Chapter 40: The Overlord Body’s Might

Time flew by before Ryan even realized it.

After an unknown period, he finally woke up, slowly opening his bleary eyes.

"Just now... I actually passed out?" He rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly pushed himself to his feet, his head still heavy and aching. "How long has it been...?"

As he stretched his body, the bones throughout his frame crackled.

Then, without warning, a powerful surge of energy coursed through his body.

Ryan froze. He could clearly feel a continuous stream of strength flowing through his muscles and bones, filling him with an unfamiliar sense of power.

He was pleasantly surprised, though his body still felt somewhat unfamiliar to him.

More importantly, his entire body was covered in sticky blood and grime, leaving him extremely uncomfortable.

Ryan frowned and turned toward the window.

Outside, the sky had already begun to brighten with the first faint traces of dawn.

"Already morning?"

Judging by the sky, he had been unconscious for several hours.

Only then did Ryan realize that he had been too hasty the previous day.

It wasn’t that sealing and controlling a Bloodline Essence was inherently so painful that every attempt required him to endure a life-or-death ordeal.

Rather, the problem had been his own strength.

His current physique and cultivation were simply too weak to withstand the process of sealing a C-Grade Top-Tier Bloodline Essence in one go.

The Overlord Body Bloodline Essence was simply too powerful.

Trying to integrate it without adequate preparation had been like dancing on the edge of a blade with his life hanging in the balance.

Next time, if he wanted to integrate another high-grade Bloodline Essence, he would have to make proper preparations beforehand.

At the very least, he needed to prepare some auxiliary pills that could strengthen his body and reduce the burden of the fusion.

Otherwise, he really might lose his life before obtaining the benefits.

However, before Ryan could think any further, a series of notifications from the Boundless Creation Furnace suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

<Ding!>

[Essence Fusion Progress: 100%]

[Congratulations, Host!]

[Successfully fused: C-Grade Top-Tier Bloodline, Overlord Body!]

[Detected cultivation breakthrough!]

[Current cultivation: Origin Sea Convergence Realm, Stage Five!]

[Active Ability Unlocked: Rampaging Tyrant Strength]

[Passive Ability Unlocked: Overlord Body]

[Rampaging Tyrant Strength: Upon activating the Overlord Body Bloodline, the Host’s physical strength will increase tremendously. Attacks released while the ability is active will possess far greater force and impact than those of ordinary Awakened Ones.]

[Overlord Body: The Host’s physique will undergo a complete transformation, becoming incredibly tough, with bronze-like tendons and iron-like bones. The Host’s defensive capabilities will be greatly enhanced. When the Host takes damage, part of the Overlord Body’s Bloodline Essence will automatically manifest as an "Overlord Body Battle Armor" phantom, protecting the body and further reducing incoming damage.]

"This Bloodline ability is truly formidable!"

Ryan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"And sealing a single C-Grade Top-Tier Overlord Body Bloodline Essence actually pushed my cultivation from Stage Two all the way to Stage Five?"

He couldn’t help but feel ecstatic. He had never expected the benefits to be this exaggerated.

After successfully sealing and controlling the Overlord Body Bloodline Essence, it was as though the restraints within his body had suddenly been broken.

The enormous amount of Origin Energy contained within the Essence had been released during the fusion, allowing his cultivation to advance rapidly.

Fortunately, the Overlord Body Bloodline Essence was C-Grade Top-Tier.

Not only did it contain an extremely powerful Bloodline, but it also contained an enormous amount of Origin Energy.

That was the only reason it could push Ryan’s cultivation forward by three full stages in one go.

If it had merely been an ordinary D-Grade Bloodline Essence, Ryan would have been satisfied if it could help him advance even half a stage.

Thinking about it, Ryan couldn’t help but feel fortunate.

The intense pain he had endured during the sealing process suddenly seemed far more worthwhile.

Previously, his body had been covered in blood and grime, and he hadn’t had the chance to carefully examine the changes within him.

Now, with the Creation Furnace’s notifications confirming the results and the immense power continuously surging through his body, Ryan was completely exhilarated.

The advancement of three stages had saved him an enormous amount of time that he would otherwise have spent meditating and absorbing Origin Energy.

His previous resentment toward the brutal sealing process vanished without a trace.

’If this is the price I have to pay for such a harvest...’ A faint smile appeared on Ryan’s face. ’Then it’s not such a bad deal.’

