Chaos' Heir - Chapter 1151

Khan had long since lost count of how many times he had improved the [Blood Shield]. He had pushed the alien technique checkpoint after checkpoint, constantly adjusting it to his body's growth. He had mastered that process, engraving it into his brain, but the current situation put him in a pickle.

Finding the right material was the first hurdle in improving the alien technique. The [Blood Shield] required something stronger than the previous sample, often forcing Khan to create it from worse materials.

After all, monsters as strong as high-level warriors weren't exactly up for sale, and places like Senerth were rare. Most times, Khan had to slowly and carefully upgrade weaker chunks of flesh to meet the technique's requirements. He had always succeeded, and the [Blood Shield] had remained his best defensive ability since Nitis.

However, the Great Old One was superior to anything Khan had ever faced, especially physically. That creature was weak for its species but remained unfathomably mighty, far stronger than Khan's last material. Its flesh was nothing short of an evolved-grade item, which could prove itself to be too much for the [Blood Shield].

Khan didn't fear for his body. Thanks to the recent transformation, he could pretty much endure anything in the universe. Even space had lost most of its terrifying traits.

Yet, a technique was something else. The [Blood Shield] seemed to have benefited from the transformation but remained several levels behind Khan's current body, and he didn't know whether he could upgrade it in one go.

Khan was sure he could survive any backlash but didn't know whether the alien technique would. He had read guides back on Nitis, and Zalpa had even instructed him a bit, but the old ways remained dangerous. Besides, Khan half-believed Yeza, or any other Niqols, would have never expected him to push the [Blood Shield] to such high levels.

'Can I even redo the technique if I lose it?' Khan wondered.

The problems weren't with the technique's specifics and requirements. Khan had studied them with Liiza in the end. He recalled how to kickstart the [Blood Shield] and was certain his manipulation ability had only improved over the years.

The issues were with Khan's body. If he somehow ruined the technique and expelled it, he wasn't sure he could accept it again. Khan had become a marvel of anatomy, so his resilience would probably suppress and destroy any foreign substance that tried to invade him.

'All things considered,' Khan guessed, 'The [Blood Shield] should be able to endure skipping a few checkpoints, but am I willing to risk it?'

Khan didn't need to ask that question to know the answer. He was fond of anything originating from Nitis, and the [Blood Shield] had saved his life more times than he could count. Khan wouldn't risk losing it for anything in the world, so he devised a suitable approach.

Khan had plenty of experience strengthening flesh but had never attempted to weaken it. Luckily, the Great Old One's sample was massive, and there was far more of it where it came from.

Moreover, bodies started to leak mana on their own after they turned into corpses. The Great Old One's flesh had retained a lot of its energy since its death over five months ago but had weakened nonetheless, and Khan could work with it.

Khan saw the mana as clear as day without needing scanners, so he cut out a small chunk of the dimmer flesh with his sharp fingers. The sample was still far stronger than the previous one, but Khan had a plan.

The Great Old One never fully fused with the mana. The Nak had infected it, but its flesh retained a certain separation from that mystical energy.

Meanwhile, Khan's element dealt with destruction and entropy, and he had become quite good at isolating the targets of his influence. He could do the same with the sample's mana, hoping not to break anything else in the process.

Needless to say, the sample exploded into a mass of gory drops as soon as Khan attempted what he had in mind. He barely had the time to place his hands at its sides before the whole chunk of flesh burst open.

Khan didn't know what to expect, but the scene only made him sigh. He didn't lose any of his skills but was more than rusty when it came to delicate work. Luckily, he had enough flesh to readjust himself to those precise processes.

It took a while and many failures, but Khan eventually succeeded. A mangled chunk of flesh stood in the middle of a gory puddle between his hands. The sample was by no means intact, but Khan didn't need it to be nice to look at.

Some mana still lingered inside the sample, but Khan couldn't push its structural integrity further, so he moved to the next step. He brought a bucket closer to his crossed legs before immersing his hand in it. His mana spread into that dense blood, quickly infecting it with his influence.

Part of the dense liquid vanished, evaporating or directly breaking under Khan's destructive influence. However, he managed to taint anything that survived the process, facilitating the following manipulation.

Khan made a cup with his hand and lifted it, taking out some blood from the bucket. Then, he poured it over the mangled sample, using his other hand to start the manipulation.

That step involved teaching the sample to clot its blood. Admittedly, the Great Old One's flesh resisted the process more than Khan had predicted, but he wasn't in uncharted territory anymore. He had mastered that phase long ago, so he succeeded on the first try.

Khan did his best not to go overboard. The Great Old One's flesh already suited his needs, so he didn't need to strengthen it. He only poured enough tainted blood to qualify it for the [Blood Shield], making sure not to add too much mana to its fabric.

Afterward, Khan threw the sample into his mouth, forcefully gulping down and waiting for the unpleasant reaction. He half-expected his body to digest that item and turn it into nutrients, but a familiar heaviness soon hit his chest, threatening to hinder his breathing.

Khan leaned forward to endure the sensation, but his chest quickly lightened. He immediately became able to breathe properly again, and summoning the [Blood Shield] revealed that everything had worked perfectly. His blood vessels clotted as usual, and he could feel the faint new strength that flowed through them.

'Did I fail to hit the higher checkpoint?' Khan wondered before dismissing the issue. 'Well, it's better than risking the technique's integrity.'

The first result was slightly disappointing, but Khan had merely started upgrading the [Blood Shield]. His piece of the Great Old One was far from depleted, and he planned to continue cutting it apart until his alien technique touched on his body's new limits.