Chapter 160: Ten Thousand Cubs Transforming into Human Form

The silence within the wooden cabin lingered until the sky began to turn pale with the first light of dawn.

Fatty Gu, Bai Ling'er, and Lu Xinrou all waited quietly for the elderly man, who remained lost in deep and distant thoughts, without showing the slightest trace of impatience.

Throughout that long night, the expression on the kind-hearted old man's weathered face shifted numerous times.

The white-robed elder had once possessed a son—none other than Lu Xinrou's father—who had been blessed with supreme talent and formidable combat prowess. By the time he reached the late stage of the Great Accomplishment realm, he was already capable of fighting to a draw with the human Lord of the Hegemony Palace, who was at the peak of the Great Accomplishment realm.

This son had originally been a proud favorite of the heavens, yet while traveling and passing through the Endless Boundary Sea, he unfortunately encountered a cataclysmic battle. The fierce clash raged continuously for three whole days and nights without a single moment of respite.

By the time the elder received the distress signal and rushed at full speed to the rescue, he was still a step too late. He arrived only to witness with his own eyes his son perishing above the Boundary Sea. His armor was shattered, and his heavily wounded body no longer possessed an inch of unblemished flesh, while endless torrents of fresh blood completely stained that vast expanse of the ocean crimson.

Consumed by boundless rage, the elder was powerless to save his child. He could only project all of his hatred onto the monstrous creature that had suffered heavy injuries yet was desperately fleeing at high speed into the distance.

Unlike the entity Fatty Gu had encountered, this monster was covered from head to toe in scales, possessed no ears and no limbs, and spanned hundreds of meters in length with a body as thick as an elephant. It lashed its tail and bore a terrifying, gaping maw upon its head. As it fled, the Boundary Sea water, contaminated by its black venom, popped and cracked with explosive force, sending up billowing plumes of black smoke.

The elder alternated between soaring through the air and plunging into the depths of the sea, relentlessly pursuing the beast for well over a day and a night before finally striking down the evil monster once and for all deep within hundreds of thousands of miles of the Boundary Sea.

Sorrowful wails that shook the heavens echoed continuously. Unable to bear the agonizing pain of losing his son, the heartbroken elder ultimately wrapped the shattered remains of his child and brought them back, where they remained sealed to this day within a coffin carved from the core of a cold astral meteorite.

At that time, Lu Xinrou, having been born not long before, had not even opened her eyes yet and could only babble incoherently.

In the blink of an eye, over a hundred years had passed. By the time the eccentric and clever Lu Xinrou had grown up—her innate talent matching that of her father, successfully transforming into human form while only at the late fourth rank—the elder's grief over the loss of his son had finally healed slightly.

The old man had never pondered too deeply about that snake-like monster from the past, assuming it was merely some mutated entity that had been hiding and cultivating within the Boundary Sea.

Yet now, having unexpectedly heard Fatty Gu's account of his experiences and his terrifying conjectures, the elder was once again deeply pierced to the quick. At the same time, a profound sense of danger arose spontaneously in his heart. Coupled with his beastly intuition, which was far sharper than that of ordinary beings, he became nearly certain that this theory was accurate nine times out of ten.

"To whom else have you spoken of this conjecture?"

"The matter is of monumental importance, so this junior has only ever mentioned it to a few elders within my own Misty Sect, and they have strictly forbidden this junior from casually spreading the hypothesis any further."

"By now, the Misty Sect has already released all of its reserved resources in an all-out effort to enhance the strength of its members."

"That is good. That is good. You need not speak of this to outsiders ever again; leave everything that follows to this old man to handle."

"This junior obeys your command."

"Break through the dense fog barrier as quickly as possible. The moment you achieve your breakthrough, your Grandpa Lu wishes to bestow a stroke of good fortune upon you."

"Oh? Then this junior thanks Grandpa Lu in advance."

With a faint smile and a nod toward Fatty Gu, the old man's figure grew translucent and vanished into thin air.