With that thought, Ryan immediately extended his Mental Awareness inward and began carefully examining the subtle changes that had occurred throughout his body.

Although Ryan’s physique was still relatively slender, his body had undergone a complete transformation.

Beneath his smooth skin, powerful muscles now bulged subtly, without the slightest trace of excess fat. His overall physique resembled that of a powerful leopard, lean, compact, and filled with explosive strength.

Every muscle line was smooth yet sharply defined, as though his body had been forged from bronze and iron.

When Ryan had first awakened his D-Grade Ordinary Spider Bloodline, his physique had already improved considerably.

But the C-Grade Top-Tier Overlord Body Bloodline was on an entirely different level.

After successfully fusing with the Overlord Body Bloodline Essence, its powerful passive ability had completely transformed his physique, producing an earth-shattering improvement in his physical strength.

Most importantly, the weakness that had plagued Ryan since childhood had finally been completely eliminated.

If that weakness had remained, it would have severely restricted his physical strength and slowed the recovery of both his physical stamina and Origin Energy. Over time, it could have become a serious hidden danger to his future cultivation.

Fortunately, the Overlord Body Bloodline had completely resolved that problem.

After advancing three stages, Ryan’s physical strength and five senses had improved tremendously. Even his Mental Awareness, which was considerably more difficult to increase, had strengthened slightly.

Combined with the powerful body-tempering effect of the Overlord Body’s passive ability, his physique was now far superior to that of ordinary Bloodline Fighters at the same cultivation stage.

At this moment, deep within Ryan’s Origin Energy Sea, the Boundless Creation Furnace slowly floated in the center.

One of its Creation Slots flickered with brilliant golden light.

Around the Furnace, five pure-white streams of Origin Energy continuously circulated, each one surging with immense power. With every subtle movement Ryan made, a vast amount of primordial Origin Energy surged through his body.

"The total amount of Origin Energy has increased significantly as well."

Ryan nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he suddenly raised his right arm and activated the Overlord Body Bloodline.

In an instant, the five streams of pure-white Origin Energy surged toward the Creation Slot containing the sealed Overlord Body Bloodline Essence.

WHOOSH!

The moment the Origin Energy entered the slot, an extremely dense golden Origin Sea Bloodline immediately flowed back out.

It rapidly circulated throughout Ryan’s body before finally emerging through his skin.

In the blink of an eye, brilliant golden energy covered his entire body.

It looked as though Ryan had put on a dazzling golden battle suit, with waves of captivating energy continuously radiating from his body.

His right arm, in particular, was enveloped by an even denser layer of golden Origin Sea Bloodline.

Countless tiny golden dragons seemed to swim through the energy, endlessly circling his arm as they intermittently released surges of terrifying power.

Because the Boundless Creation Furnace had long since become integrated with Ryan, the Overlord Body Bloodline sealed within its Creation Slot could be controlled as naturally as one of his own limbs.

There was no sense of unfamiliarity or resistance.

It felt no different from a Bloodline ability awakened directly from his own Bloodline.

Ryan’s heart surged with excitement.

Suddenly, he clenched his fingers into a fist, lowered his waist, and tightened his abdomen.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

A series of muffled sounds echoed from within his body.

Then, an enormous force suddenly surged through his muscles and bones.

The Rampaging Tyrant Strength contained within his fist seemed eager to erupt.

Ryan couldn’t resist. He immediately threw a heavy punch toward the wall of the training room.

BANG!

A thunderous impact exploded. The entire training room trembled violently.

Ryan’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected such a seemingly casual punch to produce such a tremendous disturbance.

Looking at the wall, he saw a head-sized depression where his fist had struck. Dense, spiderweb-like cracks spread outward from the impact point.

However, after only a few moments, the terrifying depression began to recover.

The dent gradually became shallower.

The cracks slowly disappeared.

Before long, the wall had returned to its original smooth and pristine condition, as though Ryan had never struck it at all.

Ryan wasn’t disappointed.

Instead, his eyes shone with excitement as he stared at his right fist.

"With just a casual punch, I was able to leave such a deep mark on a wall specifically designed for Bloodline Fighters..."

His voice carried a hint of disbelief.

"What terrifying physical strength!"

Ryan knew that the training rooms inside high-end residences such as Winters Manor were far from ordinary.

