Chapter 32: Divine Essence of the Azure Storm Tiger (02)

On the Continent of the Gray Peaks, there were four types of beasts.

Mortal Beasts, which were simply ordinary animals.

Inferior Spirit Beasts.

Superior Spirit Beasts.

Immortal Spirit Beasts.

Each of these types was further divided into three levels: lower, intermediate, and peak.

The Golden Alliance Sect, for example, had the Divine Mountain Ape. As the sect’s guardian, it was a beast in the Perfect Soul Venerable Realm.

That Ape was merely a Lower Immortal Spirit Beast. Even so, it remained one of the strongest and most intelligent creatures on the entire continent.

The Azure Storm Tiger, on the other hand, was a Superior Immortal Spirit Beast.

There was no record of any beast of that level on the Gray Peaks Continent—at least not in the last ten thousand years.

The last beast of that caliber had been slain during that lost era, in a joint campaign by the Nine Great Sects alongside many of the continent’s most powerful empires.

It was said that so many experts died in that battle that the continent needed two thousand years just to recover half the strength it once had. That weakness forced a peace that lasted five thousand years.

That era became known as the Golden Age. While the powerful experts licked their wounds, the mortal economy boomed, peace reigned, and the continent experienced one of the most prosperous periods in its entire history.

Of course, the resources extracted from that beast were eventually depleted, and war once again came to dominate everything.

In any case, Kael was more than happy with his reward, even if it was just a single drop.

His eyes sparkled as he retrieved the item from his inventory.

It was a finger-sized vial, its glass adorned with delicate jade and gold patterns that caught the dim light of the cultivation chamber.

Inside, carefully sealed, rested a single drop of deep, living red. It seemed to pulse faintly, as if it still carried a piece of the heart that had produced it.

Kael studied it for a moment, rolling the vial between his fingers and smiling.

Just as there were various levels of cultivation foundation, there were also various levels of physical constitution.

A crippled mortal, for example, generally had a Fragmented Constitution.

An ordinary mortal had a Mortal Constitution.

An ordinary cultivator usually had a Lower Spiritual Constitution or, with great effort, a Higher Spiritual Constitution.

The most talented young people could even attain an Earthly Constitution or a Sky Constitution.

Selene, for example, had an Earthly Constitution.

But unlike cultivation foundation, which was defined by fixed levels and could normally only be changed by some miraculous artifact, one’s constitution could be improved over time through body tempering.

Selene was very close to achieving a Sky Constitution. Kael, on the other hand, still only had a Lower Spiritual Constitution.

It was so low because he had never stolen the constitution of any of his targets, nor did he even know how to do so. Still, he wanted a powerful constitution to match his cultivation.

A Heavenly Constitution, perhaps a Venerable Constitution, an Unbreakable Constitution, an Immortal Constitution, or, who knows, the legendary Eternal Dao Constitution.

There was even a chance he might mutate into a legendary or beast constitution, which was often more powerful than the common human ones.

Without further hesitation, Kael opened the vial.

In that very instant, a terrifying power swept through the cultivation chamber. The air grew heavy and oppressive, and the smell of ozone—like that of a storm about to break—filled his nostrils.

Slowly, he brought the vial to his mouth, letting the drop slide down the glass and land on his tongue.

For a second, nothing.

The next moment, Kael felt the heat.

The divine essence of the Azure Storm Tiger sank into his flesh like molten iron, spreading through his veins and muscles, burning every path it took.

Kael gasped, digging his fingers into the stone floor and fighting to stay calm. A taste of hot metal flooded his mouth, and sweat was already trickling down his forehead before he even noticed it.

His Earth self would have exploded right then and there. Fortunately, he also carried all the cultivation knowledge of this world’s original Kael—someone who had devoted much of his life to books.

Carefully guiding the essence, he forced it to circulate along the correct pathways instead of letting it run wild.

His body temperature rose steadily. His once-pale skin took on a reddish hue, and soon thick steam began to rise from it, spiraling upward and fogging the air in the room.

Kael felt his muscles tense, tear, and regenerate—a dry, throbbing pain that came and went in waves.

His teeth ground together. At the same time, he felt his meridians expand, thickening and strengthening at an absurd speed.

For a second, he sensed a thread of Azure Storm Qi dancing in his dantian, cold and electric amid all that heat.

Kael tried to capture that Qi and hold it there, clamping down on it with his will.

But as the hours passed and the divine essence was fully absorbed, the thread began to dissolve like smoke.

In the end, it vanished completely, drawing a disappointed sigh from Kael.

That thread of Qi had been his chance to force his own constitution into a mutation and, perhaps, absorb a little of the Azure Tiger’s power.

Still, he was happy. And, without a doubt, much more powerful.

He exhaled slowly, feeling his body buzz with energy. His skin was still warm, and every muscle felt denser and firmer beneath his sweat-soaked clothes.

His eyes slowly moved to the status screen.

[Name: Kael Ashen

Age: 20

Cultivation: Ninth Layer of the Qi Foundation Realm (High-Level Foundation)

Constitution: Higher Spiritual Constitution (100% Human)

Race: Human

Spiritual Roots: Spear Spiritual Roots (Rank D+)

Talent: Above Average

Qi: 3,000/3,000

Strength: 971

Agility: 1,052

Intelligence: 900

Vitality: 1,150

Martial Potential: 100

Soul Potential: 75]

A single drop had raised his martial potential by 25 points and pushed several of his attributes above one thousand.

Of course, one of the main factors behind this had been the upgrade of his constitution to a Higher Spiritual Constitution, which must have increased his attributes by about twenty percent.

It seemed like a small difference, but at higher levels, it was enormous.

Considering that no cultivator in the entire sect had ever formed an Earthly Constitution before the Nascent Ascension Realm, Kael was very satisfied, even though his constitution had advanced by only one level.

The increase in attributes alone had already been more than enough to make it worthwhile.

With a broad smile on his face, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, turned his attention back to his storage ring, and opened the other three mysterious boxes.