A roar capable of shaking the entire Mysterious Beast Forest erupted, throwing the entire domain into absolute turmoil. All the high-ranking Mysterious Beast overlords, regardless of what they were doing, sprinted at top speed toward the innermost depths of the forest at the very first moment, igniting endless rounds of heated discussions among the low and mid-ranking beasts across the entire Mysterious Beast Forest.

Even Fatty Gu had not expected this venerable old man to be so resolute and prompt in his actions. It appeared he had taken every word to heart without a shred of doubt, which also set Fatty Gu's mind considerably at ease.

When the sky falls, there is always someone taller to hold it up. Constantly suppressing such earth-shattering secrets within his own heart had been truly exhausting, and at this moment, Fatty Gu felt as though the burden on his shoulders had instantly grown much lighter.

Deep within the Mysterious Beast Forest, upon a vast clearing outside an utterly ordinary thatched cottage, countless high-ranking Mysterious Beasts were densely packed together.

Glancing across the crowd, the front row consisted of no fewer than fifty seventh-rank great demons, followed by more than five hundred powerhouses of various stages in the sixth rank, and behind them stood thousands upon thousands of elite fifth-rank beasts.

This constituted the absolute peak of power across the entire Endless Forest and the Mysterious Beast Forest. At this moment, however, they gazed with utmost solemnity and profound reverence toward the straw-hatted, old-fashioned white-robed elder emerging from the thatched hut ahead.

The spiritual consciousness of the Return to Truth realm condensed into a barrier, completely sealing off a radius of ten thousand miles. Instantly, all the Mysterious Beast overlords realized the critical importance of this summoning; otherwise, their clan elder would never have acted with such caution.

Within the spiritual barrier, the white-robed elder cast a heavy gaze across the entire assembly, and his weathered voice reverberated through the air.

......

"My little ones! Rejoice!"

"Your boss here has lived up to expectations and successfully resolved the difficult problem!"

"Roar, roar, roar, roar!..."

The moment nearly ten thousand young beasts caught sight of Fatty Gu appearing with two maidens, they were filled with irrepressible excitement. Upon hearing the wonderful news announced by Fatty Gu, they immediately grew completely exuberant.

"A Lu, step forward."

"Haha, Boss, I knew you would definitely pass it on to me first."

"Less nonsense. In front of this grand crowd, your boss treats everyone equally."

"Little ones, this boss will start the experiment with A Lu. Watch closely so that when your turn comes, you'll have a clear idea in your minds."

"What? An experiment? Don't be like that, Boss! Pick a different beast, won't you? Your brother here would rather go second."

"Hehe, too late!"

Hearing their boss mention an experiment and watching A Lu's clumsy, backing-out expression, all the other young Mysterious Beasts burst into booming laughter, yet every single one of them widened their eyes in eager anticipation, terrified that a single blink might cause them to miss a crucial step.

A cultivation technique deduced in reverse by Fatty Gu was transmitted directly from his spiritual consciousness into A Lu's large ears. Understanding the gravity of the situation, the sensible A Lu immediately sat cross-legged and silently began to circulate the spiritual energy within his body, mobilizing a wisp of soul power to gradually merge into a single drop of essence blood condensed at his heart.

This process lasted for a full quarter of an hour. As A Lu circulated the technique with increasing fluency, the ten thousand young beasts watched in astonishment as A Lu's two thick arms transformed—turning into a pair of tender, slender arms, exactly like those of a human.

Though human arms looked utterly mismatched upon the body of a Great Earth Demonic Bear, not a single beast dared to think so lightly of it. Instead, they grew even more concentrated, devoting their body and soul to observing and watching.

Another quarter of an hour later, as if having a good beginning made the rest easier, A Lu's fur completely vanished, and his entire body had thoroughly transformed into a human shape, indistinguishable from an ordinary human.

"Bah! Shameless!"

"Hahahaha......"

Looking at A Lu, whose entire body had transformed into human form before their eyes while still sporting a giant demonic bear head, standing stark naked with a certain unspeakable appendage dangling between his legs...

The male beasts all burst into unrestrained laughter, while the female beasts wanted to avert their gaze, yet terrified of missing any crucial stage of the transformation, they had no choice but to brace themselves and keep staring.

