Chapter 211 – Ascending the Divine Stairway

After making the decision to quickly end the assessment, Mu Lin immediately led Chu Hongxuan and the others toward the very center of Cloud City.

Thanks to their excellent disguise abilities, they encountered no dangers or Crimson Demons blocking their path as they advanced.

Soon, they reached their destination and witnessed the fiercely raging battlefield.

Indeed, what unfolded before Mu Lin’s eyes was a grand-scale war, not the scenario of ten thousand demons besieging Blood Cherry as he had anticipated.

“Roar!”

“Kill…”

Watching the scene of thousands of Crimson Beasts forming battle formations and clashing with a horde of Blood Fiends, Mu Lin’s expression turned somewhat peculiar.

What astonished him even more was that at the very center of the battlefield, it was not a one-on-one duel between a human and a beast, but two colossal monsters locked in a life-and-death struggle, tearing and biting at each other.

After carefully sensing the situation, Mu Lin actually couldn’t distinguish which of the two monsters on the field was human and which was the core of the crimson mutation.

“???”

“What’s going on here?”

“Could I have been mistaken? Is it not Blood Cherry who launched the attack, but rather monsters vying for dominance over the Blood Moon, seeking to become Blood Aristocrats?”

Mu Lin looked bewildered, while Yan Zhanpeng remained utterly calm.

“No, that is indeed Blood Cherry. As for her current form, it’s an ability of the Demon Blade Blood Cherry…”

At this point, Yan Zhanpeng paused briefly before asking, “Do you know the abilities of the Demon Blade Blood Cherry?”

Hearing this, Mu Lin nodded and said, “I know a little. It’s said that the wielder of this Demon Blade can enhance their Mana Cultivation and realm through killing.”

Yan Zhanpeng: “That’s true, but what you’ve said isn’t comprehensive.”

After a few moments of silence and contemplation, Yan Zhanpeng, for reasons unknown, decided to fully disclose the abilities of the Demon Blade Blood Cherry to Mu Lin.

“Enhancing one’s Mana and Cultivation Level through killing is the core ability of the Demon Blade Blood Cherry. But besides that, it possesses other abilities, such as the Blood Kill Domain and Blood Servants. The former can activate a Domain, instilling a bloodthirsty desire to kill in all life forms within the Blood Kill Domain.”

“Simultaneously, within the Blood Kill Domain, the wielder of the Demon Blade can summon numerous Blood Servants.”

“Hmm, so-called Blood Servants are the lives taken by the Demon Blade. Apart from being summoned for battle, Blood Servants can also possess the wielder of the Demon Blade.”

“Right now, Blood Cherry is having a Demon Beast from within the Demon Blade possess her, fighting on her behalf.”

“By the way, besides the Blood Kill Domain and Blood Servants, the Demon Blade Blood Cherry can also initiate the Blood Soul Hunt Ritual, Blood Tracking…”

Listening to Yan Zhanpeng describe Blood Cherry’s abilities, Mu Lin couldn’t help but interrupt him halfway through.

“Wait, are you sure these are Spells that someone at the Spirit Sea Realm should possess?”

No sooner had he spoken than Mu Lin realized the answer himself: Blood Cherry is indeed at the Spirit Sea Realm, but the Demon Blade Blood Cherry’s tier is that of a Spirit Tool surpassing the Mortal Shedding Stage. Its immense power is only natural.

‘Another cheater. Indeed, one must never underestimate the Prodigies of this world. Not only do they possess exceptional innate talent, but they also have the millennia-old heritage and accumulation of their families. Compared to them, I, who have only struggled for a few years, am far too weak… Oh, I’m cheating too. Never mind then.’

…

As a heritage of an Aristocratic Family, the power of the Demon Blade Blood Cherry is beyond imagination. Unfortunately, its wielder, Blood Cherry, has too low a Cultivation Level and is utterly incapable of unleashing the full might of this Demon Blade.

As the hordes of blood monsters arrived, Xue Ying’s situation gradually became perilous.

The Blood Servants she summoned were being eliminated one by one, and even she herself fell into danger several times under the siege of the Blood Moon Core.

Seeing this scene, Chu Hongxuan and the others exchanged glances before finally taking the initiative to intervene.

They would have preferred to watch Xue Ying die, but this was an assessment, with thousands of people watching from outside.

In such circumstances, standing idly by while Xue Ying was in danger would be blatant selfishness and a lack of consideration for the bigger picture.

Such a character would not earn the favor of the military or the Demon Suppression Division.

“Treant Avatar Buddha!”

“Auspicious Golden Body…”

“Pure Yang Flame, triple burn!”

Yan Zhanpeng and the other two unleashed their ultimate moves as soon as they entered, charging forcefully into the battlefield.

Their intervention did indeed stir up the situation somewhat.

However, all they could do was influence it—they were far from capable of determining the outcome of this war.

The monster at the core was too powerful, likely at the Gang Condensation level above Sha Refinement, and its strength was continuously increasing over time.

It was clear that the Blood Moon Core’s full power was at the Gang Sha Unity realm.

