Chapter Fifty: Savage Charge

The bloodline mark gradually grew clearer. As Shen Lie inwardly examined this crucial moment, he knew that the bloodline one possessed was the very foundation of strength. The rank of that bloodline would determine one’s future development, because, by all reasoning, a person’s power could never surpass the source of their own bloodline.

If your bloodline originated from a phoenix, then so long as you kept evolving and did not die along the way, you might one day reach the grandeur of the phoenix of myth and legend. But if your bloodline came from some lowly creature of mere legend, such as a mutant wild boar from a game, then the height of your life would likely be the Boar King, and no amount of effort would let you rise beyond it.

Of course, this was only everyone’s conjecture. The truth would require a long span of practice and proof, for at present all were still in the earliest stage of awakening, and no one knew what the future held.

Yet in theory it had to be so, because the advancement of an Awakener’s rank was, in essence, the process of continuously refining the bloodline. When that refinement reached a certain degree, when there was nothing left to refine, growth in strength would likewise come to an end.

Thus the kind of bloodline one awakened to mattered immensely. Shen Lie could not help but feel uneasy. But when the mark finally took shape and became fully clear, his head seemed to go with a bang, and he nearly cursed aloud.

“A bull’s head!”

Even in inward vision, Shen Lie’s eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. His bloodline mark was actually a bull’s head, and those two golden horns gleamed like a pair of middle fingers thrust upright, mocking the pitiful rank of his bloodline.

“Damn it!”

“Damn, damn, damn!”

Was this for real? How could it be a bull? How could his bloodline be that of a bull? In legend, was there any divine beast shaped like a bull? Was there? Was there? Was there fucking any?

Though the bull’s head was golden, a bull was still a bull. It was not a dragon, not a qilin, and damnably not any kind of divine beast at all; it was merely a beast that plowed fields and hauled earth!

Shen Lie truly wanted to let out an unwilling howl, but the deed was done. Even if he shouted until his throat split, what good would it do? It would only make him a laughingstock.

No. This matter absolutely could not be known by anyone else. It was a secret, and whoever learned of it would have to be silenced.

Shen Lie was almost in tears. This bloodline he had awakened was probably the lowest of all bloodlines. In myth and legend, the one who reached the highest achievement of such a bloodline was only Bull Demon King, and even he was utterly thrashed by Sun Wukong, whose own bloodline was that of a monkey. That only proved this bloodline was not even as good as a simian’s. It was pitifully weak.

Even awakening a bloodline like that of a water serpent or a fire bird would have been better. If it had to be a strength-type bloodline, there were still things like the mountain ape and the like. Why, of all things, had it to be a bull? No, not a bull, but a bull’s head. A bull’s head!

Though a talent imprint had been condensed and he now possessed one more skill, Shen Lie truly could not feel happy. After dispersing his power, he stood there blankly for a long while.

Forget it. What was done was done; dwelling on it would be useless. Becoming an Awakener was already Heaven showing him favor. There were still so many ordinary people who could not awaken at all. No matter how weak he was, he was still stronger than them. Better to think about how to improve the strength he had now!

In the end, Shen Lie could only comfort himself thus. Then he remembered that he still possessed the extraordinary ability to copy other people’s talents. At present, it was not only a strength-type talent he had; there was also the thunder-element talent he had copied.

With that thought, Shen Lie felt much more balanced. Though he had yet to discover any method for upgrading the copied ability, and though it could not rise together with his main power as his own strength grew, at least there was a sliver of hope. He was not as miserable as those other Awakeners who had inherited garbage bloodlines.

“Let me try to see what my innate skill is,” Shen Lie murmured to himself. Then he began to study the newly born imprint within his body. Since the imprint symbolized his own bloodline, the skill bound to it must be his inherent power. It was undoubtedly a strength-type ability; the only question was what effect it would have when used.

With a thought, Shen Lie began to channel the power of his two vortices into the imprint. The imprint flashed once, and golden light instantly rose over his entire body. At the same time, he felt as though a mass of high-pressure air had been trapped in his throat, while his whole body brimmed with explosive force.

