Chapter 344: Transformation

A strange feeling lingered in Yunhe's heart.

That feeling was extremely strange, impossible to describe.

At that moment, he seemed able to transform into all things, yet he felt that the so-called 'all things' pointed in the same direction—the human form.

The human form is the form of the Dao Body; this was mentioned in fragments within the memories he inherited.

Of course, the accounts are not entirely the same.

Because the inherited memories he obtained did not come from a single 'ancestor,' but from countless ancestors merged into the bloodline of the Spirit Turtle clan.

Or rather, they stem from the many 'ancestors' of the Dragon Turtle, Mystic Turtle, and Great Giant Turtle.

And each so-called 'ancestor' held views that differed to some extent.

Some believe that the human form is the form of the first Dao-attained one.

Some believe that the human form is favored by the Dao.

While others believe that the structure of the human form harbors a secret not yet fully deciphered, but that secret aids cultivation.

However.

Given such understanding, naturally there will also be opposing opinions.

Some ancestors believe that demon beasts transforming into humans merely indicates the full awakening of demon beast intelligence.

What 'human' represents is merely a boundary of intelligence, and cannot represent the so-called Dao Body, Heavenly Dao's favored one, etc.

Therefore these ancestors believe that demon beasts keeping their original state is the best choice.

And this group actually comprises the majority of demon beasts.

Even if some demon beasts can fully transform into human form, they will still, to some degree, choose to retain some demon beast traits, such as hair, scales, horns, and the like.

Because they have never seen a true Dao-attained being, but they have witnessed and know that True Spirits truly exist.

And True Spirits can completely transform into human form.

However, True Spirits mostly retain their demon beast form.

Because the True Spirit's body allows them to cultivate faster.

Therefore.

Whether demon beasts should transform into human form, whether they must maintain it long-term afterward, or whether transformation merely represents a stage—this has always been a problem troubling countless demon beasts.

But for Yunhe, it's actually not complicated.

If transforming into human form lets him cultivate faster or unleash greater strength, he will keep the transformation.

Otherwise, the same applies in reverse.

Anyway, he has a Cultivator Body and does not need this to experience human feelings.

When that strange feeling spread from his heart to his whole body, Yunhe only felt a strange numb tingling throughout, like an electric shock but not so obvious.

A demon beast has only one chance to transform into human form.

And what form one transforms into arises from the heart; afterward only slight changes are possible, not major ones.

In Yunhe's heart, naturally it is the appearance of his Cultivator Body.

Whether in demon beast form or Cultivator Body, he always maintains a 'True Self'.

'Huh?'

Just.

In that profoundly mysterious transformation, Yunhe faintly sensed a power similar to the 'Turning Divine Thunder'—the 'Creative Power'.

But compared to the Turning Divine Thunder, this power seems more profound, more difficult to comprehend and even cognize.

This is the 'innate talent' granted to the demon beast race by the Heavenly Dao.

He also did not know how long this process lasted.

When that feeling on his body completely faded and he opened his eyes again, he saw a vast cave dwelling, like a giant's abode, while his viewpoint had been lowered to a polar position.

'Done?'

He lowered his head to look.

He saw a pair of hands slowly lifting up.

However.

On these hands, faintly covered were shadows of scales.

Seeing this, Yunhe's heart startled, and his hands froze in place.

'Wouldn't a turtle head show up later?'

As soon as that thought arose, he dared not examine his current appearance any further.

Speaking of which, it's rather funny—he is, after all, a Yuan Ying Cultivator, a Fourth Level demon beast, yet he worries about appearance, something that ought to be illusory to him.

Thinking this, Yunhe raised his hand and waved; a smooth water mirror appeared before him, showing his current appearance.

First glance.

Yunhe looked toward his own head.

Upon seeing a human-like face, he let out a long sigh.

What relieved him further was that the face's form was almost identical to that of his Cultivator Body.

Of course, there are also differences.

First are the eyes.

His eyes now are a mysterious black, not ordinary brown, and more profound.

Second is on the head.

'Horn?'

He did not deliberately retain it, yet it remained on its own.

However, whether to say it or not, it's still quite acceptable.

Because that is not the so-called Dragon King horns in Yunhe's impression, but a pair. with some imagination of the hair, but tied up horns, making his face look more angular.

Afterwards, he then scanned his whole body.

Besides his exposed hands, his whole body was covered in this dark-colored garment.

Dark-colored robe.

On the robe appeared scale-like patterns resembling dragon scales, yet there was no sign of the turtle shell Yunhe had expected.

Looking up and down, Yunhe discovered, moreover, that his appearance after transformation actually had more aura than his cultivator body.

If one were to say his cultivator body resembled that of a Daoist or a scholar, then the aura his demon beast body now displayed truly bore a hint of a king's bearing.

"Tortoise's aura?"

Yunhe couldn't help but self-mockingly joke.

