Alex narrowed his eyes at the changes in his body. He had thought he had noticed it all, but a few more had nearly evaded his senses.
"My physique..." he said slowly. "I think the fruit is improving my physique too, Whisker."
"Your physique?" Whisker looked up. "Do you mean the Undying Physique?"
Alex nodded. "Exactly. I canât seem to tell if there is progress with the physique or not, but it is definitely improving. I think I can regenerate a tiny bit faster now."
"Wow!" Whisker said softly. "Let me sense if I improved too."
"Do see if it does or not," Alex said. "It might be very important."
Alex waited patiently for Whisker to check his body, now that he had finished consuming a few chunks of those fruits.
"Nothing," Whisker said. "Itâs improved everything else, but not my physique."
"I feared as much," Alex said with a sigh. "It improved your body cultivation no doubt, and your Spiritual root, but it did nothing to your bloodline."
"Then how did it affect yours?" Whisker asked.
"Mineâs not a bloodline. Itâs merely a physique I learned. My bloodline, if any, would be the Sun Godâs body and that hasnât been affected in the slightest," Alex said with a sigh.
Whisker looked at him. "Is that so bad?" he asked. "Isnât the Sunheart improving that for you?"
"No, I wasnât worried for myself," Alex said. "I had hoped it would help Pearl; maybe do something to his Azure Dragonâs bloodline. I might have to give up on that idea."
"Oh..." Whisker hadnât considered Pearl. "Maybe nothing changed for me because there is nothing to be changed. And maybe it canât change anything for you since itâs too weak to do so. Your body is, after all, the body of a god."
Alex thought for a bit. "Maybe. Weâll have to wait and see. Should I give some fruit to Pearl too?"
"If you want to," Whisker said. "But it might be wise to use them all for yourself, brother. The sooner you get rid of the seal, the sooner you can get an individual fruit for each of us."
Alex considered that for a bit. "Iâll give Pearl a few just to check. Nothing wrong with that. I will keep the rest for myself."
Alex quickly opened up the seal around his Soul Space again and threw in some of the fruit for Pearl, explaining what it was. He didnât explain what it did though, or what he hoped it would do.
He did not want to give Pearl hope.
Pearl took the fruits without question, going at it slowly. Now, Alex would just have to wait for Pearl to get back to him.
Whisker had finished eating all of his fruits, so he grew a little bored. He thought of cultivating, but then he noticed something. "Oh, my senses are sharper too. What about you, brother? I canât tell if this is part of the regular improvement or just mine."
Alexâs eyes widened slightly. "Right, youâre a seeking mouse. The Undying bloodline is not the only bloodline you possess."
Alex quickly felt his own senses. Was there an improvement? Maybe there was, maybe there wasnât.
"Hmm, difficult to tell. I think thereâs some change, but the seal on my Spiritual Sea is making any changes hard to decipher. How do you feel? Is the change strong or weak?"
"Moderate," Whisker said. "Itâs about as good a change as the rest."
Alex nodded. "The growth does seem to be proportional to what already exists."
"Yes. Even my Demon Eyes got a nice boost."
Alex paused. "Huh? Are Demon Eyes affected as well?" he asked, trying to see for himself. But it was hard to tell. "I donât have nearly enough use of my Demon Eyes to tell if it is working or not. The seal is still making it hard to properly notice things. How much has it improved?"
"Just the same," Whisker said. "The elemental colors look a little more vibrant than they used to. Not that itâs of much importance in Hell, since everything looks yellow. My senses from my whiskers are way better than the Demon Eyes."
Alex nodded. "That is still improvement, and that is nice. I could feel the warmth around my eyes, but the change was nonexistent for me so I didnât even notice it had affected Demon Eyes."
Alex felt his stomach empty again and began taking more fruits. Once he started feeling bloated, he stopped. Then, he opened the seal to his Soul Space again.
Pearl had been waiting for him with the information he had gathered.
"So, how did it go?" Alex asked Pearl.
"Well... as expected from the fruit belonging to the Tree of Life. Brother, I feel... I feel like everything has changed about me. Only in bits, but everything has improved."
"Hasnât it?" Alex asked. "Itâs marvelous."
"Really," Pearl said. "My body constitution has become stronger, my meridians wider. Even my Spiritual roots have improved somewhat."
"Yes, yes. They do that," Alex said impatiently. "What about your bloodline?"
"That too," Pearl said in excitement. "My bloodlineâs become stronger. Or at least, it feels like it has."
"Really?" Alex asked in surprise, before he realized what he was talking about. "Oh, you mean the White Tigerâs bloodline."
"Of course," Pearl said. "What else would I be talking about?"
Alex sighed. "I had hoped it would help your Azure Dragonâs bloodline, maybe return it somewhat."
"Oh," Pearl felt dejected. "It didnât do that."
"Iâm sorry," Alex said.
"You donât have to apologize, brother. It isnât your fault to begin with," Pearl said. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Although, now that youâve said this, I do realize that something strange has happened."
"Strange? What happened?" Alex asked.
"My Azure Dragonâs bloodline has obviously not returned," Pearl said. "But that being said, my Wood root has shown some improvement. This has never happened before."
"Yeah, it improves every rooâ" Alex froze. "Wait, your Wood root? Itâs showing improvement?"
Pearl nodded. "This is the first time, brother."