Chapter 266: Cang Xu’s Bloodline Change

Cang Xu’s indistinct vision gradually cleared, and he recalled everything.

“I am done being tested on by Doctor Sui Shi.”

“My body…is gone.”

He hung down his eyelids and gazed down.

As expected, there was nothing past his neck.

He looked around, noticing that he was lying in a bed. The scene around him was one he was familiar with; it was the cabin he had been staying in.

Cang Xu took a deep breath and began to examine his condition.

He noticed that the erosion from the Underworld River was completely gone.

He was no longer in life threatening danger.

But he had landed in an unprecedented all time low, because he was just a head now.

“How terrible, my storage bag was in my chest.” Cang Xu’s heart sank when he suddenly thought of that.

Cang Xu’s storage bag had been disguised as skin and sewn into his chest. It hid it while simultaneously making it easy to get things out of it.

Now, Cang Xu’s body had been taken away by another, including his storage bag which had followed with it.

The storage bag had all of Cang Xu’s accumulated belongings!

Those included the alchemy treasures that he and Zi Di bought from the auction: the Fresh Water Infusion Bottle, the palm compass, and the gold level water path magic book.

Before Cang Xu had joined the undead gathering, the dragonman youngster had given him the Death Substitute Puppet.

“I used the Death Substitute Puppet.”

“But the Fresh Water Infusion Bottle, palm compass, and the water path magic book were still in my bag.”

Although the water path magic tome was badly damaged, it still had two pages.

Those two pages held the Water Snake spell and the Thick Fog spell. Those two spells were gold level and were Cang Xu’s trump cards.

It was an utter pity to lose them.

Compared to those losses, Cang Xu’s bronze level corpse cloth was nothing.

Apart from those alchemy items, the storage bag also had many magic scrolls.

Zi Di had also prepared many magic potions for Cang Xu too.

There was also the casting materials he had accumulated with great difficulty, such as the Dead Sea Shell fragments, the Grimace Mushrooms, the Ghost Spider legs, and much more that were gone now.

Finally, there was a large amount of food, water, clothes, and other items needed to live.

“That’s right, my fingers also had the five fire path rings. Along with the magic conduction bracelet.”

“The curved magic mask was on my face and actually wasn’t lost.”

Cang Xu calculated the losses, his mood becoming ever more terrible.

He fully sensed the sorrow of the weak.

As a weak person, he was unable to control even his own body, while the strong was able to process it without restraint, treating it as experiment material.

“Too weak, I’m still too weak!”

Cang Xu’s heart roared, stimulating the desire to get stronger more intense and pressing. 

However, relying on the want and strong desire to become strong wouldn’t do, one still needed to show potential and that was decided by the lifeform’s bloodline. 

“In the future, with the Bloodline Purification formation and the Bloodcore, I will raise my aptitude, I will truly become strong.”

“Doctor Sui Shi, this humiliation is one I will personally reciprocate!”

Cang Xu inwardly vowed.

“Newcomer, you’re awake!” At that moment, the cabin door suddenly opened.

The skeleton magician Xiao Wang Zi, the wandering ronin Ku Feng, and Jian Gui walked in together.

The three came to the side of Cang Xu’s bed.

Ku Feng said, “You were out for one day and night.”

Jian Gui took out a zombie from his storage device and placed it straight up on the floor, “I have prepared this for you. Xu Jia, you can put up with it for a short time.”

Cang Xu weakly thanked him.

Jian Gui sighed, “No need for thanks. We are comrades, mutually helping each other is just doing my part.”

The necromancers had experienced this perilous war together and fostered the camaraderie of comrades.

Cang Xu looked around and asked, “Where is my companion?”

Cang Xu was naturally talking about the wind path magician Qing Xin.

Xiao Wang Zi answered him, “When we found her, she was already unconscious, negative energy has eroded her seriously and her body’s magic power was dry, she is still unconscious as of now.”

“We guess that after we entered the Ghost World, it was likely her spirit was addled, then when she was unable to keep her magic shield up, she was eroded by negative energy.”