In particular, the vixen A Mei, who shared a rather unusual relationship with A Lu, felt a wave of blushes flush directly across her pale cheeks.

Having circulated the technique to this stage, A Lu had essentially completed more than half of the process, leaving only his large head behind.

After the playful laughter subsided, the scene lapsed into silence once more. The sound of heartbeats and breathing among the ten thousand young beasts was almost audible.

Another quarter of an hour later, under the watchful eyes of all, the giant bear head of A Lu—who remained seated cross-legged—vanished, transforming into the refined head of a human youth.

At this moment, A Lu possessed raven-black hair falling loosely beside his ears, a robust physique, bronzed skin, well-defined and deep facial features, slanted sword-like eyebrows, and bright eyes, radiating an air of wild and untamed unconstraint throughout his entire being.

"Not bad, not bad! Who would have guessed, A Lu, you actually look quite handsome transformed into a human!"

"Hahahaha, many thanks, Boss!"

"Little ones, from this moment on, separate into males and females. Using my arm as the center line, the males will remain in place, and the females shall cross over to the opposite side of the center line."

At the command, the nearly ten thousand young beasts split into two groups—one large, one small.

"Sister Xinrou, Sister Ling'er, I'll leave them in your hands."

"Understood."

With those words, Lu Xinrou and Bai Ling'er led nearly three thousand female young beasts in a swift dash toward the distant mountains.

As for all the remaining male beasts, they alternately glanced at their departing companions and looked up at Fatty Gu, truly as bewildered as a monk touched by a second-century priest, completely failing to grasp the meaning behind it.

"Boss, what's going on?"

"What's going on? It's all because of you lot! You were so focused on transforming into a human form that you didn't even think to condense a set of clothes with spiritual energy?! You just stood there bare as the day you were born?!"

"Hahahaha......"

Hearing this, the other male beasts caught on and burst into hearty laughter, leaving only A Lu standing sheepishly by Fatty Gu's side, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Sink the body into its own realm, let the flesh return to nature, transform within the void, and test yourself with your own form... Draw the soul into the essence, refine blood into your mold... The boundless art, the transformation begins!"

Accompanied by Fatty Gu's resonant teachings, the remaining nearly seven thousand male beasts all sat cross-legged and began to silently circulate the technique along specific true qi pathways.

Repeating the chants of this cultivation art over and over, Fatty Gu watched the young beasts before him who had successfully entered the meditative state with a heart full of gratification. With a smile lifting the corners of his mouth, he looked more and more like a charlatan displaying his divine might.

Beside him, A Lu—who had been the first to successfully transform—seemed to possess a particular fondness for black fur. At this moment, he had already channeled his spiritual energy to conjure a wide black robe secured with a black sash, adorned with wisps of black bear fur extending along the edges. Exuding a handsome and wild charm, he stood shining with excitement at Fatty Gu's side.

As time flew by, the majority of the young beasts successfully molded human physiques, though some still had their oversized animal heads hanging awkwardly from their necks. Similarly, a small fraction of the beasts lagged slightly behind the main force, still undergoing the bodily transformation stage.

Meanwhile, the nearly three thousand female beasts who had found an obscured location within the mountains were also led by Lu Xinrou and Bai Ling'er to circulate the technique and enter the transformation state, their progress not lagging behind Fatty Gu's group by even a fraction.

In the blink of another quarter of an hour, some of the beasts had completely finished their transformations. Without disturbing their companions, they continued to linger where they were—some remaining seated, others standing up, stretching their necks, twisting their waists, or touching their faces, arms, and legs in curiosity.

Time slipped away, slow yet fast. Just as the first batch of successfully transformed beasts grew accustomed to controlling their human bodies, the remaining beasts completed their transformations one after another.

"Ahem!"

"Stop wasting time, all of you! Why aren't you hurrying to conjure clothes and put them on? Do you think walking around stark naked looks so great?! Didn't you see your sisters and female companions already starting to head back this way?!"

"Roar, roar, roar......"