Chapter 267 - Mutation

Yangdi was sitting in his office looking over some documents when he felt the changes inside of him.

A strange energy entered his body and with a light pop, broke free like a dam.

Closing his eyes he felt his Qi thrash around ferociously in merriment as if reacting to this strange new energy. It had remained stagnant for almost a year but now it was suddenly moving. It was given permission to move, and so it did.

A feeling of strength and robustness overtook him as he felt his connection to Hao Xuan light up like a beacon in the night. For an instant, he could feel Hao Xuan's soul connect to his own. It felt like staring at the sun from a few meters away.

His cultivation which had been stuck at the top of Origin Realm suddenly broke through.

Spirit Realm 1st Stage

Spirit Realm 2nd Stage

Spirit Realm 3rd Stage

.

.

.

Spirit Realm 7th stage.

It broke through Six consecutive stages, stopping at the very top of the 7th stage.

He shot up from his seat with clenched fists. This feeling, it was like a drug.

His Qi was now denser, much denser than ever before. It ran through his veins like rampaging beasts, bringing him both pain and pleasure alike.

He keeled over to the floor while placing his right hand over the left side of his chest. His heart, it was beating like a drum.

*Ba-Thump*

*Ba-Thump*

His forehead was covered in sweat as he felt an overwhelming sense of power pass through him. His connection to Hao Xuan deepened as he could feel his existence.

He was one of the first few that Hao Xuan had taken under his wing, albeit without his consent. And due to his intellect and significantly powerful soul, he was the first one to feel the changes.

After him were Green and Red who had been waiting outside his room for the last week. They didn't even move to eat or sleep, simply standing outside his door like trusty bodyguards.

Their aura's rose and reached the same power as the First stage of the Spirit Realm, but then it came to a sudden halt.

They exchanged glances with one and confirmed what had just happened. An inordinate amount of soul power entered their bodies. This wasn't the usual spiritual energy, but actual "Spirit Power".

Spirit energy was the raw form of energy that anyone could absorb, while Spirit Power was a type of soul energy being released by a living entity.

And now this energy was gushing into their bodies from Hao Xuan, directly from his soul.

It entered their bodies and formed a small mass of swirling energy in the middle of their chest.

There it laid dormant, waiting for something.

The same thing happened to all the others. Even Wu Jin who was almost half a continent away felt this change like he was next to Hao Xuan.

The space between them didn't seem to have any significant effect on whatever was happening to Hao Xuan and his severs right now.

***

Jin Wang's eyes narrowed to a slit as he stared at the cocoon with bated breath.

Miniscule hairline cracks had been spreading out from the center of the cocoon for over an hour now.

Bit by bit grey and black hardened pieces of the cocoon fell down until a body came into view.

Jin Wang furrowed upon examining the bare body in front of him.

"Oi, you hear me?" he asked cautiously while taking a step back.

The body in the cocoon wasn't human, or at least it didn't look very human-like.

Its skin seemed like hardened leather.

Its fingers turning into elongated white claws. From the edge of the elbows, two bone fragments jutted out on each arm.

The feet looked like a beast's with each digit almost twice as long as a normal person decorated with nails as sharp as knives.

The face looked exactly like Hao Xuan's but with a slightly wider forehead.

A beastial aura was leaking outwards which gave even Jin Wang a bad feeling. He stared at his hands that looked like they were made for gouging out inner organs and gulped.

"OI! WAKE UP!" he shouted.

*Tremble*

Hao Xuan abruptly opened his eyes. The wooden tank shook once before bursting into tiny little pieces. It was like an explosion had gone off, dust and black particles obstructing Jin Wang's vision.

He jumped back and took out a normal looking sword. It vibrated as his Qi ran coursed through it, lighting it up.

He squinted his eyes trying to find any sign of a movement or even a shadow, but there was nothing there. The dust settled down and his eyes widened from shock. It was empty. There was an empty hole where the wooden tank was supposed to be.

'It can't be...' Jin Wang thought as he felt a faint presence over his shoulder.

"Boo."

*Prrrt*

"Argh! What the f*ck! You nasty freak!"

"That's what you get, a*swipe!"

Hao Xuan shouted while running to the other side of the room. Just now he had tried to scare Jin Wang with a simple "Boo" and instead was assaulted by his 'gas attack'.

"I've been sitting here watching over your b*tch a*s for the last week and this is how you thank me?" Jin Wang looked at Hao Xuan despondently.

Hao Xuan's body looked completely normal now, although still significantly different from before. He was putting on a robe when he heard Jin Wang's complain. He looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Before that, why the f*ck did you have a sword out? Huh?"

"Cause I thought something went wrong. You looked like a damn beast hybrid. What was that?" Jin Wang retorted without a modicum of guilt.

Hao Xuan examined himself but could find nothing wrong with his body.

"What are you talking about?" he asked looking up at Jin Wang. But then he suddenly realized something.

"Wait a second, did you grow taller or..?"

Hao Xuan was now more than a foot smaller. Just a week ago he was over 8 feet, but now he was just over 7 feet tall.

He checked himself again and couldn't help but frown.

There were muscles on his body where he didn't even think they could be. His torso was about 15% wider and much thicker than before.

His muscles looked like they were chiseled from stone. There was not an ounce of fat left anywhere on his body.

As he took in a deep breath and flexed, he could feel a devastating power moving through his muscles. He looked up at Jin Wang with an evil grin and a clenched fist.

"Dear brother, let's spar for a bit eh?"

Jin Wang who was watching from afar suddenly paled and staggered backward. He pointed the sword's tip towards him while slowly moving back.

"Y-You b*stard, stay the f*ck away from me!"