Bloodstar System: Infinite Evolution Through Beast Slaughter

Chapter 38: Blue Talent, Undying Body!

For three full seconds, the ruins were silent.

Joren stood where he was, the Black Gold blade angled toward the ground. Hot beast blood dripped from the tip.

Something was wrong.

No system prompt.

No lovely sound telling him he had killed a Rank Four Voidbeast and gained Bloodstars.

Which meant the beast was still alive.

Thump.

A dull impact came from deep inside the collapsed ruins, like the heartbeat of some giant creature.

The ground trembled with it.

"What... what is going on?"

Jazz’s face changed. His fingers tightened around the ruined tower shield.

The heartbeat grew louder.

Faster.

Like war drums being beaten under the earth.

Roar!

A howl filled with pain and fury shattered the dust before it could settle.

Tons of broken concrete were flung outward like cannon shells, smashing into the surrounding ruins.

Inside the storm of dust, a huge figure slowly rose.

It was not dead.

And the sight of it made the scalp go cold.

The massive wound across its abdomen, a wound that should have been fatal, was crawling with dark red granulation.

Thousands of red worms seemed to writhe in and out of the opening.

The torn flesh closed at visible speed.

Healed.

Scabbed.

Then even the dark golden scales grew back.

Good as new.

"How is that possible?"

Alar’s brief hope of survival collapsed on his face.

"It is a Talent. A bloodline Talent."

Kaia’s voice cut in.

"Rank Four lord class Voidbeasts have awakened ancient bloodlines. They all possess an innate Talent of their own."

"Its Talent is Undying Body. No matter how badly it is injured, it can burn Vital Force and recover almost instantly."

Before she finished speaking, the Golden Armored Rhino King lifted its head and roared.

The dark golden scales across its body suddenly blazed with dazzling light.

That once dim armor now looked as if it had been cast from molten gold, radiant and heavy with an indestructible metallic shine.

Its body swelled again.

The pressure coming from it doubled.

Berserk state.

"Joren! Fall back!"

Kaia rushed forward, trying to grab him.

"Retreat! That is an order!"

Joren did not move.

He watched the Golden Armored Rhino King gather strength for its second charge.

The killing intent in his eyes did not fade.

It burned hotter.

[Ding! Detected special Talent on target.]

[Target: Rank Four Golden Armored Rhino King]

[Available Talent to plunder: Undying Body Blue]

[Acquisition condition: Kill the target and consume 1000 Bloodstars.]

Blue Talent.

Then there was no retreating.

No matter what happened, he had to take this Talent.

"Cannot cut through it?"

Joren murmured.

He raised his hand.

The six Nightshade throwing knives appeared again, twisting into a black drill as they screamed toward the Golden Armored Rhino King’s eyes.

Clink clink clink clink!

Sparks scattered everywhere.

This time, the psionic throwing knives that had never failed could not even pierce the Rhino King’s eyelids.

They only left several shallow white marks.

"Roar!"

After entering its berserk state, the Golden Armored Rhino King’s defense had reached a level that made no sense.

Forget throwing knives.

Even an anti tank missile hitting it in the face might only scratch an itch.

"Move!"

Behind him, Alar and Jazz had already begun retreating. They looked at Joren’s back with complicated eyes.

No one thought he could win.

Joren slowly closed his eyes.

True.

His current attack power was not enough.

To break its defense.

To kill it.

He needed to pay more.

"System."

Joren spoke in his mind.

A blue virtual panel unfolded across his retina.

[Host: Joren]

[Realm: early stage Rank Two Awakened Warrior / Rank Two Psionic Master]

[Bloodstars: 1280]

That wave of clearing weaker beasts, along with killing several Rank Three Voidbeasts, had pushed his Bloodstars past one thousand again.

[Talent: Bladeborn Frame Green, upgrade available]

Joren’s mind moved.

[Consume 1000 Bloodstars to evolve green Talent Bladeborn Frame into blue Talent Sevenfold Bladeheart?]

"Yes."

No hesitation.

The moment those one thousand Bloodstars were emptied, an indescribable fluctuation appeared deep in Joren’s soul.

[Talent Evolution successful!]

[Obtained blue Talent: Sevenfold Bladeheart!]

[Entry Description: You no longer need to memorize dull blade manuals, because they were born for you. Every flaw your enemies possess will appear before you in perfect clarity.]

[Effect: Bladecraft power increases by 100 percent. Comprehension increases by 200 percent. Through constant battle, your own Bladecraft can continue to ascend.]

