Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 278: Absorption Procedure

A long line of hunters snaked out of the inn, extending so far into the distance that he couldn't see an end to it.
In the next two hours, Zhang Lie felt as though he was in a living nightmare, experiencing all sorts of unusual requests.

One hunter even came prepared with a tattoo needle, and she requested that Zhang Lie sign her stomach.
Another wanted Zhang Lie's name engraved on his broadsword.
Even more absurd were the ones who wanted Zhang Lie to give them a signature over their genitals.

This nightmare lasted two whole hours for Zhang Lie.
After the two hours were up, Zhang Lie swore that he would never host an autograph session so casually again.

Those hunters who had been at the scene had called all their friends over, so even after the two hours were up, there was still a long, ever-growing line of hunters. 

That said, Zhang Lie had only promised two hours of this time, nothing more.
The moment that time was up, he shut the door and had the security staff escort any lingering hunters out.
He had no choice; if he had to sign one more autograph, he felt as though he might vomit.

Zhang Lie, who had happily entered the dimensional world expecting to be able to ingest his newly obtained disaster gene fragments, had wilted after two harrowing hours.

He fell asleep in his suite and slept all the way until midnight.
Waking up with his stomach growling, he had a sumptuous feast before he regained the vitality to do anything more.
This late at night, he was unlikely to be disturbed, and it would be a good time to act.

A black, crystalline orb appeared in Zhang Lie's hand, one filled with thorny spikes.
It looked just like a spiky chestnut, but a darker, sturdier, and more mysterious one.
This was the genetic core of a disaster-grade lifeform, the source of all their energy—their heart.

To be honest, it didn't even look like an edible object.
Just from holding it in his hands, Zhang Lie could feel an oppressive energy radiating out from it.
The spikes were far sharper than they seemed, and they were pricking his palm.

Fortunately, given Zhang Lie's experience in his past life, he knew precisely how to deal with such a core.
Back then, as just another ordinary hunter within the crowd, he never had the opportunity to get a disaster-grade lifeform's core for himself, but he had learnt how to deal with one.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to ambush the disaster-grade lifeform.

The first step was to drip a drop of blood on it, allowing it to absorb the hunter's blood and familiarize itself with the hunter's genetic content until the entire core turned red.
Subsequently, the hunter would have to infuse it with the purest genetic energy they possessed, causing a reaction between the core and the hunter's genetic code which would cause the core to soften.

After this two-step procedure, the disaster-grade lifeform's core would turn into what was essentially a very large gummy.
Apparently, it even tasted quite good.

Zhang Lie sliced his left palm with Venombane, causing deep red blood to well out of the wound.
The moment it touched the dark, spiky core, the blood was quickly absorbed into its interior.
It sucked up more and more of Zhang Lie's blood, and Zhang Lie had to reopen the wound five times before it finally transformed wholly into a red, crystalline ball.

Then, he closed his eyes and began pouring concentrated, black genetic energy from his body into the core.
It took him an entire hour before he felt the core start to soften.
After ten more minutes or so, the entire core had softened completely.
As Zhang Lie clutched the crystalline orb, he felt some unusual sense of kinship with it, as though it was already part of his body. 

Zhang Lie swallowed it whole without even daring to chew it.
As the core slid down his throat, Zhang Lie felt a fiery, numbing sensation spread throughout his body.

The moment the core reached his stomach, it seemed to explode.
Zhang Lie let out a huge burp, and his face turned red, quickly followed by his neck, and then his whole body.
Almost immediately, Zhang Lie took on the color of a boiled prawn.

As the fearsome energy from the genetic core rampaged through his body, he felt his blood begin to steam.
The pain was unimaginable.
Despite how tough Zhang Lie was, he had curled up into a ball on the ground.
His head spun as he forced himself upright one stumbling step at a time.

The agonizing process he was going through was essentially a full-body blood transfusion between him and the disaster-grade lifeform's core, an evolution of the genetic code in his very cells. 

Zhang Lie's [Ninecarp Transformation] activated on its own.
Because of the genetic energy surging through his body, Zhang Lie was able to complete one cycle of cultivation in just a minute, an unimaginable speed.
Even Zhang Lie himself could barely believe it, considering that this had previously been an hour-long process that required his full concentration.

Even more shockingly, this speed was increasing moment by moment.

As he continued to cycle the genetic energy through his body, he suddenly felt himself starting to swell, as though his body couldn't take it any longer.

Indeed, were Zhang Lie to open his eyes, he would find his body inflating like a balloon; at some point, he would surely pop, and he was drawing very close to that boundary.