The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 54: Skill Fusion

-----

The lion-shaped Venerable-ranked Martial Beast tasted rather delicious, and it was a nice meal for the morning’s breakfast. The entire tribe ended up joining in on the feast because there was way too much meat. Although I was still feeling shocked at how strong my Photon Essence had become, I dedicated my time to giving attention to my family.

As we enjoyed breakfast and the hours went by, I started to consider creating a sect of my own. Although at the beginning I was against that, as I’ve realized the tower and the worlds were so vast and many and that I wanted to protect my own planet, creating a big organization that spanned through many worlds while protecting my own would be ideal.

I might end up making another Heavenly Court. Thankfully, I simply have to use my Doppelganger to handle most of it anyway. It shouldn’t be so hard, as I’ve confirmed I can control them even between worlds.

And with my Photon Essence evolving into Divine Photon Essence, the Doppelgangers might have become even stronger now, gaining better solidification and also the ability to turn into a powerful metal-like material.

“Phew, I ate sooo much, I feel like I’m going to explode... Ugh, my belly…” Hekita was patting her big belly as she rested inside the house.

“You ate too much, Hekita!” Urbosa reprimanded her. “I think we might need to skip lunch.”

“Eeeh? No, I’m fine! I-I swear… Ugh…” Hekita was groaning.

“Just let her take a nap, and she should be alright.” I giggled; after analyzing, Hekita was fine. “Anyways, it should be about time. I’ll get going.”

“Oh, to your date with that rabbit girl?” Merkite asked. “I wish we could go, but it’s clear she’s only interested in you.”

“Good luck then.” Urbosa gave me a kiss. “Treat her well, alright? If everything goes fine, you’re free to bring her here. We would gladly invite her to eat something and know the tribe.”

“Alright, relax though; I’m not like... Going to do much.” I said. “I’ll take things slowly. It’s more like a meeting between friends? I want to know her better, that’s all.”

“At what hour are you coming back?” Merkite asked me.

“Probably after lunch, I believe.” I said. “Anyways, see ya.”

Mom and my sister weren’t here, but I didn’t think it was necessary to say goodbye to everyone, so after kissing my two mates, I zapped into the skies.

Using the new Divine Photon Essence felt great. Before, I could easily move through space, but right now, it doesn’t feel like I exactly walked through it.

It was more like I was swimming through space; the Photon Essence encompassed my body, charged with my Divinity, and gave me even stronger liquid properties.

Even though this technique used both space and photon essence, it felt like the photon essence made it easier to move through space than ever before.

I appeared right in front of the Adventurer’s Guild within a split second. Peperina wasn’t here yet; she’ll get here at least in half an hour. But I came here early on purpose, and I quickly disappeared again, reaching the skies.

While waiting for her, I took a peek at my status again and decided to look into the details of the Divine Photon Essence Skill.

-----

[Divine Photon Essence Manipulation (S): Lv1]

[Skill EXP]: [64.430/100.000]

A Divine Magic Skill acquired through the evolution of the [Photon Essence Manipulation (A)] Skill. After having injected the powers of Divinity, the Photon Essence has evolved into its Divine Form, gaining upgraded abilities and new effects.

By absorbing Sunlight, using a Light Divinity, and fusing both Mana and otherworldly energies together, Divine Photon Essence can be created, manipulated, shaped, and transformed into a myriad of powerful, both protective and deadly, shapes.

It can paralyze, deal internal damage, bypass physical objects, destroy magical circuits, and transform its composition into physical, liquid, metallic, ethereal, gaseous, and more. Divine Photon Essence can also easily bypass spatial boundaries thanks to the Divinity it possesses.

Additionally, Divine Photon Essence can now take on Spiritual and Metallic forms. By absorbing Spiritual Energy, it can transform into Spiritual Photonic Energies, which can gain even more life on their own and develop into a myriad of useful shapes.

In its metallic form, it creates a unique metal called Divine Photonite, a metal stronger and tougher than Divine Orichalcum, capable of withstanding the pressure and void of outer space with ease while also being incredibly lightweight and powerful.