[Insight: During battle, 30 percent chance to trigger Flaw Lock. Your next attack deals double critical damage.]

"Joren?"

Kaia, who had been about to drag him away by force, suddenly stopped.

"Kaia."

Joren turned his head and looked at her.

"You said its Talent is Undying Body?"

He lightly flicked the blade in his hand.

"I want to see whether it really knows how not to die."

The Golden Armored Rhino King had no patience left to play with this insect.

Its four hooves slammed down.

The huge body became a golden bulldozer again, charging forward with enough force to crush everything in its path.

This time, it was faster.

Joren’s body seemed to lose all weight.

Riding the gust raised by the Rhino King, he drifted left like a fallen leaf.

Barely.

The horn tore past beside his ear.

At the same moment, the Black Gold blade in Joren’s hand rose in a motion so simple it felt plain.

The edge slipped precisely into a joint gap beneath the Rhino King’s front limb.

A blind spot under the scales.

Blood sprayed.

"It is useless!"

Far away, Jazz shook his head with despair on his face.

"A wound like that means nothing to it!"

"Human! Die!"

The Golden Armored Rhino King was furious.

The intelligence of a Rank Four Voidbeast was already enough for it to speak human language.

It roared.

Golden light burst from its body, and countless golden waves of energy spread outward in every direction.

A full field attack.

Under that kind of area bombardment, even a fly should have been shaken to death.

Yet Joren’s movement was strange beyond reason.

In the dense waves of energy, he always found the tiny gap that vanished almost the moment it appeared.

And he kept cutting.

One slash.

Two slashes.

Ten.

A hundred.

Joren moved faster and faster.

The Black Gold blade in his hand became a black storm, pouring madly over the Golden Armored Rhino King’s body.

His eyes grew brighter.

The blade in his hand felt smoother with every motion.

The rigid [Antares Bladecraft] was undergoing some strange reaction under the support of [Sevenfold Bladeheart].

Too slow.

Too scattered.

Too straight.

Countless insights about Bladecraft burst through his mind like a spring breaking open.

He was using this Rank Four lord to temper his blade.

Roar!

The Golden Armored Rhino King seemed to sense something wrong as well.

The aura coming from this human was becoming more and more dangerous.

Inside Joren’s mind, all the moves shattered.

Then they reformed.

In the end, only one slash remained.

A pure slash.

A slash taken to the limit.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have comprehended the true intent of the blade in a life and death battle.]

[Antares Bladecraft is undergoing transformation...]

[Congratulations, Host. New Bladecraft comprehended: Breath Severing Slash!]

[Insight triggered! Weak point locked!]

[Next attack critical damage increased by 200 percent!]

The red point was three inches beneath the Golden Armored Rhino King’s throat, behind a reversed scale.

Its heart.

The core hub of its life energy.

Joren gathered his strength and spoke.

"Breath Severing Slash."

A clear, rising blade cry rang through the sky.

A black thread, beautiful and bleak as moonlight, pierced through heaven and earth in an instant.

Before that black line, the indestructible golden scales split apart as cleanly as soft cake.

Joren’s figure had appeared behind the Golden Armored Rhino King at some unknown moment.

His back faced the giant beast.

He held the blade in one hand and slowly returned it to its sheath.

"Impossible..."

The violence and madness in the Golden Armored Rhino King’s huge eyes froze.

Fear replaced them.

Confusion.

It tried to circulate Vital Force and heal the wound.

Then it discovered that the life inside its body was draining away in a mad rush.

That slash had cut through the [Undying Body] it was so proud of.

A fine red line slowly appeared at its throat.

Then it widened.

Like a dam breaking.

Scalding beast blood sprayed out like a high pressure water cannon, dyeing half the sky red.

The mountain sized body crashed heavily to the ground.

Ding!

[Killed Rank Four lord class Voidbeast, Golden Armored Rhino King!]

[Gained Bloodstars: 1000!]

[Consume 1000 Bloodstars to plunder blue Talent Undying Body?]

The beautiful system prompt exploded in his mind.

Joren was still savoring the feeling of that slash.

One slash to sever all things.

So this was blade force.

This was the true power of the blue Talent [Sevenfold Bladeheart].

Compared with the damage boost and the critical effect from [Insight], the real value of this blue Talent lay in its comprehension of the blade.

Joren slowly turned around.

He shook the blood from his hair and looked at the three people standing there, mouths open.

The corner of his mouth lifted, revealing white teeth.

"Now I am really rich."

Against the blood red light, that smile looked especially wicked.