Chapter 626: Section 413: Lan Zao: I have a Fish Bladder inside me
Flower Skirt Island.
The underground secret chamber of Shuang Tu’s clinic.
Lan Zao lay flat in mid-air, enclosed in a three-dimensional Magic Array.
Beams of light emanated from the Magic Array, continuously scanning Lan Zao’s entire body.
After a moment, the Magic Array gradually stopped.
The height at which Lan Zao was suspended slowly decreased until he reached the floor.
The voice of Shuang Tu, who was controlling the Magic Array, came through the door of the secret chamber, “It’s done, Hen Fa, you can come out now.”
Lan Zao stood up, pushed open the door of the chamber, and walked out.
He entered an underground hall.
The hall was brightly lit, filled with numerous Alchemy Components. Lan Zao couldn’t recognize any of them, yet he could discern the magic aura emanating from these Alchemy Components. The vast majority were Silver Level, with two or three pieces being Golden Level.
The Magic Array in the chamber he had just left was controlled by a Golden Level Alchemy Component.
Shuang Tu stood in front of that Alchemy Component, currently manipulating the holographic magic panel that appeared.
Upon seeing Lan Zao approaching, he said with a pleased look, “Good news, the Bloodline in your body has completely stabilized. Your Bloodline Awakening was quite successful, and now your body possesses 100% Fish Bladder Bloodline. This is the best outcome for a Bloodline Awakening; not all awakenings reach 100%.”
Lan Zao nodded his head, and immediately his gaze was captured by the Golden Level Alchemy Component in front of him.
The metallic surface of the Alchemy Component was smooth and even, like a giant mirror.
And it was in this reflection that Lan Zao saw his current appearance.
The most eye-catching feature was his blue skin.
To be precise, it was light blue.
His skin color no longer resembled that of the Human Race.
“Fortunately, I didn’t grow fish scales,” Lan Zao could only console himself.
His physique had also changed.
Firstly, he had become shorter. His height had shrunk to 1.7 meters, but he had also become much more muscular.
His upper body was now shaped like an inverted triangle. His shoulders were much broader, and his waist area had eight well-defined abs. His arms were robust yet supple.
Lan Zao’s upper body had become much longer than before his awakening. Due to the compression in height, his lower body had become even shorter.
But both his thighs and calves were bulging with muscles, making it apparent that his legs were very powerful.
His palms and soles had become wide and large, and between the fingers and toes, membranes similar to fish fins had grown.
However, these membranes did not connect fully to the tips of his fingers, reaching only up to the middle at most.
Even the shape of his head had changed; what had been a normal human head shape was now narrower at the top and broad at the bottom, forming almost a perfect triangle. His chin had doubled in width, and his head was somewhat pointed.
His hair had become much sparser, yet denser than before.
Humans normally have fine, soft, thin strands of hair. However, Lan Zao’s hair, now deep blue, was long and wide, resembling noodles or seaweed, and usually appeared curled and coiled.
Lan Zao’s eyes had also increased in size, almost twice as large as before, his pupils showing a deep, dark black.
And on each side of his cheeks were three “black lines.”
The “black lines” could spread out and were actually fish gills.
Regarding this new organ, Lan Zao had already tried it—his current self could breathe using these gills.
Watching his own reflection on the metallic surface, Lan Zao’s gaze grew complex.
While he had been lying on the sickbed, he had already noticed these changes occurring in his body.
At the beginning, he had struggled to accept them.
With Shuang Tu’s encouragement, he rapidly adjusted his mindset. After all, the fortune of a Bloodline Awakening was something others could hardly even hope for.
Seeing Lan Zao staring somewhat entranced at his own reflection, Shuang Tu chuckled softly, “Your Fish Bladder Bloodline has reached 100% concentration. Therefore, after awakening, all characteristics related to the Fish Bladder Bloodline have become permanently fixed.”
“Hen Fa, you are quite fortunate. After awakening, your life has become completely different from before. You have won a new life!”
In his daily conversations with Lan Zao, Shuang Tu would always use the name “Hen Fa” to address him, aiming to help him get used to and familiarize himself with this name, enhancing his sensitivity to it.
“Let’s go, stand over there, next we are going to teleport and leave Flower Skirt Island.”
Shuang Tu led Lan Zao to another Alchemy Component.
This Alchemy Component was also Golden Level.
Once activated, a beam of light immediately shot down from the hall’s ceiling.
Lan Zao stood under the beam of light, following Shuang Tu’s instructions.
Soon, the teleportation activated, and he disappeared from his original location, appearing in a cramped and dim secret chamber.
This secret chamber was much smaller than the one he had been in for examination, barely large enough to fit two or three people.
After five or six seconds, another beam of light shot down above Lan Zao.
Lan Zao quickly retreated to a corner of the room.
The next second, Shuang Tu’s figure appeared within the light beam.
The light beam disappeared rapidly.
“Where is this?” Lan Zao asked the teleported Shuang Tu.
Shuang Tu simply replied, “It’s a deserted island near Flower Skirt Island. We have excavated a secret chamber under the island’s surface here, and set up part of the Alchemy Components used for teleportation.”
“This is one of our escape routes; in case of an emergency, we can immediately evacuate from Flower Skirt Island.”