Level Bonus (1): Increases Divine Photon Essence Manipulation Proficiency, Generation Speed, Attack Power, Range, and Effects by +330%

-----

Alright, the description increased a lot. And just as I imagined, if I mix it with Spirit Energy… Yeah, this can be created without the need to use that Spirit Creation Skill I got earlier.

FLASH!

The Divine Photon Essence in my hands took on a new shape, transforming into the form of a beautiful bird and then dividing into many more.

Each bird was as gold as the sun and flew around, chirping and glancing at me. I noticed they seemed to even have souls of their own, spiritual souls.

This was a power very similar to what Hekita could do.

“Amazing…!”

My Doppelgangers aren’t entirely made out of Photon Essence, so they couldn’t be compared to this. They were also composed of pieces of my own soul and hundreds of martial beast souls to make their entire composition.

But to make a spirit out of just the photon essence I exude from my body naturally... This was on a completely different level.

I’ll have to keep using it to gain more Skill EXP; it’s already going to hit Level 2 after all!

Now, let’s look at the other skills. What should I combine in the meantime?

“Clide, are you there? How many skills can I combine at a time? Or I can force my way to combine as many as I want?”

[“Y-Yes, I’m here! I… I think the limit is four at a time for now! If you combine too many, the Skills might end up breaking, and you won’t get anything useful. Balance can be acquired at most at 4 Skills!”]

“Hmm, okay then.” I sighed. “I wouldn’t want to break my precious relic after all. Though I can easily do it against others, I would rather not break my own system.”

[“I-I wish you would have thought that way before…”]

“What did you say?”

[“N-Nothing!”]

I ignored his slightly snarky comment as I dove into my Skills. After taking a look at them, I decided to just combine four random choices and see what I can get.

Ding!

[You have exchanged 40.000.000 Credits!]

[You have decided to combine the [Healing Golden Light (B): Lv10], [Cursed Flames (B): Lv10], [Blazing Iron Weaponry Creation (S): Lv10], and [Cosmic Star Magic (S): Lv10] Skills!]

[Skill Fusion process has begun!]

FLASH!

Suddenly, four spheres emerged out of my invisible System Scarf as they started rotating around one another in front of my sight. It seemed each Skill could manifest itself as a sphere of strange energies.

I think these energies were made up of Mana, Divinity, and something else, a third and powerful energy that fueled the system itself, which I’ve had a hard time deciphering without breaking my own system in the process.

But now that I could see all the Skills fusing together slowly, it was easy to tell what it was!

“So what fuels the System is Cosmic Energy?”

FLAAASH!

All four Skills came together, becoming a large sphere of many colors, which quickly flew back inside the System Relic, combining with it once more.

Ding!

[Congratulations! You have successfully combined the [Healing Golden Light (B): Lv10], [Cursed Flames (B): Lv10], [Blazing Iron Weaponry Creation (S): Lv10], and [Cosmic Star Magic (S): Lv10] Skills into the Fusion Skill: [Blessed Blazing Starlight Cursed Relic Creation (SS): Lv1]!]

[Fusion Skills can be equipped in any of the Classless and Magic Skill Slots.]

Oh, that’s an interesting name. Interesting. So it creates blessed, blazing starlight relics that are also cursed? How does that even work anyway? I am now rather curious.

Let’s test it before reading the Skill description.

“Let’s see…”

I concentrated Mana into my hands and then activated the Skill. Suddenly, the Mana and my own elemental essence instantly took upon the blueprint of the System, taking the form of a large golden staff with a blue crystal on top and a great sword made of blue and gold metal, with red crystals embedded into the handle.

“Interesting…”

Both Relics exuded Auras of blue and golden flames, imitating the color and beauty of cosmic energy but not really doing the same. The flames resembled blue nebulas imbued with golden stars inside, which was very interesting.

“Huh.”

I swung the weapons towards the southwest as the sword released a mighty wave of cosmic flames, which unleashed a big explosion. The barrier I left on Nexus easily protected it from it.

“I see. Not so bad.”

