"Silas! Silas!"
At the sound of his name again, Silas slowly opened his eyes. There stood the woman from earlier—the older sister of the body he now inhabited. After sifting through the original owner's memories, Silas had learned her name was Emma. Though suddenly gaining a sister felt odd, Emma's protection and care that morning had already made him resolve to claim her as his own.
"Silas, what's wrong?" Emma asked, her voice laced with worry. "You only rested for ten minutes, but you're soaked in sweat, and your face is so pale."
Silas finally registered the dampness of his clothes. The agony he'd endured earlier sent a cold shiver through him. Thank goodness it's over, he thought, a surge of relief washing over him. He never wanted to go through that again—he'd rather die than relive it.
"Emma, I'm fine," he said, forcing a calm tone. "Just had a nice dream that turned into a nightmare, is all."
"Good to hear you're okay. Rest a little longer—I'll go get you some food."
As Emma left the room, Silas finally had time to focus on the changes in his new body and sift through the memories of this world.
This was still Earth, but to his shock, it was a world where ESSENCE existed. And they were in the Americas—though the country beneath his feet wasn't the United States. It was the Emerald Aura Confederacy. Silas frowned; he'd never heard of this nation in any history class. The confederacy had 13 states: the east bordered the ocean, and the west was dominated by the Monster Mountain Range. The range teemed with "monsters"—beasts grown to tens of meters tall, thanks to ESSENCE. Even the trees soared 30 to 40 meters high, too thick for dozens of people to wrap their arms around.
Monster meat was a powerful tonic, and the mountains were also rich in rare treasures. But these resources were only usable by cultivators; ordinary people who tried to consume them would either be paralyzed or—worse—their bodies would burst from the overwhelming energy.
What stunned Silas most was the world's cultivation system: power came from fusing one's body with parts of monsters. From the original owner's memories, he only knew the name of the first cultivation realm—[Initial Bloom of Wildness Realm]—and nothing more. Recalling Oshun mentioning six realms, and that his current body had already reached the Early Stage of the First Realm, Silas couldn't help but wonder just how strong he was now.
Where there were people, there was strife and darkness—and in this world, strength was the only law. No rules, no justice—only the strong had the right to speak. For ordinary people who couldn't hunt monsters, survival meant "assimilating" parts of common creatures: chickens, ducks, fish, pigs, cows, sheep, sparrows, rats… even other humans.
Thanks to the world's ESSENCE, gifted individuals with inhuman strength were born from time to time. But why would anyone assimilate human parts? Because assimilating beasts or monsters carried huge risks—their bodily structures were nothing like humans'. Take a human arm, for example: it had 64 Acupuncture Points, the key to channeling strength. Beasts had Acupuncture Points too, but their number and locations differed from humans'. To bridge this gap, one needed a Cultivation Method—specifically, a Beast Shifting Art—to reshape the human body to match the beast's.
For instance, to assimilate a chicken's claw (which had 10 Acupuncture Points), you'd use a Cultivation Method to alter the Acupuncture Points in your human hand to match the claw's count. It was like fitting screws to nuts: if the human hand had 12 "screws" and the chicken claw 12 "nuts," the assimilation would succeed.
But there was a terrible catch: once you altered your body's structure… were you still human? Over time, the assimilated parts would warp your soul, gradually turning you into a beast. That was "assimilation."
Why not assimilate stronger beasts, like a bear's paw? Because no one knew how many Acupuncture Points a bear had. That was the cruelty of Cultivation Method monopolization—ordinary people only had access to shoddy, useless methods. The truly powerful ones were all hoarded by nobles.
And what was the point of these assimilations? Chicken claws for digging, ox legs for hauling goods, horse legs for pulling carts. After all, even nobles needed to eat.
Assimilating two different beasts was unthinkable—most people could barely resist the soul corruption of one. Trying two was suicide. Nor could you choose any beast you wanted: your soul strength dictated your limits. Soul strength was ranked on a 100-point scale; the higher your score, the stronger the beast you could assimilate.
Physical strength mattered too. You wouldn't put a race car engine in a toy car, would you?
