"Why? Is there a problem?"

Merlin frowned. He grew slightly worried at the shop owner's expression.

"There are no difficulties. It's just that some of these materials are very precious…"

The shopkeeper didn't continue. He secretly glanced at Merlin and felt odd. These materials were strange. If his shop was not large, and had a variety of goods, he would not be able to provide everything. Furthermore, he did not have a large quantity of most of the materials on the list.

"The price… Just be blunt. How much is the total?"

Merlin was glad. There were no problems as long as there were enough materials. Even if the price was a little steep, he had more than a thousand gold coins, so he should be able to afford it.

The shopkeeper made a rough estimation and gnashed his teeth. "This is a big deal. Some materials are too precious. Moreover, the situation in the Holy Dragon Empire isn't very good now, so it's very troublesome to transport them to the Holy Dragon Empire… How about this, one unit of each material for one hundred and thirty gold coins."

"One hundred and thirty gold coins?"

Although Merlin knew the price might be a little steep, he did not expect it to be so expensive. His expression immediately sank. One hundred and thirty gold coins were not a small sum.

The shopkeeper's face grew bitter as he cautioned, "Sir, this is already a discounted price. Some of these materials are too precious. If you want others, we can recommend them to you. The price would be lower as well."

Merlin stared at the shopkeeper carefully. It did not seem like he was extorting him. These raw materials were indeed very expensive.

"Alright, give me one of each for One hundred and thirty gold coins!"

Merlin took out a small bag of gold coins. The shopkeeper's eyes immediately brightened as he sent someone to prepare what Merlin had requested.

Soon, Merlin got the raw materials he needed, and left the shop. Although he still had eight hundred and seventy gold coins, what he just bought was only a fraction of the materials he needed.

The Hermani formula required more than two hundred kinds of materials, each of which was important and indispensable. If one material was missing, the Nourishment Pond formula would not be effective.

Therefore, he needed to continue to purchase other materials. It was likely that there would be very little of the one thousand gold coins left. Merlin originally wanted to purchase some materials in bulk but it seemed that he could only buy one for each.

"Let's go to other shops."

Along with two heavy knights, Merlin visited several other shops in the Holy Dragon Empire. Merlin was very lucky and managed to buy all the raw materials for the Hermani Nourishment Pond. However, the price was relatively high, and he had spent six hundred and seventy gold coins.

In addition to the one hundred and thirty gold coins from before, there were only two hundred gold coins left from Merlin's original one thousand gold coins. The rate of spending left the two heavy knights beside him stunned and surprised.

However, they were only bodyguards protecting Merlin, and would not interfere with Merlin's affairs.

"Almost done. There are only two hundred gold coins left so it's impossible to buy another set of materials. We'll go back first."

Merlin hesitated before making a decision. He would first return to prepare the Nourishment Pond formula. From Boulder City to the Holy Dragon Empire, he had delayed a few months' worth of time. However, he had been looking forward to preparing the Nourishment Pond so he was quite excited now.

Returning to the mansion, Merlin did not see Count Stanwin but he did not enquire either. Instead, he went directly to the basement of the mansion. Every noble's manor had a secret basement, and this basement had been abandoned and hence, unused for a long time. Merlin had allowed some people to clean it up last night, and temporarily used it as his laboratory.

Each Host had his own laboratory as unlike those who had inherited the almighty beast bloodlines, Hosts had to constantly strengthen their bloodline with Nourishment Ponds and targeted improvements after Nourishment Ponds became ineffective.

This required the use of a laboratory. The basement was only relatively quiet, and was still far from a real laboratory.

However, it could still be used now. A suitable laboratory would be built later.

In the middle of the laboratory was an oval pond that had been filled with a dark green juice that looked very viscous. It was a beast bone soup that Merlin had ordered the guards to brew all night. Added with some special materials, it was the most basic liquid of a Nourishment Pond.

Later, one by one, he added more than two hundred kinds of raw materials into the Nourishment Pond according to the dosage stated in the Hermani formula. Immediately, the entire Nourishment Pond started to boil and bubble, emitting a strange and unpleasant odor.

It took Merlin more than two hours to add the two hundred or so materials into the Nourishment Pond. The Nourishment Pond that was dark green had turned black, and was almost ready. 

