A humanoid body was slowly being constructed within that strange egg that Minari had created. It was three meters tall, but curled up like a fetus in a womb. There were only two eyes, a nose, a single mouth, long black hair and pointed elven ears… The face was similar to Michael’s, but less masculine and slightly reminiscent of Alice in her ‘Fairy’ form. Two obsidian gazelle horns grew from the temples, covered in golden runes.

“Honestly, I always used to think JJ was an idiot… But when it comes to runecraft and magical inscriptions, her understanding is really amazing. No, maybe it’s the combination of Michael’s writing skills, mixed with Talia’s musical knowledge and Jasmine’s crafting abilities… It’s really fucking impressive, hehehe~!”

It wasn’t only the horns; all the silver bones within that body were inscribed with black runes. They were essentially simple command codes, which would automatically control mana in various ways. For example, all of those Legacy items were able to imbed themselves within a person’s soul and be reconstructed through mana later on if necessary. The same thing could be done to all sorts of objects, including bodies. DNA was a blueprint for ‘growing’ most biological organisms, but to directly replicate all the materials involved… It required mana and runework.

Although mana is important, knowledge is the most valuable part of a Soul. It wasn’t only about personality traits and remembering simple information either. Once someone reached the Deity Realm, they would be able to replicate that body later on. This was the reason why the Original Seven Souls were so valuable. If an Eternal Deity was able to gather enough of those fragments together, then they would be able to escape the Karma System… To be able to free themselves from the constraints of Karma and become a true ‘God’. At least, that was the most common belief.

Aside from Arcana and Sariel, there were only a handful of Legendary Eternal Deities. Everyone else was more interested in the ancient Legacies that those Original Seven Souls had left behind. In fact, one of those so-called Legacies was ‘Rapture-777’… Also known as Michael Cinagra.

“You mentioned that you wanted to create a ‘perfect’ body earlier. Yet you decided to create reproductive organs for yourself. Were you not concerned about creating an unnecessary weakness?”

At the ethereal woman’s question, Minari opened her crimson cat-like eyes and glanced down at her chest. There were pectoral muscles, but also perky feminine breasts and pink nipples. Below that was rippling abs and a naturally hairless groin.

She smirked and explained “Look, I decided to make my pussy an innie! Besides that, my asshole is amazingly tight… Actually, it doesn’t even matter if they try to shove a fucking spear up either of my holes, because I’ll be wearing armor all the time.”

After that, she flexed her bulging biceps, triceps and thighs. However, they immediately started shrinking down and becoming lithe. Minari’s body might have evolved and become much less malleable, but every one of her seven foundations were shapeshifters. It would be stranger if she was confined to a single form.

“Strength is nice… But bulging muscles can limit flexibility and agility. There are times when delicacy is needed, rather than brute force.”

When she reached two meters in height, her face warped into one that resembled a fusion between Talia and Elina. Those crimson eyes turned bright-green, while her pupils became round. Then a vertical golden cat-like eye opened up on her forehead, though it didn’t release a deadly blast of Light mana.

The black hair turned blonde, while two pure-white dove-like angelic wings unfolded from her back. They had been hidden within her three-meter body, rather than created on the spot in order to fulfil a temporary need. This way, they would be just as powerful as the rest of her ‘Divine’ form.

Arcana smirked, whispering “The more fundamental reason is that you simply like the way that you look. You are not the only person who has fumbled upon their pursuit of ‘perfection’, in order to satiate their vain desires.”

“Well, you gotta admit though. There’s a reason why Charisma is one of the main stats. Aesthetically pleasing motherfuckers are a lot more tolerable than ugly-ass bastards, right? Hahaha~! No, but seriously, even if I wholeheartedly focused on making a warmachine… What would be the point? There are all kinds of overpower assholes out there who could insta-kill me regardless of how hard I try to fight.”

After that, those two massive wings split into four smaller ones. Then that feminine body shrunk down even more and bulked up again. Even her vagina turned inside out and fused together with her clitoris in order to swiftly transform into a penis, while two testicles descended from within her groin. Aside from that, the two green irises turned golden, while the vertical eye closed up.

