The Formation flared up and wrapped around me, and the Blood Essence was sucked into my body, merging with my flesh. There was a sound similar to searing a steak on a grill for a few seconds, and then the Bloodline Ritual was finished. The first one anyway.

[Wooooh~! Man that stings!] I grinned and stretched my limbs. My skin gained a barely perceptible darker shade that pulled towards gray. Very unusual.

“Um… Congratulations on assimilating the Blackshell Titan.” Crimson Poppy said, appearing nearly as red as her dress. “But why did you buy the Shadowbeast as well? You know you can’t merge with two different beasts, right?”

[Why not?] I asked. Of course, I knew all about the supposed incompatibility and the risks of getting cursed, but I was just playing dumb. It was fun.

“You don’t know? Keeping a single beast contained is already hard enough, but having multiple is just asking for a disaster. The Elders warned us since some people cursed themselves beyond repair in search of power.”

[Is that so? Interesting.]

My wounds healed so I sliced open my arm again and created another batch of ink.

“You are not seriously thinking of combining with two different Bloodlines, are you?” Poppy said in alarm.

[No, of course not. That would make no sense.] I reassured her. She breathed a sigh of relief. [I’m going for seven. Or maybe ten. We will see.]

“What?!”

I turned to her and gave a grin while covering my lips with a finger. She shut her mouth and just stared, wide-eyed.

I replenished the Formation and drew another one on my back. I then poured the Blood Essence over it and activated the Formation. Another burst of light was followed by searing pain as the bloodlines merged once more. I could feel my body changing and forcefully guided the changes away from altering my physical form. The Shadowbeast bloodline was extremely pure unlike many of the others. The Drake couldn’t even compare in terms of purity.

I released a sound that was between a shout and a beastly roar. I could feel my flesh burn with power and my beating heart slowed down considerably in exchange for producing greater force. My body felt like it was bursting with energy I could barely contain.

[Ooooh, hell yeah!] I roared. My mouth felt dry and I thirsted for violence and fresh meat. The impulse to just let loose and devour was there, but it was weak enough so I could contain it.

I took a few deep breaths and slowly exhaled, calming down the excitement.

“Are… Are you alright?” Poppy asked.

[Yeah…] I flexed my fingers and looked at my palms, feeling I could grow deadly claws with but a single thought. [Better than ever.] The explosive growth in power was intoxicating. I itched to see the results.

[Step back a little.] I said and Poppy did just that. Then I crouched down slightly and my body began to grow. My pale skin turned red and then became darker, and thick scales formed across my entire body, mostly red but with edges as black as night. I could feel my bones thicken and expand and even my forearms grew to twice their size. I had giant logs instead of arms.

It was the same with my legs. Thick wiry muscles bulged beneath the surface, the scales giving me a certain dangerous shine in the artificial light of the room.

Claws grew from my fingers, completely black and curved, and longer than Poppy’s dagger. Sharp spikes grew along my back, dark as night, and my powerful tail gained a new feeling of power. Even my face reformed, though that was the least extreme since I still wore the Thousand Faces Mask.

The sharp horns curving along the curve of my skull were extremely noticeable though. Not that I was easy to miss.

“A… Dragon?” Poppy whispered.

I growled. I wasn’t certain how tall I grew, but I was well over three meters, probably closer to four. Crimson Poppy appeared tiny in comparison, and even the room I was in began to feel cramped.

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[Hey.] I called, my voice deep and gravely. It felt weird speaking and she twitched, looking up at me. [How do I look?]

“Different.” She chirped.

The answer seemed funny to me for some reason, and I began to laugh a deep, booming kind of laugh. Even the walls began to shake.

After calming down, I flexed my muscles, enjoying the feeling of power coursing through my veins. The power of a myriad of beasts flowed through me. It felt heavenly.

[Best money I have ever spent.] I grinned.

“Ah...”

Unfortunately, it was quite tiring holding the transformation going, especially since it became so much stronger in such a short amount of time, so I gradually released it. My enhanced form receded and I returned to my normal shape and size, feeling somewhat deflated. I shook my limbs a bit, getting the tingly sensation out of my fingers and toes. I wasn’t used to being so large just yet. A lot of training still awaited me.

[Your knife…] I handed the tiny dagger back to Poppy and she accepted it without a word. She mostly just stared.

