When Ye Xingchen consumed the modification serum, the blood within his body instantly ignited, bringing extremely intense pain that made his face completely contort.

“Aniu!”

Jun Changxiao cried out in alarm.

The system said, “No need to worry. This should be bloodline fusion. When the host awakened the Stone Statue race, it was the same.”

“…”

Jun Changxiao fell silent.

“Ahh, ahh!”

Ye Xingchen screamed miserably again.

At this moment, no one could help him. He could only rely on himself to get through this ordeal.

Success meant obtaining a special race’s bloodline. Failure… he’d probably lose his life in the process.

Regret?

No.

Ye Xingchen didn’t regret it.

Even if he’d known in advance that consuming the Gene Modification Serum required enduring such painful torment, he still would have drunk it without hesitation, because the strong never fear death!

“Aniu!”

Jun Changxiao encouraged him inwardly, “Hold on!”

“Ahh, ahh!”

“Ahhhhh!”

Screams rang out frequently, making one’s hair stand on end.

At the same time, the blood within his body underwent crazy transformation, deeply stimulating the depths of his soul, causing his eyes to gradually turn crimson red. Strange patterns even emerged on his exposed skin.

The system said, “It’s about to fuse!”

“Go, go!”

Jun Changxiao clenched his fists to cheer him on. From his expression, he seemed even more nervous than when he himself awakened his bloodline.

Ye Xingchen could no longer hear any sound because the painful torment made him lose his hearing. Even as he gradually endured it, his heart-mind and soul were on the verge of collapse.

“Buzz!”

The scene before his eyes suddenly changed, and the pain gradually receded.

Ye Xingchen stood in what appeared to be a very ordinary village with a bewildered expression, then said rather puzzled, “An illusion?”

“Come chase me!”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

Ye Xingchen turned to look and saw a muddy road after rain. A rather ordinary teenage boy around ten-plus years old ran past, holding a broken kite string.

“Whoosh—”

He passed through his body, his figure becoming ethereal.

As expected, this was an illusion. Ye Xingchen could see the boy from an observer’s perspective, but the boy couldn’t detect his existence.

“Pei Aniu!”

Just then, a delicate young girl ran through the muddy road, stamping her feet and shouting, “Stop right there!”

Pei Aniu?

Ye Xingchen’s heart shook as he hurriedly turned back to look.

Soon he discovered that the boy, whether in outline or appearance, was very similar to the guy whose body he’d taken over. He then realized, “Could this be his youth?”

Wait!

The girl also looked very familiar!

Ye Xingchen suddenly thought of something and frowned, “Hui’er?”

“Come chase me. If you catch up, I’ll return your kite!” The boy ran while shouting, his face full of mischievous laughter.

“Splash!”

The girl fell to the ground, mud splashing across her face.

“Hahaha!” The boy laughed loudly, “You’ve become a big cat!”

“You…”

The girl wiped away the mud on her face, bean-sized tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” The boy walked over, helped her up, and held out the kite, “Here, here, here.”

“Don’t want it anymore!”

The girl threw the kite onto the muddy ground, then left angrily and aggrieved.

“Hui’er!”

The boy called out, “I was just joking. Don’t be mad!”

Indeed!

That girl was Hui’er.

Ye Xingchen frowned tightly, “This should be an experience from their youth, but why can I see it?”

“Whoosh!”

Intense pain surged to his heart-mind, making him subconsciously clutch his head.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, the scene changed again. He was now in a dark mountain forest where the teenage Aniu held a large wooden stick, confronting a wild wolf. The young girl Hui’er hid behind him in terror.

“Aniu, I’m scared!”

“Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you!”

The final result: he was scratched by the wild wolf. Fortunately, village hunters arrived in time to rescue them both.

To avoid being criticized for padding word count with flashback sequences—in short, these two scenes represented how the teenage Aniu and teenage Hui’er went from having conflicts to gradually developing feelings.

But.

Ye Xingchen was very puzzled.

Why could he see these experiences the two of them had?

Could it be that when the guy whose body he took over died, part of his memories merged into his own soul?

“Whoosh!”

“Whoosh!”

The scenes continued jumping, all related to the young Aniu and young Hui’er.

“Buzz!”

After about a while, the scene moved to Pei Aniu standing before Hui’er, who was a head shorter than him, after completing his coming-of-age ceremony. He grinned widely, “When you come of age, I’ll marry you!”

“Aniu-gege.”

Hui’er’s small face turned red.

“Of course!”

Pei Aniu pointed at the green ox tied to a tree in the distance, “I’ll use it to marry you and make you happy for a lifetime.”

Sons of wealthy families often rode tall horses or eight-person sedan chairs to marry wives. Ordinary families mostly used donkeys or oxen.

“Pffft!”

Hui’er covered her mouth and giggled, “Aniu-gege, can’t you get away from oxen?”

Pei Aniu walked over, grasped her small hand, and said seriously, “I’m willing to be your ox for a lifetime.”

“Ox… ox… ox… ox… ox…”

Ye Xingchen’s ears continuously echoed with repetition. The pain that had already calmed down exploded again, making him clutch his head once more. In the outside world, he knelt on the ground as the patterns on his skin became increasingly brilliant.

“Ahhhh!”

“Roar—”

An earsplitting roar suddenly rang out.

“Swish!”

“Swish!”

At this moment, Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, and others had arrived at Dragon Head Peak. When they finally saw everything clearly in the courtyard, they all widened their eyes because what appeared in their vision was actually a—green ox!

“What the!”

Jun Changxiao also gaped.

As an eyewitness, he personally watched Ye Xingchen sprout two ox horns from both sides of his forehead, then rapidly transform from human form into ox form!

“Gene modification successful,” the system said.

Jun Changxiao spread his two legs wide and pointed at the green ox, his expression collapsing as he roared, “Transforming from human to ox—what kind of gene modification is this!”

“Does the host think it’s an ordinary ox?” the system said calmly.

“What!”

Jun Changxiao continued roaring, “Could it be the green ox Laozi rode when leaving through Hangu Pass!”

“If it really was Laozi’s mount, this disciple of yours would be incredible. After all, in combat power, he wouldn’t necessarily be inferior to the Great Sage,” the system said.

Just then, the green ox suddenly grew massive, destroying the courtyard.

Jun Changxiao managed to run out in time, but Li Qingyang clutched his chest with a pained expression, “This loss is even greater than the Martial Arts Arena!”

“Roar!”

The green ox, now dozens of zhang large, roared loudly, the contained energy shaking space itself.

“This strong?”

Jun Changxiao’s eyes widened.

Gu Zhaoxi had also rushed over and exclaimed in surprise, “Which type of ox race bloodline is this?”

Race?

That’s right.

From the emanating aura and power, Gu Zhaoxi instantly determined this wasn’t an ordinary ox beast. It should belong to some race, currently awakening its bloodline, which was why it revealed its true form.

“Aniu-gege…”

At the disciples’ residential peak, Hui’er watched Dragon Head Peak suddenly manifest a giant ox beast. Tears flowed uncontrollably.

Why was she crying?

Because this green ox looked exactly the same as the ox Pei Aniu had pointed to back then.

I’m waiting for you to marry me, but we’re separated by heaven and earth.

“Roar!”

Standing on Dragon Head Peak, the massive green ox roared furiously, then leaped up and landed on Spirit Beast Peak, its crimson eyes locking onto the Purple Lin Demon King sitting at the hall entrance.

“Heh.”

Hall Master Zi stood up, swiftly removed his school uniform, rolled his shoulders, and said, “What, want to fight this king?”