Henry Johnson felt as if he had arrived in a vast, boundless void. Everywhere he looked, there were endless illusions of stars.

In the void, three towering, majestic figures stood before him. The three figures were ethereal and indistinct—Henry Johnson couldn’t make out their true faces, but he felt as if he had fallen into hell.

“Is this... Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva?” Henry Johnson wondered in his heart.

One of the figures resembled a Buddha, sitting cross-legged in the void, holding a vajra scepter in the left hand and forming the Fearless Mudra with the right. Behind him, ten directions of the world seemed to flicker in and out of view, radiating endless light, with boundless Sanskrit chants echoing in Henry Johnson’s ears.

“Martial Ancestor?”

Another figure was half-human, half-serpent, wielding a peerless battle spear. With a wave of his hand, it seemed as if endless stars were drawn to him. Behind him, infinite star rivers gathered, vast and boundless.

“Is this my sea of consciousness?” Henry Johnson held his breath. “The visualized dharma forms in my sea of consciousness... But I’ve only ever visualized Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Martial Ancestor. Who is that last figure?”

He could sense that the dharma form of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva seemed somewhat fearful of the central figure, faintly showing a sense of submission. The Martial Ancestor’s dharma form was a bit better, but still at a disadvantage.

Henry Johnson looked at that final, most central, towering figure, fixing his gaze, trying to remember its face and form, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall it. He couldn’t successfully visualize it, and this feeling made him uncomfortable.

“Boom!”

In a haze, Henry Johnson saw that figure holding a long blade radiating divine brilliance. With a gentle wave, the world changed color. The blade swept across, shattering the star river, as if a single slash could split the sun, moon, and stars, turning the universe upside down.

Amid the roaring in his ears, that figure slowly lowered his head, his eyes sweeping over, suddenly meeting Henry Johnson’s gaze.

Chapter 11: Blood and Qi Condense into Patterns

Henry Johnson only felt a loud boom, and in his mind, only that world-dominating slash echoed—the blade light dazzling to the extreme.

That slash was deeply engraved into his soul and sea of consciousness.

“Boom!”

As time and space shifted, Henry Johnson’s consciousness withdrew from his sea of consciousness. At the same time, a mysterious voice echoed in his mind, filling Henry Johnson’s heart with joy. What the voice recited was precisely the inherited martial cultivation technique!

His soul was incomparably powerful. In almost the blink of an eye, he had memorized it. This technique was called “Origin Martial Heart Method.”

...

In the main hall.

Everyone quietly watched as Henry Johnson stood silently atop the altar.

Endless brilliant threads of blood light flowed beneath Henry Johnson’s skin. Boundless vital energy surged from the pit in the ground, forming a stream of energy that circled around his body, continuously gathering.

Above Henry Johnson’s head, the essence blood of the beast poured down like water, flowing over his body like liquid, then being absorbed into him.

“How is this possible...”

Jack Johnson and the manor lord Samuel Johnson on the distant altar exchanged glances, both with looks of disbelief in their eyes. One was a martial arts grandmaster, well-traveled and knowledgeable; the other was the clan leader, privy to many secrets.

They both knew that, at this moment, Henry Johnson’s performance on the altar was absolutely beyond what a fifth-grade talent could achieve.

Just now, had Henry Johnson been hiding his true talent and strength?

“Threads of blood light—fourth-grade talent?” Jack Johnson stared intently at Henry Johnson’s youthful figure.

During the talent test, after the inheritance technique is passed on, the first martial cultivation will automatically begin, and usually, three situations occur.

The most ordinary is called “first appearance of blood light.” The body’s meridians withstand the washing of blood and qi, but at this stage, martial patterns cannot yet be condensed. Continued cultivation and absorption of true qi are needed to finally become a true warrior. Generally, sixth- and seventh-grade talents are in this category.

Stronger individuals experience “blood light like silk.” The body’s potential is fully stimulated. As long as the baptismal essence blood is strong enough, martial patterns can be condensed in the first cultivation, becoming a warrior, and future cultivation speed will be extremely fast. Usually, only fifth-grade talents can reach this, which is already extraordinary.

The top tier is “blood light like threads,” able to easily condense martial patterns. If the baptismal essence blood is strong enough, one can even reach the level of martial master or higher in a single step. This is top-tier aptitude, usually only achievable by fourth-grade talents.

However, the difference between “blood light like silk” and “blood light like threads” is very subtle, and most people can’t tell them apart. In the entire Jiang Family Manor, only Jack Johnson and the manor lord Samuel Johnson could be certain.

As for the top three grades of talent, those are legendary monstrous geniuses, blessed by heaven and earth. What happens during the baptism of essence blood upon awakening is beyond the knowledge of Jack Johnson and the others.

“Splash, splash—”

Henry Johnson’s body was being baptized by the essence blood pouring from above, and his body seemed like a bottomless pit, madly absorbing it. In the end, he actually absorbed all the remaining essence blood floating in midair.

You should know, during the previous dozens of essence blood baptisms, each person absorbed up to the limit their body could withstand, but combined, they only used up about a third. Yet Henry Johnson alone absorbed all the rest.

“Brother Zheng, Han’er, he...?” Vera Quinn’s body trembled with excitement. Her knowledge was also extremely high. “Blood light like silk—only blood light like silk can withstand the baptism and washing of so much essence blood.”