He twisted his neck and wrists, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

"I originally thought that with my cultivator body I would quickly adapt to the movements after my demon beast body transformed into human form, but now it seems I overestimated myself—it's really very uncomfortable."

At this moment his feeling was like that of a huge-eared body originally, being forcibly stuffed into a tiny skin sack; moving was not agile at all, and even his body and consciousness continuously conveyed a sense of resistance.

No wonder so many demon beasts prefer to keep their original forms.

However, this is also not the reason his expression darkened.

The real reason is that he could clearly feel that his human-form transformation actually had a time limit!

If it were before, Yunhe might still have doubted whether the 'transformation tribulation' he endured was insufficient, his body tempering insufficient, having swallowed too much heavenly thunder, causing his body to be unable to fully transform.

But after obtaining those inherited memories, he understood.

The purer a demon beast's bloodline, the higher the requirements for transformation.

It is said.

A true true spirit, even before it is fully 'matured,' cannot take human form no matter how many so-called 'transformation tribulations' it endures.

This is also one of the reasons many demon beasts consider a human form unnecessary.

"One hour?"

He can currently maintain his human form for only one hour a day.

Compared to the Land Mountain Turtle-type demon beast that can maintain its transformed state indefinitely after a single change, the bloodline gap between them is indeed excessively large.

Bang!!

Accompanied by a surge of rising dark demonic aura, Yunhe had already returned to his demon beast form.

"Whoosh——"

"Indeed, maintaining the demon beast form is still the most comfortable."

"Moreover, after transforming into human form, one can clearly feel that the perception and absorption of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy have weakened, and even spiritual sense is considerably diminished."

Maintaining human form, for a demon beast, at least for one at his current strength level, seems to be nothing but drawbacks.

"Not entirely."

But Yunhe quickly denied his own thought.

"At least, while maintaining human form, a demon beast can do some 'fine' work that it originally could not accomplish."

"But for me who possesses the 'Wish-fulfilling Scepter,' these so-called 'fine' tasks are meaningless, and for a demon beast possessing Demon Sense they are actually not very meaningful either."

"Right, after transforming into human form, Demon Sense becomes more acute; this can be considered the sole advantage."

He discovered the greatest difference between maintaining the demon beast state and after transforming into human form.

It is Demon Sense!

"Perhaps... later it might change, after enduring more 'transformation tribulations' there will be a change, but not now."

Perhaps, in the future there may be changes; after experiencing more 'Human-form Tribulations', there will be changes, but not now.

He spat out a bright red sphere, in which faintly swam a black turtle identical to him but reduced in size by dozens of times.

This is one of his purest essence blood.

Separating such essence blood, even for him now, might take two or three years to fully recover.

Separating out such essence blood, even for him now, might also require two or three years to fully recover.

When initially constructing the 'Small Five Elements Spirit Body,' Yunhe also used his own demon beast body's essence blood to form the first spirit body phantom.

But later he discovered that, as the number of spirit body phantoms increased, before the five elements were fully closed, the pressure on the initial spirit body phantom grew greater; moreover, since he was then only a second-stage demon beast, he also had to bear the spirit body phantom condensed from third-stage demon beast essence blood, the pressure being so great that it nearly crushed him.

Therefore, this time he needs to establish an extremely stable 'foundation' from the outset, then build up new spirit body phantoms, so as not to experience the pressure as great as the first time.

Anyway, for him now, two or three years is still quick.

Coincidentally, he also needs this time to thoroughly sort through the complex, redundant inherited memories in his mind.

Among them there must certainly be much useful information.

For example.

As his consciousness sank, he came across a piece of inheritance that recorded a demon beast treasure, more precisely a treasure unique to the Spirit Turtle Clan, called the 'Stabilizing Sea Pearl'.

This pearl is part of a set; theoretically there is no limit to the number, with twelve making a set.

However, in the history of the Spirit Turtle Clan, only one 'Ancestor' expanded it to one hundred and eight!

Its power is immense, impossible to estimate.

Besides that.

There are also, for example, the Spirit Turtle Clan's inherited cultivation methods, formations, secret techniques, and so on.

Among this information, some are complete, but more are incomplete and fragmentary.

For example, the refining method for the 'Stabilizing Sea Pearl' is not complete either.

For example, the refining method for that Sea-Stabilizing Pearl is not complete.

Because inheriting memories this way isn't as simple as just wanting to pass them on however you like; it also hinges on luck and comprehension.

Among them, perhaps some are useful to Yunhe, but most are absolutely useless.

Because even if his lifespan were immeasurably long, it would still be impossible to learn all of these things, and impossible to refine them all.

"Actually, aside from these, what I'm more interested in is whether the world I'm currently in is a Yao Shou Shijie, or somewhere else."

"In other words, there probably isn't just one Yao Shou Shijie, right? Just as there exist worlds where one can ascend."

Slowly.

Yunhe immersed himself in that vast amount of information.

(End of chapter)