John's divine sense pierced deep into his body, and his eyes opened in surprised elation as he noticed the changes within his body. There was not one particular area that had been improved, but instead was a comprehensive upgrade to his body as a whole, most particularly his blood.
The blood flowing through his veins thrummed with absolute power now, each blood cell infused with incredible energy. If this level of energy had been infused into his blood cells before his mother had unlocked his potential, they would have exploded from within, unable to contain such potent energy.
Now however, his cells seemed to freely absorb any and all Qi, until they were nearly bursting from the power contained within.
"This innate ability...its a bloodline ability?" John asked his mother as he continued to inspect his body.
There were different types of innate abilities within the cultivation world, ranging from innate body abilities, dantian abilities, soul abilities, bloodline abilities, and more.
John could clearly tell this ability of his was a bloodline ability, and was an incredibly high level one at that.
"That it is," his mother replied gently. "Although I do not have this ability myself, your father had instructed me on how to unlock some of it in case a situation like this occurred. However, there are limitations due to the nature of which your bloodline was unlocked."
John's divine sense left his body as he gazed back at his mother.
"What limitations?" he asked curiously. He could tell that right now, with a single thought, he could unleash the energy contained within his blood cells, giving him a surge of incredible power.
It was not a bad comparison to think of his bloodline ability as a third dantian at the moment, which unleashed a short but strong burst of potent Qi to use at critical moments.
This is exactly what had happened before when he felt it, both when it saved his life, and also when it aided in his dantian compressions, giving him an unheard of twenty compressions.
"My technique of unlocking your bloodline ability is flawed compared to the true way, and so while you will be able to unleash this bloodline ability at the time of your choosing, it will have three drawbacks. The first is that compared to your fully unlocked bloodline, the potency and duration of the ability will be diminished. The second is that the toll on your body will be far more severe when you use it, and will cause a great deal of self harm each time it is used."
His mothers eyes turned slightly saddened upon explaining this part, as she unlocked an ability that would cause her own son great harm and pain.
"And the third," his mother continued despite her grief. "Is that the recovery period of this ability will be much longer. In fact, you will only be able to use this ability twice a year," she explained.
"Twice a year?" John repeated, his mood soured slightly again. However, he quickly hid that soured expression as he knew his mother had done her best for him.
"Twice a year is still more than before," John replied with a smile on his face.
"You must be careful when you use this ability," his mother reiterated once again. "After you use it and it fades away, you will be far too weak to do any fighting for many days after the fact. You should only use it when there is no other way out of a situation, understood?"
"I understand," John replied quickly as he received his mothers first scolding.
He inspected his body and improved bloodline for a bit longer, before his gaze shifted back to his mother.
"Mother...where do I come from?" John suddenly asked, as the topic of his bloodline brought his thoughts to his fathers clan, as well as his mothers origins.
His mother smiled another sad smile as she shook her head slightly at his question. "I cannot reveal that either, as knowing the truth will invoke additional Karma between you and your fathers clan. If I'm not mistaken, your father cannot currently reveal himself any further due to his clan becoming aware of his existence. Your father already used some of his limited power to shroud what Karma you had due to your blood relation. He will be unable to interfere further, and so I cannot reveal the truth to you," his mother explained.
John frowned once again as he heard the word Karma mentioned. However, he knew he was powerless to do anything about it, and so he put such thoughts in the back of his mind.
John's mother noticed his frown, and smiled as she spoke up once more as her hand stroked his face lovingly.
"In time, when your power reaches the level where you can start bearing the weight of the truth, you will find out about your origins, both your fathers, and mine. Until that day, focus only on raising your strength and keeping yourself alive."
John remained silent as he heard his mothers instructions, and only nodded his head in acknowledgement.
'Yet again, strength and power is everything.'
John's gaze shifted from the floor before him, to his mother once again. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed a change in her appearance. Compared to when he first entered the cave, her soulform had dimmed considerably, and had become more ethereal and hazy.
"Mother...you…" John called out as he noticed this change. The change had occurred after she had unlocked his bloodline potential, as she seemingly used most of her power to be able to do that.
"Do not worry child, this is only a portion of my soul," his mother replied. "This soul portion of mine has lingered on for hundreds of thousands of years, waiting for this day. I can now rest assured, as I know we will one day meet again. When that day comes, I will be able to embrace you properly. Goodbye for now, my precious son."
John's eyes became misty as he heard this, and before he could say anything else, his mother's soulform fully dissipated, disappearing from the world.