Yashan Sign Carapace Rune

"Two days later, the first 'Yashan Shell Rune' was successfully crafted. Su Hao began to channel blood energy into it, and the moment it was completed, the rune flashed a blinding light, dazzling Yashan.

"Big Brother Wei, what is this?" Yashan asked, blinking in confusion but still trying to appear astonished.

Su Hao smiled and said, "This is power!"

He continued, "Yashan, let me first teach you how to control your blood energy!"

Yashan scratched his head, asking, "Blood energy? What's that?"

Su Hao explained, "It's the energy accumulated in your body. You have a lot of energy, but you only instinctively use it to transform into an Extended Armor. But blood energy can be used for much more. If you want the power to defeat the Bone Man, you must first learn to control your own body, including the energy within it."

Yashan eagerly responded, "Big Brother Wei..."

Su Hao nodded with a smile.

Teaching Yashan how to control blood energy benefited Su Hao in three ways. First, Su Hao could confirm if the energy consumed during evolution was indeed blood energy. If it was, he could choose when to attempt evolution without worrying about sudden death.

Second, once Yashan mastered blood energy, he could quickly accumulate it, speeding up the preconditions for evolving into a Reverse Thorn Beast, which would help Su Hao's research and save time.

Third, Su Hao needed to conduct some rune experiments on Yashan because he was very interested in the Extended Armor sequence of mutants, especially the Bone Man he saw that day. If done well, he could inscribe many runes on the bone armor, making it incredibly versatile.

...

A year later, Su Hao turned eight.

During this year, Su Hao wandered around Temple Forest City every night, collecting blood from various first and second-level mutants, and even some third-level mutants.

The database in the Marble Space was now quite full.

Su Hao had marked out all the extraordinary genes of each sequence except for the Seer.

He also deciphered the expression functions of many ordinary genes.

This resulted in the sacrifice of many poor little round mice.

Overall, Su Hao's progress was very smooth.

The only trouble was that a powerful lunatic had appeared in Temple Forest City at night during this year. Su Hao knew his identity; it was the Cocoon Man, String Demon, who had cut the Speed Demon into pieces.

At night, the String Demon roamed the city, shouting about looking for the Night Demon, demanding the Night Demon hand over something, and stirring up fear among the residents. Ordinary people were terrified to leave their homes at night.

The problem was that the String Demon indiscriminately assumed anyone he saw was the Night Demon, subjecting them to severe torture or even killing them outright if he was in a bad mood.

He was like a major villain boss in Temple Forest City.

If Su Hao wasn't unprepared, he would have personally dissected this String Demon to study his body structure and gene sequence.

The String Demon made it difficult for Su Hao to collect genes as many mutants reduced their night activities out of fear, staying home and sleeping.

Fortunately, Su Hao eventually deciphered the extraordinary gene sequences of first and second-level mutants.

With preparation, Su Hao thought he could confront the String Demon, who was too violent and wreaked havoc in Temple Forest City. Eliminating him would be the simplest solution, as otherwise, Su Hao might get cut into pieces while walking one day.

The String Demon had been searching for the Night Demon for a year without success, showing no signs of stopping.

Meanwhile, Yashan had successfully mastered the conversion of blood energy, gaining elite blood energy and learning to control it skillfully.

The Yashan Shell Rune project progressed smoothly, successfully inscribing runes on Yashan's shell.

The difficulty in inscribing runes on Yashan's shell was that every time he transformed, the inscribed runes would be automatically repaired and erased, requiring re-inscription.

Su Hao quickly thought of a solution: tattoos!

By tattooing the runes on Yashan's body, the clear patterns would appear on his shell when he transformed into the Extended Armor.

Su Hao's idea was successful. The transformed shell retained the rune patterns.

Another issue was creating a blood energy compatibility gradient within the rune patterns.

This was easily solved by choosing suitable tattoo materials. Like stamping a seal, the material would fill the blank areas outside the patterns, leaving the shell patterns to form a good blood energy compatibility gradient.

When Yashan transformed into the Extended Armor, he only needed to channel blood energy into the shell's patterns at a certain speed to activate the runes within a second.

After the inscription, Yashan enjoyed himself immensely, as if he had a new toy. However, Su Hao knew that despite Yashan's increased smiles, his inner hatred had not diminished.

Su Hao inscribed over a dozen commonly used runes on Yashan's body.

These included "Hardness," "Barrier," "Deflection," "Penetration," "Sharpness," "Corrosion," "Double Burst," "Strong Light," "Fire Ring," "Strong Current," "Earth Spike," "Coordination," and "Absorption."

With continuous day-and-night practice, Yashan gradually mastered the use of runes, learning to use them flexibly in combat.

For Su Hao, inscribing runes on Yashan was nothing. Yashan only knew how to use them, not the principles behind them, making his knowledge ultimately superficial.

Moreover, Su Hao had placed a backdoor in each rune, allowing him to reclaim them if Yashan ever turned against him.

The most important thing was that the Extended Armor sequence was truly very suitable for Su Hao!

He just wondered if these traits would be maintained after evolving into the Reverse Thorn Beast and Bone Demon.

One day, Yashan approached Su Hao and calmly said, "Big Brother Wei, I found a Reverse Thorn Beast. I'm planning to hunt it tonight for its blood and flesh."

Su Hao nodded, asking, "Do you need help?"

Yashan immediately shook his head, "No. I want to use my current strength to obtain the evolution myself. But, Big Brother Wei, please watch over me. If I fail, please save me!"

Su Hao nodded, "Sure."

Su Hao couldn't bear to let Yashan die in vain.

At this moment, a five-year-old porcelain doll peeked her head out of the room, asking in a sweet voice, "Dad, Uncle Wei, where are you going? Take Tenny with you!"

Su Hao corrected her, "Call me brother..."

Tenny shyly called out, "Brother..."

But Su Hao knew it was useless; the next day, this little one would call him "uncle" again.

When Yashan saw Tenny come out, he immediately put on a stiff smile, closing his mouth and saying nothing more.

Su Hao quickly went up, patted Tenny's little head, and said, "We're staying home. We're not going anywhere. Come on, today I'll let you choose a little round mouse to be your companion."

Tenny's big, round eyes lit up instantly, asking in surprise, "Really! I want the white one."

The little round mice Su Hao raised for experiments were round and chubby, very cute. Tenny had been eyeing them for a long time, wanting one to play with, but Su Hao always refused, saying they would bite. Today, feeling good, he decided to fulfill Tenny's small wish.

Su Hao replied, "Really, I'll give it to you now."

Tenny excitedly pulled Su Hao's hand, dragging him to the breeding room. "Hurry, hurry."

She pointed to the biggest, fattest mouse, saying, "Uncle Wei, I want that one, just that one."

Su Hao was speechless, "Call me brother!"

Tenny giggled, "Brother, I want the big one!"

Su Hao found a rope, tightly tying the mouse's tail, then handed it to Tenny, saying, "Here, take it and play! Be careful not to lose it."

"Got it!" Tenny immediately hugged the mouse and ran off.

At this moment, Yashan finally relaxed his stiff smile, sighed in relief, and admiredly said to Su Hao, "Big Brother Wei, you're amazing at coaxing kids!"

Su Hao's mouth twitched, "Of course!"

He had reincarnated as a child many times. Talking about children, he was tired of it!

He sighed inwardly, "Ah... I won't dare be reckless anymore. Let me grow up quickly!"

Night soon fell, and the nocturnal predators quietly emerged from their nests, searching for tonight's prey.

Su Hao and Yashan were also ready.

So, who was the real prey?