The original owner of this body had been worthless—weak soul, even weaker body. He'd dropped dead from overwork in the fields, which was how Silas had ended up here. Emma, his sister, was luckier: her body was decent, but she'd refused to assimilate anything, keeping her human form.
That explained why everyone in the fields that morning had been human—those who'd assimilated beast parts had violent tempers, so the plantation owner kept the two groups separated.
After sorting through these thoughts, one truth hit Silas: power is everything. This world was far darker than he'd imagined.
His stomach rumbled. Of course—it was a First Realm body, so it burned energy fast. Food would be his first problem. Living on the dry bread the plantation handed out would starve him sooner or later.
A voice sounded at the door.
"Silas, look what I brought you—beef!" Emma said, holding a small bowl. "The plantation owner's son got into the academy in Essence Grace City, so he's giving out rewards to celebrate. Eat up—it'll help you recover."
Silas's gaze softened. Emma's face was gaunt, a clear sign of malnutrition. But to protect her better later, he needed to be strong now. He took the bowl and began eating ravenously. The beef was tough, but his enhanced body handled it easily—his old self wouldn't have been able to bite through it.
This made him realize something else: the matter in this world was dozens of times denser than in his original world. No wonder he'd felt so exhausted when he first woke up. He smirked—back then, he'd been able to "battle" seven times in one night without breaking a sweat.
He was midway through his meal when a rude voice boomed from outside the door.
"Emma, just marry me already!" it yelled. "That useless brother of yours—dump him! Wouldn't you rather live comfortably with me?"
"Jax, how many times do I have to say no?" Emma snapped. "And you're not welcome here. Leave!"
"Your brother fainted from planting crops—if that's not useless, what is?" Jax sneered. "Don't be stupid, girl. I've been too nice to you."
He raised his hand to slap Emma. But in a flash, Silas—who'd been silent until then—stepped in front of her, grabbing Jax's wrist. Jax jumped, shocked by the sudden figure. He tried to yank his hand free, but Silas's grip was like iron. His face turned red from straining.
"Let go of me, you brat!" Jax snarled. "Or you'll regret it!"
Silas stared at Jax's furious face, then raised his free hand and slapped him hard. The sound echoed—Jax went flying out of the room, landing in the dirt. A bright red handprint bloomed on his cheek. He scrambled to his feet, fled, and shouted over his shoulder: "You wait! I'll be back!"
Emma stared at Silas in stunned silence, then her eyes widened. "Silas… did you awaken a talent?"
Some people's talents emerged later in life.
"Silas, run!" she urged, grabbing his arm. "If the people who assimilated beast parts find out about this, they'll kill you!"
Silas froze, then recalled the original owner's memories. Those who'd assimilated beast parts couldn't take other beast parts, but assimilating human parts had fewer side effects—after all, they were the same species, so rejection was mild (though not nonexistent).
The plantation had rules against slaves fighting, but living slaves were more valuable than dead ones. Even if Silas was killed, the murderer would only get a light punishment. A dead slave wasn't worth avenging—they were just the plantation owner's property.
But Silas wasn't worried. With his current strength, it was anyone's guess who'd end up dead.
Inside Jax's hut, the sound of smashing pottery filled the air.
"Dammit! That Silas got lucky and awakened a talent!" Jax roared, kicking a wooden stool. The thought of Emma—and Silas's smug face—made his blood boil. But he knew he was no match for Silas now. Revenge was impossible with his own strength.
Under the cover of night, Jax snuck over the high wall separating the assimilated slaves from the humans. He slipped into one of the huts. The person inside was Cash—once Jax's friend. Cash had a soul strength of 55, so the plantation owner had rewarded him with a horse-related Cultivation Method and let him assimilate horse legs. Now Cash could run a thousand miles a day and was a "superior slave"—the reason Jax had dared to bully others.
"Brother, I got something for you," Jax said, his voice eager. "I found someone who just awakened a physical talent. A kid named Silas—here's what happened…"
He spilled everything about Silas.
In the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed red. A horse-like snort echoed. Then a horse's face emerged from the shadows—cheekbones stretched wide, jaw elongated. There was nothing human left about him.
A deep, rumbling breath escaped Cash's throat.
"If you're lying to me," he said, his voice thick and hoarse, "you know what'll happen."