Chapter 300 – Divine Blood Heart

“By controlling the formation nodes, I can not only easily deal with Evil God Scions and Demonic Sect cultivators, but also crush their plans.”

“Once I become the Province City God, I’ll be able to soar to new heights in one go!”

The benefits of becoming a City God were numerous, but soon, Mu Lin’s brows furrowed.

He realized that gaining control over the formation nodes wouldn’t be an easy task.

First, there was the obstruction from the prodigies in the city.

Those Evil God Scions and Demonic Sect cultivators would never allow Mu Lin to take control of Heartcage City’s core formation.

Second, there were the defenses set up by the Grave Lord himself.

To prevent the formation from being casually destroyed or controlled by others, the Grave Lord had hidden this formation core in the deepest, most central location.

For Mu Lin to reach the core, he would have to break through layer upon layer of obstacles and barriers.

This was undoubtedly an extremely difficult task—the reason why Mingling Zi, Black Fiend Tiger, Lingxu Zi, and the others had spent so much time in Heartcage City was precisely to break the seals left behind by the Grave Lord.

Yet, even with the combined efforts of all six, and despite working for a long time, they had only managed to break through the outermost layers of seals. To actually enter the core… the time required was essentially forever.

With their cultivation level merely at the Gang Sha Sorcerer stage, they simply weren’t qualified to reach the formation core.

“So, is this formation core, and the wonderful future it represents, all just an illusion? As I am now, can I only gaze from afar, unable to touch it?”

After observing his surroundings, Mu Lin realized… that wasn’t the case.

Under normal circumstances, alone and with his current weak strength, he truly couldn’t reach the core—after all, this was a formation laid down with the full effort of a Celestial Master.

But now, Mu Lin held a trump card—Ink Jiao – Hebo.

“When the Grave Lord set up the formation, he used Black River Water as the formation runes, connecting and penetrating everything.”

“This approach wasn’t flawed—’The highest good is like water’… in metaphysical studies, water inherently represents connection. Moreover, Black River Water contains mysterious and forbidden power. Using it as the runes to interconnect everything was a brilliant move.”

“However, even the Grave Lord couldn’t have anticipated that I could indirectly manipulate Black River Water through the Royal Crown.”

“Thus, by using the underground dark river that connects everything, I can bypass all those layers of obstacles and head straight for the core…”

Thinking this, Mu Lin signaled to Ink Jiao – Hebo.

“Drip, drip…”

As Mu Lin stared, droplets immediately began to fall from Ink Jiao – Hebo’s body.

A large number of droplets formed a small puddle at Ink Jiao – Hebo’s feet.

With a “splash!”—though the puddle wasn’t large or deep—as Ink Jiao – Hebo stepped into it, its figure vanished without a trace from the puddle.

[Spatial Transfer]

—Leveraging the special connection of Black River Water and its spatial transfer ability, Ink Jiao – Hebo had moved from the puddle into the underground dark river and was now rushing toward the core of Heartcage City.

“Splash, splash…”

Ink Jiao wasn’t rushing in alone; Mu Lin’s consciousness was attached to it, controlling its movements.

Then, he discovered that even this shortcut—the Black River water network and the underground dark river—had been prepared for by the Grave Lord.

The first layer of these numerous preparations was the Black River itself.

With its ability to dissolve all things, it constantly erodes any living being attempting to infiltrate through the underground water network. Even Mu Lin’s Ink Jiao, which coexists with the Black River Water, would be completely corroded if it remained too long in the underground dark river.

The second layer of defense consists of monsters conjured within the Black River.

At this moment, as Mu Lin navigated the underground dark river, he discovered a large number of ghouls suspended and submerged in the Black River ahead.

As soon as Mu Lin’s transformed Ink Jiao approached, the ghouls immediately sprang to life with a splash, roaring as they charged toward the Ink Jiao.

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Fortunately, Mu Lin’s Ink Jiao was no weakling either. By now, it had merged with the Black River Water, transforming into a seventy-six-meter-long black water serpent.

“Boom!”

Without needing any other action, the massive water serpent coiled and charged, crushing the ghouls in its path with overwhelming force.

“Splash…”

Then, with a flick of its serpentine tail, the majestic Ink Jiao continued its charge toward the heart of Heartcage City.

Three minutes later, Mu Lin reluctantly opened his eyes.

“Failed.”

The majestic water serpent transformed from the Ink Jiao broke through the ghouls’ blockade but failed to overcome the second barrier.

It was a swarm of leech-like monsters. Individually weak, they numbered in the hundreds of thousands, densely packed together, capable of draining anything.

Mu Lin’s majestic and imposing Ink Jiao lasted only three breaths before being completely drained by these leeches.

“Troublesome, but not yet hopeless.”

With this thought, Mu Lin willed a paper figure to float out from his body.

“Sizzle!”

