Zilan was immediately drawn in by the “methods” Tort spoke of.

“Hehe...Brother Zilan, as we Beasts know very little about the ways of humans the same can also be said for them.” smiled Tort.

“Spit it out already!”

Noticing Zilan’s impatience Tort quickly explained,

“I’m sure you’re already aware of the “Heavens way” of cultivation. Humans only have this one method of growing stronger to eventually achieve immortality however, for us the situation is completely different. The methods we use are as numerous as there are stars in the sky, every species has their own unique abilities as well as evolution cycles and depending on the nutrients we consume our power will grow. Naturally we also have the limits placed on us from birth but that can also be sorted out with greater understanding to the ways of the Universe.”

Zilan already knew most of what Tort was saying but there was one thing that completely shocked him.

“The limits placed on them at birth can actually be broken through!”

“So what you’re saying is that every species has a unique ability. Does that mean Jeza has one that allows her to conceal her appearance?” asked Zilan.

Tort smiled as he continued,

“It’s not that simple. Some time ago, a certain Sage made an incredible discovery that changed the way we approached our cultivation, he named it the Blood Resonance Principle.”

“Blood Resonance? Isn’t this..?”

“The principle states that all species are descendants of the Great Ancestors of the past. Just like you humans were once descendants of the Great Apes, all Beasts carry the faint bloodline of their Ancestors.

The Sage came to the amazing realisation that some hundreds of different species could actually be traced to one Great Ancestor, therefore shouldn’t it be possible to use external influences to draw out some of the abilities of the Ancient Beast?”

Zilan suddenly widened his eyes in shock,

“What Blood Resonance Priniciple!? This is the most basic of knowledge concerning Bloodlines and its true name is the Ancestral Heritage.”

Tort misunderstood Zilan’s shocked expression thinking that this young man had definitely been overwhelmed by the Sage’s great insight.

“Then again to be able to gain insight into one of the things written by Zaum, no matter how basic the knowledge, this Sage deserves some respect.” thought Zilan.

“Since then, the alchemists in Brivata have produced countless medicines that can draw out different abilities of the Ancestors. Jeza’s ancestor for example had an ability of deception so a pill that could allow her, as well as other species that shared the same Ancestor as her, to change their appearance for a period of twelve hours was created after much struggle.”

Zilan slowly nodded in understanding.

“Even if the pill could draw out her Blood’s hidden abilities, it still wouldn’t even amount to 1/1000 of the Originals true power whereas what I’ve devised.....”

Thinking to the plans he had been holding of on all this time, Zilan couldn’t help but frown.

“I don’t have a problem with Jeza joining me but I must insist that we quickly leave. The experiments effects are starting to affect my meridians.”

“No problem, I look forward to the great results.” laughed Tort.

Just like that, Jeza took the pill and transformed into a dark-skinned beauty. Her strange yet beautiful brow hair dropped to her shoulders, her curves were alluring, and most dazzling of all was the dark brown eyes that glistened like the purest of jade. She quickly changed into a common girl’s clothes, nothing too eye catching, before leading Zilan out of the establishment.

It turned out they were staying underground and not too far from the place he got knocked out.

................

The next day.

Zilan had gotten Jeza a room at the inn and given her strict instructions not to disturb him, no matter what came up.

He was too unfocused yesterday to immediately start the experiment and so decided to get a good rest before starting.

“The day has finally come!”

Zilan took out the container filled with blood and placed it on the floor.

“The blood of the Flow python.”

The Flow python was considered a fairly weak Beast as it was unable to evolve, unlike other reptiles that were usually very powerful. The only peculiar aspect of the Flow pythons was that they were extremely difficult to find especially when they reached adulthood.

This was because they would spend their entire youth that lasted a staggering one hundred years on land however, once they matured into adulthood the Flow Python would then dive deep into any water body and dig a hole before falling into a deep slumber that it would seemingly never awaken from.

It was considered lazy and useless therefore not many people sought it out or even thought about it.

The only thing Zilan could say about people who thought about the Flow python this way, was that they had reached the pinnacle of idiocy.

According to the Book of Path, the Flow python was actually a descendant of a dragon and not just any dragon, but an Elemental Dragon.

“By using the formations recorded by Zaum, I should be able to extract some life blood of the Spring Dragon from the Flow python’s blood.” thought Zilan.

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He then drew a complicated pattern on the floor around him that resembled a *.

