I took out the book Sister Yu had given me from my spatial ring. When I did, I suddenly remembered an important thing I had forgotten. The demons! I was going to talk to her about it. I had completely forgotten about it for four days!

I perspired. If she knew that I forgot something this important, she won’t let me off lightly. She would annoy the hell out of me with her snide remarks for days. I couldn’t let this happen, I needed to salvage the situation. Then it occurred to me. She didn’t need to know. I could just say that I saw the demons today. Perfect.

I will search for her tomorrow and tell her, I resolved. Calming myself down, I opened the book and began to read it.

‘Ages ago, long before humans came into existence, the world was under the rule of Primordial Beings. They were mighty warriors. With a single stomp, they would cause earthquakes. With a single wave of their hands, they would collapse the sky. Even a simple sneeze they gave were enough to blow mountains into smithereens…’

Oh, please! I couldn’t help but snort at the ridiculous description I was reading. Couldn’t they have exaggerated a little less? Rolling my eyes, I continued.

‘…This ancient race, for some inexplicable reason, disappeared from the world. All signs of them were wiped out, apart from a few records from that era. It was like they never existed in the first place.’

It was excruciating. The author of this book knew how to torture his readers. He kept on going about an ancient history that didn’t seem to have any relevance. Yet, I couldn’t skip it for the fear of missing some vital information. It was only when I was halfway through the book that I finally came across the information that I wanted.

‘…Transformations, in essence, is the ability to transform into lesser version of one of those primordial beings. There are many theories regarding why some humans can transform while others can’t. One theory states that those humans were descended from the primordial beings. Another states that some sort of mutation happened with the traits of those humans, which later evolved to transformation abilities…’

The author carried on with his verbose theory for a while before giving some more useful information.

‘…Transformation abilities don’t seem to possess any side effects like having too many traits seemed to do. However, when a person uses it, it seems to deplete Lifeforce and Qi at a very rapid pace. Also, the user is required to have high control. There were times when humans were unable to control their transformation.

I closed the book.

Ding!

You have gained +1 Comprehension.

I brought the notification screen I had left unattended for a while and thought carefully about it. There didn’t seem to be major disadvantage to possessing [Chimera Transformation]. It was powerful. There was the drawback of it eating too much Lifeforce and Qi but with my regeneration, it shouldn’t pose a huge problem. Besides, I was not planning to use it as my main skill but rather a trump card.

I affirmed the selection in my head.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have acquired [Chimera Transformation].

I opened my status window. An extra stat column, Transformation, was added; below it, [Chimera Transformation] was listed. I nodded in satisfaction.

A sweet aroma of meat wafted over to my nose from the kitchen. I knew that Xue’er was almost done with the preparation of dinner. Not betraying my expectation, I heard her call me in a few moments later. “Young master, dinner is ready!”

I stood up and moved towards the kitchen.

After our expedition to the forest, Xue’er had transformed. She was not a timid child anymore. She had finally opened her heart fully to Byakko, Ling and me. I was really happy about her change.

Byakko and Ling were already sitting on the table eying the food with drools in their mouth. I couldn’t help but sigh. There was no helping these gluttons. Not that I was in any position to scold them.

I took a seat.

Xue’er brought the last of the dishes and sat. “Young master. Byakko. Ling. Please dig in,” she said with a wide smile on her face when she saw our hungry faces.

“Thank you for the food,” I muttered, reaching out my hand for the food in the center of the table.

Byakko and Ling didn’t bother to say anything and jumped at the food.

Slowly, our mealtime descended into chaos. Like always. But it was different tonight. I only realized when we had almost cleared the food on the table. Byakko and Ling seemed to have realized the same thing at almost the same time. All of us looked at Xue’er as if we had discussed this before.

Xue’er gave a bashful smile as she nibbled at the meat in her hand. “I seem to… I seem to have developed a huge appetite after the tribulation,” she said in an embarrassed tone.

The three of us nodded at her, still in the state of surprise.

I thought it over. Is it because of the Cultivation Method? I wondered. I hadn’t noticed any change happen in Byakko and me but we weren’t exactly good test subjects. We were people with huge appetite to begin with. Heart’s Yearning was something I created. It wouldn’t surprise me if [Innards of a God] had a subtle influence on it.

I decided not to dwell too much on it. It was a good thing for Xue’er if she was able to eat more. With more food, she would be able to gain more stats.

“Don’t be shy,” I told her. “Eat to your heart’s content.”

“En.” Xue’er nodded, a slight blush spreading across her face.

The first thing I did the next day was to look for Sister Yu. I couldn’t keep the matter of the demons gathering pending for a long time. If I was late and something irreversible happened, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

With [Kaleidoscope Eye], it was easy to locate her.

Oh? When I saw where she was, I couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. But in a way, it suited her. She was sparring with some guys at a training ground. From what I could see, she was overwhelming them.

I made my way towards her location.

“Ren!” She called out as soon as she saw me. She exchanged some words with her training partners and jogged towards me. “What brings you here?” she asked.

“Can we find some place quiet?” I said. “It’s not something I want everyone to hear.”

She looked around for a bit and nodded. “Give me a few moments. I will get changed and come back.” She gestured at her coarse training clothes. She ran to one of the buildings near the training ground and came out dressed in a red silk robe. “Let’s go,” she said.

