Chapter 304: Spreading the Bloodline
“Aina, your current strength should have already reached the Mid-level Professional Rank, right?”
“Replying to my lord, I already broke through to the Mid-level Professional Rank at the beginning of the year.”
After hearing this, Zhou Ming silently calculated the time in his mind. It had been nearly three years since Aina transformed into a Catwoman.
Breaking through from Entry-level Professional Rank to Mid-level Professional Rank in three years—this kind of speed could be considered extremely fast.
One had to know that many Professional Beast Tamers, such as Qi Shouwu back then, might even remain stuck at the Entry-level Professional Rank for their entire lives, which was completely normal.
However, for Aina, this kind of breakthrough speed was somewhat slow.
As a royal member of the Shadow Cat Clan, Catwomen held absolute dominance, and the reason lay in their powerful bloodline.
At least before reaching the Transcendent Rank, there were practically no bottlenecks. As long as there were sufficient resources to support them, their strength could surge forward rapidly.
Even when facing the massive gap of advancing to Transcendent, it would only cost some time—sooner or later, they would successfully break through.
The reason for her current slow progress was mainly because Zhou Ming had not provided enough resources for her.
“Aina, this is a High-grade Source Crystal. It will be enough for your use for a short period. In addition, for any cultivation resources you need in the future, go directly to Su Mei to request them.”
“I only have one requirement—advance to Transcendent in the shortest possible time.”
Cultivating Aina was a decision Zhou Ming had carefully considered.
Now that he had advanced to Transcendent Master, the enemies he would face in the future would no longer be Professional-level existences, but Transcendent-level powerhouses.
Enemies that could once be dealt with using technological weapons were now no longer a threat.
Even small nuclear bombs or energy cannons could be evaded in advance by Transcendent-level powerhouses through their vague danger perception.
Moreover, as Blue Star was about to be devoured by the Tamu World, he had to rapidly increase his strength—including the strength of his subordinates.
Under the current circumstances, the only person in the camp who could advance to Transcendent at the fastest speed was Catwoman Aina.
“Really?”
Seeing the High-grade Source Crystal placed on the tea table by Zhou Ming, the dazzling golden radiance instantly made her mind go blank.
“Do you think I would lie to you? However, if you consume resources and fail to improve your strength, be careful of punishment.”
Zhou Ming’s expression stiffened, as if dissatisfied with Aina’s lack of trust.
“No, my lord has always been trustworthy. I will definitely not disappoint your expectations.”
Aina quickly waved her hands in denial.
As for wasting resources, she had absolute confidence in her Catwoman bloodline.
If it were not for how difficult it was for the Shadow Cat Clan to give birth to Catwomen, they would have long since become an upper-tier Foreign Race in the Tamu World.
“Good.”
“In a while, I will leave the camp. Besides improving your strength as soon as possible, you also need to take care of Tianqiong. I have already given him the inheritance of a basic Rune Mage. You are to supervise his learning. You know I never like raising useless people.”
Tianqiong no longer had research value. His only remaining value was his mutated Spiritual Power, which made him highly suitable to inherit the Rune Mage path.
Rune Mages could be considered a versatile profession—whether it was enchanting, constructing formations, or strengthening buildings like Zhou Ming did for the Snake King Fortress, it would greatly benefit future development.
Preparing ahead, Zhou Ming did not want to wait until the need arose before cultivating the required talents.
“My lord, rest assured. If Tianqiong does not behave, I will properly discipline him.”
Seeing that her lord was still willing to nurture Tianqiong, Aina immediately made a guarantee, waving her right hand fiercely as if she would beat him until he obeyed.
Seeing Aina’s cute behavior, Zhou Ming revealed a faint smile.
“Alright, you may leave. I still have matters to handle.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After handling trivial matters, Zhou Ming began preparing for bloodline modification. Once this was completed, he could leave the camp with peace of mind and head to the Alliance Headquarters.
……
One month later, under the blazing sun, Zhou Ming’s figure appeared above the clouds.
After a month, he had successfully completed bloodline modification for one hundred guards selected by Su Mei.
With his advancement to Transcendent Master, his craftsmanship in bloodline modification had improved significantly.
Even guards with relatively weak physiques could successfully undergo bloodline modification. This was also one of the benefits brought by the Spirit Molting Snake Emperor Bloodline.
After completing the modifications, Zhou Ming no longer needed to concern himself with other matters.
Because veterans like Li Hu had already developed a complete training system for the Snake Guards—martial arts, firearm shooting, bloodline utilization, and combat techniques had gradually formed a comprehensive system.
Now, Zhou Ming only needed to handle bloodline modification.
After finishing all matters, he left a Spirit Molting Snake inside the Stone Tower as a precaution, then stepped into the air and headed toward the Alliance Headquarters.
The speed of a Transcendent-level powerhouse could reach the speed of sound. Some who specialized in speed could even surpass the sound barrier.
However, such speeds were generally maintained in combat. For long-distance travel, they usually flew at around one hundred meters per second.
Only in this way could they remain in peak condition at all times.
The Alliance Headquarters was located ten thousand li south of Qinghui Base. Zhou Ming only needed to fly continuously for a little over a day to reach Dawn Base.
However, Zhou Ming did not choose to do so.
Because he planned to spread the Spirit Molting Snake bloodline.
As a Transcendent powerhouse, Zhou Ming took on the role of a breeder in the wilderness.
Whenever he encountered female snake-type Ferocious Beasts, he directly suppressed them with Predator’s Might, injected aphrodisiac potion, and then let his Spirit Molting Snake begin “seeding.”
As for why he did not let his own snake swarm reproduce, it was mainly because it consumed too much energy—so he chose the method of spreading seeds without responsibility.
Fortunately, no one knew of this. Otherwise, it would undoubtedly become Zhou Ming’s black history.
But in order to increase his strength, he had no choice.
After advancing to Transcendent Master, aside from the profession ability “Shapeshifting,” his strongest ability was gaining racial amplification.
This ability was similar to the Hunting Spider Queen he encountered in Bewitching Gorge.
If all the Spirit Molting Snakes he controlled advanced to Lord-level Ferocious Beasts, and there were also large numbers of Spirit Molting Snake populations in the wilderness, then with the combined amplification of both forces, Zhou Ming would even dare to challenge a Legendary Saint.
These were the two paths he had identified to rapidly increase his strength before advancing to Legendary Saint.
Aside from breeding, Zhou Ming would also perform simple bloodline modifications on any Ironthread Snakes he discovered, greatly increasing their chances of evolving into Spirit Molting Snakes.
At this moment, Zhou Ming somewhat resembled a livestock breeder.
Because of this, what should have taken only two or three days ended up taking nearly half a month, and he had only traveled a little over half the distance.
Half a month later, within a valley a thousand li away from Dawn Base, Zhou Ming was observing two giant snakes entwined on the distant grassland, planning to complete one final seeding before heading directly to Dawn Base.
However, an explosion from the distant horizon caught his attention.