Translator: AnubisTL
Boom!
The moment Fan Tong swallowed the Crimson Crystal, the blood in its body surged like a raging river.
In an instant, the heaven and earth spiritual energy in the surrounding area began to churn.
Li Qing was no stranger to this phenomenon. He had witnessed similar frenzied absorption of spiritual energy when he brought strange beasts from the World of Eternal Night to this world.
"Roar!"
The bright moonlight of the night shone upon Fan Tong, causing its entire tiger body to twist and contort as if its bones were undergoing a profound transformation.
Hearing Fan Tong's pained growls, Li Qing clenched his fists, his eyes fixed on the tiger, fearing any mishap.
"I didn't expect the mutation to be so violent. It's like its entire skeletal structure is being reshaped. 'Transformed' doesn't even begin to describe it."
Typically, the metamorphosis of Demon beasts rarely involved such a fierce process. It usually resembled a snake shedding its skin or a larva breaking free from its cocoon—a relatively gentle and gradual transformation.
The scene unfolding before Li Qing left him deeply shaken.
Crack!
Suddenly, Li Qing heard a sharp crack as if Fan Tong's bones were being broken.
Then, a sound like a raging river of blood echoed through the air.
Boom!
"Awo! Awo-roar!"
Fan Tong's pained growls grew louder, but fortunately, Li Qing had already set up a layer of sound-dampening Restriction in the courtyard. Otherwise, such a commotion would undoubtedly have attracted the attention of many other cultivators.
Bang!
Fan Tong slammed a single paw onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble faintly.
In the next moment, its tiger-like body shuddered, and every hair on its body stood on end. Dark, viscous blood began to seep from its pores.
This was the impure blood it was expelling—blood laden with impurities from deep within its tiger body.
"I underwent marrow cleansing and blood purification when I was at the Inner Strength level. I didn't expect that after consuming the Crimson Crystal, it would actually begin a blood transformation?"
Li Qing's gaze sharpened as he carefully observed the impurities seeping from Fan Tong's body.
Then, he noticed that the blood contained a large amount of bone powder—excess impurities ground from its tiger bones.
Metamorphosis!
This was a true metamorphosis, a complete transformation. Li Qing anticipated that Fan Tong's strength would skyrocket after consuming the Crimson Crystal, possibly even purifying its Black Fiend Tiger bloodline.
However, just as he reached this conclusion, Li Qing realized he might be mistaken.
The metamorphosis was still ongoing, a lengthy process that hadn't even reached its halfway point.
"Aow!"
Fan Tong roared in fury, the sound wave nearly shattering the Restriction Li Qing had set up.
Seeing this, Li Qing immediately carved more dao patterns, channeling the earth's energy to reinforce the Restriction.
During his years in the Hidden Realm, he had completely mastered the True Explanation of Restrictions. Though his current cultivation level was low, he was more than capable of setting up Restrictions to conceal his aura and movements.
After the furious roar, the side effects of the Red Moon Secret Power began to manifest.
Cultivating this power brought two major drawbacks. First, it drove the mind into a state of madness and chaos, transforming the practitioner into a ferocious beast driven only by bloodlust and slaughter.
The second side effect was physical distortion. After absorbing the Red Moon Secret Power, the body would inevitably undergo mutation.
Fortunately, the Crimson Crystals had been cleansed of their maddening bloodlust, preventing Fan Tong's mind from descending into chaos.
However, the second side effect was unavoidable.
The distortion had begun!
First came the scales. Pale, snake-like scales began to sprout from Fan Tong's body. These scales were tiny, like those of a snake.
But instead of forming a uniform layer, they mixed with his fur. His once silky-smooth tiger fur was now interspersed with patches of these scales, creating an utterly bizarre appearance.
Though Li Qing wasn't claustrophobic, he still felt a wave of intense discomfort.
"These scales might offer some defense, but this kind of mutation... it just doesn't feel right," Li Qing frowned.
Clearly, Fan Tong felt the same way. It kept shaking its body, and the scales began to fall off with a rustling sound.
"Hmm? So this mutation can actually be rejected?" Li Qing was surprised.
Having never experienced this himself, he couldn't fully understand Fan Tong's current state.
He could only speculate that perhaps this mutation was controllable, but the strange beasts of the World of Eternal Night had lost their minds and hadn't resisted these distortions.
It was clear that when Fan Tong was covered in dense white scales, its aura had become incredibly powerful, even briefly approaching the late stage of the first rank.
One could imagine that if it had accepted this mutation and fully digested the Crimson Crystal, its strength would undoubtedly have reached the late stage of the first rank.
Jumping an entire level in one go was far faster than Li Qing's gradual cultivation through the Qi Refining Realm.
After the last white scale fell from its body, Fan Tong's ribs on both sides suddenly split open.
Li Qing had thought something had gone wrong and was about to intervene when, in the next moment, a pair of fleshy wings sprouted from the torn wounds on either side of Fan Tong's tiger body!
These wings were still small and undeveloped, but they had the potential to grow into true wings!
"Is this like adding wings to a tiger?!"
However, Fan Tong stubbornly resisted this mutation. It roared fiercely and immediately severed the newly grown fleshy wings from its sides.
Thud!
As the tiger wings fell to the ground, Fan Tong's aura once again grew weak. Its roars became softer, and it grew extremely frail.
Finally, the metamorphosis ended.
A layer of crimson light emerged from Fan Tong's body, continuously repairing its form. Soon, this crimson light receded.
When the red glow completely vanished, Fan Tong was so exhausted that it collapsed onto the ground, utterly spent.
"Is it over?!"
Li Qing approached cautiously, noticing that Fan Tong's tiger fur seemed to have taken on a faint reddish hue.
"It rejected all mutations, so its strength hasn't increased dramatically. But it has undergone a genuine transformation, a complete rebirth."
The blood and shattered bones on the ground were proof enough of what had transpired. Fan Tong's aptitude had likely improved, and its bloodline might have become purer.
As Li Qing stepped forward to examine it, Fan Tong slowly opened its tiger eyes.
Strange Eyes!
Indeed, Fan Tong's pupils now displayed a red and black coloration, transforming it into a Strange-Eyed tiger!
"A post-natal Strange Eyes, you little rascal are defying the heavens," Li Qing chuckled, then retrieved several Beast Nurturing Pills from his storage pouch and fed them directly to Fan Tong to replenish its Vital Energy.
Though he didn't know what this Strange Eyes signified, he suspected this mutation was a beneficial one.
As it swallowed the Beast Nurturing Pills, Fan Tong's aura gradually began to recover, and its Vital Energy slowly replenished.
After a night had passed, Li Qing swept the courtyard clean of the blood and scales left behind by Fan Tong's metamorphosis, leaving nothing behind except a faint lingering scent of blood.
As dawn broke, Li Qing examined the changes in Fan Tong's body.
"It's not as if there's been no progress at all. Its strength has indeed increased, nearly rivaling a late-stage First-Rank Demon beast."
But the most significant change was in Fan Tong's innate aptitude.
Not only had it undergone a complete transformation, but it had also gained a pair of Strange Eyes.
(End of the Chapter)
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