King of Creation
Chapter 280 - 277: Breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm

Chapter 280: Chapter 277: Breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm

"What’s going on? Why is there still no movement? How come this assassin hasn’t appeared yet?"

Across from the inn where Ye Zhen stayed, a figure shrouded in a black cloak—Young Master Hu Shuai of the Hu Family—was concealed in a corner’s shadow, his presence only betrayed by his occasional peering towards the inn.

"My lord, just wait a bit longer, the assassin surely needs some time to make a move, right?" Similarly hidden in the shadows was Steward Hu, who kept glancing around, in fact, more anxious than his young master.

"Wait? I’m anxious!"

"The Spirit Storage Pill is no ordinary object. If that Zheng swallows it in one gulp, where would you have me go to cry?"

At this point, a stern look crossed Hu Shuai’s face, "Old Hu, you’d better not have hired some rookie for me."

"How could I, young master? Even though we were in a hurry, the one I found is ’Little Ghost Shadow’, one of the Five Great Assassins of the Divine Capital, a Fourth Stage Spirit Transformation Realm assassin. At least three Fifth Stage Spirit Transformation Realm martial artists have died at his hand."

"One, why did you only hire one assassin? Couldn’t you have hired more?"

"Young master, it’s almost midnight, and we needed to act immediately. It was already good enough that we found this one; it was a lucky coincidence, otherwise, even one would be hard to come by," the steward explained with a bitter smile on his face.

"Then tell me, why is there still no sign of anything happening in the inn? Successful or not, there should be some indication, right?"

"Young master, if there’s a big commotion, it would mean the operation failed. An assassin’s success is marked by a lack of noise," the steward remarked.

"That’s true; then let’s wait some more."

In the cold wind, Young Master Hu and Steward Hu, master and servant, huddled in that shadow, unblinkingly watching every movement at the inn, terrified of missing any silhouette.

....

Gurgle!

After 90 percent of the Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy within his four Innate Bloodlines surged forward, Ye Zhen’s tongue moved slightly, instantly swallowing the Spirit Storage Pill he’d been holding under his tongue.

Upon entering his stomach, the Spirit Storage Pill didn’t immediately release a surge of medicinal power like other pills. Instead, a strange force emanated, causing Ye Zhen to shiver violently.

It wasn’t a shiver from the cold, but rather a shiver of sharp awakening, as if one was injected with a shot of adrenaline, jolting one’s spirit to a hundred times its usual level.

The four Innate Bloodlines within Ye Zhen acted as magnets, absorbing the peculiar force transformed by the Spirit Storage Pill.

Most of the pill’s medicinal power dissipated in the process of this absorption, with only that trace of Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy being fully integrated into the four Innate Bloodlines.

While it may have been just a trace, it was sufficient to instantly restore the Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy contained within the four bloodlines to their peak state.

At the same time, the flat-shaped whirlpool—or the Spiritual Power Seed—that Ye Zhen had previously condensed began to tremble violently. Not only that, even the ’roots’ that reached from the four bloodlines—those tiny strands of Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy—shook intensely, as if they could disintegrate at any moment.

If they were to disintegrate, it would signify Ye Zhen’s failure in this attempt to solidify the Spiritual Power Seed.

"Thank heavens for the Spirit Storage Pill..."

Ye Zhen silently wiped away a cold sweat. Without the pill, this attempt would have utterly failed, and he would not have been able to take a chance with a mere fifty percent probability of success.

Almost at the same time the Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Storage Pill replenished the four Innate Bloodlines, it surged forth just in time. The energy began to rapidly sprout and solidify the Spiritual Power Seed, which had been on the verge of collapse, and slowly stabilized it again.

The trace of Innate Bloodline Spiritual Energy, much like sinew and bone, supported the Spiritual Power Whirlpool and fully connected it to the four Innate Bloodlines.

As the Spiritual Power Seed finally stabilized and united with the four bloodlines, a burst of Spirit Light flitted over them, and a peculiar sensation suddenly filled Ye Zhen’s heart.

Without opening his eyes or using Divine Sense, Ye Zhen could clearly sense the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Within the most basic green Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, there was a mix of sparse pale blue Heavenly Water Spiritual Power, crimson Fire Spirit Power, frosty white Golden Spirit Power, and earthen yellow Earth Spiritual Power...

What’s more, without any effort from Ye Zhen, the four Innate Bloodlines—like four Soul Absorption Sky Pillars—sucked in all of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi around them, directly transmitting it to the newly solidified Spiritual Power Seed.

The whirlpool within the Spiritual Power Seed then sent the pure Primordial Qi along Ye Zhen’s Cultivation Route. After one rotation, it was transformed into pure Spiritual Power.

This rate of increase in Spiritual Power was more than twice Ye Zhen’s regular Cultivation speed—and that was without him consciously drawing Spiritual Power from the void.

If Ye Zhen were to actively stimulate, he estimated that his speed of replenishing Spiritual Power from the void could increase by more than another fold.

Not just the swift uptake of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the void, but also in the heart of the whirlpool formed by the Innate Bloodline Spiritual Qi within the Spiritual Power Seed, each rotation yielded four strands of the purest Spiritual Power, thinner than hair, which were then each absorbed by one of the four Innate Bloodlines.

This strand of Spiritual Power was not much compared to the Primordial Qi pulled from the void by the Innate Bloodlines, practically a drop in the bucket.

However, this purest strand of Spiritual Power played an immensely important role—for it was Spiritual Power generated within the Martial Artist’s body, also known as Origin Spiritual Power.

This Origin Spiritual Power, typically stored within the four Innate Bloodlines, would merge with the bloodline and become Origin Essence Blood when stored in the Dantian, and simply be known as Origin Power.

