As flesh and blood scattered in all directions, Wei Wei narrowed her eyes.
She was no stranger to such gruesome sights. Having conducted countless experiments, she remained unfazed. However, she could clearly sense a familiar force emerging not far ahead.
This energy was something she recognized well.
Ever since establishing a spiritual connection with Feng Qi from the primary timeline, she had frequently felt the presence of this power. But at this moment, she couldn't be certain—had he truly succeeded, or had he failed the very instant he succeeded?
With a sense of anticipation, she watched as the blood mist dispersed. Within the clearing haze, she saw a skeletal figure marked with intertwining blood-red and violet patterns.
The surface of the skeletal body was coated with a crystalline sheen, making it appear incredibly sinister. Standing there, it resembled a demon crawling out of the depths of hell, exuding an aura thick with death.
Wei Wei had encountered this type of presence before, primarily from domain creatures that had slaughtered countless lives. Yet compared to them, the intensity of Feng Qi's current aura far surpassed anything she had seen.
At this moment, Feng Qi felt a lingering sense of relief.
He had truly been just a step away from death.
If not for the crucial moment where he successfully merged his spiritual medium micro-light with the source core, he would have perished on the spot.
Fortunately, he had made it.
However, the moment he completed the fusion, he realized several potential issues.
The first was that his control over the source core's bestowed abilities wasn't as fluid as he had expected.
In the primary timeline, he could seamlessly switch between different states granted by the source ability, as naturally as breathing. But now, the process felt clumsy and awkward.
Still, he wasn't too concerned.
After all, his body in the primary timeline had undergone extensive mutations. His current body was merely ordinary and couldn't compare.
What concerned him more, however, was whether Narrator had followed him after he obtained the source ability.
He held onto a sliver of hope.
Narrator was unreliable most of the time, but in crucial moments, he had always been a dependable companion.
With this in mind, Feng Qi let out a mental roar:
"A'Bai, stop pretending! Show yourself!"
Silence.
He wasn't sure if Narrator was just playing dead, or if he truly hadn't followed him into this timeline.
Both possibilities seemed equally likely.
So he used his ultimate technique:
"A'Bai, as your father, I command you to come out!"
This trick had always worked in the past.
Whenever he challenged Narrator's dignity like this, Narrator would immediately jump out in a rage.
But this time, there was still no response.
At this point, Feng Qi could only assume that Narrator had not followed him into this timeline.
This confirmed something—Narrator and the abilities he had mastered in the primary timeline were not bound together. They were entirely separate entities.
Just as he was deep in thought, Wei Wei's voice interrupted him.
"Are you still alive?"
Hearing her question, Feng Qi, now in his skeletal battle form, opened his mouth to speak.
However, in his pure skeletal state, he lacked vocal cords and was unable to make any sound.
Instead, he extended his spiritual consciousness outward, transmitting his thoughts directly into Wei Wei's mind.
"Wei-jie, I made it!"
Hearing his voice in her head, Wei Wei was momentarily stunned before nodding in acknowledgment.
"Good. Now, try turning back into human form. I'm not used to communicating through mental transmission... Let's go to Lab No. 3 and get you some blood replenishment."
Feng Qi nodded without hesitation.
Then, following Wei Wei, he left Training Room No. 1.
On the way to Lab No. 3, Feng Qi started testing his newfound abilities.
At this stage, he had successfully gained access to the source ability, but whether he could utilize other talents was still uncertain.
The reason he chose to merge with the source core first was that all other talent cores orbited around it. He theorized that, through the source core, he might be able to access and control other abilities.
Or at the very least, he might be able to use it to strengthen his connection to the other talents.
However, he quickly realized that his assumption was only half correct.
Through his newly merged source core, he could access other talents, but his ability to wield them was clumsy and restricted.
In the primary timeline, using different talents had been as simple as thinking the command.
This realization came to him in an instant.
For example, in the primary timeline, using a talent ability was as natural as a normal person raising their right hand—there was no need to consciously think about how to do it; the action simply happened.
But in this sacrificial timeline, things were different.
Here, he was borrowing talent abilities, and the process was more like manipulating a puppet on strings.
Controlling too many abilities at once was akin to handling numerous strings at the same time—it was overwhelming, and his energy would be depleted in an instant.
