The next day

By noon, Merin steps out of his estate and waits at the gate.

Moments later, a carriage rolls to a halt before him, and Haruto steps out.

Merin walks forward and greets him with a nod. “Haruto.”

Haruto returns the nod. “Kanoru.”

With a small gesture, Merin says, “I’m surprised you came and even so quickly.”

Haruto replies, “I came because of the spiritual councils.”

Merin nods thoughtfully. “Then let’s speak inside.”

He leads Haruto through the estate and into a quiet receiving room.

Once seated, Merin gets straight to the point. “What does the spiritual council want from me. That you a member has to come forward?”

Haruto meets his gaze evenly. “I’ve come to invite you to take your rightful place on the Spiritual Council. One seat remains empty—left vacant since the Holy Blood Master ascended and became the Blood Ancestor.”

That seat was unofficially reserved for Merin, who had not only delivered the final blow that ended the Blood Ancestor’s reign, but also made unmatched contributions to the world: integrating samurai cultivation into the spiritual path, developing the transformation technique, and later crafting a spiritual cultivation method for Half-Yao—each one a revolution in its own right.

No one else had earned that seat more, and with his recent breakthrough to the peak of the Spirit Master Realm, he was now eligible to claim it.

Merin had no reason to refuse, and so he accepted.

Haruto explained that council meetings were held in an illusion-space, a formation created by his mental power—one that could be accessed from anywhere in the world, so long as the person held a key and possessed the spiritual strength of a peak Spirit Master.

After handing him the key, Haruto took his leave.

A few hours later, the twelve defeated spiritual masters returned—without the man named Taiga.

Merin’s expression remained calm, but his voice left no room for negotiation. “You have one year. Bring Taiga to me, or you’ll be sent to the frontlines.”

They nodded frantically, like chickens pecking at rice, and hastily left the city, vanishing into the skies in search of Taiga.

With the matter temporarily settled, Merin turned his focus to what mattered most—spending the next few days in peace with Yanli, Asuna, and his younger siblings.

For months, he shared quiet time, laughter, and memories with his loved ones—yet more importantly, he guided them on how to push their transformation techniques to the fourth level, allowing their life levels to rise alongside his.

Only by reaching life-level Rank 4 could they go beyond the Spirit Master realm, the current highest cultivation stage in the world.

To step into the Ancestral Realm, one required an Ancestral Crystal—each tied to one of the nine fundamental rules of the world—but all nine crystals had already been refined.

And after the death of the previous Blood Ancestor, seizing another would be exponentially harder.

Knowing this, Merin abandoned the pursuit of an Ancestral Crystal and instead resolved to forge a new path—a realm beyond the Spirit Master that did not rely on ancient inheritances.

He didn’t yet know what that path would look like, but he had discovered something vital: upon reaching the peak of the Spirit Master realm with a Rank-4 physique, the spiritual capacity of his body had increased, allowing him to form two additional spiritual cores.

Each spiritual core was a seed of power, a vessel for a new rule—one that could be refined into a true core and eventually a master core.

He had already refined a master core with the Rule of Strength, which boosted his mana capacity by 60%, and this was only with his comprehension at around 6%.

Once it reached 10%, he expected his mana to double again.

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But forming another spiritual core required more than just a rule body—the cultivator’s physique had to evolve to Rank 4 or beyond.

Still, before focusing on that path, one thing mattered more: his marriage to Yanli and Asuna.

They had waited twenty years because of him, and he wouldn’t make them wait any longer.

The next morning, during their weekly breakfast—a tradition they decided on when not busy, even though none of them truly needed food—he brought it up.

With his brother and sister present, he turned to Yanli and Asuna. “When would you both like the wedding?”

The two women exchanged a glance and smiled. “Any time,” they said together.

Merin nodded. “Then one week should be enough for preparations. I’ll marry Yanli first, and a year later—”

“No need for two ceremonies,” Yanli interrupted gently. “Why make Asuna wait another year? Let the two of us marry you together.”

Merin shrugged with a small smile. “Alright.”

Then he turned to his younger siblings. “Do either of you have someone you like?”

They both shook their heads, and Kuro replied, “I want to perfect my transformation technique to level four first, and complete my body transformation before I even think about marriage.”

