Chapter 204

After repeatedly practicing the activation and deactivation of the Clear Source Law Body in the clearing, Lin Hui moved on to test the remaining three major Law Seals: Righteous Body, Righteous Heart, and Righteous Virtue.

The three, respectively, doubled his physical strength, mind-spirit, and cultivation comprehension speed.

The sudden flood of enhancements left him momentarily unable to gauge his own limits. It took over two hours of adjustment before he could contain the aura those changes radiated.

Fortunately, all four seals can be voluntarily deactivated. I just need to mentally retrace the corresponding Source Text in reverse.

After dozens of attempts confirmed he could toggle them instantly at will, Lin Hui finally stopped, satisfied. Standing in the center of the clearing, he turned his thoughts to what came next.

The Nine Skies Gate's evolution was complete, laying the foundation for an impregnable base. The next step was to secure control over the entire Mist-Free Zone. To transform this territory into a stronghold, he needed to accomplish two things.

First: Mist resistance. Whether against Night Mist or standard Mist, the base required a foundational defense to withstand intrusion. This was the prerequisite.

Second: External defense. The Mist Zone was teeming with monsters; he needed a round-the-clock defense system capable of independent surveillance and protection.

Lin Hui fell into thought. A city like Tuyue created quarantine zones, leveraging the Outer City's living population and the Inner City's walls to form a flesh-and-blood defense system. If danger attempted to breach the Inner City, it would first cause casualties and unrest among the Outer City populace — an organic early warning system.

For the Moon Tower, which constantly monitored the Outer City, this was undoubtedly the most efficient biological perimeter. They didn't care how many people died out there; those lives served the same purpose as a signal flare.

After some contemplation, Lin Hui pressed a hand against the black soil and mentally traced the boundaries of the flat terrain.

[Mist-Free Land: The site where the giant beast Hemi fell, suffused with Hemi's powerful disorienting force. This force prevents external Mist from intruding. However, Corruption does not disappear; rather, Hemi's disorienting force bears the cost of Corruption for this region. When the disorienting force is completely erased by Corruption, the Mist-Free Land will perish.]

[Evolvable Branches: 3]

The giant beast Hemi?

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. The name appeared in no Mist Zone monster record he knew. The Blood Seal's naming conventions might have diverged from the Taisu Alliance's, or perhaps the Alliance's bestiary listed it under a different name.

It didn't matter. He skipped the description and opened the evolvable branches.

[1 — Disorienting Land: The habitat of Hemi during its prime. Increases the intensity of the disorientation in this area by more than fifty percent.]

[2 — Illusory Land: The habitat of the mutated power of the disorienting force. In addition to losing their sense of direction, creatures entering will experience hallucinations.]

[3 — Lost Land: The habitat of the mutated power of the disorienting force. Causes entrants to lose all interest or thought of entering the area, subjectively ignoring its existence.]

Lin Hui frowned. None of these addressed his immediate needs. The maze ruins already provided sufficient concealment on their own. What he needed were concrete means of protection, monitoring, and patrol.

This was a secret rear-guard base. Storing goods and materials here permanently required armed creatures stationed for defense.

Wait.

His mind jumped to the Water Man he had evolved, currently residing at the manor behind Clear Wind Temple. He had created it himself, and from the moment of its birth, the Blood Seal had bound it with absolute loyalty.

Weren't Blood Seal-evolved lifeforms perfectly suited for this?

I can migrate the Water Man here. But one isn't enough—I need more evolved creatures. These types don't require much time to produce and come with built-in loyalty. Their intelligence is low, but if I pair them with a few trusted disciples—letting the creatures handle heavy labor and combat while the disciples handle oversight—that combination, together with the natural isolation of the maze ruins, should be foolproof.

Inspiration began to well up.

The Blood Seal's evolution is shaped by my perception, summarization, and how I define the subject. Can I guide it in a specific direction? Instead of leaving it entirely to chance?

He thought through the mechanics. When he viewed the lamb kebab as food, the evolutionary branches were food-oriented. When he defined the Clear Wind Sword Technique as a sword art, the Blood Seal evolved it into the Wild Wind Sword Technique rather than a saber art. Every result had been shaped by his own unconscious framing.

In that case...

He walked to a wall. Standing before the ancient gray stone of the ruins, he reached out and drew a light slash with Wind Disaster Force.

The maze stone — dense and almost impossibly hard — split like tofu, leaving a gash more than half a meter deep.

Lin Hui didn't stop. He continued to sketch and carve. Before long, with a heavy clatter, a rough stone figure broke free from the wall.

It stood about his height, blocky and square, frozen in a stiff, spread-eagle stance.

He dragged it to the clearing and tentatively pressed his palm against its forehead. The Blood Seal worked within proximity, but the tactile gesture seemed to help focus his intent.

Evolve the stone man.

The Blood Seal on the back of his hand spread outward, unfurling into tendril-like patterns. Text surfaced at the edge of his vision.

