Chapter 226: The Path of Advancement
“Bang…”
On the Experimental Platform, the Ironthread Snake that had been injected with the special potion burst like an overinflated balloon, exploding into a cloud of blood mist before Zhou Ming.
The glaring crimson flesh scattered throughout the Laboratory like raindrops, and quite a bit of blood splattered onto Zhou Ming as well.
“Structural collapse?”
The complex and mysterious images that had surfaced in his mind lasted only a short while before ending with the Ironthread Snake’s explosion. Faced with such a situation, Zhou Ming did not grow angry. Instead, he calmed himself and carefully analyzed the cause.
At the very least, the plan of using genes as a fulcrum to pry open Bloodline Transformation had already been realized.
After remaining silent for a long time and allowing the thoughts in his mind to settle, Zhou Ming began cleaning up the traces left behind by the experiment.
Ever since he had touched upon the origin of bloodlines, nearly all of his energy had been devoted to Bloodline Research.
As his research deepened, his knowledge of bloodlines steadily accumulated, and he developed new ideas regarding the path of the Transcendent.
At the beginning, Zhou Ming had planned to use the Ironthread Snake as a foundation and fuse it with the bloodlines of other snake-type Ferocious Beasts, allowing himself to transform and grasp the bloodline of the entire snake race.
However, as his comprehension of bloodlines deepened, he realized that his original idea had been overly idealistic.
At the very least, at the Transcendent Master level, he was still far from capable of completing such a plan.
Even in his control over the Ironthread Snake, the bloodline within his body could not yet be considered a true Ironthread Snake Emperor Bloodline.
If it had to be described, he could only be regarded as a nominal Ironthread Snake Emperor.
Yet the inspiration he had gained from studying the bloodlines of the Shadow Cat Clan and Catwoman gave Zhou Ming a new proposal.
That was to use the Ironthread Snake as a foundation to create an entirely new snake race.
If the Ironthread Snake was like the Shadow Cat, then this new snake race would be like Catwoman. Not only would its bloodline level rise by an entire tier, but through this opportunity, he would also become the true emperor of this brand-new snake race, possessing the ability to borrow the power of the entire race.
A Professional Rank Ruler would gain the enhancement of the snake swarm, thereby mastering the power of the Serpentfolk Form and stealing the Ironthread Snake’s bloodline.
At the Transcendent level, he would gain the enhancement of an entire snake race and transform the bloodline within his body into a true Emperor Bloodline.
With a true Emperor Bloodline, he would possess absolute control over his snake race. By using this as a foundation to integrate other snake bloodlines, he would then have the opportunity to obtain mastery over the bloodline of the entire snake race, and ultimately ascend to the throne of the Legendary Saint.
As this clear advancement plan formed in Zhou Ming’s mind, his goal instantly became distinct. He was no longer like a headless fly flying about aimlessly.
This plan also had another advantage: when the Ironthread Snake bloodline underwent transformation, he could simultaneously lay the groundwork for advancing to Legendary Saint.
Through the process of Bloodline Research, Zhou Ming had gained an entirely new understanding of Bloodline Fusion, Bloodline Mutation, Bloodline Reversion, and various other Bloodline Transformations.
Take Bloodline Fusion, for example. In essence, it relied on external forces to strengthen the primary bloodline.
It was like adding extra floors to a house. However, constrained by the original foundation, at most one or two additional floors could be built.
The same applied to Bloodline Fusion. There was a limit to how many times it could be used. It was impossible to raise bloodline level infinitely through continuous fusion.
Once a certain threshold was exceeded, structural collapse would occur due to excessive bloodline complexity.
The reason why the Four Major Profession Systems of Blue Star could advance to Legendary Saint was precisely because they had found ways to circumvent the limitations imposed by bloodlines.
Phantasmal Tamers and Beast Spirit Sorcerers followed the paths of elements and souls respectively, completely abandoning bloodlines.
As for Beast Knights, they pushed the feedback characteristic to its extreme. The Beast Tamer gained the Beast’s talents and terrifying physique, while the Beast gained the Beast Tamer’s boundless potential.
Although they did not entirely avoid the influence of bloodlines, Beast Tamers could, in later stages, help their Beasts carve out new paths.
Finally, Shepherds could conduct Bloodline Research using subordinate beasts that did not affect either the Beast Tamer or the primary beast. They could even employ methods such as Bloodline Mutation.
Bloodline Mutation undoubtedly involved reconstructing the bloodline structure. Though extremely dangerous, once successful, the Beast Tamer could guide the primary beast toward beneficial mutation through its connection with subordinate beasts.
It was precisely because the Shepherd path was more complex in advancement that fewer Beast Tamers chose this route.
However, regardless of the path, Shepherds ultimately possessed, like the other three systems, methods to bypass bloodline limitations. Only in this way could they continue advancing classes and eventually ascend to Legendary Saint.
Zhou Ming’s research into the Shadow Cat Clan and Catwoman had given him insight into the evolution of bloodline structures.
Although changes in bloodline structure easily led to collapse, he possessed the Blood Descendant Secret Technique · Snake Tide and the Snake Swarm Will, allowing him to stabilize issues arising during bloodline structure evolution.
Furthermore, during the evolution process, he could integrate the erosive nature of dragon bloodlines, laying the groundwork for devouring other snake bloodlines in the future.
With the plan finalized, Zhou Ming began deeper research into the Ironthread Snake bloodline.
Fortunately, he had previously instructed Su Ningfeng to complete the Genetic Structure Map of the Ironthread Snake. This saved him considerable time and allowed him to experiment continuously at key genetic nodes to observe their effects on bloodlines.
In addition, the already completed genetic maps of other snake species provided him with various inspirations.
Moreover, these genetic maps would be immensely helpful when integrating other snake bloodlines in the future. Thus, Zhou Ming ordered Su Ningfeng to accelerate research on the genetic structures of various snake species.
As his research into the Ironthread Snake bloodline deepened, Zhou Ming did not neglect improving his Spiritual Power and comprehending meditation methods.
As for the accompanying Class Advancement Ritual, he had already formed ideas.
The bloodline theft of the Half-Beastmen, the feedback characteristic of Beast Knights, and the influence of subordinate beasts upon primary beasts in the Shepherd path—all of these were materials he needed to study.
They were the foundation for obtaining the Emperor Bloodline from the new snake race he would create, and also the method by which he would acquire the enhancement of an entire race.
…
His sleepless and foodless research caused time to pass swiftly and silently. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
Within the Meditation Room, Zhou Ming revealed his Serpentfolk Form, coiling within the chamber as he contemplated the connection between Spiritual Power and bloodline.
In the book Bloodline and the Connection of the Soul gifted by Lei Yuan, the essence of bloodlines was described in detail—not merely as a form of informational inheritance, but also as something involving racial origins and connections at the level of the soul.
The reason Zhou Ming had not become the true Ironthread Snake Emperor was primarily because his spiritual consciousness remained human.
If, when he had advanced to Ruler, he had used his bloodline to infect his Spiritual Power, he might already have become a true Ironthread Snake Emperor.
However, he would have faced a major problem: his spiritual consciousness would have been influenced by the bloodline. Most likely, he would have lost his true self. Even possessing the Snake Swarm Will would not have prevented this—it would have been a transformation imposed upon him by the race itself.
But if the snake race were one he personally created, he could apply methods in advance during bloodline structure evolution to prevent such a situation, ensuring that his own will dominated the entire race.
Just as Zhou Ming was contemplating the connection between Spiritual Power and bloodline, he suddenly sensed that the Snake Soul Curse Seals on Li Hu and the others had been unsealed.