Aksai was keen to begin the Aether Beast ritual using the modified Aether Wisp thod.
However, he decided it was more important to first understand the changes in his own body.
The recent adoption of the Qi Shell had not only advanced his Qi cultivation realm but had also altered his druid transformation.
Because of that, it was necessary to test his new limits before anything else.
He had long understood that the paths of Spirit, Mind, and Body were connected. If he had made great progress in one path, then learning more about it would eventually help him progress in the other two as well.
Aksai also knew that the gains from forming an Aether Beast would likely exceed his earlier expectations.
He had originally planned to choose a 2nd Order demon beast before entering the Duya Forest, but now he had selected a 3rd Order beast instead. That alone changed everything.
But with greater gains ca greater risks.
The soul of a 3rd Order demon beast was far harder to ta than that of a 2nd Order one. There was a real chance he might not be able to overwhelm the beast's soul inside his Soul Space. If that happened, the Aether Wisp ritual would fail.
The best way to ta a powerful soul was to use its own strength against it. Although the Verdant Elder's soul had once been far stronger than his, Aksai had now turned the beast's body into his Qi Shell.
In short, if he wanted to fight the demon beast's soul, he needed to understand his own strength first—strength that had just received a massive boost after the Qi Shell integration. And that's what he planned to do now.
The Spirit farr stood silently in the clearing, the light wind brushing through his long hair, now touched with a green tint. It was ti to see what had changed in his druid transformation.
He raised his right hand and looked at his palm. A single thought passed through his mind as he called out the na of one of his Druid Blessings.
[ Callous Skin ]
A low hum echoed from deep inside his chest. His skin began to change right away. At first, it hardened, just like it used to. But this ti, sothing more happened.
A dark green shimr spread across his arms. Thin lines of runes flickered over his forearms and then vanished under the surface. A translucent barrier began to form, layer by layer, over his skin.
It wrapped around his arms, chest, back, legs—even his neck. The barrier was thin, but it looked like solid glass carved from the shell of a great turtle. It didn't just sit above his skin—it flowed with his movents, flexed with his breathing.
The dark green shell was alive and malleable. One could call it a dual layer defence.
Aksai moved his arm and knocked his knuckles gently against the barrier on his opposite forearm. A dull thunk rang out. It didn't even rattle. The shield felt like an extra skin, one that didn't limit his movent but still felt strong enough to stop a 2nd Order Spirit artifact wielded by low or mid-stage Foundation Building Expert without him caring about it.
"This… this is Callous Skin? The blessing has evolved thanks to the Qi Shell."
He narrowed his eyes and focused. The Blessing had changed.
Before, Callous Skin only hardened his flesh after healing from injury. It added a defensive attribute to his bare skin, turning it into an invisible armor itself.
It was useful, but it was still just a layer of dense muscle and bone under his skin. Now, the dark green shell-like barrier was actively drawing on his Qi essence to stay intact.
It was no longer just flesh. It was protection shaped by the very essence of his new Qi Shell.
He focused a little deeper. The barrier flickered and shifted. A faint ripple ran across the surface when a sharp gust of wind blew by. He felt the resistance the shell gave against the elents, like it pushed back against the pressure.
"This can hold against elental damage now," Aksai muttered, his voice calm. "Most Spirit spells cast by soone below my Spirit realm won't tear through."
He tightened his fist, feeling the layered strength under his skin. Not only did the barrier absorb force, but his own skin had beco tougher beneath it. Even if sothing got past the shell, it would have to face his hardened flesh right after.
He jumped in place once, then threw a quick punch into the air. His limbs felt light despite the added barrier, and the speed of his attack didn't drop.
There was no stiffness. No delay.
"The results… are better than I expected."
He let out a quiet breath, his eyes sharp with thought. This wasn't just a defence boost. This was a true upgrade.
A full evolution of his Blessing, shaped by the nature of the Verdant Elder's Qi Shell. A shell born from a third-order demon beast had now beco part of his own transformation.
Even if soone attacked him with a high-level Spirit spell or tried to crush him with Qi-based force or pure raw power, this barrier would take the hit first. It was like walking around with the strength of the Verdant Elder coiled around his body.
Aksai lowered his hand, the green shimr fading a little but still holding. He didn't cancel the Blessing yet. Instead, he stood there, the turtle-shell barrier pulsing softly under the sunlight.
He now understood why Yelia had insisted on the symbiosis.
This was no longer the sa Callous Skin he had known. It was a new version—one that could save his life against enemies far stronger than before.
He checked out the neural link fabric's spectral screen. Sure enough, the changes had been recorded and displayed.
[ Druid's Blessing: Super Callous Skin
Effect: Every ti you are injured and recover, Defense 1. The effects are stacked indefinitely. Over ti, your skin becos as tough as iron while maintaining its elasticity. Qi-essence based.
Type: Active Passive
Grade: Rare ]
First of all, the blessing now had two modes of operation. One part of it worked passively, while the Qi-based turtle shell could be activated at will.
Secondly, the grade of Callous Skin had changed. It had gone from Common to Rare, skipping the Uncommon grade altogether.
It was ti to test the upgrades received for his second blessing.
With a small breath, he focused his thoughts and tapped into his second Druid's Blessing—Night Wind.
He had used it many tis before, especially in the Duya Forest. It always worked best at night. But sothing about it had changed.
As his Qi responded to his will, a faint shimr coated his skin. It wasn't green like the Callous Skin's shell. Instead, this layer was translucent—clear like glass, yet it bent the light around him just enough to make him feel distant from the world.
If soone had stood nearby, they would have found it hard to focus on him. Hard to sense his presence at all.
He looked down at the Qi barrier over his arms. Unlike Callous Skin's green, this one reflected no color at all. It was there, but nearly invisible—like a second skin made of wind and silence.
One had to say that Aksai's Silent Wind blessing activation looked a lot like Huyin's natural state. Although there were so differences in terms of the rate of the refraction of light and dispersion effectiveness of foreign Spirit Sense, one could compare Aksai with Huyin at this point.
With the changes, the Spectral Screen of the neural link fabric was updated.
[ Druid's Blessing: Silent Wind ]
[ Effect: You can use the Qi layer to hide your presence during day and night, with night ti receiving additional cover.
Your aura and traces will be hidden, and your sense of existence will be reduced to its minimum, making it difficult for others to detect you.
Essence: Both Spirit and Qi essences
Unstackable
Type: Active
Grade: Uncommon ]
Aksai raised his eyebrows as he read the update.
"So it works during the day now too," he murmured, testing the blessing by taking a few silent steps forward.
The soft forest floor barely made a sound under his feet, but even more than that—he felt weightless. Faint. As if the world around him had agreed to forget he was there.
He knelt beside a patch of moss and touched the ground. His fingers left no trace. Even the air around him barely moved. It was as if the blessing itself had taken over, dulling all signs of his presence.
The Qi layer adapted to Aksai's movents, leaving almost no traces behind.
The old Night Wind had only worked under the cover of darkness. But now, the Silent Wind gave him the sa stealth in daylight—though to a lesser degree.
And if night fell, the stealth would beco even stronger than before. Although the effects of the nightti stealth weren't improved by a large margin, it was still useful.
"Not bad," he whispered. The sound barely reached his own ears.
Aksai stood back up and deactivated the blessing.
The clear layer faded away gently, as if carried off by a breeze.
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