On every end of the star shaped formation, there was a mid- grade beast core that would serve as the power source. Zilan then carefully drew lines that joined the six edges together, almost immediately after  he was done, the formation started glowing and the power of Heaven and Earth began to converge at that spot.

Zilan quickly moved away from the formation and stared at it with four glowing stars in his eyes.

“The formation drawn on the Earth will call upon the forces of Heaven to descend. Only when the two forces collide will all impurities in the blood cease to exist. The purity of the Universe will unintentionally destroy everything that is impure.”

Just as Zilan was thinking this the major elements that governed the universe suddenly descended. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Lightning, Nature, Darkness, Light started to collide.

“Bang, Bang, Bang...”

Faint muffled sounds could be heard as the formation grew blurry, a myriad of colours rotated around it at extreme speeds.

Zilan froze not even daring to breathe.

He knew that those sounds were that of the Elements colliding and destroying the six cores that powered the formation. Two seconds later and the forces of Heaven and Earth disappeared, leaving the formation destroyed.

Zilan carefully moved to pick up the now quarter full container of blood and placed it on the small table.

He then took a wet cloth and wiped away all traces of the formation as well as disposed of the six destroyed beast cores.

“Whew!” Zilan wiped the sweat of his brow before continuing.

“What was supposed to be the easy part suddenly became so dangerous. Now to move onto the most important phase!”

He then retrieved the small yellow core from the voidless sack before dropping it in the container filled with the Spring Dragon’s life blood.

This yellow core was that of the Flow python. Yellow cores were associated with Beasts that couldn’t even enter the 1st level of evolution thus were basically mindless animals.

If those people who thought about it this way actually found out that the Flow python after sleeping for a thousand years would directly jump to the equivalent of a soul-compression stage martial artist in power, how would they react?

The small yellow core as if a starving beast, greedily absorbed half of the Spring Dragon’s life blood before finally calming down.

Seeing the absorption had stopped, Zilan quickly grabbed the still yellow core. He then dipped the quill of a feather into the life blood before inscribing a binding formation onto the core.

........

Twenty minutes later and there was a tiny pool of sweat on the floor beneath him. The core had almost completely been covered in red, strange inscriptions that formed a majestic and ancient pattern.

When Zilan stroked the final inscription the entire core abruptly glowed and turned completely crimson.

After seeing that he had succeeded, Zilan placed the core down on the table and let out a soft sigh of relief.

His chest heaved up and down and his eyes which now had three stars shone with an unprecedented light.

“It’ done! The materials have been refined, everything is prepared now I must temper the body, steady the mind and prepare to cut ties with the Heavens.” whispered Zilan as he lightly coughed.

The entire process was too gruelling for someone with no spiritual power. If even one of the major elements directed themselves at him, the person known as Zilan would have died with no corpse to be found.

Luckily, the concealment formation he drew on his chest did its job otherwise, he didn’t dare think on it anymore.

“Heaven and Earth are only parts of the great power of the Universe. The Heavens are governed by the Immortals and their rule has stretched down to the Earth.

The Universe is supreme and only cares about maintaining stability therefore whatever the Immortals wish to do will naturally be done. Even destroying planets is only a small thing to them, I didn’t think they were actually so bored as to send so many elements to probe and destroy the formation.”

Cold sweat continued to soak Zilan. He had only intended to attract a small force in order to use it’s purity to cleanse the blood. He never thought that so many would descend.

Luckily his goal was low and the probing parties couldn’t comprehend what Zilan was trying to do. Maybe they thought it was an accidental occurrence by a foolish mortal who wasted their time however, what they couldn’t predict was that what they had failed to stop today would eventually bring great calamity onto themselves.

“According to Zaum, we are an existence similar to the dead King of the Beasts. A creature born of the Universe’s power gifted with extraordinary abilities however, when I was a child and could still cultivate my progress was extremely slow.

That was the Universe’s way of maintaining balance however, after this week is done I will not only have defied the Heavens will but I will also have broken through the barrier the Universe placed on me.

I will dictate my Path! A path that no one before me has ever walked! I will be the first!”

Zilan’s eyes burned with desire. The desire to prove that he could go against anything that stood against him.

“Who created the Universe? If it was a powerful expert of old then I will one day surpass him! The Heavens they should just wash their necks for I am coming for their heads and as for this world, this will be my first goal!”

Thoughts of the bright future flashed through Zilan’s mind and a feeling that he thought he had long forgotten suddenly sprouted.

“Hope for the future.”