Chapter 229: Dragon Blood

There was still pressure, but the burden was noticeably lower.

The transformation finally began calming down several minutes later.

His heartbeat remained heavy, yet the violent pressure accompanying each contraction disappeared.

The System notification appeared soon afterward.

[Ding!]

[Origin-rank Dragon Heart integration completed.]

[Dragon Blood Conversion has reached 10%.]

Cain remained seated for several seconds before slowly opening his eyes, a faint golden radiance flashed through his pupils.

The first thing he did was open his personal information.

[Cain]

[Level: 70]

[Echelon: 2nd Echelon]

[Race: Human]

[Title: Echelon Breaker]

[Talents: Black Menagerie (Primordial-rank), Purgatory Origin Body (Origin-rank), Dragon Heart (Origin-rank), Undying God Body (Divine-rank), Faultline Vision (SS-rank), Piercing Momentum (S-rank), Vital Restoration (C-rank)]

[Beasts: Primordial Chaos Dragon, Primordial Purgatory Phoenix]

[Elements: True Ruin, Purgatory Flame]

[Mana Core: Ruin Mana Core (Perfected Stage)]

[Skills: Partial Dragon Manifestation, Primordial Beast Projection, Ruin Dragon Force, Purgatory Sun Manifestation, Purgatory Solar Lance, Purgatory Inferno Star, Purgatory Flame Transformation, Greater Restoration]

[Free Stat Points: 0]

[Stats]: Strength: 1,613 (+7,318) / Agility: 1,613 (+7,562) / Physique: 1,151 (+8,122) / Sense: 980 (+1,965) / Mana: 2,060 (+17,510) / Magic: 1,850 (+15,725)

[System Points: 11,473,200]

Cain stared at the numbers for several seconds.

His lips gradually curved upward as he thought that the change was ridiculous.

His stats had risen much higher than he had expected that he was quite surprised when he saw it.

Cain had expected an Origin-rank Talent to strengthen him considerably, but seeing the actual numbers still pleased him far more than he wanted to admit.

He shifted his attention toward the newest addition to his Talent list.

— — —

[Dragon Heart – Origin-rank Talent]

[Transforms the user’s heart into an Origin-grade Dragon Heart possessing extraordinary compatibility with the Primordial Chaos Dragon.]

[Strength +250%. Agility +200%. Physique +200%. Sense +100%. Mana +250%. Magic +250%.]

[Dragon Blood Conversion: 10%]

[The Dragon Heart gradually converts the user’s ordinary blood into highly purified Dragon Blood compatible with the Primordial Chaos Dragon.]

[Currently, 10% of the user’s blood has been transformed into Dragon Blood.]

[As the proportion of Dragon Blood increases, the user’s physical strength, speed, vitality, durability, perception, Mana capacity, Mana output, regeneration, Dragon affinity, Bloodline Pressure, and compatibility with Dragon-attributed power will gradually increase.]

[The Dragon Heart continuously circulates and refines the Dragon Blood currently contained within the user’s body, allowing its power to strengthen the muscles, bones, organs, blood vessels, and Mana pathways.]

[The maximum amount of Dragon Blood the user’s body can safely contain depends on the user’s Echelon, physical foundation, and compatibility with the Primordial Chaos Dragon.]

[Attempting to exceed the body’s current limit may cause severe Bloodline rejection and physical damage.]

[The Dragon Heart greatly increases the user’s compatibility with True Ruin and allows vastly greater quantities of True Ruin and Dragon-attributed energy to circulate throughout the body.]

[Ruin Dragon Force is greatly strengthened, allowing substantially greater quantities of True Ruin to reinforce the user’s body and weapons while significantly reducing the physical strain caused by prolonged or high-output usage.]

[Partial Dragon Manifestation undergoes a fundamental evolution.]

[The user may manifest considerably greater portions of the Primordial Chaos Dragon’s physical characteristics, while the resulting Dragon scales, claws, horns, tail, muscles, and skeletal structure possess vastly greater strength and durability.]

[The strength, durability, extent, and stability of Partial Dragon Manifestation increase alongside the user’s Dragon Blood Conversion.]

[Manifested Dragon scales possess extremely high resistance against physical attacks, elemental energy, and destructive supernatural power.]

[While Primordial Beast Projection is active, the Dragon Heart enters a state of intense resonance with the projected Primordial Chaos Dragon.]

[During this resonance, the user’s Partial Dragon Manifestation, physical abilities, True Ruin output, Dragon-attributed abilities, Bloodline Pressure, and resistance to physical and energy-based attacks are further increased.]

[The Dragon Heart possesses extraordinary vitality and regenerative capability.]

[As long as the Dragon Heart remains functional and sufficient energy remains within the user’s body, severe damage suffered by the heart may gradually regenerate.]

[Upon reaching 100% Dragon Blood Conversion, all ordinary blood within the user’s body will have been completely transformed into Dragon Blood.]

