Chapter 474 - 435: Transformation and Meeting

Chapter 474: Chapter 435: Transformation and Meeting

After a baffling exchange of pleasantries, his departure was as sudden as his arrival.

Leaving behind only a single token, he floated away.

Chu Mu glanced at the trace of a poisonous cloud the Five Poison Child had left in the sky and frowned. His gaze then fell upon the token he had left behind.

The token looked ordinary, clearly some sort of credential.

According to the Five Poison Child, this credential would grant him entry to a secret trading fair to be held in the near future.

A trading fair was nothing unusual, but the "secret" part of it certainly was.

After all, any trading fair he was invited to would surely have a minimum requirement no lower than the Golden Core Realm.

But the question was, why would a gathering of Golden Core cultivators need to be so secretive?

In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, so-called black markets, secret trading fairs, and auctions were only "secret" because they were forbidden by the established rules, and their participants were powerless to defy those rules.

But upon reaching the Golden Core Realm, never mind caring about so-called established rules—a Golden Core cultivator *was* the rules.

No one would be foolish enough to try and bind a Golden Core True Master with rules meant for Low Tier Cultivators.

’Then this "secret" part...’

Chu Mu stared at the token. It felt like a hot potato.

His very presence in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World was undoubtedly unique.

He wasn’t a native of the Vast Sea world, yet he had reached the Golden Core Realm—and he was a Golden Core True Master renowned for his proficiency with pills and artifacts.

And while this granted him a respected status, it also made him conspicuous. No one would overlook his presence.

’And now this token...’

Chu Mu let out a long, turbid breath. He decided not to dwell on it. He would deal with problems as they arose. If things got too difficult, he could just play dumb. As long as there was no absolute conflict of interest, no one would be foolish enough to make a mortal enemy out of him.

With a wave of his hand, the jade box he had received from Cyan Wood True Master materialized.

He released the seal on the jade box, revealing a mass of crystal-clear Bloodline Essence within.

After a brief inspection, he took a step and instantly appeared in the backyard. Wangcai lay sprawled in the bamboo grove, sleeping soundly. Seemingly startled awake by Chu Mu’s sudden appearance, Wangcai leaped up. Its instinctive wariness vanished the moment it saw Chu Mu, and it trotted over to him, wagging its tail.

Taking a seat in the stone pavilion, Chu Mu ruffled Wangcai’s head. With a mere thought, the globule of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline Essence rose into the air, guided by his Divine Sense.

Wangcai lifted its head, its gaze fixed on the mass of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline Essence. Drawn by instinct, a clear look of longing appeared in its eyes.

For a moment, Chu Mu didn’t move. He stroked his chin, watching Wangcai with a contemplative look. After a brief pause, he suddenly rose. With a wave of his hand, he separated a faint wisp from the Moonlight Wolf Bloodline. With a flick of his finger, this wisp of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline Essence sank into Wangcai’s body.

In that instant, his Divine Sense surged out like a tide, completely enveloping Wangcai. Inside and out, every minute detail was laid bare to his perception.

He had long since mapped out the entire lineage of the Vajra Wolf Bloodline.

And now that he had reached the Golden Core Realm, after repeated and painstaking research, his understanding of the Vajra Wolf Bloodline had deepened considerably.

He could even catch glimpses of the Bloodline Divine Techniques that had once been completely imperceptible to him, like seeing flowers through a dense fog.

Although his view was still hazy, it was undoubtedly a massive leap forward from before, when he couldn’t detect the slightest trace of them.

But the reality of the situation was also clear.

His theory on bloodline fusion and evolution had been developed entirely through his own trial and error. And while ample experimental results proved its viability...

...it was undoubtedly imperfect. It was limited only to the fusion step itself and lacked detailed research on the circumstances following the bloodline’s evolution.

Furthermore, all of his experiments had been conducted on other Demon Beasts, not on Wangcai.

Chu Mu systematically guided the wisp of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline, drawing it closer to Wangcai’s own Vajra Wolf Bloodline.

As this wisp of cognate bloodline drew near, a change, perceptible to his Divine Sense, slowly began to manifest within Wangcai’s body.

The Spiritual Radiance Blessing had already descended. With his vastly enhanced intellect, he could focus on and dissect every last iota of change.

This process continued for nearly a full day and night before Chu Mu slowly withdrew the wisp of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline Essence from Wangcai’s body.

Wangcai looked listless. For the beast, the uncontrolled fluctuations in its bloodline were undoubtedly an unbearable torment.

If anyone other than Chu Mu had been the cause of all this, Wangcai would have likely gone on a violent rampage long ago.

’Crimson, reddish-gold, and a trace of pure gold...’

At this moment, Chu Mu’s attention was clearly not on Wangcai. Instead, he was muttering to himself, lost in thought.

Based on the experiment, the introduction of the Moonlight Wolf Bloodline had triggered a mutation, revealing the potential evolutionary paths for the Vajra Wolf Bloodline.

There were eighteen different radiances in total, but only three were truly distinct: a crimson hue, a reddish-gold one, and a pure gold one.

According to his bloodline fusion data, if Wangcai’s bloodline were to evolve, the chances of it transforming into one of the bloodlines represented by these three hues were significantly higher.

’It should be the Bright Flame Spirit Wolf, the Vajra Wolf King, and as for the pure gold one... that should be...’

Chu Mu fell into thought. According to his research, the Vajra Wolf Bloodline originated from the legendary Howling Moon Grey Wolf, a terrifying creature on par with the fabled True Dragon.

