90 Evolving the Blood

Sitting in the cave, Lucien first decided to try evolving a drop and see the effects. So he split 10 drops from the blob of blood and absorbed them through his skin. Lucien didn't need to drink the blood if he wanted it to enter his body at this stage.

He could easily make it seep through his pores to enter his body. It was one of the effect of the Blood Path, he could use it to rejuvenate himself in the middle of the battle. After all who would wait for him to drink slowly.

He chose a random drop that was in his body and started using the method from the Blood Manual to evolve it.

It was a really strange method in his view, he had to split a drop of neutral blood in even smaller fragments and then let his blood absorb it. The strange part was that it didn't grow larger after absorbing. Instead there were streaks of golden lines intertwined on the drop. He kept going and more and more streaks of golden lines appeared on the drop, all the way till the tenth drop of neutral blood was absorbed.

The drop was now fully golden and seemed to pulse with endless energy. As it traveled around, not a single other drop would dare to try and take some of the energy. It was like a king that descended among commoners.

As the process was a bit time consuming, doing it drop by drop, Lucien could at most convert 200 drops a night, and it impacted his absorption of soil. He estimated it would take almost a month to convert all of it even if he had the blood. But no regret was seen on his face, the benefits it brought were immense.

He didn't see it with only 1 drop, but when he grouped all 200 and let them move around his body, the changes were obvious. Everywhere they passed, flesh and organs seemed to gain new vigor and his bones shined with a whiter hue. It was not directly enhancing his stats, but if he decided to practice any one of them with a Manual, he was sure that they would be improving much faster. It was improving the overall potential of his body. He couldn't wait to see the benefits once all the blood was exchanged.

Lucien continued doing this during his nights and exploring during the days. He was keen on gathering the other 10 liters he needed to finish the process, so once he explored an area, he killed one extra Rank 1 Beast and then left in a hurry.

To a passerby, Lucien probably seemed like a lunatic, using Rank 3 power to hunt Rank 1 creatures. But he knew things could escalate really quickly should he try attacking higher level Beasts. After all if he couldn't resolve the fight fast enough, a Rank 4 might arrive. It would take them a couple of minutes if they were anywhere near.

The system of cultivation Beasts used was completely different. Even through they still had Paths, they didn't truly and actively practice as there were no Manuals for Beasts. They let the Practices slowly alter their bodies. The only choice they had was which stat to alter in this process.

Some of them could focus on one stat and Soul and keep going till a very high Rank like that. But those Beasts were fodder among the society. A minority of them preferred taking their time and going keep going will all stats at the same level. If Lucien bumped into a Rank 4 that was part of the minority, he would die without even realizing it.

This system was also a reason why Beasts were almost always stronger than their Human counterparts. It would take a genius to practice two Paths and a monster to practice three Paths in the early stages of cultivation, that was how it worked in the human race. And only those monsters could fight with a Beast that was cultivating all its stats.

So as a Rank 3 that had only one Path at this level, even adding the Devil Armor in the mix, Lucien was not fully confident in fighting an all rounded Rank 3 Beast and ending the fight quickly.

As he kept altering his blood over the month, the quality of his body improved further. He could feel that his progress in the future would be smoother. Even his mind was a bit quicker.

At end of the process, Lucien was looking at the only red drop left. It looked like a lamb surrounded by vicious lions, in the midst of all the golden blood. After so many repetitions, Lucien confidently evolved the last drop while anticipating a change. Once all the blood was golden, it started flowing around.

The moment a full circle was completed, a change occurred. All his organs and inner flesh revealed a golden sheen, while his bones had a silvery light. It couldn't happen before as even when the golden blood passes and increases the quality, it was momentary. Red blood would flow afterwards and reduce the effects. But now, his body was constantly nurtured by the golden blood, it nothing hindering it.

Lucien was sure that his potential at least double to before, if it took him half a month to get 1 point increase in stat, he would need a week now.

He was a bit worried about bleeding, if he bled would the new blood be red in that case, and what would his enemy think if he bled golden blood. But realization struck him suddenly. How would a Blood Path practitioner bleed? If he didn't allow it, no blood could leave his body.

Since a month passed and an extra Beast, Lucien had a bit over 110 000 Existence Points, so he decided it was time.

This time Lucien would create clones for the rest of the Lower Paths. He knew that when he comprehended a Middle Path, it would nourish itself using the Particles of the Lower Paths. Just like the Blood Path did with the Vampire Path. Of course that nourishment wouldn't result in a mutation and it was just two orthodox Paths.

But realizing how hard it is to promote a Middle Path, Lucien dropped his ideas of comprehending one right now. If he took Devouring, he wanted the Ghoul Path to be Rank 3. Even if there was the slightest change that would take the Devouring Path to Rank 3 and spare him the time, it was worth waiting.

So promoting the Lower Paths before taking Middle ones was the best option in this case. Lucien didn't have many opinions on the other Lower Paths, they wouldn't be enhancing his stats directly, just giving him some versatility, so he picked one randomly. He was going to create clones for all of them so he didn't care about a month or two of difference.

Lucien picked the Light Path this time and created a Clone with Rank 3 Potential. The cocoon this time was exactly the opposite of the Darkness Clone, it was pulsing with holy light. The clone that broke through from inside was like an emissary of heaven, he still couldn't detach the Particles from his body as it was Rank 1, but they were shining on his skin making him seem extraordinary.

His hair was golden and his eyes crimson...