Mirror Dream Tree

Six days later, at noon, Merin is fully transformed into another snake—a Rank-2 Rattlesnake.

The serpent with a rattle at its tail can play a melody to attract prey or summon wind blades to attack.

This particular snake was captured by Zhen Qi and the people who had sworn allegiance to Merin.

They had brought all their research materials and equipment with them, the same day Baku defeated Kay.

That night they arrived, and the very next morning, Merin sent them to hunt the Rattlesnake nearby.

Thanks to their training under Merin for the past two years, they captured the snake easily—they had learned Merin's transformation technique and practiced his spell, Rank-2 Flying Lizard Body, allowing them to sprout wings as a partial transformation or take on the full flying lizard form, soaring through the skies at will.

And now Merin has already completed the second stage of the Rattlesnake transformation and is about to begin the third stage.

Before he can begin the cellular transformation, he senses a familiar mental domain brush against his own.

He instantly recognises Kyoko, a fellow teacher who is at the True Spirit Core realm.

Kyoko's voice sounds in his mind: "Dragon Master, a fight has broken out among the students."

Merin replies calmly, "What does that have to do with me?"

Kyoko answers, "It's the students with beast bloodlines under your supervision."

Merin's snake-like eyes snap open as he asks, "Where?"

And even as he speaks, his mental domain expands across the academy, locking onto the brawling students.

He immediately notices they have fallen into a frenzy, their bodies halfway transformed into yao beasts.

Without hesitation, Merin casts a Sleep Spell across all present.

One by one, the rampaging students slump to the ground, unconscious before they can do any more harm.

Kyoko looks around at the scene, then asks, "What happened to them? How did they transform into half-yao?"

Merin says calmly, "I'll explain after you bring them to my lab."

Kyoko nods. "Alright."

A few minutes later, Kyoko, along with several other teachers and students, carries Merin's beast-blood students into his lab on stretchers.

By the time they arrive, the unconscious students have already reverted to their human forms.

The other students are sent away, leaving Kyoko and a few teachers to stand back as Merin checks his students.

He gently guides strands of vitality energy into their bodies, healing their inner and outer injuries.

Kyoko asks, "Dragon Master, how were they able to transform into half-yao like that?"

Merin replies, "They learned to control the beast blood inside them and achieved partial transformation."

One of the teachers, examining an unconscious student, looks up in shock. "Their life origin is strengthening in a few weeks or months, maybe even days, they'll have the strength of the Spirit Core realm."

The other teachers quickly check the remaining students and come to the same conclusion.

Everyone looks at each other in astonishment.

These students had been accepted into the academy only because they were part of Merin's experiment to create a spiritual cultivation method for half—yao, humans with beast blood or beast features.

But these students' bloodlines were not pure enough.

With such impure bloodlines, they would normally never rise this far.

Even the authority responsible for surveying half-yao would never have given them attention because of their low potential.

And yet now, their life origins are truly advancing.

That kind of leap is only supposed to happen if they'd consumed soul essence, and none of them showed any trace of it.

The teachers slowly turn toward Merin, their eyes burning with curiosity and their minds racing with questions about how he had shattered the limits of their bloodline without a drop of soul essence.

Merin feels the other teachers extend their mental domains toward him, hoping to catch every word of his explanation.

He can sense their anticipation; they all understand that his answer could shift the world as they know it.

"I helped them control their bloodline," Merin begins calmly, "so they could partially transform into their beast forms."

The surrounding teachers, and those listening from a distance, all send back a single thought: *How?*

Merin sighs inwardly, realising that words alone won't do.

He shares a memory of the students' harsh training in the forbidden Blood Burning technique and the careful guidance he gave to perfect it.

The teachers silently observe the vivid scene and then murmur to one another across their mental link:

"It's impossible to replicate."

"Yes, impossible for most. But those at the peak of the Ascendant realm could advance into the Dharma realm."

"Still, reaching life origin Rank-4 would take years."

"Unless they use rare treasures like Earth Milk, Life Water, Divine Blood Lotus, or Vitality Fruits."

"Earth Milk lies deep underground."

"Life Water is guarded by the Sea People in the ocean's depths."

"Divine Blood Lotus blooms once every thousand years."

"Vitality Fruits grow only on the mother tree of the Dryad race."

"One could earn them by completing a task for the Wood Ancestor."

"Yes, that's one way, but only a few half-yao would ever gain these resources."

"Maybe we can grow Divine Blood Lotus near battlefields, feeding the blooms with the corpses."

"Should we release this method?"

"They might fight one another for these resources," one teacher replies coldly. "That would save us the trouble."

"You all forget that soul essence also accelerates the process."

"Then we should arrange a soul-refining formation like the Five Ancestors Axis."

"But didn't we justify killing the Blood Ancestor and war with the other five because they devour souls?"

"That hardly matters now. War has already begun."

"No, we can't arrange the soul refining formation, or it will get out of hand. Then, if we win, the soul-refining arrays will pose a serious issue."

"What if we win? The world supports us."

"For now. If the Five Ancestors help the world grow stronger, that could change."