The Ghost World was a paradise for undead and did not welcome normal lifeforms.

Ku Feng Said, “The Ghost World really doesn’t suit normal living beings, and the Underworld River has the highest concentration of negative energy. You don’t need to worry too much, Xu Jia. Qing Xin is already stable. Then, after we returned to the Main Plane, she will get much better, and there will probably be no problems with her coming to.”

Cang Xu wanted to unconsciously nodded, causing him to notice that he couldn’t do such a gesture. 

He could only blink to state that he knew what was going on.

He looked at Jian Gui, “May I ask where Lord Doctor Sui Shi is? I want to meet him and give him my…thanks.”

Xiao Wang Zi replied, “Ah, Lord Doctor Sui Shi left yesterday.”

“What?” Cang Xu was startled.

Ku Feng used a deliberate tone of warning, “Xu Jia, your body now belongs to Lord Doctor Sui Shi’s collection. There is little chance of getting it back.”

Cang Xu mumbled out, “Apart from my body, there was also my storage bag! It was sewn into my chest.”

As he said that, he looked pleadingly at Jian Gui. Of the necromancers present, only Jian Gui was qualified to seek out Doctor Sui Shi.

But Jian Gui bitterly laughed and shook his head, “Xu Jia, I advise you against having hope. Lord Doctor Sui Shi is a saint level necromancer, since I was able to see your chest’s storage bag, how could he not be able to see it too?”

“Since he left and didn’t leave behind your storage bag, that indicates that it was a trifle he didn’t have on his mind. Even if I could contact him now, he wouldn’t return here because of such a trivial matter.”

Cang Xu remained silent and dumbfounded for a moment.

Ku Feng comforted him, “As a matter of fact, you’re a lucky one. You still have the most valuable thing of all, your freedom, isn’t that right? Because of my insufficient aptitude at the time, Doctor Sui Shi abandoned me. Otherwise, I would have become one of his collectibles. Just like the giant zombie he made from your body, no longer a free being.”

Cang Xu slowly closed his eyes.

Jian Gui said, “We have sailed through the Underworld River long enough. Doctor Sui Shi had been protecting us, but the Underworld is full of hidden dangers, we need to return to the Main Plane as soon as possible. Based on the plan, we will stay at a one of my safehouses to rest for a time.”

Cang Xu hearing the intent of parting from these words, and he opened his eyes and asked, “IN that case, what about future undead gatherings…”

Jian Gui replied, “From now on, undead gathering locations will be altered, but we haven’t determined it just yet, it is too early for that.”

“We plan to abandon Weeping Pine Island.”

“We leaked too much information there. The enemy knew too much about us.”

Cang Xu’s heart suddenly grew anxious.

Hearing Jian Gui’s tone, he planned to separate from Cang Xu and Qing Xin when they returned to the Main Plane.

This wouldn’t do!

The reason Cang Xu had taken a risk to get close to Jian Gui was because he was scheming for the latter’s undead inheritances.

Whether it was the soul crystal making method or how to use memory crystals, all of it was important to Cang Xu, no, to all of the survivors.

However, if Cang Xu suggested that he remain and keep in contact with Jian Gui, that would be too direct.

It might provoke suspicions.

Cang Xu thought on it, then immediately chose a strategy, with a trace of unwillingness, he deliberately asked Jian Gui, “Lord Jian Gui, how possible will it be for me to get back my body?”

Jian Gui was silent, then solemnly soon spread across his face, “Xu Jia, I advise you to give up this intention, don’t play with your small life. You are only silver, and that will be the extent of your life. Your body no longer belongs to you, and you made a deal with Doctor Sui Shi, he saved your life, and you gave him your body as a reward.”

Cang Xu bitterly laughed, “Not just my body, but also everything in my storage bag.”

He was still didn’t give up, “I don’t dare to oppose Lord Doctor Sui Shi, but is it possible to make a trade back for it?”