“Moo!”

Unable to hold back the pressure in his throat any longer, Shen Lie rose to his feet, lifted his head, and gave a deep, muffled roar. A deafening wave of sound burst from his mouth, shaking the air before him into a visible surge.

Then Shen Lie felt a violent force beneath his feet that begged to be released. With a powerful push, his body shot forward like a cannonball, like some ancient savage beast raging across the fields. He smashed the two poplar trees directly ahead, each as thick as a basin, into fragments, and the ground beneath him was carved into a line of deep trenches by his tread.

“Brutal Charge!”

The related information of this skill surfaced in Shen Lie’s mind. It must have been hidden within his bloodline genes all along, and now it had been awakened. Along with it came other information, and he came to understand his own bloodline more deeply.

According to the genetic information, the bloodline he inherited was a kind called the Savage Bull. The Savage Bull was a beast from remote antiquity, not considered especially high in rank. Its innate abilities included strength, sonic power, and a certain degree of defense. Its most proficient skill was Brutal Charge, and when that skill reached its peak, it could split mountains and shatter stone.

“Split mountains and shatter stone?”

It sounded quite imposing, but that was only in comparison with ordinary people. Compared with other talents, it was simply far too lacking. If Du Lili’s dragon bloodline casually produced any one talent, it would be enough to make him kneel and flatter it.

No, he had to figure out as quickly as possible how to upgrade the talents he had copied. As for what kind of talents he might copy in the future, he did not know. But at least the thunder-element talent he already possessed was certainly a high-level one. Elemental talents, no matter the era, were always lofty and elegant, and their power was far more formidable.

Unfortunately, the copied talent was only a pure talent ability. It could not copy the other party’s original bloodline source as well. Otherwise, it could have been strengthened along with the increase of his own bloodline nodes.

But if that were the case, his own bloodline would become too mixed, and the two bloodline sources would certainly be unable to merge. They might even explode outright. Nothing in this world could be perfect, and Shen Lie could only let out a helpless sigh.

After becoming familiar once more with the innate skill of Brutal Charge, Shen Lie finally accepted reality. However one looked at it, he had gained a new ability, and this skill would increase passively as his strength grew, without requiring him to comprehend or cultivate it deliberately.

At present, he had lit two nodes, and the power of Brutal Charge he could unleash was no weaker than World-Ending Hammer. In fact, within close combat range, it was even slightly stronger.

For long-range attacks, he had World-Ending Hammer. For close-range attacks, he had Brutal Charge. Near and far complemented each other perfectly, placing him among the top tier of all Awakeners at present.

Of course, as strength continued to rise, those inheritors of higher bloodlines would surely advance by leaps and bounds, but that was a matter for the future. Right now, every day brought trials of life and death. No matter how high one’s bloodline rank was, one still had to survive.

The type of bloodline source was the greatest secret of every Awakener. Shen Lie knew this well. It was only because Du Lili had a good relationship with him and lacked scheming that she had told him. What Professor Liu said might not even have been true. Under the current circumstances, trust between people had fallen to its lowest point. Who knew what strange abilities anyone might possess? What if there were talents that could directly curse one’s bloodline source and the like? This was no longer the old materialist society.

“Let’s go. By the way, Tao Tao, does something in your body exist as an imprint? Something like, like a certain shape?” Shen Lie gathered his thoughts and was preparing to return to the group when he suddenly grew interested and asked the little girl.

Tao Tao’s ability was still rather mediocre, and she was just a child. After losing one arm, she had become very withdrawn, so Shen Lie usually did not speak much with her. He also had not told the others that she was an Awakener, though they likely had their suspicions already, since the change in the little girl’s eyes was too obvious to ignore.

“Yes, there is a faint, blurry imprint, but sometimes it’s there and sometimes it isn’t. Uncle, how did you know?” Tao Tao revealed a look of confusion. She had long been frightened by the strange condition within her body, but in order not to cause trouble for Uncle Shen Lie, she had never said anything.