Chapter 47: Metamorphosis
Soon, the second inscription was completed.
Upon seeing it, Su Hao frowned. "This time, five new nodes have been added. It seems that the number of nodes is more than expected. The good news is that three stable nodes have been discovered."
Again!
Su Hao focused his entire mind and body on inscribing the beast patterns. As long as he had enough mental energy, he would inscribe the patterns and temporarily put everything else aside.
He could inscribe at least 20 times every day.
Ten days later...
Xiao Guang received over 200 sets of inscribing data. After continuous comparison and adjustment, the current structure of the patterns was in perfect harmony with Su Hao. Even if he were to inscribe the patterns immediately, he would directly advance to become a Grandmaster Martial Artist.
However, he still felt that it wasn't perfect. There were still subtle adjustments that could be made to achieve complete fluency.
The pursuit of perfect inscriptions was unimaginable to others.
Most people would spend at least a year adjusting and attempting inscriptions. With the possibility of failure halfway through, their patience would have long been exhausted. If they could find a structure that could barely succeed in the inscriptions, they would undoubtedly solidify it without hesitation and advance to become a Master Martial Artist.
This was because not everyone had Xiao Guang's ability to collect and analyze data. The lengthy process of endurance and experimentation could make many weak-willed individuals give up.
Furthermore, without Xiao Guang's guidance like a navigation system, most people would fail halfway through when faced with such complex patterns.
Su Hao adjusted the structure once again. After completing the inscription, he observed the dynamics of the runes. He repeatedly confirmed that each node had achieved a smooth state.
He suddenly frowned. "There is a slight conflict and repulsion in one of the nodes."
He immediately commanded Xiao Guang, "Xiao Guang, analyze node 94 and calculate the adjustment options."
"Calculation successful. Node 94 has six adjustment options."
Again!
Su Hao exited the Ballistic Space and began attempting the inscription.
As he became more proficient in inscribing, his speed greatly increased. Soon, he succeeded in the inscription.
Su Hao entered the Ballistic Space once again to observe.
"It's not working here!"
Again!
When Su Hao attempted the fourth position...
A smooth sensation permeated his entire body. Su Hao immediately exclaimed in surprise, "It worked!"
He immediately entered the Ballistic Space and observed the state of his body.
The runes on the inside of his chest cavity, between his ribs and spine, seemed to have fused with his body. They were extremely harmonious, fluctuating with the movement of his muscles as he breathed, as if they were innate.
After careful observation for a while, Su Hao found no issues. Finally, he relaxed and sighed, "This structure is perfect! I can solidify the inscription."
After exiting the Ballistic Space, he glanced at the slanted evening sun outside the window and sighed sincerely, "Advancing to become a Master is truly difficult! I can't imagine how people in this world, without the help of computers, complete such complex inscriptions! It can only be said that every Master Martial Artist is a pride of the human race."
"Fortunately, I can program! Indeed, knowledge changes one's destiny." Su Hao was extremely delighted at the moment.
But he had something even more important to do, which was to solidify the inscription.
Su Hao entered a state of meditation again, focusing his consciousness within his body.
"Solidify, inscribe!"
As Su Hao controlled his consciousness, the blood energy that formed the runes began to boil. It wriggled within his body like worms, pushing aside the surrounding flesh and blood to form a pattern made of flesh and blood.
Su Hao ignored the itchiness caused by the displacement of flesh and blood and followed the process of inscription step by step: "First, displace the flesh and blood to form the pattern and quickly gather more blood energy to fill it. It only needs to be maintained for two days to solidify the runes."
After filling the pattern formed by the displaced flesh and blood with blood energy, Su Hao opened his eyes.
Now, he just needed to wait for two days.
At this moment, Su Hao finally relaxed. "After ten days of intense work and studying, I can finally get a good night's sleep!"
After greeting the administrator, Su Hao left without delay and returned to his dormitory to sleep.
...
Two days later, as the flesh and blood runes in his body solidified, a transformation began to take place.
