Planning for the Endgame

"So, the Empyrean Tusk addressed you as her son," Inala nodded in understanding, conveying his conjecture on the matter, "That is in line with my thoughts."

"You…could guess it?" Grehha was stunned, staring at Inala in a new light, 'He's terrifying. How did I underplay his fearsome intuitive prowess in my estimation before? Shit, my lack of scheming capabilities is being shown here.'

"Remember when Resha became an Empyrean Tusk," Inala said, "Recall our requirements to successfully enter and cultivate in the Body Stage."

"Once we build 100 Spirit Containers and fill them all with Prana, we'll reach the peak of the Spirit Stage. Once we fuse all 100 Spirit Containers into one, we'll enter the Body Stage. But, this Spirit Container is unstable and cannot last for more than a few minutes." Grehha spoke, "Therefore, to stabilise it, we fuse it with the egg of a Pranic Beast…"

"Wait a second…" Grehha shouted in shock, "There wasn't an Empyrean Tusk egg there for him to fuse with."

"Yes," Inala nodded, egging Grehha to continue his thoughts.

"I originally thought an Empyrean Tusk's heart doubled as its egg." Grehha frowned, "Since in Sumatra Chronicles, details about their birth were never stated. There also were no hints of a male Empyrean Tusk mentioned until the end. I assumed they were asexual creatures. There are many Pranic Beasts like that."

"Their heart doubles down as an egg. And when the parent dies, the heart becomes an egg and hatches a newborn. That was why I thought it made sense when Resha entered the 44th Empyrean Tusk's heart during her death and gained her power."

"Usually, that's the case." Inala nodded, "But Resha never fused with a Pranic Beast egg back then. Instead,"

Inala patted his thigh, "He absorbed enough of the Empyrean Tusk's blood to awaken the bloodline in him."

"It was mentioned thrice in Sumatra Chronicles as a monologue from Resha," Inala said, "Not once was it confirmed though. But, I believe that is the truth, especially considering how he could transform to varying levels at the Body Stage and fight."

"That…!" Grehha felt the last pieces of the puzzle in his mind fit right in. "Indeed, it's not the case of his genius capabilities in Prana manipulation that he could control his level of transformation."

A cultivator in the Body Stage could transform into the Pranic Beast they fused with. A cultivator that had fused with a Mud Viper would transform into the Mud Viper wholly. They would look no different from a regular Mud Viper.

This was always the case. But, Resha was able to control his transformation and split it up into four stages: Tusk, Exoskeleton, Miniature, and Empyrean.

At the Tusk Stage, he could create and wield a tusk as a weapon. He held the tusk in his hand like a tool. At the Exoskeleton Stage, an exoskeleton armour similar to the one on the Empyrean Tusk covered his body. But he would remain humanoid, the same size as his usual self.

At the Miniature Stage, he transformed into a four-metre-tall Empyrean Tusk. Only at the Empyrean Stage did he truly become an Empyrean Tusk in all its glory, standing at a height exceeding a kilometre.

Stages one to three didn't exist for any other cultivator. They directly transformed into the full form of their respective Pranic Beast. Originally, if treated like a novel, this characteristic of Resha seemed something reserved for the main character just to be unique.

But the moment Sumatra Chronicles was revealed to be real, that changed everything. It meant there was a concrete reason for its existence.

"You know that a Mammoth Clansmen suffers from the Fragment Disease because the Empyrean Tusk's bloodline is highly concentrated in them, right?" Inala concluded, "You know until this part. Then, do you remember the filler arc in Sumatra Chronicles about the Cooter Clan?"

"Uh…I disliked it, so I skipped most of the contents." Grehha smiled wryly. "That arc was damn boring."

"I did that too, so I understand your opinion." Inala nodded, "But I heard from someone on the forum that it explained the logic behind Resha's uniqueness. So, I gritted through the arc. There, I noticed some familiarity."

"Like us, the Cooter Clan live on the back of a Pranic Beast, the Empyrean Snapper. Rare Cooter Clansmen suffer from the Buoyant Disease. But in situations where they ingest large quantities of the Empyrean Snapper's blood, they awaken their bloodline and can transform into an Empyrean Cooter themselves. But this only happens when they ingest the blood while fusing their 100 Spirit Containers into one." Inala raised a finger.

"There was one example in that arc. He was someone as strong as Resha. But due to the Cooter Clan's carefree nature, he was never relevant to the plot." Inala concluded, "So, Resha never had to consume our Empyrean Tusk's heart to gain its power. Rather, to awaken our bloodline, we only need to ingest large quantities of the Empyrean Tusk's blood during the process when we fuse our Spirit Containers into one."

"That's the actual cure to the Fragment Disease."

Grehha sat in silence, too stunned to speak. As he pondered Inala's words and recalled his experience with the Empyrean Tusk, he felt things made sense. 'That means the cure is accessible. I see, so that's why I was given the Ovum. Through it, I can awaken my bloodline and become an Empyrean Tusk. All I require is enough Prana to facilitate the process.'

"But…" He frowned, recalling his first thought upon noticing Inala's choice of home. He stared in confusion, "If you can become an Empyrean Tusk, why would you choose anything else?"

"An Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast, the top of the top, with a lifespan of around 2000 years. That's the Empyrean Tusk. No other Pranic Beast can ever come close."

"That's true," Inala nodded, "If I awaken my bloodline, I would be similar to Resha and can activate my power in four stages, just like him. I'll be alive for long enough to become bored of life. But,"

He stared at Grehha in mockery, "Resha had all that. Then, what was his age when he died?"

"He…" Grehha turned silent.

"He was 119 years old. That's how long he remained alive before getting killed by the Boar King." Inala shrugged, "What's the use in being able to remain alive for thousands of years when you are killed before being able to live even a tenth of that lifespan?"

He mocked Grehha, "Can you kill the Boar King? Even Resha died a dog's death against him."

"Aren't we all preparing to survive the Fourth Major Disaster and prevent the Mammoth Clan's annihilation under the hands of the Boar King?" Inala growled, "Getting the cure is merely the first step. Being an Empyrean Tusk wouldn't make me stronger than Resha. That path would only guarantee my death against the Boar King."

"Can a Zinger do anything?" Grehha snorted, retaliating with his argument, "A Zinger can spend its lifetime attacking an Empyrean Tusk and still fail to make a scratch. Do you think such a weak Pranic Beast can manage to harm a single strand of the Boar King's hair, not to mention kill him?"

"Not in a year, no." Inala shook his head before grinning, "But by the time we encounter the Boar King?"

"Yes."