The angelic man had porcelain skin and silver hair, while his face appeared almost identical to Michael’s. However, his blood remained crimson, so his lips, genitals and other sensitive areas didn’t turn golden.

“Of course, I’ll probably always prefer this shape the best… At the very least, it might be easier to avoid getting raped by some OP-cuntbag. Although, when I think about it, wouldn’t they all be shapeshifters too? Wait, you’re a Deity right? How often do they go around raping each other? Chaotica has tried to ‘seduce’ me a bunch of times, but never just force-fucked me.”

“It entirely depends on the rules of that universe. There are some universes where the laws are so strict, that Worldly Deities are forced to live as powerless Mortals. In others, even Mortals might be able to create and destroy planets through various means. As you often say… Everything is relative.” Arcana sighed and shook her head, “Once this body of yours is completely formed, you will need to face your Divine Tribulation.”

“And what the fuck does that mean exactly?” Michael smirked, as he started growing taller again. Those wings were sucked inside of his back and melded with his musculature, while his whole body reached four meters in height. His lips, veins and eyes turned pitch black, while only his irises were like bright-blue rings. As for his porcelain flesh, it was swiftly covered by crimson scales and a long serpentine tail emerged from the base of his spine. His genitals had been sucked inside of his body, but then even his anus was sealed up by protective scales.

Then his hair was sucked into his scalp, because every strand was actually filled with massive amounts of mana. It was incredibly precious and couldn’t simply be discarded after every transformation like before. Unfortunately, before he could complete the process, he suddenly started reverting back to his previous form.

“Shit! No, it’s still not fucking good enough! I keep trying to make it too complicated! There are too many moving parts, if you know what I mean? Like… The wings are cool and I love having a tail, but it’s kinda pointless. I don’t even need wings to fly anyway! Ugh, but I really like wings… I wanna be fluffy and furry too, but scales are awesome and… Ugh, what the hell is happening? No, that’s not possible!”

As Minari’s mind became more conflicted, her fusion started to fail again. Arcana murmured “Your Divine Tribulation is beginning soon… If you are not ready to face it, we will both suffer immensely.”

“Goddamn it! Don’t worry, I’ll get my shit together! Grah~! Fucking cuntwaffles! That’s it! That’s the trick! Nyahahaha~! I’m a genius as always! I totally forgot about the Soul Realm! Why am I worrying about running out of space to build stuff, when I can totally just disassemble the parts and store them away for later use! Ah, no, even better nyah~! I’ll make a super-awesome mecha-suit and-and-and~, fuck! No! I mean, yeah, that first idea was okay… We only need to settle for a simple body now though. All that superfluous shit can come later. Whether it’s wings, armor or whatever, it can all be created or found. I’m going back to my origins… Yeah, Michael… I’m Michael Cinagra.”

Those four fluffy white wings on the man’s back, were ripped off and dropped into his Soul Realm. The same thing happened to the horns. Then those elongated ears shrunk back down, while his black hair grew out until it was down to his eyebrows. His porcelain skin became tanner and rough, while a short beard began growing. Hair sprouted on his arms, legs, chest, abdomen, back and genitals. He was starting to look ‘human’ again. Even his height was reverting back to five and a half feet.

“This… No, what’s happening?! Arcana! What is this bullshit?!”

There was no reply from the illusory elf. She just sighed and shook her head in disappointment. The Worldly Tribulation had begun.

Author’s Note

I’m currently editing chapter “114: The Worldly Tribulation” and I’ve got to say… It’s probably one of my favorite chapters of Hardcore Legacies lol. I’ll be posting it soon, but well, I think you’ll understand why I like it when you read it roflmao.

Also, if you’re wondering why this story is ‘suddenly’ turning into a xianxia, it’s not really sudden. From the very start, all these stories about gradually growing more powerful or leveling up are kind of similar in the sense that they all involve breaking through limitations and ascending to higher realms. I’ve obviously been influence from years of exposure to xianxia-radiation, but still…

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