The "Perception Rune" within his body underwent subtle changes. Each node seemed conscious, growing small organ-like tendrils on their own. They resembled neural nodes, connecting the runes with the flesh and blood, merging them together.
Through the wondrous connection between the "Perception Rune" and his physical body, the Nine Palaces, distributed throughout his body, formed a complete network. The runes served as the hub of this network.
The blood energy throughout his body also interconnected through this network.
The significance of this network extended far beyond its initial purpose. As time passed, this network would become a vast reservoir of blood energy, capable of holding an enormous amount.
The difference between a bucket of water and a flowing river, as Old Liu had described, was not an exaggeration.
If Su Hao's previous blood energy stored in the Nine Palaces could be compared to a bucket, the newly formed network could hold the volume of an entire river.
Currently, this network capable of holding a river only contained a bucket of water.
This made Su Hao feel like his entire body was empty. He once again experienced the feelings of "weakness" and "yearning."
The characteristic of this rune was perception, which greatly enhanced his perception abilities. However, Su Hao had not yet noticed any significant enhancement in his perception.
He speculated that it was because the transformation had just begun and the blood energy had not completed its change. Alternatively, the amount of blood energy was too small. He needed to fully replenish the dried-up river in his body, as Old Liu had mentioned, to reach a level of "surging and raging" in order to see noticeable changes.
"So, the next step is to quickly convert the blood energy!" Su Hao set a new goal for himself.
Half a month later...
Su Hao, sitting cross-legged on the ground, opened his eyes. Feeling that only half of the blood energy had been replenished, he couldn't help but be speechless. "In the past half month, I've been tirelessly and efficiently converting blood energy every day. And yet, I've only replenished half? My efficiency is already quite fast. How long would it take for others to replenish their blood energy? It would probably take more than half a year!"
However, Su Hao overlooked a crucial factor.
That was the difference between his rune network and those of others.
While inscribing the runes, he had pursued perfection, ensuring that every part of the runes flowed naturally without any interruptions.
A perfect inscription like this naturally had a tremendous capacity to hold blood energy.
On the other hand, when others inscribed the runes, as long as they could function properly, their requirements were not as high. Thus, the construction of their rune networks was naturally less complete, their capacity for holding blood energy limited, and the effectiveness of their attributes greatly reduced.
If the amount of blood energy other Masters could hold were
compared to a pond, the amount Su Hao could hold would be comparable to a lake. The two were simply not in the same league.
This was the impact of advanced technology on a primitive society.
In other words, he didn't need to worry about how long it would take for others to convert their blood energy. He should be concerned about himself.
Su Hao habitually entered the Ballistic Space.
"Age: 10 years and 5 months;
Height: 153.5cm;
Weight: 53kg;
Physical condition: Healthy;
Level: Initial Master Martial Artist;
Elite Blood Energy: 869;
Runes: Perception;
Weapon Mastery: Basic Knife Art (Mastery);...
Basic Combat Technique: Rising Fist (Ultimate Technique);...
Basic Footwork: Basic Footwork (Mastery); Shadow Glide (Mastery);...
Variable Control: Blood Energy Strengthening Function (Mastery),..."
Apart from the surge in blood energy, there were no other changes.
He then checked the logs.
"1532656, July 13th, Day 0 Hour 0 Minute 0 Second,
'Light of the Universe 2.3' has no new missions;
Physical condition: Healthy, no abnormalities;
Perception Rune is operating normally without anomalies;
Lingyun Martial Academy's annual competition will take place tomorrow. Please arrange your schedule accordingly;
Lingyun Martial Academy will go on break in three days. Please arrange your schedule accordingly;
Paused mission: Reading materials in the Lingyun Library, current progress paused at 57%;
Advanced martial artist data successfully recorded, progress: Ordinary Martial Artists, Elite Martial Artists, Master Martial Artists;
...
Statistics: Current balance of 2 gold yuan and 34 silver yuan;
..."
Suddenly, one entry caught his attention, leaving him momentarily stunned.
"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be the two-day annual competition, and then it's vacation."
Time passed so quickly!
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