Jian Gui slowly shook his head, “You don’t know Lord Doctor Sui Shi well, he has always been obsessed and serious with adding things to his collection. On the whole, he will never sell off his collection, at least I have never seen that happening. Even under unusual circumstances in the future, what you can offer will be far less than the price tag he puts on his collection.”

“As far as you are concerned, such a transaction is unfair, and the gains don’t make up for the cost.”

“Rather than doing that, I sincerely suggest that you change your body.”

“Speaking on us necromancers, changing our bodies is a simple affair. Did you not change your body in the past too? Actually, your corporeal body, as a cultivator of the undead faction’s soul aspect, is not that important.”

Cang Xu deeply sighed, his face filled with dense misery.

Xiao Wang Zi lowered his head and deeply sighed too.

He sympathized greatly with Cang Xu.

Not just him, Ku Feng and Jian Gui were the same too.

They had worked to fend off powerful enemies and had the friendship of comrades.

Cang Xu had helped out Jian Gui a lot, and on Weeping Pine Island, he had warned Jian Gui, allowing the latter to realize what was going on, leading to him calling the ghost ship to resolve his plight.

After sailing the Underworld River for some time, Jian Gui had given him his magic tome and treated Cang Xu as bait.

It was an emergency, and for his own survival, Jian Gui had no qualms of putting another into danger.

But now, they were safe.

Apart from sympathy for Cang Xu, Jian Gui also felt ashamed of how much he exploited him.

But in reality, Cang Xu wasn’t as attached to his body as they envisioned.

Not long after Cang Xu had come to, he had recognized reality and accepted it.

The reason why he said these things was to evoke sympathy from the others.

“But to just this level is still not enough.” As a noble steward, Cang Xu had come into contact with every social class and had an incisive understanding of the hearts of men.

He then purposely looked at the zombie.

This was the zombie Jian Gui had just taken out; the new body prepared for Cang Xu.

This zombie was also male, and its height was about the same as Cang Xu was before, furthermore, it had a silver level aura.

The quality Cang Xu had swindled.

Because Cang Xu’s main body’s life level was only iron level. Being a silver level was a facade Deceptive Disguise had produced.

Cang Xu looked at the zombie as he said, “Lord Jian Gui, if I am not remembering wrongly, according to the soul aspect inheritance – when changing one’s body, bloodline needs to be considered. If my head is incompatible with this zombie’s bloodline, they will interfere with each other and produce a bloodline rejection. After a time, the bloodline rejection will cause more vile consequences.”

Jian Gui’s face stiffened for a bit, then he nodded, “You weren’t mistaken, that is true. Therefore, finding a body one can use long term still had a degree of difficulty. Do you at least know what your current bloodline is? What did you find the bloodline of your body to be?”

Cang Xu deliberately looked troubled, “I need bloodline testing…Lord Jian Gui, can you really not teach me the spell that can test undead bloodlines?”

“Although I lost everything I had, as long I contact the Wisteria Merchant Alliance, I can still reward you generously.”

Jian Gui shook his head, “Sorry, that is the bottom line of the orthodox undead. That inheritance cannot be taught as one wishes, one has to pass aptitude and loyalty evaluations. Especially right now, when every power is researching the undead faction and our starting advantages are quickly dwindling.

Cang Xu deeply sighed, then asked, “In that case, Lord Jian Gui, what is my bloodline?”

Since Jian Gui had provided Cang Xu a body, then based on Cang Xu’s speculation, he should know what Cang Xu’s bloodline is.

However, a moment later, Jian Gui shook his head, “I still don’t know yet.”

Cang Xu was astonished.

Jian Gui said, “While you were unconscious, I used undead bloodline detection magic on you. They were present for that too.”

“Our goal was to choose a suitable body for you.”

“But the outcome actually went beyond everyone’s expectations.”

“You are in the process of a bloodline change.” 

Cang Xu slightly widened his eyes, showing a bit of disbelief, “A bloodline change?”

He knew of bloodline changes.

Bloodlines certainly could be changed.

Otherwise, how could there be so many bloodlines in the world?

However, bloodline changes often happen when lifeforms reproduced and created newborns that contained a different kind of bloodline.