"It should be ready. Let's try the effect."

Merlin muttered lowly. He turned from the basement and took out a large dog that had been prepared in advance.

This large dog looked ferocious and held a fierce gleam in its eyes but it was firmly caught by Merlin and could not struggle.

"Go."

Merlin threw the large dog into the inky Nourishment Pond.

"Splash."

The large dog fell into the Nourishment Pond and spattered droplets around. The dog struggled desperately in the Nourishment Pond, and its body could be seen gradually growing and becoming stronger at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"It's effective?"

Merlin knew the Nourishment Pond was extraordinary but he did not expect the effect to be so good. He naturally needed to test it with a large dog to be safe.

Seeing that it worked, he grabbed the large dog. He did not want to waste all the precious materials on the dog. 

The large dog which was thrown to the ground pounced on Merlin furiously. However, Merlin now had the almighty beast's will and his physical quality had improved greatly, and kicked the large dog into the distance with one foot. Despite that, the large dog immediately turned over and stood up without any injuries.

Just as Merlin was watching the dog carefully, the canine suddenly trembled, and let out shrill shrieks. Then, the dog's blood vessels burst one after another, reducing it to a bloody lump of meat. The entire laboratory was filled with the strong scent of blood.

"It's dead?"

Merlin frowned as he approached to take a closer look. From his preliminary judgment, the cause should be due to too much power contained in the dog's body which caused it to burst and die. As for why it contained so much power, Merlin had some predictions.

How terrifying were the nutrients in the Nourishment Pond? It could only be used by Hosts because they could use the almighty beast's will to guide this force into the bloodline, and strengthen the bloodline to make the degree of shifting higher.

However, the large dog did not have the almighty beast's will and could not guide the power of the Nourishment Pond. Therefore, it could only explode and die.

Knowing the key, Merlin had nothing to worry about. He had prepared the Nourishment Pond for a long time. Today, he finally succeeded and could try it.

"Now, I have both the almighty beast's will and the Nourishment Pond. Let's see what changes will happen."

Merlin took off his robe and jumped into the inky Nourishment Pond naked.

When he jumped in, he did not feel hot and dry. Instead, a cool and refreshing feeling circulated in his body.

"Tss-tss-tss."

Soon, the cool and refreshing feeling became spikes pricking Merlin's entire body, making him feel very uncomfortable. He could not help but shout.

"Roar…"

It was a beast's roar. The wolf-like howl came directly from Merlin's mouth. The Two-headed Pterolycus which was quiet in his Awareness had finally awakened.

The Two-headed Pterolycus in his Awareness seemed to have become bigger and more solid. The almighty beast's will grew stronger, which directly led to changes in Merlin's body.

"Morph!"

This shapeshifting was now controlled by Merlin. His hands immediately turned into furry wolf claws, sharp and glinting coldly, striking fear into others.

This was first-form of shapeshifting. Merlin was used to this form but with the help of the Nourishment Pond, the degree of morphing grew much elaborate. 

Merlin's legs also immediately cracked and grew black fur. They quickly became strong and full of strength. It seemed that they could jump out of the Nourishment Pond with a single leap.

He had reached second-form shifter!

With just this much, the miracle of the Nourishment Pond had not been reflected yet. After Merlin's legs had morphed, he felt a powerful force. Second-form shifter had enabled Merlin to fully utilize the Two-headed Pterolycus' characteristics, which was speed.

However, the explosive force in his body was still far from enough as his body had not morphed yet.

Third-form shifter was changing rapidly as well. From his legs to his thighs, rear, and abdomen – all of them began to grow tight muscles. Meanwhile, Merlin's body rose to nearly two meters.

Third-form!

Currently, apart from his head and upper body, Merlin was already a living and terrifying giant black wolf!

Merlin felt his strength had increased exponentially while the color in the Nourishment Pond faded rapidly. It gradually changed from black back to green.

Merlin's shapeshifting stopped at his lower abdomen. His upper body and head did not morph at all, and he only had reached third-form.

Even so, Merlin was overjoyed. The effect of the Hermani Nourishment Pond was far beyond Merlin's expectation.