Merin leaned forward slightly, his tone shifting. “About that—I wanted to talk to you all.”

Seeing their full attention on him, he continued, “I’ve mentioned this before, but let me remind you: once you complete the fourth level of the transformation technique, your life structure will completely change. You’ll become the being you chose to transform into—fully and irreversibly.”

They nodded; this wasn’t new. Merin had explained it to them back when he was still trapped in his dragon form.

Yanli spoke softly, “Yes, we’re all aware.”

Merin looked at each of them in turn, then said, “That’s why I want to add dragon traits to your transformation techniques. I want you all to become dragon-hybrids.”

Kuro frowned slightly. “Why?”

Merin answered calmly, “Because after my transformation, I’m no longer human. My life structure has completely changed—I’m not related to you by blood anymore. But if I support your transformations, not only will the process become faster, but our future bloodlines will remain connected.”

Kuro and Nora fell silent as they absorbed the meaning.

Their brother was right—he was no longer bound to them by blood, only memory and shared emotion. And once they each completed their own transformation and started families, they would become entirely separate bloodlines.

But if they infused his dragon structure into their technique… their future children would still carry a piece of him.

A shared legacy.

They looked at Merin and nodded in agreement.

Yanli and Asuna already understood why they, too, had to incorporate Merin’s dragon life structure into their transformation techniques.

Their future transformations would completely change their species, and if they didn’t integrate dragon traits, they might no longer be compatible with Merin, reproductively or spiritually.

Kanoru was now a dragon in body and soul. Yanli was destined to become a Moon Beast—a hybrid of fox and tiger, bathed in the power of moonlight—while Asuna would transform into a Yinfire Horned Serpent, a creature embodying both fire and Yin.

Although Merin’s dragon form already fused countless beastial life structures, minimising the risk of reproductive isolation, none of them wanted to take chances—not with something so important.

More than that, Merin’s transformation technique was already a complete level-four path. With his help, advancing their own techniques from level three to four would become vastly easier.

So they agreed.

After breakfast, Merin collected their transformation techniques to review them.

He began with Nora’s: the Crystal Gryphon technique.

As he read through the method, he quickly realised that a more accurate name might be Diamond Gryphon.

Though Nora’s body remained flesh and blood, her transformation granted her the ability to conjure and manipulate diamond-like constructs.

Merin studied the life structures detailed in the technique and realised he had already mastered them all.

Without delay, he transformed.

His form shifted smoothly into that of a crystal gryphon, brilliant and radiant, shimmering with facets of translucent light—and with it, he sensed the innate ability to conjure diamonds from his mana or the surrounding natural energy.

But this was still a level-three transformation. To elevate it to level four, he needed more.

After deep thought, Merin concluded that increasing the technique’s affinity with the rules of Earth and Thunder would be key.

The artistic conception behind the crystal gryphon hinted at the early shape of the Rule of Diamond, rooted primarily in the hardness of Earth.

To that, Thunder could add vitality, energy, and violent force—ideal complements.

He decided to restructure the gryphon’s internal design: its bones and skin would adopt cellular structures similar to diamond, dramatically enhancing defence, while the eyes and wings would gain the ability to channel and conjure thunder.

Then, in his mental space, Merin began the process of enhancing the technique, integrating life structures from beasts, plants, and other organisms to complete its evolution. After six days of focused work, the transformation technique was 20% complete.

But tomorrow was his wedding.

He handed the draft to Nora and spent a few hours discussing the changes and clarifying details of her artistic conception. That conversation alone refined the technique further, bringing it to 25%.

The next day, before the entire city, Merin married Yanli and Asuna in a grand celebration. For seven days, he remained with them, rarely leaving their side, and they shared themselves with him without reservation, devoted to one purpose: children.

Merin, of course, was more than happy to oblige.

After that week, they each returned to their cultivation, occasionally sharing time when possible.

Merin split his focus between comprehending the Rule of Strength and helping Nora complete the diamond gryphon transformation.

A year later, the technique was finished, ready to be practised.

But now came the dilemma.

Should Nora begin her transformation right away? Or wait until she had comprehended the Rule of Diamond to ten per cent, ensuring her strength rose alongside her transformation?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep