Chapter 8 - First Step

The determination and confidence that Tatsuya was emitting, isn't just for show. Every single aspect of his plan to acquire himself the profound veins was already placed. He only needed to give the final push for everything to occur.

Profound veins are the medium required by an entity to absorb profound energy, thus allowing it to cultivate the profound way of this world. It just so happen that Tatsuya came from another world, making him a cripple.

(Based on the data I gathered from Yuanba and Xia Qingyue, they both have mysteries and secrets on their own. Although, I can't access their ethereal soul, I could get the gist of their situation. Their father is an ordinary mortal with above-average talent. While, I assume that their mother is some sort of a divine being.)

Tatsuya slowly thought of everything, while approaching the bed in the corner of his room. He sat on the bed, as he leaned downwards. His body adopted a straight sleeping posture, as he slowly closed his eyes.

(Elemental Sight, Activate.)

His innate ability, Elemental Sight, allowed his ethereal soul to disengage from his physical body. He was planning to cut-off his mental awareness of his body, allowing him to maximize his potential while avoiding slight and minor errors in the process.

In this form, Tatsuya's body is completely vulnerable from any kind of attack or harm. But, he decided to take the risk and carry on with the modification of his Eidos. After all, his innate ability, Regrowth, wouldn't allow him to die.

(Xia Yuanba's genetic configuration, eh. The Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins allows an entity breakthrough to Emperor Profound Realm or Tyrant Profound Realm in a single night. The only flaw is that, an entity must possess the heart of a tyrant and must desire to become an emperor. This is a feature that doesn't suit me.)

Tatsuya inwardly pondered, as he imagined himself being a tyrant or an emperor of some sort. He immediately shook his head, out of rejection. Certainly, Tatsuya wasn't fit to become a ruler, as he currently only desires to be free from any kinds of bind.

(Removing that flaw, the Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins would be a great attribute for my profound veins. Upon removing that flaw, I will lose the opportunity to immediately breakthrough into that realm. However, it doesn't really matter. I only need its tyrannical attribute that will allow me to access strength that was beyond my current cultivation level.)

Sorting out every single thing that was needed from Yuanba's genetic structure, Tatsuya felt satisfied. He then moved on to Xia Qingyue's genetic modification, as he also pondered.

(Xia Qingyue's genetic configuration is much more interesting. Her profound veins are absolutely better than almost everyone within this world. Her profound veins could handle heavy loads of elements and profound energy.)

(There's also her constitution, Nine Profound Exquisite Body. However, I'm not planning to become a woman any time soon. Obviously, if someone would like to train an art to 99th stage or something, they would want this. However, the 'small world' within the body is flawed. It only allows you to do wondrous things at the start, but as your strength increases, it will be useless.)

Tatsuya immediately threw the exquisite body of Xia Qingyue into some kind of trash can within his mind. He only needed her excellent quality profound veins to act as his profound veins' foundation.

(Merging both of the genetic codes that I want, I would get a set of profound veins that could handle heavy toll of profound energy and other energy, while, the Tyrannical Attribute that could allow me to momentarily access greater strength.)

Having the entire concept of his profound veins already settled, Tatsuya immediately imprinted the structure into his memory. Slowly but surely, the profound veins that he would soon grant to himself, was already taking form within his mind.

(So, how will I hide my profound veins?)

It was this question that Tatsuya was currently thinking of. He knew that if he suddenly just gained profound veins, people would be suspicious and it would make the whole matter troublesome.

He could just halt the whole process, but he knew that it would only dampen his motivation to create a set of profound veins for himself. It was best to just settle everything, and hide the profound veins. This way, he would sense more ease and wouldn't be overly-cautious every single time.

(What differentiates a cripple to a cultivator? If comparing my current genetic structure to Yuanba's genetic structure, the only difference is that I don't have profound veins while he does. People usually detect someone's profound energy all the time, because even if they are powerful, they wouldn't be able to hide the faint thread of profound energy…)

(No, it won't work. I don't have enough information about these things. Even if I could somehow think of a way to hide my profound veins, it might not work based on these individual's standards. They will still detect the changes within my body.)