The Origin Essence Blood that Zou Zhi expelled when he used the Blood Escape Technique to chase and kill Ye Zhen several months ago was the Essence Blood imbued with Origin Spiritual Power.

This Origin Spiritual Power is very important for martial artists and has a very powerful effect.

With the operation of Origin Spiritual Power, healing, body refinement, attacks, and so on, all become extremely formidable.

However, usually, no one dares to consume Origin Spiritual Power recklessly. Almost everyone carefully accumulates it for future critical use.

That’s because this Origin Spiritual Power is not only a life-saving element at critical moments, but it’s also fundamental for the future process of soul awakening and vein forging.

If the Origin Spiritual Power is excessively consumed, subsequent breakthroughs in Cultivation, especially those of Grand Realms, become quite difficult.

Speaking of Origin Spiritual Power, the limitations of a martial artist’s Innate Bloodline are once again evident here.

Origin Spiritual Power is slowly condensed by the Spiritual Power Seed after a martial artist undergoes Spirit Transformation and integrates the seed with their Innate Bloodline. However, the generation of Origin Spiritual Power is related to the number of Innate Bloodlines.

The more Innate Bloodlines one has, the more Origin Spiritual Power is generated, and therefore, there is more for a martial artist to use.

This is also why Great Sects select their disciples based on Innate Bloodline.

Because the higher the level of Cultivation, the more restrictions the Innate Bloodline imposes on the martial artist’s ultimate growth, and the more difficult the path of Martial Arts becomes.

This reminded Ye Zhen of Floating Cloud Master’s last words left on the stone wall – If a successor is fortunate enough to see my final words, remember to prioritize the enhancement of your Innate Bloodline. Otherwise, you will end up like me, a life of floating clouds, a lifetime of drifting...

In fact, Ye Zhen had already experienced such a phenomenon of enhancing his Innate Bloodline.

Initially, after consuming Stone Marrow Spirit Liquid for a long time, Ye Zhen’s Three Veins Middle Grade Bloodline Talent actually grew to Four Veins. Although the growth wasn’t significant, it proved one thing – Bloodline Talents are not fixed and immutable; they can be changed.

"It seems that I should pay more attention to this aspect in the future..."

As he pondered this, Ye Zhen began to slowly operate his Cultivation Technique, stabilizing his Cultivation. As his Divine Sense prompted, the four Innate Bloodlines, like four Sky Pillars, absorbed a huge amount of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the void, rapidly increasing Ye Zhen’s Cultivation.

Although Ye Zhen had just broken through to the Spirit Transformation Realm, his Dantian and meridians were yet to be refined and expanded. However, the formation of the Spiritual Power Seed suddenly made the inside of his Dantian feel extremely spacious.

Because of the Spiritual Power Whirlpool within the Spiritual Power Seed, both Ye Zhen’s former Spiritual Power and the freshly absorbed Spiritual Power became extremely dense under the whirlpool’s effect, instantly refining and condensing tenfold.

Ye Zhen’s former Dantian was also filled to the brim with Spiritual Power, but it was soft like cotton candy.

After the voluminous cotton candy-like Spiritual Power condensed into the Spiritual Power Seed, the vast Dantian became seemingly empty, giving the impression that Ye Zhen’s Cultivation had decreased rather than increased.

However, the quality of Ye Zhen’s Spiritual Power had actually increased several times over, and that was with the Mirage Dragon Pearl automatically refining his Spiritual Power, making Ye Zhen’s Spiritual Power condense twenty percent more than an average Spirit Summoning Realm martial artist.

Otherwise, the quality of Ye Zhen’s Spiritual Power at this time might have increased nearly tenfold.

With the quality of the Spiritual Power increased, Ye Zhen’s combat power naturally surged.

However, even with a several-fold increase in the quality of Spiritual Power, combat power doesn’t necessarily increase by several times.

This is a complex issue that involves Divine Soul Power manipulation, the strength of meridians, Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, and so on.

But one thing is certain, Ye Zhen’s combat power indeed soared significantly.

With the same amount of Divine Soul Power manipulation, he could now mobilize even more Spiritual Power, making his sword moves sharper.

"Finally, a breakthrough... Eighteen years old, Spirit Transformation Realm..."

Having not progressed an inch in half a year, Ye Zhen was almost in a frantic state, desperately longing to enhance his Cultivation. The Innate Bloodlines, like four pillars, drew Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the void at a very fast rate, and this was still in an area where the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi concentration was average.

If he were in a place where the concentration of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was extremely dense, Ye Zhen dared not imagine the speed of Cultivation.

While Ye Zhen was rapidly increasing his Cultivation, Hu Shuai, Young Master Hu, and his servant Steward Hu were shivering in the cold wind.

Although both were Spirit Summoning Realm martial artists, barely considered immune to frost, waiting in the cold wind gave them a chill to the bone.

"Old Hu, what do you think? Why hasn’t Little Ghost Shadow come out yet, hmm?"

"It’s almost dawn, why haven’t they appeared? Did you just find some random assassin to deceive me?"

If he weren’t worried about attracting attention, Young Master Hu would have roared.

"Young Master, this... I really don’t know..." Steward Hu was almost on the verge of tears, "Young Master, how could I dare to do that! It is truly Little Ghost Shadow from the Five Great Assassins of the Divine Capital at the Spirit Transformation Realm Fourth Stage!

I don’t understand either. An assassin of the Spirit Transformation Realm Fourth Stage should be more than capable of killing that kid, let alone taking him down in combat; how could there be no movement at all?"

"Yeah, how could there be no movement at all?"

"Old Hu, do you think that Little Ghost Shadow could have killed that Zheng fellow, coveted the treasures on his body, and slipped away quietly?"

"Young Master, that shouldn’t be the case, right? That place, it has a reputation! Young Master, how about we wait a little longer..." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)