Vitality pumped through Theron, all the broken pieces of his body mending together in a beautiful sort of melody.
As it did so, the Immortal Jellyfish Echo seemed to have found deeper locations in his body to sink into. It weaved into his muscles, pierced into his bones, and layered itself into his marrow.
The feeling should have been painful, but it was wonderful beyond compare, as though the hands of angels were gliding across his body, caressing him softly and gently pressing into him with their warmth.
At that moment, Theron knew that part of the reason he was so indifferent to the lightning rampaging in the depths of his body was actually heavily related to the Immortal Jellyfish.
This seemed counterintuitive even to him. Such a depth of water should have made him more susceptible, not less. But it also had to be remembered that… the Lightning Mancy strains of Mana Beast Jellyfish had all descended from the Immortal Jellyfish.
The Immortal Jellyfish didn't have any lightning affinity, but what it did have was incredible prowess in Water Control. That control came from its ability to wield the polarities of water with ease, taking advantage of the positive and negative poles of the molecule to almost glide them into place wherever it wanted.
Thanks to that, its Echo manifested in the form of a wide pulse that had acted in place of Theron's Third Eye before he formed it. In fact, it was precisely because of this that so many had thought it was a useless Echo to have.
Why would you fuse with an Echo that was just a worse version of an ability you would gain as a Silver Mancer in the first place?
It also had to be remembered that people like Theron didn't even normally exist. For most, fusion with an Echo was only possible when they were Silver Mancers already, so they weren't even able to take advantage of it early like Theron had been able to—making it even more useless to them.
Now, that bet was paying off again.
He hadn't even had to do anything. The Immortal Jellyfish's self-preservation abilities kicked in all on their own, directing the lightning to the least vulnerable parts of his body. It was why his skin and flesh were so devastated, but his inner organs and bones were relatively fine.
Of course, any normal person would die from severe enough burns. The skin might seem like one of the easiest places to harm, but if enough of it was ruined, it would lead to death just the same.
But therein came the genius of Theron himself.
The reason burning large chunks of your skin often killed wasn't normally due to the injury, but infection.
He took advantage of his high cultivation to withstand burns until a tough carapace was formed all around his body, all while the Blood Crystal beneath his feet fueled his body with enough energy that his heart couldn't go into shock even if it wanted to.
And then, when he was ready…
The first chips fell, and then came the second wave, and then the third. They fell faster and faster until skin as soft as a baby's began to appear.
Theron's injuries were nowhere to be seen. Let alone those injuries, he had filleted himself of all his skin before regrowing it… none of his previous scars were there either.
But Theron was focused on something else entirely. It wasn't just his Immortal Jellyfish Echo that had undergone a huge change—or more accurately… its changes didn't just affect it alone.
His eyes finally opened in earnest, flashing just the slightest hints of deep red and icy blue before they calmed.
Down beneath his feet, he saw the earth shattered, and he immediately knew why.
His Immortal Jellyfish Echo had fused with his body so perfectly now that his Blue Pufferfish Echo wasn't just applicable to his Water Mana anymore, but even directly to his own body.
The water content of his body went from around 60%, blazing past 70%, before stopping right at 83%. This was still far from the above 95% of the Immortal Jellyfish, and Theron could also tell that every step further would be even harder than this—but the difference it made to him was astonishing.
It was said that infant humans had a percentage of right around 75%. Sometimes, Theron wondered if that was responsible for their spryness and how quickly they recovered from injury. He had yet to investigate that, but what he did know for certain…
Was that his body felt better now than it ever had in his life.
The density of his body retracted and suddenly he felt as light as a feather.
The ground beneath him shattered once again as his weight became tens of thousands of jin. Almost 50,000, to be specific.
In their normal state, Blood Crystals would take this weight with ease. But without the energy they usually had in them, they couldn't withstand it even if they wanted to.
Theron felt something lick his hand. He looked over to find that the Alpha had shrunk from its previous three-meter tall form to just two meters. But even then, it should have been towering over him.
Rather than this, though, it had lowered its head completely.
"Runebound…" Theron said slowly.
The Alpha blinked its large eyes and then nodded, but there was also a light of gratefulness in its eyes. It knew that if not for Theron, it would have definitely failed in its gamble.
But now… it was one of the most powerful creatures in the world. A First Resonance Gold Runebound Mana Beast…
Such a title was as long as it was powerful. It was unlikely that General Pennel would last more than a few exchanges with such a creature.
"You want to follow me?" Theron asked. "You aren't well-suited to me. It would be a waste of my time."
The Alpha hurriedly shook its head and then spat out a mouthful of blood, pointing out a claw toward it.
Theron's eyes narrowed as he felt the Alpha form a connection with its blood. Before the glob fell to the ground, it was caught by a mysterious force, and then shaped into a strong claw that swiped down.
The earth before them was cut in two, the line flashing by like a bolt of lightning until it reached the face of the open-air cave's wall…
And then it cut right through it too, moving so fast that in one moment, the cliff face was fine, and in the next, there was a clean cut right down the middle, continuing so deeply that Theron couldn't easily sense the end of it.
Theron's expression slowly relaxed, but his pupils were still constricted.
Blood Mancy? He had never heard of such a thing aside from…
Somehow, the Alpha's Flux Mancy had evolved in a completely unexpected way.
"Alright," Theron said calmly. "You'll follow me."