Gushing Spring, Spirit Pool, Spirit Sea. Sha Refinement, Gang Condensation, Gang Sha Unity. With most Disciples at the Gushing Spring level and Prodigies at the Spirit Pool level, placing a monster at the Gang Sha Unity realm as the final boss made it obvious that the Jade Lake Dao Palace had no intention of letting Mu Lin and the others pass the assessment.

And indeed… that was the case.

According to the Jade Lake Dao Palace’s plan, this so-called Blood Moon anomaly was meant to make Prodigies like Mu Lin understand the dangers of the world.

The Dao Palace wanted them to realize that they were still weak and could not act as they pleased.

However, they had not expected Xue Ying to be so fiercely courageous, charging straight into the final battlefield as soon as the Blood Moon anomaly began, before the core had even fully formed.

Nor had they expected that, upon sensing this, Mu Lin and the others not only did not flee but instead followed her into the fray.

This scene brought smiles to the faces of the elders observing them.

“Still young, too impulsive.”

“Haha, youth is the time for recklessness.”

“It’s good for the young to have spirit, but too much becomes recklessness. I hope this experience will teach them a lesson.”

“They certainly need to learn. This is just an assessment, so a moment of impulsiveness is forgivable. But in reality, such recklessness would prevent them from growing smoothly…”

Since they saw no hope of victory for Xue Ying and Mu Lin, the Demon Suppression Division and the military did not praise their all-out effort. In their eyes, it was nothing more than a futile sacrifice.

And indeed, the situation on the battlefield was tilting in favor of the Blood Moon, just as they had anticipated.

Chu Hongxuan and Yan Zhanpeng, who had charged in so boldly, ultimately failed to even reach the Blood Moon Core, as they were intercepted midway by Blood Moon Demons at the Sha Refinement level.

At the center of the battlefield, Xue Ying’s situation grew increasingly perilous.

This scene caused Mu Lin to narrow his eyes.

“Our current situation is very unfavorable. If we continue to delay, we will undoubtedly be the first to fall.”

Realizing that time was not on their side, Mu Lin turned his gaze to the core of the Blood Moon anomaly—it was the key to everything.

However, after some observation, Mu Lin found himself feeling like a mouse trying to pull a turtle—completely at a loss.

The Blood Moon Core was too powerful. If he charged in physically, Mu Lin would be shattered in an instant.

As for long-range curses… its immense Qi and Blood, its transcendent rank, and its freely shifting form made it difficult for Mu Lin to successfully curse it.

Even if he could discern the true essence of the Blood Moon Core with his own eyes and actually cast a curse, it would still take him two or three days to drive in the first Coffin Nail.

By then, it would be far too late.

“If curses won’t work, what about Stabilization?”

After further observation, Mu Lin shook his head again, realizing it still wouldn’t work.

The vast, boundless Qi and Blood meant that even if he poured all his strength into it, he couldn’t Stabilize its form.

As for the Divine Soul, though the Blood Moon was malevolent, its rank was also exceptionally lofty. Even though the Blood Moon before him was merely a projection, and the monster at its core was only a newly born offspring, as a natural-born ruler capable of commanding countless blood creatures, its Divine Soul rank still surpassed Mu Lin’s Divine Soul power. He couldn’t Stabilize it.

The more he observed, the deeper Mu Lin’s frown became. He simply couldn’t find a way to victory.

And this… was actually normal.

The monster before them was not something their level could handle.

Failure was normal for Mu Lin and his companions; victory, on the other hand, was nothing but a distant hope.

Yet, despite feeling somewhat helpless, Mu Lin didn’t truly give up.

“If conventional methods won’t work, then I’ll use unconventional means.”

“Besides, I’ve been wanting to test whether my idea is feasible.”

Thinking this, Mu Lin first used Transcendence layered with the Sky-Scraping Spell – Purple Tenuity Emperor Star Power to elevate his Divine Soul rank.

Then, with a trace of sacred and lofty aura about him, Mu Lin extended a finger and began writing characters in the Void.

Without a doubt, the character he wrote was “Stabilize.”

But this time, the character “Stabilize” was not written for the monster—it was for himself.

“Hum…”

As the character formed, the world fell silent. Source Runes often possessed divine wonders. Though Mu Lin couldn’t yet startle gods or spirits, he could still make the world fall silent for a moment.

Once the character “Stabilize” was completed in the Void, Mu Lin decisively imprinted it onto his own brow—onto his own Divine Soul.

He used “Stabilize” to Fix his Divine Soul’s Overlimit Stance as its normal state.

Then, without hesitation, Mu Lin activated his trait—Transcendence—once more, elevating his rank based on his current state.

Repeatedly layering his own rank—this was Mu Lin’s unconventional method to elevate his Divine Soul.

“If a Divine Soul at the Sha Refinement Realm can’t Stabilize you, what about Gang Condensation? I refuse to believe you can remain completely unaffected by such Stabilization!”

While testing this, Mu Lin also named this method of repeatedly layering his own rank—the Ascension Ladder!

He hoped to use this method to ascend to divinity!

…………

(End of Chapter)