Chapter 65: Black Intelligence

Wu Yuan was genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected the submission process to be this effortless.

But then again, he reasoned, Barbarian Beasts generally have low intelligence. They bow to raw power. I already beat this guy half to death, and I have unlimited resources to bribe him with. It’s only logical he’d sign the contract.

“Boss, you’re oversimplifying things,” Little White piped up from the side, a look of envy on his face. “You’re ignoring the ancient rules written into our very marrow.”

Little White sat up straight, assuming a lecturing tone. “According to the laws of the Ancient Demon Race, Barbarian Beasts cannot be enslaved by standard beast-taming techniques. They only follow their own hearts. But once they acknowledge a master? They are loyal unto death! They don’t have enough brainpower to betray you.”

Little Gray nodded in agreement. “And this Pangolin isn’t some generic mob spawn. He was nurtured by the revival of Little Green Mountain itself. His bloodline is premium stock—completely different from the feral, brain-dead beasts roaming the wilderness.”

Wu Yuan looked at the Pangolin, who was currently burying his face in a pile of Fire Ant eggs, with newfound appreciation. “So, I picked up a Limited Collector’s Edition?”

In reality, the Pangolin had never held any true malice toward Wu Yuan or Big Old Black. His earlier rampage had been directed solely at Little White.

To the Pangolin’s instincts, Wu Yuan and the rats all carried the scent of Little Green Mountain—the smell of home. Wu Yuan couldn’t detect it, but the beast could.

Moreover, Wu Yuan possessed monstrous physical strength. In the world of Barbarian Beasts, strength was the only law that mattered. Combined with the fact that Wu Yuan felt somewhat “rat-like” and radiated the scent of Lunar Essence, the Pangolin had viewed him as a powerful Alpha of his own kind. Submission wasn’t a defeat; it was a promotion.

Wu Yuan patted the Pangolin’s armored head with satisfaction.

“Let’s see what’s going on inside that thick skull.”

He silently activated his innate talent: [Spirit Awakening].

However, the moment his mind touched the Pangolin’s, he encountered a scene unlike anything before.

There was no misty void. Instead, Wu Yuan found himself drowning in a vast, crimson ocean.

The Pangolin’s consciousness space was a sea of blood.

Wu Yuan’s mental avatar swam through the thick, viscous red fluid, searching for the beast’s ego. The pressure was immense—crushing, heavy, and suffocating. It was nothing like the gentle connection he had shared with the Blood-Binding Spirit Mulberry.

This is heavy, Wu Yuan thought, his mental energy draining rapidly. My current cultivation is too low. I can’t sustain [Spirit Awakening] in this environment.

Just as he was about to retreat, a ripple cut through the bloody waters.

A tiny, transparent consciousness—shaped exactly like a thumb-sized Pangolin—swam eagerly toward him.

The moment the mini-Pangolin began circling Wu Yuan’s avatar, the crushing pressure of the blood sea vanished instantly.

“The legends are true,” Wu Yuan marveled. “Barbarian Beasts really are defenseless against their masters. He opened the door for me.”

Wu Yuan raised a mental hand and infused the power of [Spirit Awakening] into the tiny avatar.

Click.

The connection solidified.

In the physical world, the Pangolin stopped eating. He looked up at Wu Yuan, his beady eyes clearing as a spark of intelligence ignited within them.

“B… Boss?”

A childish, clumsy voice echoed in Wu Yuan’s mind.

The beast that could only squeak before was now communicating telepathically. Wu Yuan could feel the creature’s emotions—simple, direct, and trusting.

Wu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, masking the shock in his heart.

His shock wasn’t due to the success of the communication. It was because of what he had glimpsed in the background of that crimson mental world.

While the connection was forming, Wu Yuan had seen complex, glowing red patterns drifting through the sea of blood.

His mind raced back to the texts he had studied. Ling Yuanzi’s Theory of Heavenly Dao Spirit Runes had briefly mentioned the biological architecture of Demon Beasts.