“Alright, now we must begin our training. Since this is the first official training session, the content will be fairly simple—it’s all about getting you familiar with your own body.”
Shuang Tu looked at Lan Zao and asked, “Bloodline Awakening has transformed your body, giving you new organs. You should be able to feel it, right?”
Lan Zao nodded. “Indeed, I can now breathe using gills.”
“But it doesn’t feel good.”
“I’ve tried it two or three times. Each time I breathe through my gills, the whole side of my face hurts, like being caught in a sandstorm in the desert, with sand being forced into my mouth.”
Shuang Tu nodded slightly. “The Fish Bladder Bloodline is related to Fishmen. Hen Fa, one of your ancestors was likely a Fishman.”
“As such, these fish gills, these life organs, are typically used for underwater breathing and aren’t suited for use on land or directly in the air.”
“However, the Fish Bladder Bloodline has given you not just gills, but also a fish bladder! The latter is actually the most distinct feature of this bloodline.”
“Fish bladder?” Lan Zao was surprised.
Naturally, he knew what a fish bladder was; it’s commonly known as fish maw.
Lan Zao shook his head. “Where is the fish bladder? Why can’t I feel it?”
“I’ve checked—there is no mistake. Your newly formed fish bladder organ is located right beneath your lungs,” said Shuang Tu.
“It’s quite normal that you haven’t felt it yet. Right now, your condition is like that of a newborn infant, born with disabilities, missing arms and legs. After reaching adulthood and receiving treatment, you would have grown limbs, but wouldn’t know how to use them.”
“Next, I am going to open the valve, push open this door, and we will immediately enter the sea.”
“When you continually breathe underwater using your gills, you will be able to feel your fish bladder inside.”
Having said this, Shuang Tu cast a spell on himself first.
Spell—Air Bubble Skill.
A relatively cohesive cluster of air formed a faint spherical shape, enveloping Shuang Tu entirely.
Then, Shuang Tu approached the door of the chamber. He removed a few bricks from the wall near the chamber’s main door, revealing a bronze handle inside.
Shuang Tu turned the bronze handle, and Lan Zao immediately heard the sound of chains and gears pulling and rotating.
After a series of splashing and clattering noises, the floor tiles at the corners of the chamber suddenly began to admit large amounts of seawater.
The water level kept rising, reaching Lan Zao’s chin in about 30 seconds. Thirty more seconds later, the chamber was completely filled with seawater.
Once Shuang Tu had turned the bronze handle for the final time, the door of the chamber opened on its own.
The two swam out of the chamber into the sea.
Lan Zao looked around.
His recently developed black pupils, which had improved since his Bloodline Awakening, allowed him to capture more of the underwater light and see things better.
He discovered, just as Shuang Tu had said, that this chamber was a retrofit of the underwater foundations of a Deserted Island.
It was a crude chamber carved out of the surface of the island’s root.
“Now, keep breathing using your gills,” Shuang Tu followed from behind Lan Zao.
Because he had used the Air Bubble Skill, he was not in the water but had a bubble of air surrounding him like a spherical shield.
This bubble of air not only allowed him to withstand the pressure from the sea water but also provided him with breathable air.
Of course, with Shuang Tu’s continuous breathing, this air bubble would gradually shrink.
Previously, in the hospital room at the medical pavilion, Lan Zao had only briefly tried breathing with his gills and stopped after feeling pain. But this time was different; he discarded mouth and nose breathing, persisting in using his gills.
Breathing underwater felt completely different from breathing in the hospital room.
The cold sea water flowed in and out of his gills, filtering the breath through and filling the newly formed fish bladder organ inside Lan Zao’s body.
The fish bladder continued to expand.
Air kept filling, slowly bulging Lan Zao’s chest.
Lan Zao felt a growing buoyancy force, aiming to lift him towards the surface.
“You should now be feeling the fish bladder inside you, right?” Shuang Tu asked.
Lan Zao immediately nodded. Perhaps previously there wasn’t enough air, and the volume of the fish bladder remained minimal, making it hard for him to feel.
But now, with the expansion of the fish bladder, Lan Zao could feel it very clearly.
Shuang Tu continued, “Now, try to compress your fish bladder and squeeze out the air inside.”
Lan Zao did as instructed, and the next moment, he felt a strong urge to vomit.
He couldn’t help but his Adam’s apple bobbed, his mouth opened wide subconsciously, releasing a large air bubble, followed by a string of smaller bubbles.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…
As the small bubbles spewed out, lots of seawater flowed in through his mouth.
Lan Zao quickly clamped his mouth shut, but in the chaos, he forgot to breathe through his gills and instinctively used his mouth and nose, causing him to choke on the water and flounder even more.
Seeing this, Shuang Tu hastily used the Air Bubble Skill.
Lan Zao found himself in an air bubble, coughing heavily for a while before he could catch his breath.
“Bloodline Awakening has greatly changed my body.”
“I must undergo extensive training to master these changes. Otherwise, my newly formed body would instead be a huge liability.”
Lan Zao fully understood his situation.
But just as he was about to continue his training, Shuang Tu’s expression shifted slightly.
“Ice Eagle is coming; he must have heard the news of your awakening.”
“Hen Fa, your first test is here. Do you remember what you should do?”