Successful Assimilation

-Exactly 334 kilometres away on top of a mountain-

The commotion created from Bryan did not go unnoticed. A cross-legged old man wearing a golden robe marked with black accents opened his aged eyes and noticed the incredible phenomenon.

"Ho~"

"It's the birth of a divine physique…" The old man's voice shook in slight excitement.

Stroking his droopy white beard, he stood up and gently flew away from the mountain at incredible speed, unnoticeable to the naked eye.

Back with the boys, the dazzling commotion increased in intensity. The cocoon pulsated vigorously in response to the red-light rays.

The crimson aurora increased in size and expanded across the sky, instantly reaching 100000 kilometres and more. The fiery crimson aurora didn't stop expanding, making its magical appearance obvious to the outside world. Thankfully or not, the heat and the pressure only centered around the cocoon.

[Only 10 seconds remain for the assimilation process to be completed.]

In the cocoon, the system's soothing voice lightly reminded Bryan and boy did he try to be ecstatic. He tried to count it down but every second felt like it took forever.

[Assimilation of the Divine Infernal Physique has been successfully completed. Congratulations Bryan on your road to success!]

In the outside, the pressure lessened and the red-light rays disappeared. The crimson aurora was still present and the surrounding heat cooled down to a considerable degree.

*HUFF HUFF*

Ray and Ash finally had a breather from the pressure and heat and slowly laid down on their back.

"That was something." Ray said between breaths.

"I'm sweating like no tomorrow…" Ash felt icky.

*Crack*

The two suddenly heard a crack in the direction of the cocoon. They lifted their heads and saw cracks spreading throughout the cocoon.

*Shatter*

Not before long, the cocoon shattered into many pieces and out came a transformed Bryan. From his previous average figure, he gained a lot of muscles, scaped perfectly across his body. His ebony eyes replaced with a pair of deep coloured scarlet eyes. His short hair lengthened slightly with red accents decorating it.

A faint sense of pressure exuded from his body as he completely revelled in the newfound power. Bryan could now perceive an unusual energy around him of which he could only assume to be natural energy.

As soon as he came out, the crimson fiery aurora shifted uncontrollably in the sky. Following this, a faint rhyme echoed throughout the world.

In a random city far, far away, mortal citizens and cultivators looked up at the sky, witnessing the auspicious event. Rhythmic sounds resounded in the ears of everyone who witnessed the magical phenomenon.

"It truly is the Great Age…"

Various meetings between the higher-ups and the top cultivators tool place, discussing the phenomenon. The same event occurred everywhere in the world, with one thought in their minds. It was either the rise of an unprecedented genius or the birth of a special artifact.

"Phew…" Bryan exhaled a deep breath. 'System, display my status please.'

[Name: Bryan

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Mortal Cleansing Realm (8th Stage)

Energy Points: 0/90

Bloodline: None

Physique: Divine Infernal Physique

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: All-Fire Resistance (1st Level), All-Fire Boost (1st Level), Divine Infernal Veins, All-Fire Laws (Locked)]

'I'm already at the 8th stage? Must be because of the assimilation process. System, can you explain the passive skills?' Bryan was intrigued with the new section.

[All-Fire Resistance: The user is resistant to all kinds of direct and indirect fire attacks. The 1st level grants the user a 20% resistance to all kinds of fire. Each level increases the percentage of resistance by 20%. There are a total of 5 levels, which are unlocked by increasing the user's cultivation realm.]

[All-Fire Boost: The passive ability strengthens the power of the user's fire-based attacks and skills. The 1st level grants the user a 10% increase in lethality. There are a total of 10 levels, each level increasing the damage by 10%. Subsequent levels are unlocked by increasing the user's cultivation realm.]

[Divine Infernal Veins: The rate of energy recovery is increased by 50% in any fire-related environments. The energy consumption for each fire related skill is reduced by 20%.]

[All-Fire Laws: Information will be unlocked after reaching the required cultivation realm.]

Bryan's eyes widened in slight disbelief, 'Those are some pretty amazing passive abilities. Well, as expected of having a Divine Physique. All-Fire Laws? Very interesting…'

"Bryan!" Ash yelled his name.

Ash and Ray walked up to him, clearly scrutinizing the changes in his appearance. They could feel an otherworldly aura emanating from him.

"Man, you sure had a qualitative transformation." Ray smiled.

"I know right? I feel fantastic." Bryan was ecstatic.

"I'm not talking about your powers and such." Ray shook his head.

"Huh? then what?" Bryan was confused.

"Your eyes are red as fuck and there's a shade of red in your hair." Ash revealed it to him.

Bryan instinctively felt his hair, "Woah…"

"Well, you certainly look extremely handsome now." Ray looked at him up and down.

Bryan instantly raised his hands, "Hold up! I don't swing that way."

"Okay, you look like someone shat you out after having a spicy fatty burrito." Ray replied in a deadpan tone.

"…" Bryan was rendered speechless.

"Hahaha!" Ash lightly laughed.

"Moving on, I'm at the 8th stage now and I've gained a few passive skills. I'm also pretty sure my physical strength has increased by a lot. Apart from that, I can now clearly perceive random blots of energy around us of which I assume to be the natural energy. So, my talent has increased by a lot, and I mean by a lot." Bryan explained the transformation brought on by the Divine Infernal Physique.

"Holy shit." Ray exclaimed in surprise.

"8th stage and that's not even the best part? Amazing!" Ash was amazed.

"But…"

"But what?" Ash asked.

