Chapter 48: Chapter 46: Blood Red
"Beginning the condensation of the Sublimation Organ is indeed the first step for a Sublimation Apprentice to truly embark on the path of the Bloodline True Form."
Ian shook his head slightly, "Thatâs still a long way off, what I need now is to condense a high-quality Primordial Seed and then rely on it to quickly accumulate Origin Quality and nourish my body."
Although as a Mechanical Engineer in his previous life, Ian was very familiar with the structure of a turbocharger, to the extent that, given materials and tools, he could even craft one with his bare hands.
However, a Primordial Seed is only similar to a turbocharger, not identical.
Even though he indeed felt that a few structures within the Virtual Primordial Seed could be modified without affecting the overall operation, potentially greatly enhancing the efficiency and quality of Origin Quality extraction.
But that was merely a guess, who would dare to experiment with their own body and life?
Most people, even geniuses, when it comes to condensing Primordial Seeds, would rather play it safe than aim for the best.
After all, efficiency can be piled up with resources, but life comes only once.
But, that applies to most people only.
Ian was slightly special.
"Let me see..."
Muttering to himself, Ian chuckled softly and activated Foresight View.
His azure eyes opened, and for a moment, everything around him turned into clumps composed of mist, with gray, white, and blue interweaving to form this peculiar world.
Ian opened his eyes and looked at himself.
Just as every time before, he could not see his own color or what kind of mist he was made of.
In fact, he had only seen the color on himself once when he Awakened Spiritual Power.
At that time, the color he saw was that of Child Ian, whether it was his own or not was another question.
âProphecy is unable to predict oneself.
Only in the region around what seemed to be his heart could the boy see a glint of golden light flickering.
The Virtual Primordial Seed made of Hiliadâs Origin Quality was currently spinning in a void surrounded by mist, like a constant star, drawing in tiny white specks like stars, which then condensed into pale blue dust resembling chips, accumulating on the inside.
The tiny specks were Essence Fragments, and the dusty chips were in fact Origin Quality.
Essence Fragments were of white grade, Origin Quality was of blue grade.
Because the Virtual Primordial Seed was a âforeign objectâ given by Teacher Hiliad, Ian could see it through the Foresight View.
"Interesting, Origin Quality also has grades."
As he watched the condensation process of the Origin Quality within him, Ian couldnât help but become contemplative. He looked at the golden Virtual Primordial Seed on the outside and already had a guess, "Indeed, the quality of Origin Quality varies. Simply by the color of Origin Quality, I can judge the strength of a Sublimator."
"And the most important..."
Raising his head, Ian looked in the direction where his brother Alan was.
The white-haired Child drank down the potion, applied the medicinal mud, and was now sleeping peacefully.
It was apparent that the side effects of the Sleep Powder could not be mitigated with just one treatment; it might take several months of care to restore Alan to normal.
The mist on Alanâs body was a pale gray mixed with some blue-white, probably due to the effects of the Focused Spirit Potion.
But not just that...
"Alanâs destiny is connected to mine. My actions will cause the mist on Alan to change as well."
Ian gazed at the changing colors on his brotherâs body, recalling the warning his brotherâs mist had given him when he chose where to abandon the corpseâundoubtedly, that warning and premonition had changed his own destiny. His meeting with Hiliad was largely due to Alan.
This time, Ian had a bold idea.
âCould he, by contemplating modifications to the structure of the Primordial Seed in his mind, use the changes in the mistâs color on Alanâs body to determine whether his adjustments to the Primordial Seedâs structure were successful and beneficial?
In simple terms, could he use Alan to indirectly predict the success or failure of his own Primordial Seed modification?
The feasibility was significant!
Although he did not know the principle, since his ability could predict the future to a certain extent, such utilization was most typical!
"The better the Primordial Seed I condense, the better Alanâs future destiny will be, and vice versa."
"Letâs do it this way."
The moment he thought of trying, Ian immediately closed his eyes and pondered.
On his first attempt, Ian did not choose to optimize, but rather deteriorated the structure of the Primordial Seed in his mind on purpose, making it simpler, but also much less efficient.
Opening his eyes, he looked at Alan and could not help but widen his eyes slightly.
"Red!"
A dense fog as thick as blood entwined around the child, causing Ian to blink in mild surprise, "Is it that bad? Is it almost a certainty of death?"