And the staff conjured a flash of blue and golden light, unleashing an explosion of blazing starlight, but the barrier held off just as well.

“Hmm~”

And then I decided to concentrate on the relics. It did say something about Blessed and Cursed, right?

“Let’s see… Bless?”

FLASH!

The sword’s flames gained a yellow color, and a sparkling light of divine purity exuded from the weapon instantly. After cutting my own finger, I let the blade burn through the wound.

And I noticed the wound slowly healing. Amazing, it can even heal the wound a Venerable such as myself takes. Impressive!

“And the curse…”

I cut the finger again; this time, I “cursed” the flames, which then gained a black color. When I touched the wound with the cursed flames, I felt like they were trying to seep into my own wounds and body, trying to weaken them.

And it slightly worked; I felt cursed for a few seconds, my physical strength went down greatly, and my mind felt only slightly dizzy. I quickly healed back with the same golden flames, feeling refreshed.

“It can affect a being such as myself... It might prove to be a very useful Skill! Let’s see…”

-----

[Blessed Blazing Starlight Cursed Relic Creation (SS): Lv1]

A Fusion Skill created from the fusion between the [Healing Golden Light (B): Lv10], [Cursed Flames (B): Lv10], [Blazing Iron Weaponry Creation (S): Lv10], and [Cosmic Star Magic (S): Lv10] Magic Skills.

Combine Mana with the different elemental essences you can control to summon special Blazing Starlight Relics that can be Blessed, Cursed, or both at the same time. Depending on the magnitude, form, and shape of these Relics, the amount of Mana required will increase drastically.

These Relics can take the form of simple weapons and accessories but cannot exceed a certain height and weight determined by the Skill Level. The Durability and Summoning Time of these Relics are also determined by their Skill Level.

Each Relic, no matter if Blessed or Cursed, will come with sparkling gold, blue, and red colors, and you'll be able to unleash Blazing Starlight Flames of the elements between Blessed and Cursed. Such flames will be able to deal damage, heal, or both, depending on the chosen Blessing.

Relics can be combined together to form larger Relics, but larger quantities of Mana will be needed for their proper creation. The Elements that can be given are Blessed, Cursed, and both at the same time.

Blessed Element will allow for the healing of both the target’s body wounds and soul wounds, as well as status ailments, diseases, and other curses.

Cursed Element will allow for the slow weakening of a target’s body or soul, worsening wounds, spreading status ailments, and decreasing their stats.

The combined elements will be able to do both in twisted ways.

Level Bonus (1):

Increases Blazing Starlight Flames Attack Power by +250%, and Defense Ignoration by 30%.

Increases Summoned Relic’s Size and Summoning Time by +30%.

Increases Cursed Element Power and Curse Duration by +330%.

Increases Blessed Element’s Healing Speed, Tissue Recovery, Limb Reattachment, Internal Organ Regeneration, and more by +220%.

Increases Combined Element’s Effects by +100%.

Decreases Mana Cost by -50%.

-----

“A rather long description for a single Skill, but it does sound perfectly good for me.” I smiled. “And it works just as I tested.”

I quickly unsummoned both Relics and began to think: Can I make a permanent one?

“Let’s see… They’re temporary because they disappear due to being composed primarily of Mana. For them to not disappear, they would either require a constant supply of energies like the summoned gods… Or.” I looked at my hands as a beautiful necklace of gold and blue jewels was made. “I can simply add a bit of my own blood.”

I used the blood I bleed from my wound as a physical material, and the necklace suddenly stopped having a timer. It could both switch between Blessed and Cursed forms and allow the wielder to conjure these flames in their respective forms.

“Good! It’ll be a nice gift for her. I should make more for my mates as well!” I quickly made two beautiful rings, made of gold and blue metal, with red crystals embedded on them out of the skill. “For my Urbosa and my Merkite… Hmm, I can’t wait to see their reaction~!”

As I imagined the happiness on my cute girlfriend's faces, I slowly descended back to Nexus, noticing almost half an hour had passed. There are still more Skills to combine, but I’ll leave that for later.

“Ahh, B-Bing Xue!”