"It's painful as fuck. Imagine someone grinding your bones and mashing your flesh and moulding it all over again." Bryan took a deep breath.

"Oh, fuck me." Ray grumbled.

"And you wanna know the worst part?"

"That was not the worst part?" Ash said, his mouth agape.

"The system will force you to be conscious because apparently if you fall unconscious, the assimilation process will fail." Bryan said as a man who has experience thousand years of pain.

"Absolutely fucking great!" Ray lamented his future self.

Soon, the crimson fiery aurora faded away and everything faded into normality.

"I'm going ahead." Ash quickly spoke up and ran to the other side.

"Bryan!" Ray called him.

"What's up?"

"Use your body to protect me from the incoming shit." Ray nonchalantly said.

"What do you mean?" Bryan perked his eyebrow in confusion.

"When you were assimilating, you induced a sky-shattering phenomenon. But along with that came an extreme pressure and heat that weighed down on us. So, since you're powerful now, protect me." Ray casually said.

"Oh, sure…" Bryan nodded.

Ash stretched his body in preparation and sent out a thought to the system, 'System, let's do it.'

[Request Received. Starting the assimilation process of the Heavenly Frost Physique…]

[In 3, 2, 1…]

A similar black orb came out from Ash and soon, a cocoon was formed around his body. It was at this moment that Ash understood what Bryan said about the pain.

Ice-blue mystical runes floated around the cocoon and a heavenly aura spread across the land. Frosty mist descended onto the sky and spread unfettered across the endless sky.

A similar pressure descended onto the two near the cocoon and the temperature reached its coldest degree. The icy wind increased in intensity as the pulsating glowing runes slowly integrated themselves into the cocoon.

Just like the previous crimson aurora took over the world and attracted everyone's attention, the same magical frosty mist soon appeared after the crimson aurora faded away.

The cultivators were flabbergasted with the back to back events. At best, they have seen similar phenomena but to a considerably less degree and intensity. And whenever an auspicious phenomenon took place, the world welcomed the arrival of a rare genius.

Considering the current commotion, cultivators all over the world, especially the geniuses and the higher-ups felt something unimaginable would descend onto the world.

Ray crouched down behind Bryan as he forcefully took in all the pressure. Although for Bryan, it was barely negligible.

"Must be nice for you huh…" Ray complained.

"Haha, just wait for your turn." Bryan chuckled.

What they didn't notice or rather they couldn't, was the same golden robed old man floating in the sky, below the frosty mist. Although he seemed to appear in the open, one couldn't find him unless he allowed them to.

"Hmm, 8th stage of the Mortal Cleansing Realm. Judging from his age, his cultivation seems to be quite low." The old man observed Bryan.

The old man was baffled when he arrived at the scene. He saw the young man named Bryan come out of the cocoon, which the old man considered him to be the bearer of a Divine Physique. But what he didn't expect is for the other young man named Ash to do the same.

"Another one awakening a Divine Physique? But why does this all seem so unusual…" The old man was confuddled. Nevertheless, he floated out of sight and watched on with keen and observant eyes.

After some time had passed, the cocoon soon had cracks forming over it which signified it was going to be over for Ash.

[Assimilation of the Heavenly Frost Physique has been successfully completed. Congratulations Ash on your road to success!]

Ash heard the sweet soothing voice enter his mind as he was dead tired from the pain. But soon it all washed away as he felt a certain power bubbling up from within.

The cracks on the cocoon intensified and eventually, it burst open revealing a new version of Ash in his complete glory.

"HAHAHA! IT'S FINALLY DONE!" Ash yelled in a joyful mood.

As soon as he appeared from within the cocoon, similar faint rhymes echoed all over the world from within the mist for everyone to hear. This was a sign of its successful arrival.

The pressure vanished and the temperature returned to normal. The magical frosty mist slowly faded away under the eyes of the observant cultivators all over the world.

"Finally done eh…" Ray smiled, happy for him.

"It was fucking painful though!" Ash exclaimed.

"Now, you get me?" Bryan gave the eyes that said, 'I told you so!'

"Haha, thankfully I mentally prepared for it" Ash chuckled.

"Did you check your status?" Bryan asked.

"Oh shit, I didn't. Give me a minute." Ash hit his head and soon sent a request to the system to display his status.

[Name: Ash

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Mortal Cleansing Realm (8th Stage)

Energy Points: 0/90

Bloodline: None

Physique: Heavenly Frost Physique

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: Heavenly Ice Body (1st Level), Heavenly Hailstorm (1st Level), Heavenly Frost Veins, Heavenly Ice Laws (Locked)]

[Heavenly Ice Body: The user's body is resistant to all kinds of direct and indirect ice attacks. The 1st level grants the user a 20% resistance. Each level increments the percentage by 20%. There are a total of 5 levels, which are subsequently unlocked by increasing the user's cultivation realm.]

[Heavenly Hailstorm: The passive ability strengthens the power of the user's ice-based attacks and skills. The 1st level grants the user a 10% increase in power. Each level increments the percentage by 10%, leading up to a total of 10 levels. Subsequent levels are unlocked by increasing the user's cultivation realm.]

[Heavenly Frost Veins: The rate of energy recovery is increased by 50% in ice-related environments. The energy consumption for each ice related skill is reduced by 20%.]

[Heavenly Ice Laws: Information will be unlocked after reaching the required cultivation realm.]

"I'm in the same stage as you, Bryan." Ash revealed his cultivation realm.

"So, you both are at the 8th stage of the Mortal Cleansing Realm? I wonder what changes will the Bloodline give me." Ray said in high hopes.