novelraw Chapter 158 - 157: Fusion
Chapter 158 - 157: Fusion
After killing Li Fengtian, Hu Qi didn’t return to Anshan City.
Instead, he disguised himself as an ordinary middle-aged man and found a nearby hotel to check into.
After a simple check-in, Hu Qi took the elevator up to his room.
He scanned the room.
As it was a five-star hotel, the room was free of any pinhole cameras.
He closed the door.
Hu Qi sat cross-legged on the bed.
He closed his eyes.
Li Fengtian was a Qi Dao Grandmaster and the Sect Leader of the Sealed Wolf Sect.
His Light of the Soul was far richer than that of an ordinary Secret Martial Artist, and the memories it contained were immense.
Even with his current Soul Strength, it would take him some time to digest it all completely.
Several hours passed in a flash.
Outside the window, the orange-red sun slowly sank, finally disappearing below the horizon.
Its light cast long, stretching shadows from the city’s buildings and trees, like dark tentacles creeping across the ground.
Eventually, the shadows merged into one.
And darkness shrouded the world once more.
But the bustling streets, far from quieting down, grew even more clamorous.
As the curtain of night descended, people who had been busy all day were finally free from work, able to enjoy a bit of leisure time.
Back in the room, Hu Qi slowly opened his eyes.
He had completely digested Li Fengtian’s memories.
However, it left a trace of confusion in his eyes, his vision doubling for an instant.
The effect was brief. In the blink of an eye, Hu Qi’s vision cleared.
Noticing something was wrong with his body, he immediately summoned the panel.
[Owner: Hu Qi]
[Status: Abnormal (Contaminated Soul) △]
...
[Bloodline: Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent (31%) △]
[Talent: Spirit Devouring: Twisted Light]
[Skill: Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Qi Veins Chapter Third Layer) △]
[Seven Evils Saber (Seventh Layer) △ Traits: Sheep Horn, Sharpness...]
[Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts (Entry-Level) △]
[Giant Wind Palm (Uninitiated)]
...
[Modification Points: 79 (61%)]
Hu Qi’s gaze swept over the panel, landing directly on the status line.
Just as he’d expected, it read ’Abnormal’.
Seeing this, with a mere thought, his Modification Points evaporated, transforming into a cool stream of energy that flooded his mind.
Instantly, the grogginess in his mind vanished. The various distracting thoughts and memory fragments from Li Fengtian were partitioned away, and his mind cleared.
At the same time, the text on the status line blurred slightly before sharpening once more.
[Status: Normal]
...
[Modification Points: 70 (61%)]
Compared to last time, it only cost nine Modification Points.
But this was normal. The number of Modification Points required naturally varied depending on the severity of the condition.
Hu Qi’s gaze shifted down, continuing to scan the Crimson panel.
He still had seventy Modification Points left.
This time, however, he didn’t immediately spend them all on upgrading his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map and Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline, as he usually would.
Instead, his gaze fell upon the new entries in his Skill list.
These skills all came from Li Fengtian.
Compared to others, the memories of a Qi Dao Grandmaster were far more complete.
They included the Qi Blood Technique Li Fengtian had cultivated, as well as the Sealed Wolf Sect’s Inheritance Secret Martial Arts.
The Qi Blood Technique was listed as Uninitiated because while he had the memories, he had never actually practiced it.
But the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts was different.
With an Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, simply comprehending the Divine Intent Map that recorded its secrets and obtaining its content was enough to be considered Entry-Level.
That meant it could be modified.
And that was Hu Qi’s goal.
He stared at the △ symbol next to Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts.
Instead of upgrading it, a thought flickered in his mind, and he spoke aloud.
"Crimson, use the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map as the foundation. Merge the Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts into it. Use it as fuel to raise the upper limit of the Spirit Devouring Map and make it more complete and powerful!"
The instant he gave the command,
VMMMM!
The Crimson panel vibrated faintly.
As Modification Points were consumed, the text for Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts in the Skill list instantly disintegrated, dissolving into motes of light that flowed into the entry for the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
Simultaneously, in Hu Qi’s mind, the concepts behind the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map and the Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts felt as if they were being taken apart by a pair of invisible hands and reassembled.
However, the combination was more of a fusion, with the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map serving as the foundation.
It was a process that extracted the essence of the Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts to perfect the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
If any other Secret Martial Artist were to witness this, they would surely think Hu Qi had gone mad.
Every Secret Martial Art was created by countless past prodigies and sages, inspired by their observations of a particular Exotic Beast or creature. They were the final products of generations of continuous optimization and refinement.
Although the fundamental purpose of all Inheritance Secret Martial Arts was to elevate a Secret Martial Artist’s Life Level, guiding them to gradually become something other than human and step into the Extraordinary realm, the path, content, and direction of enhancement for each art were completely different.
Attempting to merge two different Secret Martial Arts—extracting the essence from one and fusing it into the other—was a task whose difficulty and workload far exceeded that of creating an entirely new Secret Martial Art from scratch.
Inheritance Secret Martial Arts were the result of endless experimentation and refinement over generations.
There was zero room for error. The slightest mistake could cause irreparable harm to the body; instantaneous death was not out of the question.
Therefore, even the most monstrously talented prodigies would find such a feat nearly impossible.
However, with Crimson’s assistance, this nearly impossible task was not difficult for Hu Qi at all.
The only prerequisite was having enough Modification Points.
「After some time.」
Sensing that the transformation process involving the two Secret Martial Arts in his mind had ceased, Hu Qi opened his eyes.
’It really works.’
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
’The reason the Crimson panel shows a ’△’ after the skills, and not a simple ’+’, is because it represents a multitude of possibilities, not just a simple upgrade.’
’Theoretically, as long as I have enough Modification Points, it shouldn’t be impossible to modify a Dharma Gate that provides infinite self-enhancement.’
’I say ’theoretically’ because that would require an unimaginably staggering number of Modification Points.’
’In comparison, it’s far more efficient with Modification Points to find enough Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, then modify and merge them—taking the best parts and discarding the rest.’
’The first method is creating something from nothing, while the second is modifying an existing foundation.’
’The difficulty of the two can’t even be compared.’
Now, the entries for both the Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts and the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map had vanished from the panel.
In their place was a brand-new Secret Martial Art.
[Unknown Secret Martial Arts (Qi Veins Chapter Third Layer) Traits: Wolf Transformation]
...
[Modification Points: 47 (61%)]
Hu Qi looked at the words "Unknown Secret Martial Arts". This was clearly a result of fusing it with the Silver Wolf Secret Martial Arts.
He couldn’t be bothered to come up with a new name, so he decided to just stick with "Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map."
The moment this thought arose,
as if sensing his thought, the words "Unknown Secret Martial Arts" on the panel twisted, changing back to "Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map".