We found a quiet teahouse. With the influence she possessed, it wasn’t difficult for us to get a compartment all to ourselves.

“So, what did you want to talk?” she asked after the servers had left the tiny room after serving the tea.

I told her about what I found in a concise manner. Naturally, I didn’t tell her that it was something that I came across more than a few days ago.

“How did you find out?” she asked.

I activated [Kaleidoscope Eye] and switched between modes. “My eyes are a little special,” I told her. Even though we had known each other for a while, we hadn’t divulged our secrets to each other. We also didn’t ask. Apparently, it was considered rude to ask about others’ traits. Not that I needed to. I could use [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] and get all the information I wanted. But I avoided doing it unless it was absolutely necessary. Or I was unable to contain my curiosity…

“Oh!” Sister Yu gave me a blank look. She must not have expected me to reveal one of my traits. “You should not expose your trait like this,” She said in a stern tone after she recovered from her surprise. She put on a strict demeanor. “Your trait is your lifeline. Once you show it to others, others will be able to counter it. Until and unless you have absolute trust in that person, you should hide your strength. This world is not as simple as it looks on the surface.”

“I understand, Sister Yu,” I told her. “Besides, I trust Sister Yu.” It was the truth. After interacting with her for a while, I felt like I could trust her.

Sister Yu picked her tea and sipped it without replying. I found a rare flush on her face. I felt like teasing her but stopped. I was pretty sure she would go berserk on me if I did that. It was better to not wake the sleeping tigress.

She set down her cup and coughed. “I will pass on this message to my grandfather. He should be able to verify it. If what you said is the truth, then a huge calamity is about to befall the Red Dawn City.” She stood up. “I will go and tell my grandfather immediately.”

“Yeah, you should.” The information was already more than a few days old. I hoped there weren’t any changes with the demons.

After saying goodbye, she walked to the entrance of the compartment when she turned back. She appeared to have remembered something. “The Auction is in two days. Don’t forget. Don’t disappear on me like last time. If you do, I will never forgive you.”

I nodded.

After a few extra reminders, she finally left.

I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile. Now that I was all by myself, I wondered if I should go and look around the city. Apart from the restaurants and the inn I lived in, I hadn’t explored much of it. But in the end, I decided against it.

That would just be a waste of time. It would be better to use that time to do something productive.

I went to a little cave a few kilometers away from the city. There were few beasts around. Moreover, there weren’t any humans around. It was a quiet place. Perfect for you to meditate and try to get some insights.

Ding!

Congratulations! You have comprehended the skill .

I checked the details.

BURST STEP (Epic)

Enables you to make short burst of high-speed movement.

The two skill slots I got after breaking through to Foundational Stage was still empty. After much contemplation, I decided on a movement skill for the first one. I didn’t have a good movement skill, so this choice was obvious. couldn’t be considered one since all it did was create a stable footing, which was great for shooting but not so much for moving. I recalled the awkward moment when I had to flee from the beasts when I went out to train solo just because I was unable to engage them in close range. I wanted a movement skill that would enable me to shoot while on the move.

I frowned. None of the skills somehow satisfied me. With , there was also and , which I comprehended previously. None of them fit the bill.

I couldn’t give up just like that. I closed my eyes and tried to come up with another skill. I wanted a skill that would allow me to shoot from anywhere. Even if it was from the sky!

Ding!

Congratulations! You have comprehended the skill .

The details of the skill went like this.

SKY WALK (Epic)

Enables you to walk in the air.

This was a pretty good skill. With the Qi that I possessed and my regeneration ability, I was confident that I would be able to stay in the air for a long time. It was still missing something. The all-important speed was not there. If I stayed in the air using this skill, I would be easy prey for the flying beasts and long ranged attackers.

The highest rank skill I could comprehend at the moment was epic. There seemed to be some sort of wall that stopped me from reaching out to legendary-ranked ones. I knew my comprehension was not enough.

What the hell was I supposed to do? If only there was a skill that encompassed all the four movement skills I comprehended.

Wait a moment! I could try and combine the four skills.

I saw a slight glimmer of light in the darkness.

Once again, I dived into the deep recess of my mind. I brought out the details of the four skills in my mind and imagined them combining into one skill.

Ding!

Not enough insight.

Sorry! Unable to combine the skills.

I opened my eyes in frustration. This time I truly felt like I had hit some sort of a wall.

Forget it! I could only give up for now.

I looked at the horizon. The sun was already setting. It would be night before long. I needed to get home before those three fellows started to get worried about me. I will continue on this path, I decided. So what if my insight was not enough today, it wouldn’t be the same next time.

Su Ren’s status:

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Foundational 1

34/2000 Essence)

Lifeforce

7060/7060 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

Qi

7040/7040 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

665

Physique

706

Movement

694

Control

696

Soul

704

Comprehension

710

Charm

80

Fate

47

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Pure Yang Body

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Divine Yang Butterfly

Metal Bow

Living Grimoire

Aroma

TRANSFORMATION

Chimera Transformation

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

8/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

8/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

5/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

3/10

5.

Mindscape

Epic

1/10

6.

7.