The result of mixing bloodlines, apart from deformities, malforms, and death, was that there was an extremely infinitesimal part of offspring that blended their bloodlines together to form an entirely new bloodline.

Cang Xu was in that very situation now and was naturally not a newborn.

It was because external stimulation had trigged a bloodline change!

Jian Gui explained, “Initially, you transformed your own body into that of a living dead person, half alive, half dead. This situation actually isn’t that good, because you haven’t completely changed into an undead lifeform. You still had a large amount of your living bloodline. Although your body could resist negative energy corrosion, it also hindered you from getting stronger.”

“During the battle, your body was soaked in the Underworld River’s water. After you were revived by the Death Substitute Puppet, Voodoo divine power also entered into your head. After that, Lord Doctor Sui Shi used magic on your head to save your life, while simultaneously exerting a formidable influence on it.”

“With all of those elements stacking on each other, and perhaps other factors that were overlooked, an unforeseen change has happened to your bloodline.”

Cang Xu slowly asked, “In that case, Lord Jian Gui, was the outcome of this bloodline change good or bad?”

“I cannot say, I cannot determine it.” Jian Gui shook his head again, :I am only a necromancer, not a priest of the Life Church. Furthermore, your bloodline change is still in progress, far from done. Perhaps after it finishes, you will have the ability to learn what it ultimately ends up as.”

Cang Xu went silent again.

Ku Feng comforted him, “Don’t worry, normal people would worry for their lives when a bloodline change happens. However, you Xu Jia, are already an undead, the bloodline change probably won’t kill you.”

Xiao Wang Zi added on, “Your aptitude might rise, it might also fall. Actually, I envy you, newcomer. Perhaps you can improve your aptitude as a result of this and reach the criteria of learning undead inheritance!”

Cang Xu wasn’t excited in the slightest.

Because he knew he already had a better option.

“A bloodline change increasing my aptitude is too unlikely.” Cang Xu bitterly laughed.

This situation went a little beyond his expectations, but it didn’t hinder him from spouting his manipulative words. 

Cang Xu looked at Jian Gui, his eyes full of pleading, “Lord Jian Gui, can you shelter me for a time?”

“My future is full of apprehension and emptiness.”

“Only by relying on your strength will it be more possible for me to obtain a body that truly fits me.”

“There is also my bloodline change…”

Jian Gui didn’t answer, instead he sank into deep thought.

Xiao Wang Zi and Ku Feng both looked at Jian Gui, deeply concerned.

Finally, Jian Gui nodded, “You can follow me around for a time. But I have to explain in advance, I fear we will welcome more fights, even against that gold level shadow monk again.”

Cang Xu stared, then replied, “He is my enemy too, I was reduced to this because of them! Lord Jian Gui, please let me contribute my strength, even if that strength is insignificant.”

Jian Gui nodded, he was very happy to see Cang Xu’s hatred was staked on Yi Ying and not the undead orthodox member Doctor Sui Shi.

To the side, Ku Feng smiled.

Xiao Wang Zi cheered, “Very good, Xu Jia, we can kill the enemy together.”

“We have already talked it over, after resting, we will go out to sea to save Qi Ling’s fishman clan.”

Cang Xu exposed a pondering look, “I understand, Qi Ling is not a sincere traitor. Otherwise, on Weeping Pine Island, she wouldn’t have revealed herself as a traitor and then stopped fighting me.”

“Her weak spot is her clansmen. As long as we save her fishman clan, Qi Ling will be free.”

Jian Gui responded with, “You’re not wrong.”

Xiao Wang Zi angrily hmphed, “Even if she has difficulties, I won’t forgive her. She made the mistake of betraying Lord Jian Gui, she bit the hand that fed her, harumph! Surrendering to the enemy means she didn’t have a bit of backbone, if it were me, I would have an unbreakable backbone and would never surrender.”

Ku Feng teased him, “Right, you have the toughest backbone, you are just bones.”

“Huh?” Xiao Wang Zi was perplexed, and for a moment, he didn’t know whether Ku Feng praised or ridiculed him.