Although he had anticipated that if he carelessly formed a substandard Virtual Primordial Seed, it could lead to extremely bad outcomes, the situation was so dire that it filled Ian with great doubt, "If the Primordial Seed I form is too poor, Teacher Hiliad is very likely to leave me, after all, if I have no potential, staying with him might actually hasten my death."
"But even so, I wonât be too much danger in the short term... Such a dense, blood-red fog clearly indicates something major is going to happen soon, and itâs a threat to our lives, both of my brotherâs and mine!"
Though puzzled, Ian knew it was pointless to dwell on these thoughts. He closed his eyes and began his second attempt.
This time, Ian still did not optimize but instead followed the process methodically, trying to form the Primordial Seed normally, as instructed by Hiliad.
Upon opening his eyes again, Ian looked towards Alan.
This time, the fog surrounding his younger brother was still vivid and bloody. Although it had lessened in darkness compared to the first trial, it was still undeniably the âcertain deathâ level of danger!
"How strange!"
Standing up, Ian furrowed his brows, closed his Foresight View, and rested for a moment to recover his strength.
Then, he took a deep breath and turned his head to look outside the window, "By aggregating the Primordial Seed as Teacher has instructed, I am one hundred percent confident of achieving perfection, and then everything will be under control, and my strength will also improve under Teacherâs guidance. Yet the fog remains blood red."
"This means that the crisis does not lie with the Teacher or even with me..."
With a thought, Ian had another deduction in his mind. Without saying more, he closed his eyes and for the second time, opened his Foresight View.
This time, he pondered the structure template of the Primordial Seed, which was the optimized template he had decided upon after deep consideration.
Then, Ian harnessed the Origin Quality and once again tried to form the Primordial Seed.
He looked towards Alan for the third time.
The crimson fog was still thereâeven though the concentration seemed to have thinned slightly, the fog that enveloped Alan like a cloud of blood had its edges faded to a pale pink, but its core still glowed like fresh blood.
"I understand now."
With that realization, Ianâs frown deepened slightly, "The Natives have targeted me, havenât they? Theyâve already infiltrated Harrison Port?"
ââNo matter how he aggregated the Primordial Seed, the result was the same: extremely dangerous.
This could only mean that a character or force far stronger than Ian was targeting him, which was why no matter the progress, the danger he was about to face would not change by much.
Yet even so, Ianâs efforts could slightly âdefy the heavens and change fate.â
Clearly, Ianâs optimization was successful; the quality of Ianâs version of the Primordial Seed was a notch above Hiliadâs. Although it lost some stability, the efficiency was indeed higher.
That was exactly why, each time he observed the fog on Alan, its color and the crisis both seemed to diminish slightly. The effect was minor, but there was indeed progress.
"No, thatâs not right!"
Even though he had roughly figured it out, before Ian could feel pleased with the success of his optimization, he immediately thought of a possibility that made him feel a sense of crisis and even fear.
Ianâs brow knitted tightly, "Iâm not so arrogant and self-righteous... Who am I? Do I deserve such targeted attention from the Natives? Is it necessary to kill me in such a hurry?"
"The aftermath of a disaster can easily kill a few children, no matter how talented I am... The same goes for me!"
Of course, there was one more critical pointânot even assassinations targeting a still young Ian could possibly put an already matured Ian in a blood-red situation of certain death!
"Itâs not that simple."
Musing to himself, Ian suddenly felt a chill spreading from his spine, "I might not be the main target!"
"Then who is it? The Teacher, or could it be..."
He immediately got up and walked to the window, then activated his Foresight View, looking out at the rain-drenched streets of Harrison Port.
Outside the window, beneath the pitch-black sky, the central port area was brightly lit, with the surrounding residential areas dimly illuminated by street lights, casting a faint, flickering home light from which he could see the shadows of a few people moving and chatting behind the windows, warm and harmonious.
Children were playing and laughing, playing games with their parents, their shadows elongated by the light.
Elderly were nagging, half-open windows letting through gusts of wind that caused the lights inside to tremble slightly.
There was also silence, the flickering of lights inside homes, barely discernible food aromas mixing with the rain.
With aqua-hued eyes sweeping across the city, Ianâs gaze shimmered with a faint blue glow.
But, reflected in his eyes, was only red.
Crimson red.
Blood red.
The color of death.
At this moment, the red fog swirling around every person seemed to coalesce into a river that formed a sea of blood.
And then...
It surged tumultuously throughout Harrison Port!