The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

As soon as they arrived at the waterfall, Karsha made his way to the cave he used to stay in. Although his previous battle had slightly damaged it, it was still stable enough for him to spend the next few days inside without a hitch. His plans to explore the island would have to wait, depending on whether he could successfully absorb the Phoenix blood or not.

"System, how powerful do you think the Phoenix blood is?" Karsha asked, trying to calm his nerves by engaging with the system.

< It's Phoenix blood, so it's hard to gauge. Even a King-grade Phoenix blood is many times more powerful than what you've absorbed so far. Since this is Sage grade, it's probably 10,000 times more powerful than the King-grade blood you've consumed. >

"Well, that's comforting," Karsha sighed, retrieving the blood. It was encased in ice, about the size of a pill. Karsha examined it for a moment before opening the bottle. The temperature in the cave began to rise, yet the ice pill containing the blood remained cool to the touch.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied his mind and prepared himself for the process. He knew that this moment could be a turning point in his journey, one that would determine his ability to face the formidable Overlords ahead.

< The host is advised to swallow the pill before the ice melts>n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Karsha took a deep breath and tossed the pill of Phoenix blood into his mouth, swallowing it quickly. The pill slid down his throat and into his stomach with surprising ease, and for a moment, he felt an unusual calm wash over him.

That calmness lasted only a few seconds. As the ice melted, an excruciating pain erupted from his stomach, spreading rapidly through his body. It felt as if his insides were being torn apart and seared with hot coals. Each passing second intensified the agony, making it harder for him to maintain his composure.

Ten minutes dragged by, the pain relentless and unyielding. Karsha gritted his teeth, enduring as best he could. But as the pain reached unbearable levels, his vision began to blur. The edges of his sight darkened, and his consciousness wavered, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Desperately, Karsha focused on his breathing, trying to stabilize his mind and body. He knew this was a test of his endurance and willpower. If he could withstand this, the rewards would be immense. But right now, all he could do was hold on and hope his body would adapt before it broke under the strain.

< The Host must stay conscious to absorb the blood once refined fully. It will take 12 hours >

Karsha could barely muster a coherent thought, let alone a curse at the system. The pain was relentless, and with every passing second, he questioned his ability to endure the full twelve hours. But giving up was not an option. He had faced countless challenges before, and this was just another trial to overcome.

As the thirty-minute mark passed, the pain only intensified. His eyes turned red from the strain, and sweat sizzled off his body, vaporizing almost instantly. The temperature around him rose dramatically, turning the cave into an inferno.

At the one-hour mark, a powerful explosion of energy erupted from Karsha's body. His body shuddered violently, but he remained in his lotus posture, enduring the torment. The cave felt like a scorching cauldron, and Karsha was the pill being baked within it. The heat was unbearable, and the pain seemed to have no end.

Five hours passed in the blink of an eye, though to Karsha, it felt like an eternity in hell. His body began to show signs of cracking, with his skin splitting open and infernal energy seeping through the fissures. The pain was excruciating, and he could feel his soul teetering on the brink of abandoning him.

But amidst the agony, a flicker of determination burned within Karsha. He had come too far to falter now. Gritting his teeth, he focused on the energy coursing through him. He tried to guide it, to harness it, and to make it his own.

The pain was becoming unbearable. Even with all his might, Karsha couldn't take it anymore. He was at his limit, but he also couldn't bring himself to give up. The benefits of enduring this process far outweighed the losses. If he gave up now, he would forfeit a tremendous amount of power.

Plus, he had no idea what might happen to him if he quit, so he sat there, his mind on the verge of breaking, and continued to endure.

Had he been an ordinary person facing something like this, he would have long since died. The energy coursing through his body was far too intense to handle. Just managing to last five hours was nothing short of a miracle.

The process involved two main steps: Refine and Absorb. After consuming the blood, the first step was to refine it. This meant gathering all the energy within the blood and purifying it by removing impurities. It was similar to extracting medicinal essence from a herb in alchemy, where the essence is refined to eliminate impurities.

In this scenario, Karsha's body was the cauldron, and the blood was the medicinal essence.

But that didn't mean the cauldron didn't benefit from the process. As the blood was refined, the impurities were expelled from the cauldron—in this case, Karsha's body. The impurities were pushed out, but since they were inside him, they had to be expelled from his body as well. One of the toughest challenges was removing these impurities because they accumulate in everything.

