"You still didn't tell me; would I be like dark beings now? And what's the deal with the cursed blood depletion? Why isn't my heart making any more blood?!"
In reply, Immortika wrote, "Hah, you still don't get it, do you? The Dark Beings are completely different from the living beings. They don't have a life force, and that's why they need to plunder it from living beings.
"But you are not a dark being; it's just that, in a sense, you are discarding your outer shell that is no longer required. You'll still be considered a living being but with a different appearance. This is the Body Transformation.
"Besides, didn't I say you'll reconstruct your body from scratch? Just think of it as living naked for a while until you get befitting clothing for yourself.
"As for why your cursed blood is completely depleted, it's even simpler. Since you are now aware of blood manipulation, you should know that the blood force and magic force in the blood contain many secrets about a species' legacy from the beginning.
"Although you are far from peering into these secrets, you should know that if blood force and magic force start to deplete, it will directly affect a living being's lifespan and magic talent. That's why we also call it Blood Vitality, and it is directly connected with the Soul Vitality that you are aware of!
"Blood and Soul Vitalities are two sides of the same coin. Use any one of them and the other will also be dragged along, and that's why together, they are known as Life Vitality.
"So, just like the Soul Vitality, the Blood Essence can't bleed out whenever someone is wounded; it will always stay in the body, for both Soul Vitality and Blood Vitality reside within the heart!
"Even when someone dies, their vitalities will return to nature. Only by using supernatural means can someone use soul and blood vitalities or even steal them from others; you should be aware of what I'm talking about.
"Now, on the main point: In your case, when you used the cursed blood to sculpt the Longevity Schema, you're actually using your blood vitality to change your bone marrow into the cursed bone marrow.
"That's why after you used all the blood vitality in your body, you completely depleted your cursed blood!" Immortika explained.
Jacob's eyes widened as he understood what was going on. One of the questions about the magic force and blood force was answered in a way that he couldn't find before. But this also made him worried.
He quickly asked, "Since blood vitality is the same as soul vitality, then didn't this mean I'm using my lifespan here?!"
"Hehehe, that's the thing. Actually, your cursed heart is not like others; it can allow you to use blood vitality and soul vitality separately. That's why you're still alive. Since you have depleted your blood vitality, your soul vitality has taken its place, and the same will happen if you deplete your soul vitality.
"However, if you were to use your soul vitality now, then your lifespan would start to decrease as well. That's why the cursed heart is the core of the Cursed Immortal Physique; without it, you won't be alive at this moment," Immoritka revealed.
Realization dawned on Jacob at this moment. In these past two decades, he was able to comprehend just how important his cursed heart was, and he knew without it, even if he knew about the blood manipulation, he wouldn't be able to use it on the cursed blood.
Now, he learned another astonishing function of the cursed heart, and he mused that there were still many mysteries about it that he was unaware of.
Jacob was finally calm as he asked, "Then how should I replenish my blood vitality now?"
"Hahahaha… do I really need to break it to you? Just plunder it from others, and let your cursed heart absorb it!" Immortika laughed crazily as if something quite amusing was about to happen.
Jacob pulled a wry smile as he had guessed this much, "Just when I thought I could complete this stage without any bloodshed, you dragged me back into the battlefield."
"Hehehe, I'll take it as a compliment."
Jacob wasn't in the mood to entertain Immortika anymore, as he knew his days of peaceful seclusion had finally come to an end.
He knew just how powerful his blood vitality was, and he could easily guess that to replenish it completely, he'd need to kill thousands of unique-rank living beings—and this was just until he ran out of it again.
Even if he added all those experiment test subjects, he might only be able to replenish about 80% of his blood vitality. This is how powerful his cursed blood was, and this was just speculation since the number might increase.
The only good news was that his lifespan wasn't affected, and now that he knew about this function of the cursed heart, it might come in handy in the future.
After bitterly accepting his fate, he turns the page to see how much progress he made after sculpting his entire hand and forearm with longevity schema.
______
[Cursed Immortality: Cursed Immortal Physique (Nine Phases)]
[Current Phase: First Phase]
---
-First Phase: Body Transformation
-Stages of Body Transformation: Three
-First Stage: Cursed Heart Emergence (Compete)
-Second Stage: Cursed Blood Condensing (Complete)
-Third Stage: Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation (Incomplete)
---
-Inheritor: Jacob Steve
-Current Phase: First (Body Transformation)
-First Stage Progress: Complete
-Second Stage Progress: Complete
-Third Stage Progress: 5%
---
-Lifespan: 22,722 Years (All Youthful)
---
[First Phase of Body Transformation: Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation (Third Stage)]
-Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation: 05.01%
[Description: Amalgamate your Cursed Blood into Bones to change your Bone Marrow into Cursed Bone Marrow by Sculpting Longevity Schema on your Bones.]
[Longevity Schema: Picture]
--
-Completion of this stage will result in 5000 Years of Lifespan & Genesis of Cursed Immortal Bloodline
______
Seeing his lifespan, Jacob felt rejuvenated again. This over 22 thousand-year lifespan was all thanks to Nyx, especially the last five thousand years that he received from Flame Calamity.
'I was keeping them for a rainy day, but I guess this situation is no different,' Jacob thought, and the next moment, he took two huge corpses from his pendant.
One was a giant wolf, and the other was a giant fox. They were beyond unique rank magic beasts that he got by fishing in troubling water. Their underlings were all completely used in his experiments, and he was saving them since it would be too much waste to use them in mere experiments when he could do without them.
But now, he knew he needed powerful blood vitality to replenish his own. The more powerful his victim, the more powerful their blood vitality, and the quicker he'd complete the longevity schema!
Jacob then placed his hands on both corpses as his eyes turned solemn, "Blood Suction!"