I’ll receive many benefits from them as well. Also, thanks to my heavenly grimoire, they can fight by my side! The united soul force of all this becomes a spiritual door! My spiritual meridians are in my physical organs, they can influence my body directly!”
Unfortunately, before Jodye could complete his train of thought, he heard an anxious scream right behind him. Right after that, Eureka jumped into his embrace and purring gently as she rubbed her baby like face on his own.
“Mew!” for some reason Jodye was able to vaguely understand Eureka, as though he innately understood the ancient fey language. Jodye’s heart involuntarily experienced warmth as he realized Eureka had just called him “big brother.”
Snapping out of it, Jodye realized that the curtain of fire had finally disappeared. As he glanced back at River, he was shocked to see her petrified and sitting on her bum. She was staring aghast while pointing up with a shaking finger.
Jodye didn’t need to follow her line of sight to know what she was looking at, as he immediately perceived their surroundings with his divine energy as soon the magical flames were gone. He didn’t dare to try to break past those flames with his divine power, but now he didn’t need to worry. Jodye and River were in an enormous cavern, that was presumably the home of their scaly friend here.
Since the tunnel that they came from was impossible to climb up, there was only one exit. That exit was on the other side of this eighth level vicious beast. Right behind Jodye was the over 10-meter high eighth level Vicious Red-scaled Fire Lizard! The menacing monster was glaring down with its crimson eyes and licking out its serpentine tongue. Jodye could recognize by its scent that this beast should be a male.
It had blood-red scales that looked sharp and barbed like a steel pine cone, four claws on each leg, two bronze horns on its front legs, as well as a rune-covered bronze horn on its snout. It’s terrifyingly sharp teeth were bared, knocking the wind out of Little River. Merely, the serene ice shell was still in perfect condition. As Jodye turned to stare into the crimson eyes of this eighth level vicious beast, there wasn’t even a trace of fear in his gaze. This, in conjunction with the magical defense the opposite party had utilized, gave the beast temporary pause. It didn’t know how to react.
An eighth level Vicious Beast27Vicious BeastMonster Clan beast that possesses Second Rank lifeblood. Vicious beasts are animals that can absorb and refine the forces of the heavens and earth. As a result, they are far more powerful than the animals who can’t. Level 1 Vicious Beast = 20 bp Level 2 Vicious Beast = 60 bp Level 3 Vicious Beast = 110 bp Level 4 Vicious Beast = 170 bp Level 5 Vicious Beast = 240 bp Level 6 Vicious Beast = 320 bp Level 7 Vicious Beast = 410 bp Level 8 Vicious Beast = 510 bp Level 9 Vicious Beast = 620 bp had almost unlocked its spiritual wisdom, making it far more intelligent than other animals.
“Eureka, I want to keep this one as a slave, so he cannot die. However, he tried to kill your big brother, are you going to just let this go?” Jodye shamelessly cooed to the Twilight Sphinx in his embrace. Shockingly, he saw a tinge of rage color Eureka’s eyes. He couldn’t help but praise, “Baby god beasts sure are smart little guys!”
“Mew!” Eureka’s tiny voice sounded like the notes of a flute as it magnified and echoed throughout this vast cavern they had entered. It seemed as if nature itself had answered the kitten’s call, as the temperature plummetted. This suddenly reminded Jodye of his mother, and his mood instantly turned solemn. The serene ice shell shook and broke into five sharp meter long ice blades, in the shape of a claw! Eureka hopped out Jodye’s embrace as powerful serenity qi momentum exploded from the twilight sphinx kitten’s body. As Eureka swiped out with her paw the ice claw slashed across the face of the Red-scaled Fire Lizard!
“Spluuuurrrt.”
“Roar~~~~!”
The slap flipped the red-scaled fire lizard’s body by 180 degrees, as it crashed pathetically on its back. A considerable gash appeared on the vicious red-scaled fire lizard’s maw as its blood rained down, threatening to burn the two children with its boiling hot temperature. Jodye picked River up and rapidly fell back, narrowly avoiding the boiling blood.
Jodye’s eyes shined! Eureka was powerful! Albeit a bit uncreative, she was definitely intense, “Eureka, freeze him!”
“Mew!” Eureka released another proud shout, stirring the serenity laws in the surroundings. River Nile watched in shock as pink and silver ice encased and sealed the Red-scaled Fire Lizard faster than the beast could claw its way out. After a mere two breathes of time the eighth level vicious beast was totally frozen, its life force slowly eroding away.
Jodye Trill fearlessly approached the frozen Red-scaled Fire Lizard. He felt as if those crimson eyes were still glaring at him with thick hatred and killing intent. Jodye knew that this beast still had the heart of a dragon sleeping somewhere inside. He had to make sure it continued to sleep. “More.”
“Mew!” Eureka increased the power of the serenity qi, and the pink parts of the ice started to turn purple and colder by a wide margin. Jodye finally saw a trace a panic appear in the eighth level vicious beast’s defiant eyes. However, he knew the creature had not yet given up. Thus, Jodye sat down in the lotus position and continued his thoughts.