Thus, Karsha's body was constantly dealing with them, making the entire process even more grueling.

The process happening in Karsha's body was the quickest, yet the most excruciating way to remove impurities. While pills could be used, they also contain impurities, making it a bit like adding more impurities to get rid of some.

By the seventh hour, dark smoke began to rise from Karsha's body. The impurities were being burned away and expelled. The pain had made him numb, leaving him almost like a zombie as the dark smoke continued to escape from his body.

However, by the eighth hour, Karsha started to feel a shift. As more dark smoke left his body, he sensed a surge of energy. His strength began to rise, and the more smoke that was expelled, the more powerful he felt. Unbeknownst to him, the flow of energy through his body had been restricted by the impurities in his meridians.

Now that those impurities were being cleared out, his meridians were expanding, allowing more energy to flow through.

At that very moment, a system message appeared, adding a new layer of complexity to Karsha's already intense experience.

< The host has expelled all impurities from the body. The host is advised to endure the next process >

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Karsha hadn't finished reading the system message when three bursts of energy erupted from his body. A searing pain surged through him instantly, making his vision darken momentarily. The pain radiated from his toes to his brain.

He nearly cried out, but he gritted his teeth and continued to endure. Since he couldn't absorb the blood essence directly into his dantian (which, in this context, is his Mana Core), the system was forming a temporary secondary core to store the blood essence. Creating a second core isn't feasible for a human—it's something only beasts can do—but this temporary core was his only option.

Continue your saga on empire

Inside his inventory, Karsha had seven different types of cores he hadn't yet touched. These were Mutant Cores. Just like his Mana Core, a Mutant Core distinguishes monsters by carrying their power. Karsha was puzzled about the origins of these Mutant Cores because, according to the system, Mutants don't leave behind cores when they die.

So, the fact that Karsha could now form a second core, even if it's only temporary, meant he could tap into it for energy. This is a significant advantage that Alpha, Mutants, and World Bosses have over ordinary monsters and beasts. Once a monster forms an Alpha or Mutant Core, it gains more energy than the others, which sets them apart.

Karsha remained in his lotus posture for nearly 11 hours. The core was almost complete, but surprisingly, the pain never lessened. However, as the 12th hour approached, Karsha began to feel the pain gradually subsiding. Once the blood was fully refined, he would finally be able to absorb 5% of its essence.

The more powerful he became in the future, the higher the percentage he could absorb. Once he had absorbed everything, the second core would cease to exist. Karsha stayed perfectly still, enduring the diminishing pain as time ticked away.

BOOM

A final burst of energy erupted from Karsha's body as the core was completed. A wave of heat exploded from him, blasting out of the cave. Ayarr, who had returned to her duties as a bodyguard, now turned her gaze toward the cave. While the others were in the forest honing their skills, she had chosen to stay behind and guard Karsha.

As an assassin, Ayarr wasn't into one-on-one battles. Her style was more about hiding and striking. Although she needed to sharpen her skills, she preferred to avoid any potential danger that could arise from a powerful energy surge. Her ability to escape quickly gave her an advantage.

Even if she had wanted to train, Dhaka wouldn't have allowed it. They needed someone to guard Karsha. With the ScaleCrusher dead, the other monster snakes might start roaming around. Now that their Overlord was gone, it was crucial to have someone on guard to ensure Karsha's safety.

After all, ensuring Karsha's safety was their responsibility. Even if it weren't, protecting him was crucial. Once he broke the curse, they'd gain their freedom to level up. Karsha was doing them a huge favor, so sacrificing a few days of training to guard him was a small price to pay.

Back inside the cave, Karsha looked at the message floating before his vision and smiled. Not only had he refined the blood, but he had also managed to cleanse his body of impurities. Now, the system message added another benefit from his grueling ordeal:

< You have refined the blood of a Phoenix. Your blood is now King Grade. Congratulations. >

This was significant. If Karsha's potential had previously been limited to reaching the Saint-level, now that his blood had attained King Grade, he could push past the Saint stage and potentially become a Sage or even a Great Sage. This was excellent news for him.

Once his Berserker Swordsman class broke through to Level 4, he would be able to awaken his true bloodline, unlocking his full potential and hidden innate abilities.

"Time to absorb the blood of a Phoenix... Hehe," Karsha thought with a grin.