A large cocoon made of pure energy encased Zilan, in a place where all the surrounding plant life had withered and died. Even the soil appeared infertile and barren however, this only served to increase the beauty of the cocoon.

Unfortunately, Kifo could not witness all of its beauty as only a blurry outline of the size of the cocoon could be seen by him.

“I can’t believe it, he’s almost absorbed it all!”

The dumbfounded look on Kifo’s face granted Jeza some amusement. At first she too was shocked at what Zilan was doing but she had gotten over it now, perhaps it was due to the fact that she had seen him do unexplainable things before or perhaps it was because she couldn’t completely see what was happening. Either way, she patiently awaited the explanation Zilan would give once he emerged.

Speaking of Zilan, he was not having a good time at all.

“This damned thing won’t stop! The process should have ended two hours ago.” cursed Zilan.

Kifo was indeed sensitive to the Universe’s energy however, even he could not see the spirit plants around Zilan and beyond voluntarily giving all the energy they possessed to him. Such a thing was unheard of, the plants were effectively committing suicide.

For Zilan who already had a mountain of Universe energy to bear, obviously was not pleased when his load kept on getting heavier and heavier for reasons he couldn’t figure out.

“What the hell is going on?”

If he knew that his little soliloquy was the cause of his current misfortune, what exactly would Zilan do?

The Universe power continued to weigh on him as it hurriedly entered his body. He then proceeded to store it all in his sea of consciousness.

Thankfully, the amount of energy was dwindling and he could feel it.

At last, after the passing of another half an hour, the last of the Universe’s energy was absorbed by Zilan.

However the cocoon did not vanish, instead it suddenly turned entirely blue.

“It’s time!”

Zilan then began circulating the obscene amount of Universe power throughout his body, making sure it reached every muscle and fibre of his being.

When his body could take no more, he then directed the remainder which was about a quarter of the total towards his soul. Effectively strengthening his mind to a degree where he felt something break inside him.

He didn’t know what exactly had shattered but Zilan could still feel that a major, unexpected change had just occurred.

Dwelling on it though was not an option, because as the Universe energy in his system continued to strengthen his body, the blurrier the remaining mark of tribulation became and it was only a matter of time before he shed it off.

…………….

Just as the sun set in the west, and darkness began to envelope the world, the final mark of tribulation vanished.

The cocoon instantly started to rotate at speeds that the naked eye could not follow. Unknown changes started happening inside and outside Zilan’s body.

“This is….”

The first change to occur was that Zilan’s mind set shifted towards that of a predator. His senses then suddenly became super charged, heightening to a degree that he couldn’t fully comprehend.

Blue-ish, emerald-ish scales that resembled those of the flow python appearing across his body, was the next significant change that followed however, from the pain of his insides shifting about, this process was far from over.

Before long, the way Zilan perceived sound had completed changed. He was now picking up on vibrations using his jaw bones and inner ear.

However because of the noise generated from the spinning of the cocoon which was accelerating, in theory, his evolution. These vibrations were only serving the purpose of distracting and annoying Zilan.

His tongue’s sensitivity also reached an all-time high, when he could actually capture scent particles in the air and transform them into olfactory information. Basically, he was now capable of directional smelling with his tongue.

Zilan’s sight also changed as he suddenly possessed astonishing heat-sensing pit organs that could detect infrared light. Add on the fact that his sense of touch had also risen to a degree beyond that of a normal person’s body and Zilan could now only be regarded as a Monster.

Not to mention the other new additions to his body he had gained.

“These two transformations…[Predator’s mind] and [Flow python’s body] are amazing.” Thought Zilan.

Unfortunately just as he was about to get up and break out of his cocoon a large force of energy originating from the blue ball of liquid in his head unexpectedly pressed down on him.

Before he could even react, the scales on his body completely vanished and he was knocked unconscious. However, he did manage to at least hear a distant voice utter the words “Dragon’s” before he passed out.

The blue cocoon after completing its purpose, evaporated leaving a bare chested Zilan lying on barren land.

Jeza was the first one to react running straight at Zilan, worried that something might have gone wrong with whatever it was he was doing.

Kifo on the other hand, stood unmoving and speechless. At the final moments just before the cocoon had completely vanished, he was able to catch a glimpse of something that gave him an inkling as to what the cocoon was.

“It’s similar to the Divine Baptism of humans but….that’s impossible he’s already past the 10th level. What did he create? Why can I not I see through any of it?”

If only he knew, how futile his actions to try and see through Zilan’s insights that were essentially secrets of the Universe, with abilities that were far beneath those required, were. Maybe Kifo might not feel so lost.

“Hey, it looks like he’s fine! I’ll take him inside for now.” yelled Jeza as she lifted Zilan over her shoulders and carried him towards the cottage.

Waking up from his own world of incomprehensible thoughts, it was only now that Kifo realised that at least a quarter of their sacred land was now barren land and from the looks of it will nothing would ever grow there again.

This was something he couldn’t keep silent about, it needed to be reported to his father as soon as possible.

…………..

The [Path of Blood] was truly a profound cultivation method as even in a state of unconsciousness, the amount of energy being released by the Blue ball of liquid was increasing by the minute and Zilan’s cultivation was rising almost as fast.

This continued throughout the night until Zilan finally awoke the next morning.

Needless to say, the way in which he saw the world was now completely different.

He was used to opening the scorched gates as that was an ability he’d had since birth however when his very body had suddenly become a ‘sensor’ for anything and everything in his surroundings Zilan could only close his eyes and forcefully stop himself from using his new abilities.

Once everything was back to normal, he took a deep breath and began examining himself.

Two minutes later and a gigantic smile could be seen on his face.

“Around the 66th level….”

However aside from the two abilities he was aware of, there were two that he could feel existed somewhere but for reasons unknown he couldn’t access them. They were so close he could just barely grab a hold of them with his consciousness but then something would interfere and they’d disappear, reappearing somewhere far away in his mind.