Chapter 211: Lizard Dragon

Chapter 211: Lizard Dragon

Throughout the month of May, Ji Xinghuo spent his time either dating Zhao Manying or cultivating at home.

After assimilating the electrostatic field variant, his stellar power increased to 868 points.

With a month of dedicated cultivation and the aid of drugs to enhance efficiency, he broke through the 900-point mark by the end of May.

However, his greatest improvement lay in his control over the electrostatic field.

Ji Xinghuo had discovered numerous application techniques for the electrostatic field, creating various lightning strikes with different effects, and achieving near-perfect control within a ten-meter radius.

When he activated the electrostatic field alongside the rotating magnetic field, he even dared to face off against a legendary alien for a few exchanges.

Of course, this was limited to the first stage of legendary power.

In the cultivation room, Ji Xinghuo stood in the center, his eyes focused. A thick beam of electricity encircled him, moving so swiftly that an ordinary person would only perceive a flash of light and hear the loud claps of thunder.

Boom...

The thunderous roars and piercing whines of electricity filled the room.

Suddenly, the electric light ceased.

A substantial-looking lightning bolt, over three meters long, froze in front of Ji Xinghuo, twisting and turning with several forks of smaller currents branching out. It appeared as if it were solidified, one end grasped in Ji Xinghuo's hand. With a flick of his wrist, the lightning transformed into a long whip and lashed out.

Crack!

The air exploded with a violent boom.

"Lightning Whip!"

"This move is good," Ji Xinghuo praised with a smile. This lightning whip was condensed with a large amount of electric charge and could also coil around his weapon to amplify its destructive power.

Even if he were unarmed, the lightning whip could serve as a temporary weapon with formidable might.

The Lightning Whip was a variation of the Rushing Thunder Hand.

Currently, the Rushing Thunder Hand was at level four. As its level increased, its power and attack range would grow, far surpassing the radius of the electrostatic field.

Additionally, Ji Xinghuo had also mastered Thunder Strike and Lightning Chain this month.

Thunder Strike was an area-of-effect attack that created multiple lightning bolts falling from the sky, making for a spectacular display.

The Lightning Chain, on the other hand, struck one target and then automatically jumped to the nearest next target, capable of multiple hops but with decreasing power.

His Electromagnetic Pulse and Pulse Arc had also grown stronger, covering a larger area and being more effective.

However, aside from Rushing Thunder Hand, the other methods of manipulating electricity struggled to exceed the radius of the electrostatic field, and their power dropped precipitously beyond ten meters.

Ji Xinghuo identified the cause.

His control was still insufficient, and the lightning was too fast. While his microscopic perception could clearly sense the changes in electric charge and current, his thoughts struggled to keep up.

This could be easily solved by assimilating "High-Frequency Thought" and then upgrading.

However, High-Frequency Thought did not address the fundamental issue.

"I still need Spirit Power!" Ji Xinghuo sighed.

The reason Spirit Power was so powerful was that it allowed aliens to finely manipulate various forms of energy and project it to much greater distances, using their minds to leverage the ether and interfere with matter! If he possessed Spirit Power now, his manipulation range, driven by the electrostatic field, would far exceed ten meters.

Even with just a first-level Spirit Power, he could project it over a hundred meters away!

"Spirit Power..." Ji Xinghuo shook his head.

Spirit Power was also a super-limit variant, but even among super-limit variants, there were vast differences. Spirit Power was the most unique variant below the star-falling level, without exception.

No alien would refuse Spirit Power, regardless of their profession template.

Spirit Power was almost universally compatible with all professions, and the success rate of assimilation was never low.

Ji Xinghuo recalled that the Spirit Power variant he had collected from that frog spirit last year had a 99% assimilation success rate with his own, the same as with the rotating magnetic field and electrostatic field.

Spirit Power did not conflict with stellar power, and one could cultivate both simultaneously.

Even if one did not major in Spirit Power, having it as a side profession would still make it an excellent auxiliary means.

This was why the Spirit Power variant was almost impossible to find on the market. It was not something that money could buy, and even with Ren Mian's wealth, she could only assemble a team to adventure and hunt for frog spirits herself.