As it was passed down and propagated through the generations, the Howling Moon Grey Wolf bloodline had undergone numerous evolutions, forming a lineage likely no less extensive than that of the legendary True Dragon Bloodline.

And the Vajra Wolf Bloodline, despite being ranked as Earth Tier Lower Grade, was merely an insignificant offshoot in the vast lineage originating from the Howling Moon Grey Wolf.

Above this branch were at least a hundred superior bloodlines, encompassing nearly all aspects of the so-called Five Elements Yin and Yang.

As for these three evolutionary paths, whether they were for better or worse was still unknown.

After all, in the current Cultivation Immortal Realm, after countless eons of evolution, far too many Demon Beast Bloodlines now existed only in fragmented records.

Within the Vajra Wolf bloodline lineage that he could currently observe, there were, at a conservative estimate, several hundred different types of wolf bloodlines up and down the hierarchy.

Among them, he could name barely twenty or thirty.

’Forget it.’

Chu Mu pursed his lips, his mind already made up.

He rose and went straight to the Alchemy Room, where he stayed for several days before moving on to the Artifact Room for another bout of work. Nearly ten days passed in this fashion before he returned to the backyard.

For Wangcai’s bloodline fusion, he couldn’t just focus on the results and disregard the subject’s life or death, as he had with his previous experiments.

After several more days of preparations, the entire backyard had been completely transformed.

Bathed in a crimson light, countless complex patterns flickered across the ground. Wangcai lay at the center, its eyes closed in a deep slumber.

Chu Mu carefully inspected the arrangement in the yard one last time. After confirming there were no flaws, he stepped inside.

Magical Power surged around him as he cast a series of techniques. The crimson hue in the air visibly intensified. When the globule of Moonlight Wolf Bloodline Essence appeared, all of the seemingly endless crimson light converged upon it.

It ultimately coalesced high above the backyard, forming what looked like a Blood Moon.

Delicate tendrils of crimson light scattered down like moonlight. The glow seemed tangible, creating faint ripples as it landed upon the Demon Body lying in the yard.

Chu Mu stood before the Demon Body, a faint crimson aura swirling around him to ward off the bloody light. His Divine Sense was already fully immersed in Wangcai’s Demon Body, overseeing the evolution that this bloodline fusion would bring.

This process continued for about three days before Chu Mu silently withdrew from the range of the crimson glow.

The bloodline’s evolution had begun.

What happened next was beyond his control.

In other words, bloodline evolution was a natural process of creation. Human intervention would only turn a blessing into a curse.

Chu Mu watched silently for a moment. Just as he was about to leave, he seemed to sense something. He stopped abruptly, and with a wave of his hand, the Ninth True Inheritance Order hovered in his palm.

A message flickered to life on the token. The faint, sharp aura of the Sword Dao it emitted clearly proved the sender’s identity.

The message sounded within his Divine Sense Perception. Chu Mu’s brow furrowed slightly. He hesitated for a moment before his expression settled into one of resigned acceptance.

With a soft sigh, he glanced one last time at Wangcai, who was in the middle of its bloodline evolution. He flicked out a series of techniques, causing multiple Array Prohibitions to form and completely shield the evolution site in the backyard.

Only then did he leap into the air, transforming into a fiery red Tunneling Light that vanished into the heavens.

A moment later, the Tunneling Light streaked across the sky and descended into the city once more, materializing before a tavern.

He looked up to the second floor, where a man in white robes sat by the window. As if sensing Chu Mu’s arrival, the man turned his head slightly to glance at him before looking away and continuing to drink by himself.

Chu Mu’s eyes flickered. He took a single step and vanished into the tavern, reappearing an instant later by the second-floor window.

"Sit down."

The man gestured with his hand. Beneath the unfamiliar face was a familiar, sharp Sword Dao aura.

Chu Mu sat down without a word.

"You’re injured?"

Xu Lingtian set down his cup. His brow furrowed as he looked at Chu Mu and asked in a grave voice, "Is your Dao Foundation injured?"

Chu Mu’s heart skipped a beat, but he gave an impassive nod.

Xu Lingtian asked again, "What is the grade of your Golden Core?"

Chu Mu let out a slight sigh of relief and said slowly, "Three-Patterned. It should be considered Top Grade..."

Chu Mu’s expression was calm, but his tone held a hint of uncertainty.

He had only heard the term "Top Grade Golden Core" for his Three-Patterned Golden Core from the man in the dragon robe.

As for the specific Golden Core Grades, although he had attended several trading fairs for those in the Golden Core Realm, he was a newcomer and knew very few people. He wasn’t in a good position to go around asking about something as sensitive as Golden Core Grades.

After all, a Top Grade Golden Core was clearly a high grade. If word of it got out, it would, without a doubt, attract a great deal of trouble.

His reputation in Chixia for Pill and Artifact Dual Proficiency already made him conspicuous enough. Drawing any more attention would be simply asking for trouble.

"Top Grade Golden Core?"

Xu Lingtian looked surprised. With a wave of his hand, a barrier instantly sealed off their surroundings. His voice grew much more serious.

"Let me see your Golden Core!"

With a thought from Chu Mu, the Three-Patterned Golden Core materialized, hovering in the air.

The Golden Core was dazzling, with three mysterious, naturally formed patterns faintly swirling around it. However, the web of crisscrossing cracks on its surface had yet to fully heal, remaining gruesomely etched upon it...

...