Peperina greeted me from afar, waving her little hand. She was waiting for me in front of the guild. Thankfully, I wasn’t wearing my Chinese-styled clothing anymore, as I wore something more modern. Blue jeans, a white blouse, some bracelets, and a black jacket.

“Hey, I just arrived; were you waiting too much for me?”

“Not at all! I just came here. Wow, you look good in those clothes! Usually you’re wearing that gold and silver dress.”

“Yeah, I tried to go for something more casual. You also look very beautiful.”

“E-Eh? Really?”

She looked very gorgeous; in fact, she was wearing a white and yellow dress with blue heels and a white summer hat. She looked ready to go to the beach, in fact.

Unlike Urbosa and Merkite, Peperina looked more like a human—or perhaps a halfling? Than a beast person, except she had pointy rabbit ears on top of her hair and also a bit of fur across her legs and arms.

“So? Where do you want to go?”

“A-Ah, I have a few plans! I know you saw my Instagram, so let’s go to some of the places I went before."

“Oh? Nice, sure! I also wanted to eat some of the food they sell around here. Let’s do that then.”

“Yep! Follow me, then! Ahahah…”

She was a bit nervous but was putting in the effort of entertaining me. She was so adorable.

.

.

.

RUMBLE!

A huge tremor suddenly shook the interior of a Dungeon near New York. A party of five Hunters that were exploring the area were left surprised and paralyzed.

Their eyes were looking into the ceiling of the caves, and the corpses of weak monsters they had just hunted littered their surroundings.

Crack, crack…!

CRACK!

Cracks spread across the cave’s ceiling, but not physical cracks or spatial cracks. Gray and blue energies began pouring out, distorting everything.

“W-What’s happening?”

“Wasn’t this an E-Rank Dungeon?”

“Oi, Mark, what is this?!”

“The hell I know about, dude!”

Mark, the leader of the party, was still trying to decide if it was a wise decision to escape or fight. Especially because the spatial crack was happening right in front of their escape route. To escape, one had to go even deeper into the dungeon.

“Oohhh…”

However, the voice of something or someone echoed from within the cracks. The entire party saw a strange vision across the Gate.

There was a giant jungle, bursting with greenery and ancient species of plants and trees. From within, a giant human arm surged.

It was at least five times as large as an average adult male; it singlehandedly opened the gate further, making its way out.

BAAM!

The party of five got ready for battle, but when they saw the person emerging from the gate, they were left flabbergasted.

“W-What is… this?”

“Not a monster?”

“He’s…”

The “thing” in front of them stood up, packed with muscles and hair, and wearing only some animal pelt wrapped around its nether regions. Long, messy, and nasty hair, and a big beard.

However, it had the sharp eyes of a hunter who has gone through countless battles of life and death.

“Oohh… Bunga? Onga…”

It spoke a weird, ancient language.

“A human?”

Mark, the leader of the party, looked up at the caveman-looking person that poured out of the gate.

“Hey, are you… Are you a returnee?” He asked.

However, the “human” in front of them didn’t let the man take another step.

“GAAAH!”

With a furious roar, as if it were threatened by the strange, tiny humans in front of him, he swung his enormous and muscular arms.

CRASH!

It just happened within a second.

The rest of the party was unable to even see how it did that.

But Mark’s entire body was flattened into the ground, his bones, flesh, and everything else splattering out, his hard armor made of wyvern scales broken, and his sword shattered.

He died against a bare human hand!

“E-Eh?”

“Huh?”

“Wha…?!”

The rest of the party were left flabbergasted, staring at the scene in silence and disbelief.

However, the world wasn’t going to stop to let them process what happened.

The strange, gray-colored gate trembled as more of these strange, ancient humans poured out.

They sniffed their surroundings and then glared at the tiny humans in front of them, baring their fangs like beasts.

“Someone… Help…! HEEELP!”

As they tried to escape, the cavemen chased them.

Their screams of help and agony reverberated across the dungeon.

Yet nobody came to save them.

Ultimately, the ancient men made their way out, seeing what was outside.

Both admiring and fearing what their world had turned into.

-----