"This is troublesome," Ji Xinghuo scratched his head. No one would sell the Spirit Power variant, and without information, he didn't know where to go hunting for it.

"I wonder if Sister Ren has any connections," he thought, remembering Ren Mian. He suddenly missed her; it had been over a year since they last met, and he had no idea where she was now, always so mysterious and without a trace.

"No use thinking about it," Ji Xinghuo dismissed the random thoughts and looked towards the corner of the cultivation room.

There, a crawling creature over six meters long lay motionless. Its body was covered in tri-colored scales of green, gold, and silver, each one as big as a palm, layer upon layer forming thick and orderly armor that protected its entire body. The base color was green with gold and silver patterns, making it dazzling and terrifying. This was Qinghong.

Ever since devouring the Nile giant lizard, Qinghong had begun its transformation.

The process of assimilating a variant was, in essence, gene recombination.

This progress was even slower than Ji Xinghuo had anticipated, taking an entire week for Qinghong to completely digest the giant lizard's corpse before starting its transformation.

Every two to three days, it would shed a layer of skin and grow a new one.

It regained its true form as the golden-scaled giant python, and without taking any food, its weight increased by more than ten times, even though its length only grew by two meters.

By now, Qinghong weighed over two tons!

Its appearance had also changed dramatically, the most noticeable being the four limbs that had grown from its belly. Initially thin and weak, they gradually became robust, with five sharp claws at the ends.

Two limbs were in the front, and two were in the middle-back section of the snake body. From the upper back of the hind limbs grew a row of fin-like structures that extended all the way to the tail tip.

This made it look even more like a lizard.

At the same time, Qinghong's body became sturdier and gradually departed from the shape of a snake.

The most significant changes occurred in its head—two rows of fangs grew in its mouth, and its originally pointed head widened. A bone plate bulged on its head, forming a crest that swept backward, and a ring of scale armor surrounded its eyes. Its nose tip was wide and thick, giving the entire head a more complex and three-dimensional appearance.

Qinghong seemed to change every day.

Just the shed skin alone already added up to several hundred kilograms.

Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of gene recombination, which had transformed Qinghong from a snake into an entirely different species.

It resembled a lizard but still retained the foundation of a giant python, resulting in a more elongated body than a typical lizard.

These descriptions fit Qinghong perfectly.

However, legends were just legends. Qinghong was a creature from the Star Realm, and its resemblance to Earthly myths was purely coincidental.

Ji Xinghuo opened the interface, but Qinghong's information remained unchanged.

This indicated that it had not yet successfully fused its gene recombination and was still in the process, though it should be nearing completion as there had been minimal changes in the past two days.

Ji Xinghuo continued his cultivation.

Evening arrived.

Zhao Manying had a competition today with her team, so he was alone at home.

After dinner, Ji Xinghuo entered the virtual world to spar with his second brother, Zhong Ming. Afterward, they watched the Emperor Star Team's match, which, as expected, ended in victory.

As he finished washing up for bed, he suddenly felt a jolt in his heart.

Sensing Qinghong's call, Ji Xinghuo flashed into the cultivation room and noticed that Qinghong's eyes, which had been half-open for the past month, were now fully open.

Seeing Ji Xinghuo enter, Qinghong lifted its head.

In the past, this action would have involved raising its snake head vertically, but now it was a true lift of the head, as its head was naturally held high off the ground when it stood.

Its four claws touched the ground, and it moved awkwardly, like a child taking its first steps, wobbling as it walked.

But it soon adapted.

Qinghong's speed increased, and it began dashing around the cultivation room in circles with incredible agility.

It relished in the feeling of running on all fours, a stark contrast to its previous method of slithering along the ground, and its newfound height gave it a much broader field of view.

"Not bad, not bad!" Ji Xinghuo exclaimed in praise.

Qinghong stopped running and approached him, lowering its head. Ji Xinghuo reached out and stroked the crest on its head, feeling the cool, hard texture of what seemed like alloy-cast scales.

It extended its tongue to lick his hand.

The tongue remained slender and forked, retaining its sensory function.

Ji Xinghuo opened the interface, and as expected, Qinghong's information had been updated.

