Chapter 85: Beginning of the Assimilation
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Bai Yu couldn't understand where this sudden confidence in successfully assimilating her blood essence came from, but she decided to go along with it.
She was also a bit curious to see what would happen.
Although she was still worried that the assimilation might not go well, at the same time, she had reason to believe that maybe he would succeed.
After all, this wouldn't be the first time Ethan had done something that had amazed her.
So, while silently praying that nothing would go wrong, she began to circulate the little spiritual energy she could control at the moment and started to extract as much blood essence as possible.
As soon as the process began, Ethan noticed that Bai Yu's body started to glow with a soft blue light.
'Is this how you extract your essence blood?' he wondered.
He had no idea how any of this worked, so he kept his thoughts to himself and waited for her to finish.
Bai Yu wasn't sure how much essence she would be able to gather and manifest in reality, but as she tried, she felt that at least the process was working.
While she circulated the spiritual energy through her ethereal body, beneath the water mirror of the sea of consciousness, Bai Yu's true body emitted a small sphere of light that shot upwards.
The sphere of light moved at very high speed, and when it finally passed through the water mirror, Ethan didn't notice, and he couldn't understand what had happened when the sphere struck him.
At the same time, outside the sea of consciousness, Ethan, who was in the minor dimension, sitting cross-legged on what seemed to be a wooden platform, furrowed his brow, which lit up for an instant.
The sphere of light that had struck him emerged from his forehead and paused for a moment in the air.
The sphere seemed to have a consciousness of its own, and as soon as it saw that it was outside, it immediately tried to dart away from Ethan.
But as soon as it moved a mere meter away, a force emanating from Ethan's body stopped it and forced it to come back.
The sphere, under the influence of this force, darted, no longer toward the forehead, but toward Ethan's chest, making contact with it.
The area it struck was the heart, and as soon as it touched it, it was absorbed.
For a moment, everything went silent, and Ethan, who was still in his sea of consciousness, felt a tingling sensation in his chest that lasted for less than a second.
He wasn't sure what had just happened.
One moment he was watching Bai Yu, who was emitting a crystalline blue aura, and then he felt this strange sensation in his chest.
He wasn't sure what had happened and wondered for a moment if this was part of the assimilation process.
He hadn't seen the glowing sphere enter his body and then exit only to reenter his chest in the real world, so he was a bit confused.
'When will the process st—'
Just as he was wondering how long it would take for her to extract her blood essence, a sharp pain hit him out of nowhere.
Ugh.
A sensation of dizziness followed immediately after, and unable to remain stable any longer, he collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest with his hands.
'What's happening to me?'
Gradually, he began to feel a heat igniting in his heart as it started to beat faster.
The sensation of dizziness was clouding his mind, and just when he thought he might pass out to avoid enduring all of this, the sharp pain coming from his chest would wake him up.
At some point, without realizing it, he was no longer in his sea of consciousness but had instead returned to reality and was currently on his knees, feeling his body temperature rise rapidly.
First, it was just the heart, then the whole chest, and finally his entire body.
The pounding of his heart, which was now pumping blood wildly, could be heard clearly.
Thump-thump...
Thump-thump...
Thump-thump...
His pale skin, which had recently taken on a healthier and more vigorous color, was now completely flushed, with beads of sweat forming on it, only to evaporate immediately afterward due to the high temperature.
Ethan, now fully immersed in agony, was no longer aware of what was happening, and the only thought in his head was:
'ENDURE, ENDURE, ENDURE...'
He kept repeating it to himself like a mantra, trying not to succumb entirely to the pain.
He wasn't sure if this was part of the assimilation process; after all, he didn't even know when or how he had received Bai Yu's blood essence, but he knew he couldn't let it overpower him.
He had a feeling that if he gave in to the pain and passed out, there was a small chance he might never wake up again.
The continuous sweating and the subsequent evaporation of it had produced a cloud of steam around his body, making it difficult to see through.
His body was constantly changing both inside and out.
At some point, he felt something growing on his skin, and a searing pain struck him again.
Ethan could feel as if his skin was being torn off in several places simultaneously.
White scales, as white as marble, began to sprout from his skin.
CRACK.
As soon as these scales finished growing on his body, covering his legs and arms, as well as a portion of his face, an impulse from beneath them caused them to shatter immediately.
The shattered scales fell to the ground, revealing once again Ethan's reddened skin beneath them.
Not even a second passed before more scales grew in place of the broken ones, only to be shattered by something once more.
This process repeated itself once again,
and again, and again...
His skin wasn't the only thing undergoing changes.
Other parts of his body also underwent a similar process.
All of this continued for a long time, and Ethan, who felt every second pass as if it were an eternity, continued to persevere, trying not to succumb.
At some point, even Bai Yu's figure, which had been in his sea of consciousness before, was now here outside, watching all of this with a calm gaze.
Her expression didn't betray any emotion as she watched from a few meters away.
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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:
Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, or errors to report, don't hesitate to do so below.
See you tomorrow with another chapter.