Chapter 269: Chapter 25: Spirited and Dashing
As a Great Being who could estimate when the Seal would break, Yara was trustworthy in this regard. Su Zhou nodded, suppressing his anxiety. ’Worrying about it is useless. The only thing that truly matters is increasing my strength to face the challenge. If enemies from an Otherworld really do attack, there’s no need to be afraid. As long as I kill them all, I can protect my home.’
’Now, to stick to the original plan: forming the Heart of the Thunder Marsh.’
The Thunder Marsh Jellyfish that Su Zhou helped the East Sea Fleet capture was one of the larger mature specimens. Its bell alone was seventy meters in diameter, and including its tentacles, it was several hundred meters long. Its enclosure was effectively a section of the ocean, cordoned off from the coast by a dike.
Right now, Su Zhou was in the water with it, observing the natural electrical discharge structures of such a colossal beast up close.
"BLUB BLUB BLUB~" The sound of churning water rang out. This was the noise the Thunder Marsh Jellyfish made when it was happy. In truth, because it possessed a Soul, the Thunder Marsh Jellyfish had a certain level of intelligence and could communicate simply through electromagnetic waves of different frequencies, though its intellect was exceptionally basic.
Although the Thunder Marsh Jellyfish lacked Dragon Blood and was too simple-minded to obey and revere Su Zhou like other Sea Beasts, it was precisely this simplicity that caused it to mistake Su Zhou—who could also discharge electricity—for one of its own. Consequently, Su Zhou had easily lured it into the holding pool.
The entire process hadn’t been the least bit dangerous. It was a textbook case of being so gullible it would help you count the money after being sold.
Now, it was completely relaxed, letting Su Zhou get hands-on with it. Its hundreds of soft, translucent tentacles danced lazily, churning the water as if wanting to dance with him.
One could see a heart-like Spiritual Power Chamber at the center of the giant, pale-blue jellyfish. It was the core of the entire Thunder Marsh Jellyfish, regulating the water flow within every tentacle of its massive body through expansion and contraction.
The streams of Spiritual Qi Water within the Thunder Marsh Jellyfish’s body violently circulated and intersected within this chamber at all times. It was just as the Daoist texts described: "The interaction of Yin and Yang creates thunder." Fierce Thunderbolt was born from this chamber, transforming into a high-voltage current strong enough to electrocute a Giant Whale, or even generating a magnetic field powerful enough to launch its entire body out of the sea.
’I’ve already turned my bone marrow into a Spiritual Power Organ. Now, the blood in my body also contains Spiritual Qi. The spiritual blood in my arteries and veins can be considered a Yin-Yang Dual Attribute, and the process of its circulation and conversion through my heart can unleash Thunderbolt—this is the principle behind the Heart of the Thunder Marsh.’
In the seawater, a violent undercurrent surged around Su Zhou, caused by his churning Spiritual Qi. Sensing its ’kin’ begin to emit an unprecedentedly powerful electric current, even the perpetually lazy Thunder Marsh Jellyfish was startled. It pulsed its body and retreated.
As a Giant Beast with no natural predators, one that even members of the Dragon Race of the same tier were loath to provoke, the only thing that could make a Thunder Marsh Jellyfish retreat was a more powerful member of its own kind!
Without hesitation, right there in the sea, Su Zhou took out a Five Thunders God-Storage Pill that had been specially provided for him. He began Refining Essence and Transforming Qi, then Gathering Spiritual Qi to commence his self-modification.
On the nearby research vessels, the expressions of the Tutors and other related Transcendents who had been watching Su Zhou all changed, and they couldn’t help but shout, "Professor Su, you should advance in a proper Seclusion Chamber! Zhizhi Academy has prepared a private room specifically for your Cultivation!"
"If you advance in the sea, we won’t be able to collect any data!"
"Toss the equipment down. You’ll get plenty of data on my advancement."
The Cultivation of the Heart of the Thunder Marsh was exceptionally dangerous. The intersecting Spiritual Power could easily cause one’s heart to explode, leaving not even a complete corpse behind. As such, there was very little recorded experience on this practice.
However, Su Zhou’s Dragon Blood, Thunder Technique, and powerful Self-Healing Power gave him a unique advantage in cultivating the Heart of the Thunder Marsh. If he succeeded in forming it, both the process of his advancement and the resulting data would serve as an excellent model for future cultivators, helping to lower the mortality rate of this technique.
Hearing Su Zhou’s words, the researchers present had no further objections. As long as they could get the data, it was up to him where he wanted to advance. With their Awakening Tier strength, all they could do was watch from the sidelines and cheer him on anyway. Soon, the Tutors tossed the monitoring equipment directly into the sea.
Manipulating the water currents with his Spiritual Power, Su Zhou caught the devices and attached the thin, wafer-like data collectors to his body before continuing the Gathering process.
Immense Spiritual Power was guided by Su Zhou, converging into his heart.
The human heart is imperfectly designed. Each region is supplied by only a single artery, and if an unexpected blockage occurs, it can easily lead to various types of heart disease.
The Tier One Extraordinary level is when a Cultivator undergoes self-modification and evolution, gradually eliminating the innate flaws of their body to advance into a fundamentally more powerful form of life.
Over the past few months, Su Zhou had already discussed these issues at length with his mother, a chief physician, and even with several professors from the medical academy. He already had a detailed plan in mind for modifying his heart.
’Step one: eliminate interference.’ As Su Zhou used his Spiritual Power to halt his own blood circulation, his heart’s structure began to evolve and transform under the impact of an immense amount of Spiritual Qi. Countless new arteries and veins, along with their accompanying vascular networks, were catalyzed into existence, shimmering with a cyan-violet Spiritual Light.