[Spirit Beast: Lizard Dragon]



[Level: Superb]



[Abilities: Dimensional Stomach (Level 2, 19/5101), Miniaturization (Level 2, 32/3049), Golden Scale Iron Spine (Level 4, 4126/5477), Spirit Scent (Level 4, 16/2273), Aether Affinity (Level 4, 41/7079), Rushing Thunder Hand (Level 4, 78/2833), Cataclysm (Level 2, 1/3169), Gravity Mutation (Level 2, 1/347), Gene Recombination (Cannot be upgraded), Rending Claw (Level 1, 1/239)]



"It's still only Superb?" Ji Xinghuo was surprised.

He had thought that with Qinghong's transformation, it would evolve and become a Calamity-level spirit beast. However, it remained at the Superb level.

Nonetheless, Qinghong's species had indeed changed.

"Lizard Dragon!"

Ji Xinghuo didn't know the origin of the name, but it was fitting. Just from the name, one could deduce that Qinghong belonged to a species similar to dragons, falling under the lizard genus.

After its transformation, Qinghong gained two new abilities.

One was Gene Recombination, which couldn't be upgraded and lacked the "" symbol, indicating that it could be fused with other species. If another creature consumed Qinghong's corpse, they too would gain the Gene Recombination ability.

This was unique compared to other exotic abilities.

The other new ability was "Rending Claw."

Ji Xinghuo compared the ability with Qinghong's silhouette in the interface and, after careful discernment, discovered that it was a super-limit ability!

"Show it to me."

Qinghong backed up a little and waved its front limbs. Instantly, ten virtual blades sprouted from its claws, composed of a grayish-white energy that flickered erratically. Each blade was over a meter long, and a casual wave left faint, hair-thin scratches in the air that didn't seem very powerful.

"Attack that." Ji Xinghuo pointed to the alloy humanoid target he used for punching practice.

Qinghong pounced forward and swiped its claws.

Sparks flew!

The tough alloy target was instantly scratched with five neat cuts. Ji Xinghuo stepped closer to inspect and found that the cuts were shallow, only one or two centimeters deep.

But he was still startled.

The hardness of the humanoid target was astonishingly high, and it was completely solid. Qinghong had achieved this level of destruction without even using its full strength.

If that claw strike had landed on flesh and blood, it would have sliced it into several pieces!

"As expected of a super-limit ability!"

"And this is only at Level 1. If I raise Rending Claw to Levels 2 or 3, I probably won't be able to withstand more than a few strikes myself."

Ji Xinghuo was overjoyed.

All this time, Qinghong's close-quarters combat had relied mainly on its snake body for impact and constriction. Now, with the addition of Rending Claw, its attacks were even more piercing, complementing the Golden Scale Iron Spine for a perfect combination of offense and defense. With its speed and agility, it could easily charge at the forefront of battles.

Meanwhile, Ji Xinghuo could remain at the back, calmly shooting down enemies from a distance.

Ji Xinghuo studied Qinghong's interface information. "It would be best to fuse another 'Bio-Field' with 'Gravity Mutation' to create a fictional gravity field to control the battlefield, achieving the same effect as a 'Gravity Master.' That way, I can shoot with greater peace of mind from the rear."

Previously, he had bought an Amber Cat's Eye Stone for Qinghong, which was used for its Gene Recombination.

If Qinghong were to fuse another ability, he would have to buy Red Cinnabar or Qing Kong Fruit.

As these thoughts ran through Ji Xinghuo's mind, he played with Qinghong, shrinking it down to the length of his finger and letting it crawl on his hand like a slender green lizard.

"Not only does Qinghong need to expand its capacity for exotic objects, but I need to as well, for High-Frequency Thought."

"All this requires money!"

"I still owe Manying five hundred million, and I promised Yunhai and the others five super-limit exotic species."

"If I continue cultivating on Earth, I don't know when I'll be able to fulfill my promises. Merely increasing my stellar power isn't enough to rapidly enhance my strength."

"I need to harvest spiritual source energy."

"I need to enhance my abilities, as well as Qinghong's Rending Claw and Gravity Mutation. It shouldn't be far from evolving into a Calamity-level spirit beast."

Ji Xinghuo pondered his options and concluded that it was time to go to the Star Realm.

He left the cultivation room and entered his study, booting up his computer to search for information as he began planning his next steps.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end