“Spiritual power… spiritual power… the ethereal turned material, isn’t this what true essence is? Could true worldly essence be the spiritual door that links a world with the heavens? Are the heavens the equivalent to the soul of the universe? If this is true, it explains why with spiritual power it becomes possible to temper my soul with sky energies!”
Eureka!
Sudden enlightenment!
“If I compare my body to the universe, and my spirit to the myriad of worlds, the functionality of the universe seems to be the same as what we aim for on the path to being strong. After tempering my soul with divine energies, I can fuse my own force comprehensions into my soul! This is body and soul dual cultivation! However, with my origin and essence force added in it becomes triad cultivation. The cultivation of the body, spirit, and soul!”
There was a cracking sound that echoed throughout Jodye’s mind, as his soul felt sublimated and his divine spirit grew twice as powerful. His soul sea’s maximum capacity doubled twice, and [Pharaoh’s Law] deactivated on its own.
His divine class soul had reached the next rank! It became divine awareness. Now, Jodye didn’t need to summon [Pharaoh’s Law] to possess divine awareness. He had finally reached this level on his own through his own comprehensions! Now, once he activated [Pharaoh’s Law] again, he was curious how it would feel.
However, before that Jodye decided to take advantage of his new divine power and push his soul cultivation method, the Cosmic Vision Scripture, to the second stage’s intermediate level, unlocking the Calamity Stare. After all, because the Red-scaled Fire Lizard had dragon blood, the yang laws in this cavern would likely be at a decent level of saturation.
Using his divine awareness, Jodye drew in divine spirit source and yang qi from his surroundings, while River Nile watched him curiously. River was totally shocked to see nearly invisible lights swimming around Jodye before pouring rapidly into his left eye. After an hour passed Jodye’s eyes snapped open, both glowing with divine light.
Level up!
Intermediate level of the Murderous Sight Stage!
The second stage of the Heavenly Vision Scripture!
Jodye felt his soul force increase once more, and his third level divine class soul source stabilized. His mind felt clear and stalwart, making Jodye marvel. This feeling was different from utilizing [Pharaoh’s Law] to temporarily augment his abilities. He felt truly matured, genuinely wiser. His thinking was at least 30% faster, and his comprehensive skills had improved once more.
Jodye felt like he had just undergone a slight transformation! He was a new person.
Jodye Trill suddenly confirmed the path of his growth in this strange new life. This was definitely the path to becoming unrivaled. However, it was an impossibly tricky path to walk. He knew what he needed to do, and that was to continue moving forward step by step!
“Mr. Jupiter, are you okay?” River Nile’s cute little voice entered Jodye’s ear.
Jodye Trill turned to face her with a smile, “I am all right.”
“You were cultivating, right? Did you achieve a breakthrough?” asked River Nile curiously.
“You could say so,” Jodye Trill looked a bit distracted, as he was asking his heavenly grimoire if it was possible to pass some of the refined flesh and blood energies of the red-scaled fire lizard to another. After receiving the answer he refocused on River, “However, the true breakthrough will come after we refine this beast.”
River Nile’s eyes lit up when she heard the word ‘we.’
“All right,” Jodye dusted his pants off as he stood up, and walked a few steps forward to stare at the red-scaled fire lizard in its crimson eyes. He could tell that the beast was injured, but still full of vibrant life force. It was in no danger of dying at all, despite being encased in serenity powered ice that was slowly sapping its vibrancy. However, Jodye just smirked as a blue light shined in his right eye, “Let’s take care of you next, big guy!”
Serene Stare!
Upon seeing an icy blue light shoot into the eyes of the Red-scaled Fire Lizard, Eureka released the ice cage covering the beast without being told, before hopping back into Jodye’s embrace. The eighth level vicious beast collapsed powerlessly onto the ground. It no longer looked vicious. Now, there was a dazed but calm look in its crimson eyes. It seemed totally docile.
The serene stare ability allowed Jodye to reflect the scene of his opponent’s most peaceful moments in their hearts. If successful, this causes the opponent to drop his guard and fall into a pleasant and peaceful illusion, leaving them open for attack.
However, Jodye didn’t intend to attack. His [Cosmos Revolving Grimoire] floated over to the beast and then sent him some soul messages.
[No mental defenses detected.] [Would host like to enslave captured Level 8 Vicious Red-scaled Lizard Beast?]‘Yes!’ thought Jodye Trill immediately.
The next instant, the heavenly grimoire flipped open to the sixth page. Bright violet light expanded as millions of mysterious fate runes poured out of the heavenly grimoire and into the body of the Red-scaled Fire Lizard. The eyes of the beast winced in pain before recovering clarity, which then instantly changed from a look of peace to one of terror! The heavenly grimoire suddenly sent out eight black chains covered in a black fire as it dragged the clawing and screaming creature inside before shutting tight. The Eight chained wound and hugged the [Cosmos Revolving Grimoire] as they burned in black flames. Jodye Trill was slightly disturbed, but he didn’t have time to consider when he received another soul message from the heavenly grimoire.
[Requesting assistance from Trippy]“Eh?” With a thought, Jodye activated [Pharaoh’s Law]. As soon as he did, his world instantly turned upside down.
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