Deep beneath Aksai’s palace.
The secret cave chamber.
At the center of the chamber stood a raised stone platform.
Humeyin Blackblood lay quietly on her back upon it, her eyes closed and her body completely still.
She appeared to be asleep.
But this was no ordinary slumber.
Countless intricate lines of light spread across the stone platform and continued outward, forming a vast and mysterious array beneath and around her. The formation surrounded Humeyin’s body like a massive web, with several complex patterns converging beneath her.
Unlike the conventional formations found throughout Dadangar World, this formation did not rely solely on the principles of Spirit cultivation.
It incorporated concepts from both the Qi cultivation path and the Aether cultivation path.
The formation was the product of Aksai’s countless experiments.
He had spent decades experimenting with the bloodlines of Woodland creatures and various monsters, carefully observing how bloodline power interacted with their bodies, souls, and origins. Every successful experiment had allowed him to refine his understanding a little further.
Eventually, he created this formation.
It was capable of examining, stimulating, and influencing the interaction between a bloodline’s origin, the physical vessel, and the soul.
But this was the first time Aksai had used it on a human being.
And not just any human.
Humeyin possessed a natal bloodline.
That distinction was extremely important.
A natal bloodline wasn’t merely an ability embedded within one’s body.
It was something that had become part of the individual’s very origin.
Both the vessel and the soul possessed characteristics corresponding to the bloodline. They had developed together from the beginning, making the bloodline inseparable from the individual’s fundamental existence.
An acquired bloodline was different.
Whether it was acquired by altering the physical vessel or modifying the soul, there was still a degree of separation between the bloodline and the individual’s original nature.
Given the right circumstances, an acquired bloodline could undergo what Aksai had termed Origin Reversal.
For example, Aksai’s druidic bloodline was an acquired bloodline. As such, there was still some difference between his vessel that had obtained the druidic bloodline and his human soul.
Through Origin Reversal, an acquired bloodline could, to a certain extent, return to the state it had possessed before the bloodline was acquired.
Humeyin’s situation was fundamentally different. There was nothing to reverse. Her soul and vessel had already grown alongside her bloodline.
They were naturally synchronized.
As such, Aksai didn’t need to force the two to recognize one another. Instead, he needed to understand how her bloodline functioned at its deepest level.
A short distance away from Humeyin stood another section of the formation. It was one of the controlling Array Eyes.
Aksai sat cross-legged within it. His eyes were closed.
He wasn’t watching Humeyin. He wasn’t even paying attention to the formation around him. His consciousness had sunk deep into his own mind.
Aksai was cultivating.
But his cultivation this time was different from his usual meditation. He was once again exploring his bloodline memories.
Recently, Aksai had refined his Druidic Bloodline to another level. That breakthrough had awakened another portion of the memories hidden within his bloodline.
And those memories contained information he had never possessed before.
Images, sensations, fragments of knowledge, and experiences that didn’t entirely feel like his own repeatedly surfaced within his consciousness.
Aksai carefully examined each fragment. He didn’t attempt to absorb everything at once.
Instead, he patiently went through the memories again and again, trying to separate genuine bloodline inheritance from instinctive reactions and fragmented impressions.
At the same time, the mysterious formation continued operating around Humeyin.
Every cycle of the formation caused the intricate patterns beneath her to shift slightly.
Qi flowed through one section. Aether responded in another. Aksai had used Qi condensation liquid extracted from the Flesh Pumpkins and Aether Crystals in order to avoid any potential problems while operating such a complex formation inside a world that had only Spirit essence as its dominant primal energy.
At the same time, the Spirit Essence of Dadangar World was carefully incorporated into the process without overwhelming the other two systems.
Aksai had deliberately designed it this way.
He wasn’t trying to forcibly suppress Humeyin’s Light Devouring Physique. He was trying to understand it.
Only after understanding the relationship between her bloodline, soul, and vessel would he be able to determine whether there was a way to help her control the terrifying power that had accompanied her since birth.
And for the first time, Aksai had a human subject upon whom he could test everything he had learned.
Humeyin remained motionless on the stone platform. Her breathing was slow and steady.
The black bandages covering her body concealed almost every inch of exposed skin, leaving only her face visible.
Only the formation continued to operate.
Among the seemingly countless memory fragments that had surfaced after the refinement of Aksai’s Druidic Bloodline, there was one particular section that had captured his attention.
It concerned an ability he already possessed known as the Beast Taming.
Aksai had always treated Beast Taming as a relatively straightforward Druidic blessing.
It allowed him to establish a connection with creatures, tame them, and exert a certain degree of influence over their instincts and behavior.
It was useful, arguably powerful but ultimately limited.
At least, that was what Aksai had believed. As he continued processing the newly awakened memories, however, his understanding of the blessing gradually changed.
He began to see Beast Taming from an entirely different perspective.