I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes, shrinking down further. I really didn’t like being small. It made me feel weak, even if I really wasn’t. Unfortunately, it was still necessary. I had to get out looking the same as I went in, and it was a good exercise in metamorphosis as well as it was something I had to master if I wanted to use my peak form for long periods of time.

I was a member of the Myriad Beasts Sect. The name really suited me. A Cultivator of a myriad of beast bloodlines.

We left the ritual chamber and returned to the surface. There was some residual itchiness left from the drastic changes in size, something even Fire Mending couldn’t get rid of. I guessed it was probably coming from my Soul instead of the body since it too had to change to accommodate the new bloodlines. It was nothing serious though and nothing I couldn’t take. It was just mildly annoying.

“I can see sir is happy. Found anything useful?” The receptionist asked with a smile. I quickly bowed my head and cupped my hands, pretending to be shy.

[Yes. T- thank you for your hospitality. My horizons were expanded today.]

“Oh, well, come back any time.”

Poppy then escorted me to a separate door and I could see it was one way as well. She held the door open for me but didn’t dare look me in the eyes.

I couldn’t really blame her. What I did broke all the norms. But it had been entertaining.

Turning around I saw her gaze linger on me with a conflicted expression and I caught her gaze for a moment. I smiled and placed my finger over my lips. Her face flushed red and she slammed the door closed in my face.

I shrugged and turned around, not bothered by her reaction, and wandered mindlessly through the Sect. The Old House I had seen was only a fraction of the whole. I noticed there were stairs even further down, as well as other hallways we didn’t explore. I maybe saw a third of that place. There was also an upper floor we didn’t visit, and there was also the hall for the supposed auction missing.

I had no doubt such secrecy was there for a reason. Most of the items on sale there weren’t even illegal, though a few of them were questionable, like the occult techniques. Maybe the real treasures were only for the secret members or those they knew could be trusted.

I was in no hurry to discover the Old House’s secrets, if at all. There weren’t many things I needed, and with only about 500 Spirit Stones left, I doubted anything of significance could be bought.

The Blackshell Titan I absorbed gave me an even stronger defense so I suspected the Beast Slaughtering Formation would become mostly useless and a waste of money in the following weeks, while the Shadowbeast boosted my power greatly. It gave me size and quality muscle, and I could feel my body changing in subtle ways still. Bloodline assimilation was quick, as was the transformation, but for the changes to properly manifest, time was needed.

My flesh was slowly improving, and I felt myself get hungrier rapidly. I couldn’t return home since then I couldn’t be reached with the news about Vilya, and buying quality sustenance with my appearance would pose a lot of unwanted questions. I had to satisfy myself by tapping into the reserves of food I had in the storage ring.

I found a deserted place and began to chew the tough meat of Golden Core beasts. It was delicious, but it wasn’t enough. I remained hungry even as my stomach was full. It wasn’t like that for long though, and I could eat even more food as the previous one was being digested.

Yes, I ate some human flesh too. In my defense, it tasted no different to a beast, and I was hungry. Well, maybe it was slightly worse. Humans tended to have less Essence than the wild beasts after all. It was funny how I could smell and even taste the difference.

Also Qi, I could smell and taste it as well. The Gold Qi itself was quite mellow and had a pleasant smell while the Spirit Qi was sharp like strong spices.

Base Qi smelled of freshness, and the denser it was the more refreshing every breath felt. In the desert, I felt like the air was polluted, but it was just the lack of Qi, while the mountain peaks were just the opposite.

I chewed on my meat slowly, even sharpening my teeth on some tough bones as I lay on the ground, looking at the bright sky. It was already winter and the air was cold, but the snow was yet to come. A few birds flew by, their feathers a washed-out blue and white, and disappeared into the forest.

It was peaceful. Possibly as peaceful as it could be. There was no sound, only silence.

After swallowing the last morsel of meat, I threw my hands behind my head and just stared straight up into the endless sky as it was slowly getting covered by thin gray clouds.

I had to wait a week to get my answers. That was a long time. Or maybe no time at all.

The first snowflake of winter landed on my cheek and melted instantly, evaporating into nothing. I closed my eyes and began to meditate. A weak for a Cultivator, was really no time at all.