For example, when he activated Blood Source Form, it became significantly harder to use any other talent ability. He simply couldn't coordinate multiple abilities for simultaneous combat.
This limitation was significant, making it impossible to wield abilities as freely as in the primary timeline.
Still, he believed that if he could continue to deepen his spiritual connection, this problem might be alleviated.
However, achieving the same level of seamless control as in the primary timeline was clearly unrealistic.
Feng Qi felt a slight sense of regret about this but wasn't particularly surprised—he had already prepared himself mentally for such limitations.
Moments later, he followed Wei Wei to Lab No. 3.
After undergoing a security scan and verification, the green access light flashed above the doorway.
Pushing the door open, he was greeted by the sight of an experimental livestock facility.
Aside from the central walkway, both sides of the room contained separated enclosures made of specialized glass, housing various animals bred for research.
Mice, cattle, sheep—each enclosure contained different species.
Now, he needed to slaughter these animals to absorb their vital energy and rebuild his flesh and blood.
Walking up to the white cattle enclosure, he pressed the release button. The reinforced glass door slid open with a mechanical hum.
Stepping inside, Feng Qi lunged at the nearest white bull.
Borrowing talent abilities did not mean inheriting the full power of his primary timeline self.
Feng Qi was well aware of this fact.
For instance, in the primary timeline, activating Blood Source Form would allow his body to grow beyond five meters in height. But in the sacrificial timeline, he was far from reaching that level.
Here, he was merely borrowing the properties of the power—not the full strength itself.
Activating Blood Source Form still consumed his own life force.
Given his current physical condition, activating Blood Source Form might increase his combat strength, but the difference from his primary timeline self remained vast.
That being said, dealing with ordinary animals was still well within his capability in this skeletal battle form.
As his fist shadow flashed, the bull's skull caved in under the force, and its body was sent flying several meters away—defeated in a single blow.
But what happened next caught him off guard.
The dead white bull did not release any vital energy for him to absorb.
Feng Qi: …
Gazing at the lifeless body, his mind instinctively cursed: "What the hell?!"
At that moment, he realized a major problem.
Although he had successfully borrowed the source ability, he hadn't gained the ability to absorb vital energy from the dead.
It was now clear that vital energy absorption—like Narrator—was not inherently linked to the talent abilities.
So… what now?
If he couldn't absorb vital energy, he wouldn't be able to restore his flesh.
If he couldn't return to his human form, he wouldn't be able to proceed with activating the battle timeline.
He certainly couldn't recruit warriors or form alliances with human rebel factions while walking around in skeletal battle form.
Unwilling to accept this, he moved closer and double-checked the bull's body, thinking that perhaps the creature was not completely dead yet.
After a thorough inspection, he had to admit defeat.
In this skeletal form, even drinking blood was impossible.
The question of how to revert to human form left him with a massive headache.
"What's wrong?" Wei Wei's voice came from behind him.
"I ran into a huge problem," Feng Qi responded through mental transmission.
He then explained the predicament in detail.
After hearing his explanation, Wei Wei nodded and suggested that perhaps there were alternative solutions.
Feng Qi followed her back to her private laboratory, where she began testing different methods to help him regain his flesh and blood.
The first method they attempted was coating his bones with blood to see if it would be absorbed.
Wei Wei retrieved several stored blood samples from domain creatures, then smeared the liquid across his skeletal frame.
But nothing happened.
The blood remained on the surface of his bones—completely unabsorbed, without any signs of change.
Undeterred, Wei Wei moved on to the next experiment: direct blood injection.
This time, she used specialized syringes to inject various types of blood directly into his skeletal frame.
Again, nothing changed.
At this point, even Wei Wei was at a loss.
The ability to absorb vital energy was clearly an innate trait of his primary timeline self. Even though he had borrowed the source power, he had not inherited this particular aspect of it.
To make matters worse, he lacked digestive organs, meaning he couldn't even rely on eating to replenish his vital energy.
Just as Feng Qi began to think this sacrificial timeline might be a failure, inspiration struck.
A sudden realization flashed through his mind.
He thought of the Mist Lord.
The ability to absorb vital energy wasn't exclusive to him. The Mist Lord possessed a similar ability, though far less efficient than his own.
In a previous villain timeline where he had grown alongside the Mist Lord, the latter had once taught him a technique to absorb vital energy—after he had lost his right arm.
