Lightning tore through the shrine.
Lyra moved between the enemy cultivators like a flash of blue light.
Her breakthrough had changed everything.
Her movements were faster.
Her control was sharper.
Even her breathing was steadier.
She appeared beside one of the Stage 2 cultivators and struck his chest with her palm.
Lightning exploded.
The man flew backward and crashed into a tree.
Another cultivator attacked from behind.
Lyra sensed him.
She turned.
A lightning blade formed in her hand.
Clang!
The attack was blocked.
The enemy stumbled backward.
Lyra smiled.
"Too slow."
She released another burst of lightning.
The cultivator was thrown out of the shrine's boundary.
Aether watched for a moment.
"She's adapting quickly."
Then something struck him.
A crimson spear of energy.
Aether raised his metal rod.
BOOM!
The impact pushed him several meters backward.
He looked at the spear.
Then at the man who had thrown it.
Stage 5.
The leader of the invading group.
"You."
The man pointed his spear toward Aether.
"You are the one who awakened this shrine."
Aether glanced at the ancient wolf.
"Apparently."
The man charged.
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His speed was considerably higher than the previous hunters.
Aether blocked the first strike.
The impact numbed his arm.
Second strike.
He stepped aside.
Third.
He ducked.
The spear swept past his head.
Aether countered with his metal rod.
The man blocked.
Their weapons collided repeatedly.
Aether studied every movement.
His opponent's Origin Energy was strange.
Crimson.
Dense.
Aggressive.
The system suddenly appeared.
[Foreign Origin Energy detected.]
[Origin Adaptation: 12%]
[Compatibility analysis beginning.]
Aether's eyes sharpened.
The crimson energy was entering his body through every blocked attack.
Normally, he would have focused on resisting it.
But something felt different.
The energy wasn't being rejected.
It was being absorbed.
Tiny amounts disappeared into his body.
[Foreign Origin Energy absorbed.]
[+1 Origin Point]
Aether's expression changed.
He understood.
The Infinite Origin Physique wasn't simply adapting.
It was taking.
He deliberately allowed another strike to hit his weapon.
More crimson energy entered his body.
[Foreign Origin Energy absorbed.]
[+1 Origin Point]
The enemy noticed.
"Why are you smiling?"
Aether looked at him.
"Nothing."
He stepped forward.
The opponent attacked again.
This time Aether didn't retreat.
He caught the spear with his bare hand.
Crimson energy surged through his palm.
Pain flashed through his arm.
But Aether held on.
[Foreign Origin Energy absorption increasing.]
[Origin Adaptation: 12% → 13%]
The enemy's expression changed.
"What are you?"
Aether pulled the spear toward himself.
"Someone who's getting tired of your technique."
He struck the man's chest.
The metal rod shattered part of his armor.
The man staggered.
Aether followed with another strike.
Then another.
The enemy tried to retreat.
Aether didn't let him.
He swept his leg.
The man fell.
Aether stood above him.
The enemy reached for his spear.
Aether kicked it away.
"Stay down."
The man suddenly released a burst of crimson energy.
Aether raised his arm.
The attack hit him directly.
BOOM!
Dust filled the area.
Lyra turned.
"Aether!"
The dust cleared.
Aether was still standing.
His clothes were torn.
His skin was bruised.
But his eyes were calm.
The crimson energy around his body slowly disappeared.
The system appeared.
[Foreign Origin Energy absorbed.]
[Total absorption: 18%]
[Origin Adaptation: 13% → 14%]
Aether stared at the notification.
Then another message appeared.
[Infinite Origin Physique development responding to foreign Origin Energy.]
[Development: 0.03% → 0.07%]
Aether's expression changed.
So that's how it works.
The more different Origin energies his body experienced, the faster his physique developed.
The Stage 5 cultivator stared at him in disbelief.
"You absorbed my energy..."
Aether looked down at him.
"Not all of it."
He raised his weapon.
The man's eyes widened.
"Wait—"
Aether stopped.
The man wasn't attacking anymore.
Aether lowered the weapon.
"Leave."
The cultivator immediately crawled backward.
He didn't need to be killed.
He had already lost.
Aether turned away.
Then—
a massive roar shook the shrine.
The ancient wolf raised its head.
The crimson shrine began glowing violently.
The stone beneath Aether's feet cracked.
The system appeared again.
[Bloodline Shrine energy destabilizing.]
[Multiple bloodline awakenings detected.]
[Infinite Origin Physique responding.]
Aether felt something surge through his body.
His muscles tightened.
His Origin Energy became denser.
The development percentage began climbing.
[0.07%]
[0.08%]
[0.09%]
[0.10%]
Aether clenched his fist.
A faint silver-black glow appeared around his hand.
He stared at it.
The Infinite Origin Physique had reached a new threshold.
But something else had changed.
His body was beginning to understand the energy around him.
Not just resist it.
Not just adapt to it.
Understand it.
Aether looked toward the ancient shrine.
The third evolution path of the Crimson Fang Wolf was still hidden.
Lyra was fighting nearby.
Nyx's forehead mark was glowing.
And the ancient wolf was watching him with an expression Aether couldn't understand.
Then the system displayed one final message.
[Infinite Origin Physique: 0.10%]
[Progress toward next major milestone: 10%]
Aether smiled faintly.
"Only one percent."
He looked at his hand.
"Let's see what happens when I get there."