[At that point, the Dragon Heart will permanently generate Dragon Blood instead of ordinary human blood, completing the user’s Dragon Blood Metamorphosis.]

[After Dragon Blood Conversion is completed, a deeper stage of Dragon Blood evolution may become available.]

[As the user advances through the Echelons and deepens their connection with the Primordial Chaos Dragon, deeper abilities contained within the Dragon Heart will gradually awaken.]

— — —

Cain read the entire description without skipping a line.

By the time he reached the end, the satisfaction on his face had become impossible to hide.

Ten percent Dragon Blood did not sound particularly impressive at first glance, especially after Cain had seen what Serath’s Abyssal Dragon Imperial Body could do.

However, that ten percent was only the beginning.

The Dragon Heart would continue refining the blood already transformed inside his body, and the maximum conversion rate would rise as Cain’s body became capable of containing more Dragon Blood.

More importantly, the Talent directly strengthened the abilities connected to the Primordial Chaos Dragon.

Ruin Dragon Force would become much easier to sustain at higher outputs.

Partial Dragon Manifestation had undergone a fundamental evolution.

The Dragon Heart would also resonate with Primordial Beast Projection whenever Cain manifested the Primordial Chaos Dragon.

Cain could already imagine how much stronger his Dragon-related abilities would become once his Dragon Blood Conversion rose further.

Then there were the bonus Stats.

Cain looked back at his personal information and smiled widely.

“What did you just obtain?”

Ron had already approached close enough that Cain could hear the curiosity in his voice.

Cain closed the screens and stood.

“Something good.”

Ron stared at him.

“You bastard. Just say that you don’t want to tell us shit.”

Cain shrugged with a faint smile.

Ron snorted, but he did not continue asking.

Cain ignored his dissatisfaction as there was no need for everyone to know the exact details of the Dragon Heart yet, especially after what Serath had told him about how much attention the Heavenly Dragon title had already attracted throughout the Universe.

Cain looked toward the people around him.

“Rest for now. If any of you have Scrolls or Talents you still need to awaken, do it here.”

Several people glanced toward the ruined surroundings.

The Central Base had already been conquered.

Serath and every dangerous commander protecting the place were dead, while the remaining Zombie Race soldiers had either been killed or scattered throughout the fortress.

This was probably the safest they would be until transportation began.

Cain continued.

“We have less than an hour. I’m going to purify everything we’ve gathered before we leave.”

His attention shifted toward the growing collection of resources several streets away.

People were still bringing more.

Dozens of boxes had already been stacked beside several large piles of Zombie Cores.

Cain walked toward them.

The closer he got, the more ridiculous the quantity became.

Hundreds of Cores covered one section of the broken plaza.

Most came from 1st and 2nd Echelon Zombie Race soldiers killed throughout the battle for the Central Base, although several noticeably denser ones belonged to stronger Zombies.

The Blood Crystals occupied considerably more space.

There were already more than a thousand.

Several additional groups were still returning with boxes from storage facilities deeper inside the Central Base.

Cain rubbed the side of his neck.

“This is going to be such a pain in the ass.” Cain said as he sat down in front of the resources.

True Ruin gathered around both hands.

He began with the Cores.

Dark-gray energy flowed outward and spread across the nearest pile.

The familiar contamination hidden within the Cores reacted the moment True Ruin touched it. Thin traces of corrupted energy emerged from inside before breaking apart under the higher-ranked power.

Cain expanded his control.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he felt the difference.

Before obtaining the Dragon Heart, handling hundreds of separate resources simultaneously would have demanded far more concentration.

Now his control over the energy felt considerably cleaner.

The increase to Magic had already improved his ability to manipulate Mana, while the Dragon Heart allowed much more True Ruin to pass through his body without producing the same physical strain.

Cain continued expanding the area.

The dark-gray energy covered dozens more Cores.

Contamination disappeared rapidly without harming the useful energy stored within them.

“This is much faster.” Cain murmured to himself with a faint smile.

The first large batch finished within a fraction of the time Cain would previously have needed.

He moved to the next section.

People continued bringing more resources while he worked, but Cain barely looked at them. Anyone who arrived simply placed the Cores in the unpurified section and moved away.

Minutes passed.

One pile disappeared after another.

Cain’s concentration remained steady as True Ruin moved through hundreds of separate resources.

Even so, the process was not effortless.

Mana was not the problem, since his enormous reserve could sustain this kind of usage for a long time.

The burden came from maintaining precise control.

True Ruin could erase the contamination easily, but using too much energy would damage the useful power contained inside the resources as well. Cain needed to carefully regulate the amount entering every Core.

His Magic made that considerably easier than before, but it did not make his mind tireless.

By the time the last pile of Zombie Cores became purified, a dull pressure had already begun building behind Cain’s eyes.

He withdrew the True Ruin Energy and released a slow breath.

All of the Cores collected from the Central Base had been dealt with.

The Blood Crystals were another matter as several more boxes had arrived while Cain was working.