That red ocean… that was the physical manifestation of his Bloodline Power.

And those glowing patterns… those must be Bloodline Spirit Runes!

Wu Yuan’s heart began to pound. A greedy, ambitious thought took root.

If I can see them… can I copy them? Can I use these runes to optimize my own bloodline?

He stared at the Pangolin as if the beast were made of solid gold.

I can’t observe my own bloodline, he realized. It’s like trying to look at your own eyes without a mirror. But this guy… he’s connected to me. He has a pure, ancient bloodline, but his cultivation is low enough that I can access his core.

“This is a massive opportunity,” Wu Yuan whispered, his eyes burning with intensity. “If I can monitor the changes in his Spirit Runes as he grows… I might be able to reverse-engineer the code. If I can break the genetic shackles placed on Demon Beasts, I’ll strike it rich!”

Demon Beasts had a fatal flaw: their potential was capped by their bloodline. Once they hit that ceiling, no amount of cultivation could push them further. Humans overcame this with techniques and artifacts.

But Wu Yuan wanted it all.

“I need to prepare for a rainy day,” Wu Yuan told himself, his corporate strategist brain taking over. “Cultivation base, artifact refining, and now… genetic engineering. I need to diversify my portfolio.”

He looked at the Pangolin, who had happily resumed munching on eggs.

You are my research subject.

Wu Yuan focused his mind again, diving back into the connection. He stared intently at the faint red Spirit Runes floating in the mental link.

Memorize them. Just copy the pattern.

He strained his mental focus, trying to burn the image of the runes into his memory.

But it was like trying to hold water in a sieve. The runes were clearly visible, yet the moment he looked away or tried to recall them, they vanished from his mind like a fading dream.

Sweat beaded on Wu Yuan’s forehead.

Why can’t I remember? Am I too stupid? Or are these runes too high-level for my current soul?

Anxiety began to gnaw at him. He was staring at the keys to the kingdom, but his brain refused to hold them.

Beside him, the Pangolin sensed his master’s distress. The beast didn’t understand why the Boss was upset, but it wanted to help.

The Pangolin shuffled closer and leaned its heavy, scaled body against Wu Yuan’s leg.

Thump.

At the moment of physical contact, Wu Yuan’s vision shifted.

The blurry, slippery memories of the runes suddenly snapped into focus. They were still complex, but they stuck. They didn’t fade.

Wu Yuan’s eyes flew open, ecstatic.

“The data transfer worked! Good boy, Pangolin!”

He was about to dive back in for a deeper look when, suddenly, the intelligence cheat in his mind violently convulsed.

A new notification exploded into his consciousness.

It wasn’t the usual white or gold text. It was pitch black.

[BLACK INTELLIGENCE] [Researching the Pangolin’s Bloodline Spirit Runes facilitates bloodline evolution. HOWEVER, peering into the primordial essence of the Demon Race will provoke a backlash from the Demon Race’s Providence Spirit.] [RESULT: CERTAIN DEATH.]

Wu Yuan stared at the black text, the blood draining from his face.

Certain… death?

He had never seen a death flag this blatant before. The terror hit him like a physical blow.

Suddenly, the air in the cave seemed to vanish. A crushing, suffocating weight descended upon him.

Disaster wasn’t coming. It was here.

His mind went blank. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, instinctively reacting to a predator infinitely higher on the food chain.

He felt a colossal Consciousness manifest inside his own body. It was ancient, cold, and vast. It prowled through his meridians, lingering, sniffing, searching for the thief who had dared to peek at the forbidden source code.

The entity hesitated, confused by Wu Yuan’s strange aura, which spared him from instant annihilation.

But the reprieve was temporary.

Wu Yuan’s vision began to darken. His consciousness was being eroded, erased like a smudge on a whiteboard.

He knew, with absolute certainty, that he was about to die.

“CAUSALITY BEAD!”

Wu Yuan screamed internally, his will to live igniting in a final, desperate roar.