Tatsuya felt helpless, as he found himself in a corner. It might get really dangerous if someone discovered that he so abruptly became a cultivator.

(Hm. I don't have a choice, I'll just seal my profound veins then I'll unseal it after leaving this place…)

Tatsuya reached a decision, as his innate ability, Eidos Modification was slowly changing his genetic modification. Slowly but surely, his whole physical structure was changing. The profound veins that didn't existed before, was slowly forming within his body.

It was a quiet night, only Tatsuya's immobile sleeping body could be seen within his room. The windows were open, as the winds would occasionally enter his room. No one was aware of the earth-shattering event that was taking place within the room.

…

"Clan lord, I can't accept this…"

"Just accept it, Tatsuya. It's the only help we could give you."

Facing the sincere Xia Hongyi, Tatsuya felt quite helpless. Sun had already gone up and blessed the world with light, as Xia Hongyi and Xia Yuanba came to see him off. People would be shocked if they saw the clan head of Xia Clan personally sending someone off.

"Okay, thank you very much for everything. I know that I don't have anything to give, but I will forever owe you guys one."

"Haha, I wish you the best, Tatsuya."

Once Tatsuya said the word 'owe,' he could swear to heavens that he saw Xia Hongyi's eyes smile out of delight. However, he didn't cared about it, as he knew that this old guy can't possible know his secrets, and was only acting on his instincts.

"Big brother Tatsuya, I hope that we could still see each other again."

"Yeah, I'm sure that we will still see each other again."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Xia Yuanba's face showed his happiness yet sadness, over the fact that Tatsuya was already leaving their clan. He had already become accustomed to Tatsuya for the past two weeks that Tatsuya was here. They could be said close friends now.

"That horse will help you travel faster than walking, big brother Tatsuya."

"Yeah, thank you for your help, Yuanba."

Tapping the body of the horse, Xia Yuanba puffed up his chest and proudly struck his chest. Tatsuya saw his proudness and wryly smiled, while offering his gratitude towards the bulky yet childish guy.

Tatsuya wasn't skilled in saddling a horse. Actually, it was the first time he had saw one. Since, in his time, such animals were already endangered. But, he had read books about saddling a horse, thus he was quite confident in traveling with a horse.

"Yuanba, if you needed help, as long as I could help you with it. I will help you."

Tatsuya suddenly approached Xia Yuanba and whispered to the bulky guy. Xia Yuanba got startled and was taken aback by Tatsuya's suddenly statement. After hearing Tatsuya's whisper, Xia Yuanba let out a smile, as he nodded back.

"So, I'll be going now. Thank you, Clan Head. Thank you, Yuanba. Also please give my farewell to Xia Qingyue. Goodbye."

"Bye, big brother Tatsuya!"

Tatsuya swiftly rode the horse, as he kicked the horse slightly. The horse uttered an agitated whimper, as it quickly ran on the direction of the nearest city. Xia Yuanba waved his hands at Tatsuya's back, together with his father, Xia Hongyi who was also waving his hand slightly.

(Eidos Modification, Unsealing Profound Veins.)

The moment Tatsuya ordered his innate ability to unseal his profound veins, lights jumped around within Tatsuya's pure-blue eyes. Those lights were the profound energy particles that he could now sense.

The profound veins that was recently formed within his body, now fully awakened. It throbbed slightly, as Tatsuya felt a gush of profound energy entering his body. It was the first time that he had experienced such lightness over his body.

(Sigh, now another wave of trouble. Recreating my innate abilities, so I could use them using profound energy will be quite exhausting. But, if it's to secure my life, exhaustion doesn't really matter…)

(No thinking about it now. First, I should secure some place to sleep, and I'll start the recreation of my innate abilities. I will also try to convert the magic sequence that I knew in the past, into a profound art that will be useful.)

(And, there's also cultivation. Currently, I'm at 0th stage of Elementary Profound Realm. I have so many things to do…)

Tatsuya can't help but complain, as a wave of irritation spread through his mind. He currently had already taken the first step into the cultivation world. But, he didn't know that he would encounter so many things that would make his life more troublesome.

With his innate magic, Decomposition, within his arsenal, he would soon let the world know whether he likes it or not, the power of Demon Right that could convert mass into energy.