The walls, floors, and ceilings were all constructed from specially refined materials and reinforced by powerful Battle Formations.

They were specifically designed to withstand the destructive power of Bloodline Fighters.

One of the primary materials used in their construction was a special alloy known as meteorite gold.

Meteorite gold was forged by combining impact-resistant extraterrestrial meteorites with various rare metals possessing powerful memory properties.

The resulting material was extraordinarily durable.

Under ordinary circumstances, even powerful attacks would struggle to leave a mark on it.

Its most remarkable characteristic, however, was its memory property.

Unless the damage exceeded a certain threshold and completely shattered the material, meteorite gold could gradually restore itself to its original form.

With the additional energy supplied by the surrounding Battle Formation, dents, cracks, and other minor forms of damage could be repaired automatically.

That was precisely why specialized training rooms could withstand repeated attacks from powerful Bloodline Fighters.

Of course, high-grade Battle Artifacts and Secret Treasures also incorporated numerous other precious materials, including parts from powerful Exotic Beasts and high-grade Beast Cores.

As a result, they were generally far more durable than the meteorite-gold walls of a training room, while possessing considerably greater functionality.

Nevertheless, as a foundational material, meteorite gold remained extremely valuable and was widely used in the construction of specialized training rooms and the forging of high-grade Battle Artifacts and Secret Treasures.

And Ryan had just left a head-sized crater in a wall forged from such material with a casual punch.

That alone was enough to demonstrate just how terrifying the physical strength granted by the Overlord Body Bloodline was.

"This is great!"

Ryan couldn’t suppress the excitement in his voice.

"Now that I’m considerably stronger, it’s time to go out and earn some money!"

He finally possessed enough strength to protect himself to a certain extent.

Unfortunately, there was still one major problem.

His pre-spending limit had already been completely exhausted.

He had to find a way to repay the debt within a month.

Thinking about this, Ryan immediately became energized.

He hurried into the bathroom, quickly washed the sweat, blood, and grime from his body, and changed into a fresh set of black night clothes and boots.

A short while later, he walked out of the bathroom feeling completely refreshed.

"Mira, is there any way to conceal my aura and appearance?"

Ryan suddenly remembered something.

He had just realized that it was still too dangerous for him to move around outside without precautions.

Although his strength had increased tremendously, confronting the Sterling Family head-on would still be like an egg trying to smash a rock.

His greatest weakness was still his shallow foundation.

He needed time to cultivate and accumulate strength.

He didn’t know whether the Sterling Family had already uncovered the truth behind Wesley’s death, but regardless of what they knew, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

Acting recklessly could easily expose his identity and, even worse, drag his family into the conflict.

That was something Ryan absolutely could not allow.

"Yes, Master."

Mira floated quietly within his Origin Energy Sea, her brows slightly furrowed as she explained seriously.

"However, manifesting the Furnace’s divine abilities externally consumes a considerable amount of energy."

"With your current cultivation, the Creation Furnace would require at least three Low-Grade Origin Stones just to operate at a basic level. It would then need a trace of Boundless Energy, diluted by a factor of one billion, to activate the ability."

"Each activation can last for a maximum of half a day. Furthermore, as your cultivation realm increases, the energy consumption will also increase, requiring more Origin Stones."

"Requires that much energy?" Ryan’s expression changed slightly. "Three Low-Grade Origin Stones just to maintain it for half a day?"

His teeth clenched, and his face twisted with reluctance. "And it gets even more expensive as my cultivation realm increases...?"

Ryan felt a sharp pang in his heart. Three Low-Grade Origin Stones might not sound like much compared to his previous expenditures, but he had already exhausted his available resources.

Still, he had no better option at the moment.

"Sigh... Fine. Let’s do it."

With a resigned expression, Ryan took three Low-Grade Origin Stones from his spatial ring.

The moment the three Origin Stones appeared, the Boundless Creation Furnace within his Origin Energy Sea suddenly released a powerful suction force.

WHOOSH!

The three Origin Stones instantly transformed into streams of pure energy.

The energy first flowed through Ryan’s Origin Energy Sea before being completely absorbed by the Boundless Creation Furnace.

Immediately afterward, a faint, misty divine radiance descended from above and enveloped Ryan’s entire body.

Then, a gray halo slowly formed about an inch away from his skin.

The halo rotated gently around him, shrouding his entire body in a mysterious, hazy radiance.