[Maze Stone Man Sculpture]

[A crude humanoid carved from maze rock. Hard texture.]

[Evolvable Branches: 3]

[1 — Maze Stone Man: A stone man race with rudimentary intelligence. Possesses immense strength and a hard body. Emits a natural disorienting force that causes creatures to lose their direction; one of the best defenders.]

[2 — Iron Stone Man: Extremely hard body, immense strength. More volatile temperament than ordinary stone men.]

[3 — Elemental Stone Man: Can freely absorb surrounding rock to form a massive frame. Possesses overwhelming strength and extremely high regenerative ability. As long as its core remains intact, it cannot be destroyed.]

[Prompt: For biological evolutions, upon completion, the entity will obey only the evolution initiator, Lin Hui. Low-intelligence creatures may exhibit chaotic aggression toward non-initiators.]

"...This works."

Lin Hui's eyes lit up. He had found a far better use for the Blood Seal.

If this works, could I evolve Mist Zone monsters directly? If so, I could control them. Creating something like the Water Man from scratch takes too long — no telling when it would be combat-ready. But evolving an existing monster would yield immediate results.

Of course, the Blood Seal carried a prerequisite: the subject had to submit to him. Most Mist Zone monsters were feral. But there was one exception.

His mind flashed to the Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus that had groveled before him in the ruins — a Purgatory-corrupted Purple Crystal monster with enough intelligence to understand language.

Worth a try.

He gathered his bundle of precious medicines and left immediately. Without guards, leaving supplies behind felt reckless.

He didn't return to Clear Wind Temple. Instead, he detoured straight to the cave in the Purple Crystal Ruins.

Bang!

The cave entrance burst open. Inside, a dense mob of Purple Crystal Purgatory monsters raised their heads, casting hostile glares at the intrusion.

But when they saw the familiar black-haired figure walk in—

Roar!

The Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus at the center bellowed and charged straight at Lin Hui—

Bang!

It slammed its head into the ground, carving a sizable crater into the rock as it bowed in complete submission.

"It's been a while. When did so many Purple Crystal Elementals gather here?" Lin Hui scanned the densely packed mob and frowned slightly.

The Tyrannosaurus let out a few low growls, shaking its head in frantic denial—clearly insisting it had nothing to do with the gathering.

"Never mind."

Lin Hui lightly rested his hand on the hilt of Ruyi at his waist.

Whoosh.

A gentle breeze passed. His hand left the hilt.

The cave was empty. The crowding and noise were gone, replaced by a crisp, open silence.

Crack... crack...

The Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus stiffened. It turned its head mechanically, surveyed the now-vacant cave, then turned back to the composed figure before it.

Bang!

It drove its head into the ground again and did not dare move.

"Good boy." Lin Hui reached out and patted the Tyrannosaurus's forehead.

Given how compliant it was, the Blood Seal should hold. He called upon the system.

[Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus: A special individual mutated from a Purple Crystal Elemental tainted by Purgatory flames. High strength, extremely strong regenerative ability. Possesses Purgatory contagiousness.]

[Evolvable Branches: 3]

[1 — Purple Crystal Flame Dragon: An elemental dragon beast formed by the animation of a purple crystal vein. During dormant states, it transforms into a purple crystal vein, providing an endless supply of purple crystal ore. Physical strength is elevated to a new tier. Upon evolution, gains the special effect: Underground Submersion.]

[2 — Purgatory Dragon: A race of evil dragons native to the depths of Purgatory. Possesses extreme Purgatory contagiousness. Creatures burned to death by it become its puppets, fighting for it eternally.]

[3 — Earth Dragon King: An earth-element dragon race possessing a trace of the ancient Dragon Ancestor's bloodline. Can control topographical changes within a range. Peaceful temperament. Extremely high regenerative ability.]

These three branches were in a completely different league from the Water Man. The power gap was staggering.

Lin Hui checked the cost. All three carried the same price: 9 years — negligible against his current lifespan reserves.

No deliberation needed. The first one. A purple crystal vein is exactly what Clear Wind Temple requires as a mineral resource. And it resolves the Purgatory pollution in this cave entirely, eliminating the problem at its root.

He confirmed the evolution without hesitation.

Roar.

The Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus shuddered violently, then went limp and collapsed into unconsciousness.

If this keeps working, I might as well moonlight as a Mist Zone monster collector. Keep the obedient ones for evolution, kill the defiant ones to build Wind Disaster Affinity, and seal the useless ones with the Nine Eyes. Nothing goes to waste.

Ideas kept surfacing. If he could evolve things he carved himself, he could sculpt a suit of armor and evolve it into a specific defense.

Or cast a model of a vehicle — could it evolve into a working one? What about an aircraft? A rocket?

As long as there was intent and a resemblance, the Blood Seal could initiate evolution.

If I carved a Calabash Brother... could I actually get a real one?

[TN: Calabash Brothers — A classic 1980s Chinese animated series about seven brothers born from calabashes, each with unique superpowers.]