It wasn’t merely an ability to make a beast obey. It was a method of establishing a spiritual relationship between the Druid and the creature.
The deeper the connection, the more information could be transmitted through it. The more refined the connection, the greater the degree of control.
Aksai surprisingly found out that he could even imprint his own emotions onto the tamed beasts using this ability. This was not different from brainwashing to a certain extent.
Aksai’s consciousness trembled slightly as he comprehended this principle.
"So that’s how it works..."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
The original Beast Taming blessing was merely the foundation.
There were more advanced applications hidden within it.
And one of them had finally become accessible to him.
Druidic Familiar.
The moment Aksai comprehended the principle behind the ability, a subtle change occurred within his soul.
The Druidic blessing that had already existed inside him seemed to become clearer. It was as if a previously obscured branch had finally revealed itself.
Druidic Familiar wasn’t an entirely new blessing. It was a more refined application of Beast Taming.
Instead of simply establishing a connection with a tamed creature, it allowed the Druid to maintain a far more precise and persistent degree of control over the creature. Imprinting one’s emotions onto the tamed creatures was also possible using the Druidic Familiar.
Its thoughts. Its movements. Its instincts. Even the way it responded to the Druid’s commands could be influenced with considerably greater precision.
There was, naturally, a price.
Aksai could immediately sense it.
Soul Essence consumption.
The deeper the control, the greater the expenditure.
If he attempted to control a powerful creature directly through Druidic Familiar, the burden on his soul could become considerable.
Under normal circumstances, that limitation would have made the ability somewhat troublesome to use repeatedly.
But Aksai had already prepared for this. His gaze shifted slightly toward the formation surrounding him.
The intricate patterns beneath his body suddenly brightened.
A portion of the burden generated by the Druidic Familiar blessing was transferred into the formation and it responded immediately.
The Aether Crystals embedded within its structure began glowing one after another. They supplied the necessary energy while the formation regulated the interaction between Aksai’s soul and the Druidic blessing.
Aksai’s eyes opened slightly. He had already anticipated this possibility while designing the formation. He simply hadn’t had the opportunity to test it.
Now he finally did.
The result was better than expected.
The formation didn’t simply provide raw energy. It regulated the expenditure and helped him express his druidic power better.
Instead of forcing Aksai’s soul to bear the entire cost of Druidic Familiar, the formation distributed and stabilized the additional burden through the Aether Crystals.
That meant Aksai could maintain a much more refined degree of control without exhausting his own Soul Essence at the same rate.
At this point, when the blessing and formation started operating in tandem, something stirred around him.
Tiny points of light began appearing in the air. At first, they resembled floating specks of dust. Then more appeared.
Soon, several small clusters of shimmering particles floated around Aksai like clouds of glowing smoke.
They moved together.
Separately.
Then together again.
The creatures were so tiny that an ordinary cultivator might have mistaken them for drifting motes of Spirit Essence.
They were Aksai’s Void Gu.
The mysterious creatures hovered around him in countless miniature swarms, their tiny bodies producing a faint shimmer that made them resemble clouds of microscopic fireflies.
Aksai looked at them with interest.
The Void Gu were exceptionally mysterious. Even after studying them for a considerable period, there were still aspects of their existence that Aksai didn’t fully understand.
However their size and powers were precisely why they were perfect for his current experiment.
Aksai activated Druidic Familiar.
The moment the blessing took effect, the tiny creatures began responding.
One cluster moved left. Another moved right.
Several scattered through the chamber before returning to their original positions.
He increased the degree of control using his druidic powers.
The clusters immediately became more organized. Hundreds of microscopic Void Gu moved together as though they were a single organism.
This wasn’t simply training his newly acquired ability.
It was preparation.
His next step in the bloodline experiment involving Humeyin required something capable of operating at a microscopic level.
Something that could enter places conventional Spirit techniques couldn’t reach.
Something that could interact with her bloodline without directly disturbing her soul or physical vessel.
The Void Gu were the closest thing he had to such a tool.
If he could refine his control over them through Druidic Familiar, he could potentially use them as nanobots within the next stage of his experiment using Nuri’s super analytical computational capabilities.
At this point, Aksai’s gaze moved toward the sleeping Humeyin. His expression became serious.
He wasn’t going to experiment recklessly on her. Her Light Devouring Physique was far too dangerous for that.
But if his hypothesis was correct, the Void Gu might allow him to investigate her bloodline at a level that had previously been impossible.
And now, for the first time, he had discovered a method to control them with unprecedented precision.
Aksai closed his eyes again.
The clusters of Void Gu continued moving around him.
Like tiny clouds of luminous fireflies, they danced through the underground chamber according to his will.
The first successful application of Druidic Familiar had begun.
"If everything goes right, Humeyin will become the greatest assassin this world has ever seen."
Aksai said to himself as he sent the cluster of Void Gu towards her.