"They did nothing for ten thousand years. Why would they act now?"

"They never had this method to improve their rule before."

The conversation circles before someone asks, "What are we even debating anymore?"

"Does it matter? Without Dragon Master or sufficient resources, they cannot practice this."

"Who says?"

And one of the teachers releases a new technique prototype to everyone present—a method to rapidly replenish beast blood after Blood Burning.

In normal circumstances, a half-yao's body first produces human blood to sustain itself. Once the body reaches full capacity, blood production stops, and no beast blood is created. This causes the bloodline purity to drop again.

But this new technique absorbs natural energy to provide the body with extra energy so that beast blood is reproduced alongside human blood.

Merin studies the method carefully, simulating its process in his mental realm, and to his surprise, it's feasible.

The other teachers, having examined the technique as well, voice their agreement that it could work, though they insist practical tests are needed.

As they discuss who will conduct the experiment, Merin calmly says, "Let me do it."

Most agree — after all, Merin already has the experimental material, and the unconscious students surrounding him are perfect test subjects.

They encourage him to begin as soon as possible and send them the report afterwards, but Merin replies, "You don't need a report later. You can all watch the experiment now."

With that, Merin shifts back into his human form and then begins transforming into a human with snow lizard blood, his hair lightening and his pupils narrowing into slits.

He hears their reactions ripple through their mental domains:

"I didn't realise the transformation technique could be so accurate."

"Yes, looking at this, I'd like to practice it too."

"One of my students practised this technique and increased his Thunder affinity."

"Useful for elemental affinity, sure, but hardly of value for those of us who don't comprehend the elements."

"Still, it's an excellent path for apprentices and Spirit Core realm spiritualists."

While the teachers speak, Merin burns his blood using the forbidden Blood Burning technique and activates the new beast-blood recovery method.

It's slow — painfully slow — but he can see this will work.

He shares the process with the teachers across the domain and then, while they talk among themselves, continues to ponder the technique.

And, as one of the foremost experts in both the human body and beast and half-yao physiology, Merin refines the method further, adjusting the flow of energy and catalyzing the recovery rate.

By the time they look back at him, he's already increased the recovery speed fivefold.

After receiving Merin's improvements to the technique, the other teachers also apply their knowledge to enhance it.

They exchange findings with each other, iterating rapidly, until eventually—using all their combined expertise—they manage to boost the beast-blood recovery rate to nine times faster than it was with the original method.

Merin then hears Haruto's voice in his mind.

"Kanoru," Haruto asks, "have you finished your experiment, or will it continue?"

Merin replies, "It's finished."

"You've created a way for them to become spiritualists," Haruto observes.

Merin says, "It's only conceptual so far. But in a few weeks, I can turn it into a fully developed technique."

Haruto then asks, "If you can do that, could you also prepare one of those spiritualists to participate in the Youth Competition Selection?"

Many of the teachers are caught off guard at the mention of the Youth Competition, the prestigious tournament held every four years in the Western continent for cultivators under twenty. They hadn't expected it would also be hosted here this year.

Merin, familiar with the event, asks, "Haruto, what happens if one of our academy's participants wins the competition?"

Haruto replies, "Then the council will allocate more resources to our academy for the next four years."

Merin smiles. "How about I participate? I'm still eighteen."

The teachers can't help but laugh and joke about it. Some even say that if the Dragon Master joined the tournament, the outcome would already be decided. After all, under twenty, there might not be a single soul in the world who could defeat him—or even twenty people of any age who could.

Haruto chuckles through the mental link as well. "I wish you could, but only those at the Spiritual Core realm and below are allowed."

After a few more minutes of discussion, the teachers begin to withdraw their mental domains one by one.

Kyoko and the others present in the lab leave as well, and silence falls around Merin.

Haruto's mental domain appears again, and his voice resonates in Merin's thoughts.

He tells Merin they must send someone to protect the students who have awakened their beast blood.

Merin agrees without hesitation and says that he will arrange his men.

As Haruto's presence fades, Merin weaves a messenger spell with a drop of his own blood.

The drop becomes a flesh-and-blood bird that looks like any other ordinary creature.

Merin imbues his message into the bird, and it flies toward Zhen Qi, guided by his life fluctuation.

He instructs Zhen Qi to hide near the academy gates with his men and protect the unconscious students when they leave the academy.

An hour later, Merin's students stir one by one, still dazed from their transformation.

He tells them to go home and wait for further instructions.

When the last student leaves, Merin seals the lab with a shielding formation.

He then takes on a human form laced with Red-Jade Python blood and focuses on his inner energy.

A wisp of red energy emerges from his veins and enters his mental domain.

There, it shapes itself into the Red-Jade Python's signature spell, Red Phosphorus Fire.

Merin concentrates on the spell's structure and begins pushing its Rank-2 essence toward Rank 3.

He knows that if he perfects this spell and harmonises it with his life energy, it will become a true cultivation method.

This will mark the birth of Blood Spiritualists who can awaken, improve, and master the hidden powers sleeping in their blood.