Chapter 9: Transcendent Profession: Shapeshifter

Ybur's thought flickered, and he slowly directed the God Secret Source toward the mystical door. An intense attractive force immediately emanated from the door, and suddenly, the God Secret Source was engulfed within it. Afterward, a golden glow gradually spread out from the Secret Source at the center, expanding and creeping over the surface, as if intending to completely infuse the door with gold.

The door cracked open slightly, and Ybur eagerly peered through, only to glimpse the vague movement of stars beyond it...

But the next second, the God Secret Source suddenly dissipated and vanished from the door.

Ybur was momentarily stunned.

What's happening?

Where's my God Secret Source?! It was so substantial!!

In its haste, it searched frantically here and there, but before long, Ybur realized that the God Secret Source hadn't vanished into thin air but had returned into its body, perfectly intact. Ybur then allowed itself a slight relaxation and looked again toward the firmly shut door of the Dream Realm, noticing a faint trace of gold lingering on it.

Although it tried again to infuse the God Secret Source, Ybur felt the door tremble, and a vague force of rejection emerged.

It seems it won't work. The Dream Realm's initial door is not compatible with the God Secret Source.

It must be because the God Secret Source is of too high a grade!

Still, it seems that the God Secret Source left some traces on it. Gazing thoughtfully at the remnant of gold on the door, Ybur wondered, could this bring about something different?

It poured its Heart Secret Source into the great door.

And so, the three dim slots on the door were successively filled by the blood-red Heart Secret Source.

There are six Secret Sources, with the heart claiming three.

With the Heart Secret Source occupying half, two paths were opened: [Metamorphosis] and [Fallen Beast Path].

One ascends, with the spirit as the guide, the heart following, and the body last; the other descends, with the heart outweighing the body and the spirit.

That's because in Mysticism, the spirit represents "purity", belonging to the metaphysical, while the body represents "impurity", tending to fall. The fall in the Fallen Beast doesn't imply corruption but simply denotes the act of "falling".

And if just a bit more of the Heart Secret Source were to be added, then the overwhelmingly dominant Heart Secret Source would lead to the path of [Illusion].

As the Secret Source was infused, the door emitted an ancient sound and slowly swung open.

The surrounding stars swirled, transforming into constellations.

Even should they walk the same path, Transcendents acquire differing abilities; their peculiar and varied abilities and legacies have been collated and summarized, giving rise to the concept of "professions".

Thus, the formal title for Transcendents is actually "Vocational Practitioner".

Ybur looked to its left, where constellations formed an image of a loud, roaring warrior's heart. That was the signature profession of the Fallen Beast Path, the [Rage Warrior], capable of channeling the most primal, pure rage from within to infuse the body with rampant destructive power;

To the right, the constellations appeared more mysterious, depicting a figure standing with its shadow coming to life behind it, forming a faint ethereal figure. That was the [Phantom Master] of the Path of Ascension, possessing a strong spiritual power that separated from the physical body to become an independently mobile Phantom Guard.

Ybur continued to pour in the Secret Source.

The heart claims three parts, the body two, the spirit one.

Constellations spun around, and a symbol faintly emerged as if a beast trapped within the heart.

Fallen Beast Path.

Ybur looked around, and beside it materialized four constellations representing the four initial professions of the Fallen Beast Path.

The first was still the roaring Rage Warrior.

The second constellation appeared to be a lightly armored knight, raising his hand to condense a blade of the mind in his palm.

This is the [Psych Blade], also known as Mind Blade Warrior. This profession can twist reality with the power of the spirit, manifesting paranormal skills, or condensing weapons for combat.

But this was not what it wanted.

Ybur looked at the third one.

The silhouette looked more like a wizard, clad in a long robe. He raised his arm, and fiery spiritual light overflowed from his eyes as flames rose up around his body.

This was the Elementalist. From an artistic standpoint, Elementalists are a rather unorthodox profession. They wield the power of elements, but unlike mages who manipulate elements through incantations and rituals, Elementalists control elemental forces by... let me think.

Let me think, I am the Flame Lord, so I can release flames! That makes sense, right?

Elementalists use the ultimate and purest mental power to warp reality and use their bodies as conduits to channel the energy from the elemental realm, unleashing powerful elemental forces. It is a career with immense destructive power; at first glance, it appears to be a spellcaster, but in fact, it is a brute.

Ybur then turned to the last constellation.

It was a figure in mid-pounce, appearing to be in the midst of rapidly transforming, with mane and sharp claws bursting outwards from within.

A bright light flashed in Ybur's eyes.

Yes, this was it!

This was the Shapeshifter, emphasizing mental changes and bodily instincts, adept at shifting its own form to engage in combat. In fact, among the Shapeshifters, there was a branch specifically studying and mimicking slimes called the Slime Shapeshifter. Judging by the name alone, the compatibility with Ybur was a staggering two hundred percent!

Ybur's thoughts raced, and it quickly made a choice. Thus, the other constellations rapidly receded while the Shapeshifter constellation hurtled towards it, merging into its body. Ybur immediately felt a warm current pouring down from an indescribable height, warming its entire body. Then, countless biological forms emerged in its mind, and Ybur knew it had to make a choice.

Upon becoming a Shapeshifter, each one would gain a basic "Mimicry"—they would experience a supernatural harmony of soul and body with a certain creature, thereby gaining some of that creature's abilities.

The path of a Shapeshifter is actually a process of continuous mimicking and surpassing.

A multitude of totemic images flashed through its mind—humanoids, animals, plants, elemental creatures, dragons...

Ybur resisted its craving for the Great Dragon and focused on an unassuming totem.

Slime.

Even before this Advancement, Ybur had already considered its career direction.

It was merely a gelatinous beast among slimes, its trump card a run-of-the-mill acid spit. But within slimes, there were no less than six different branches! Since Shapeshifters could mimic other creatures through Mimicry, could it directly learn the abilities of other slimes in this manner?

The process of a Shapeshifter mimicking its target is a gradual and deepening one, from basic Mimicry to Deep Mimicry and ultimately to Ultimate Mimicry. But for other races' vocational practitioners, mimicking a slime is indeed difficult. If it itself was a slime, wouldn't mimicking equate to immediately mastering High Rank Mimetic Ability, directly surpassing the slimes?!

Plainly speaking, it was the one and only Divine Blood Slime, specifically choosing this path to tap into its own potential!

This was it!

Ybur made its choice immediately, and the scene froze instantly on a writhing gray slime.

In the next moment, alongside a jolt, Ybur suddenly awoke.

It returned to the real world.

Ybur carefully felt itself.

An unprecedented sensation; the potential within seemed to be released continuously!

This was the upliftment brought to it by "First Rank Mimicry." At this moment, Ybur felt its control over itself climbing continuously, reaching a level that even surprised itself!

Now, it could clearly grasp the flow of biomass within its body, control the secretion of acid with greater precision, as well as the transformation of its limbs... These were feats absolutely impossible for an ordinary First Rank vocational practitioner. A wave of excitement surged in Ybur's heart, indeed, its choice was not wrong! Only as a Shapeshifter could its innate talent as a slime be maximized!

And speaking of Transforming—

With a thought from Ybur, its body surface instantly hardened, turning into tiny spikes, and after a moment's hesitation, these spikes burst forth with a "whoosh" sound! Its body was still contracted inside the carcass of the giant lizard, but in an instant, numerous spikes burst from within the lizard's body, making it look like a porcupine!

This was the Shapeshifter's second basic ability, Transformative Weapon.