Back then, to train his blood control abilities, he had specifically set up barrels of blood in the training grounds of the Dead Star Third Brigade estate, where he would practice every morning without fail.
Thinking of this, Feng Qi immediately turned to Wei Wei and sent a mental transmission:
"Wei-jie, I need some spirit stones to inscribe a spell formation."
Hearing this, Wei Wei looked confused but didn't ask any questions. She turned and walked into a side storage room in her private laboratory.
Moments later, she returned holding a box of spirit stones.
Feng Qi took the metal case from her hands and placed it on the workbench, then carefully removed the spirit stones one by one.
His current body was incapable of absorbing spiritual energy, meaning he couldn't draw spell formations the usual way.
However, this problem had a simple solution—he just needed spirit stones as a medium.
He explained his plan to Wei Wei, who nodded and retrieved a small blue crystal needle from a toolbox nearby.
This needle was crafted from an extremely rare high-quality spiritual ore.
Aside from being razor-sharp, it had a unique property—it could channel spiritual energy.
As soon as the spirit stone was crushed, the spiritual energy within surged outward, and the blue crystal needle absorbed it instantly. The needle soon glowed with a brilliant blue light.
It functioned like a sewing needle threading fabric, except instead of fabric, it guided spiritual energy.
After rune modification surgeries, Wei Wei often used this specialized crystal needle to stitch up modified humans.
But today, it would serve as a tool for inscribing spell formations.
Taking the crystal needle from Wei Wei, Feng Qi moved his hand, tracing patterns in the air.
The glowing blue needle left behind brilliant trails as it etched the spell formation.
Soon, an intricate, eerie blue pattern emerged in the air.
This was the "Vital Energy Manipulation Technique" that the Mist Lord had taught him.
With the formation fully inscribed, Feng Qi used his consciousness to activate it.
The spell diagram compressed, fusing into his skeletal structure, branding itself onto his bones.
The spell began to function as the crystal needle traced its final arc.
Immediately, the domain creature blood in a nearby container reacted.
Drawn by an invisible force, the blood lifted into the air and slowly drifted toward him.
When the first drop touched the inscribed spell mark on his bones, it seeped in.
As more and more blood was pulled toward him, his skeletal frame absorbed it like a starving beast.
The spell formation worked continuously, refining the blood, purging impurities, and extracting its essence.
Gradually, his withered heart—which had turned gray and dried up—began to show traces of red.
Then, it slowly started beating again.
The rhythm of its pulsations increased visibly as it filled with blood once more.
Seeing this, Wei Wei quickly moved toward the cold storage and retrieved more containers of experimental domain creature blood.
Meanwhile, Feng Qi kept his eyes shut, focusing entirely on his body's changes.
The sensation of absorbing blood was strange yet invigorating—like parched earth soaking up rain, his body felt rejuvenated.
At last, his heart fully recovered, now beating strong and steady.
The moment had come.
Feng Qi initiated the switch back to human form.
As he waited, a blood-colored mist began to rise from his skeletal frame, expanding to shroud his entire body.
Tiny flesh sprouts and nerve fibers emerged across his bones, growing and intertwining like sprouting seedlings, swiftly regenerating.
Within moments, his entire body was covered in a fresh layer of thin, tender flesh.
Watching this unfold, Wei Wei couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
Then, she whipped out her phone and began recording the transformation process.
Unlike his primary timeline self, where form-shifting took mere seconds, this time it took a full minute to complete the process.
Finally, his eyes opened.
He looked down at himself—everything was back to normal.
Then, suddenly realizing something, he turned and sprinted toward the side room.
A realization had just struck him—
He wasn't wearing any clothes.
Realizing that Wei Wei had seen everything, embarrassment hit him like a truck.
Inside the side room, he rummaged through the wardrobe, grabbed a loose-fitting Crimson Research Institute uniform, and quickly put it on.
Moments later, he stepped out.
Wei Wei, looking as calm as ever, met his gaze.
Feeling awkward, Feng Qi scratched his head.
"Don't be shy," Wei Wei smirked. "I've probably seen you naked countless times across different timelines. Honestly, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Just think of me as a doctor performing circumcision. If you look at it that way, doesn't it seem a lot less awkward?"
Feng Qi: ...