The paper figure fell into a puddle of Black River Water, and soon, the two merged. After a dozen breaths, another Ink Jiao – Hebo rose.

—The Paper Substitute ability might lack the wide-area destructive power of something like Solar Blaze, capable of annihilating a city in one strike.

Nor did it possess the guaranteed penetration of the Annihilating Thunder Spear, which could breach the defenses of high-level cultivators.

But its supportive capabilities were explosively powerful.

As now, with numerous substitutes at his disposal, Mu Lin could slowly send them to scout and clear the path ahead, using their deaths to secure a future for himself.

“Failure doesn’t matter. I have three to five hundred chances to try and err. As long as there’s a possibility of success, I will inevitably succeed!”

Holding this belief, Mu Lin began his trial journey outside Heartcage City.

Second attempt:

“Failed again. The draining ability of the hundred thousand leeches is too strong. Even charging at full force, while enveloped in a massive amount of river water and surrounded by thunder, I still couldn’t break through… Since charging won’t work, I need to change my approach…”

Third attempt:

“Success! The Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art has two transformations: first into an Ink Jiao, second into a Blackwater Profound Serpent. The latter, though less powerful than the former, excels at concealment… By sealing an area with Black Mist, I slipped through the midst of the leeches… Huh? A White-Clad Woman, so beautiful…”

Fourth attempt:

“Died again. The White-Clad Woman weeping sorrowfully in the water is indeed beautiful, but also incredibly powerful. Her weeping saps one’s spirit, but even more terrifying are her black hair, which seals and entangles everything. My Black Serpent couldn’t break through at all…”

Fifth, sixth, seventh attempts: “Still failed. The White-Clad Woman is too strong… Fortunately, this place is ultimately old and dilapidated. I found a crack about a finger’s length wide—enough for a Paper Figure to slip through…”

Thirteenth attempt: “Died again, hunted by a water spider.”

Nineteenth attempt: “How did I die?”

Twenty-first attempt: “Found the reason—it’s poison. The river water in this area contains colorless, odorless toxins…”

Thirty-third attempt: “Huh? The monsters transformed from the Black River Water actually fight each other. Why?”

“That’s right. The Black River has no one controlling it, only instinctive consciousness. Moreover, it’s also suppressing a large number of Anomalies.”

“However, Anomalies are immortal and indestructible. While suppressing them, the Black River is also influenced by these Anomalies. Over thousands of years, the monsters transformed from the Black River Water, affected by the aura of the Anomalies, no longer belong to the same faction. They are fighting and battling each other… My opportunity has come. To break into the Formation Core, I don’t need to fight the anomalous monsters transformed by the Black River at all. I can simply lure them into killing each other, while I slip through the middle.”

Outside Heartcage City, Mu Lin’s eyes shone brightly as he found his path forward.

Inside the city, on a plaza, Mingling Zi, Lingxu Zi, the Evil God Scion – Scarlet, and others were also in high spirits.

Their Ritual to refine Divine Blood had reached its most critical moment.

If Mu Lin were here, he would notice an Altar standing on the plaza, with large amounts of blood drawn into Formation Runes connecting to the Altar.

At the same time, the monsters controlled by the sound of a beating heart were lining up and arriving beside the Altar.

Upon reaching their destination, they would unhesitatingly tear open their chests, remove their hearts, and reverently offer them around the Altar.

By now, tens of thousands of hearts had piled up around the Altar.

These hearts belonged to human Cultivators as well as Evil Aberrations.

The massive accumulation of hearts gave the place a forbidden and dangerous aura.

Yet, at the same time, a strange sense of sanctity emanated from the Altar.

Apart from the eerie atmosphere, everyone could clearly see that the tens of thousands of hearts around the Altar were rapidly dissolving.

As the surrounding hearts dissolved, a new heart gradually materialized on the Altar.

This nascent heart was initially illusory.

However, as the surrounding hearts dissolved, the nascent heart solidified from its illusory state.

“Hum…”

Though not yet fully formed, this illusory heart had already begun to manifest its divine wonder.

An enticing, sweet fragrance wafted from the heart.

It was not a scent disguised as foulness but a genuine, refreshing aroma.

At the same time, everyone watching the birth of this illusory heart felt a stirring and a deep longing within.

This heart seemed to be something they lacked—something that, if swallowed, would complete them.

The Prodigies present were all experienced and understood what this feeling was: physical completion, sublimation, and transformation.

It was a higher level of life instinctively luring them.

Just as humans appreciate and revere beauty, a higher level of life was like the most beautiful thing, captivating them beyond resistance.

…

The formation of this perfect heart also signified that the refinement of the Divine Blood had indeed reached its most critical moment.

Yet, precisely because of this, while everyone was filled with excitement, their vigilance was also heightened to its peak.

All were well aware that the moment the Divine Blood was successfully refined would also be the moment when their facades would shatter, and they would turn against one another in battle.

At the same time, every individual present held confidence in their own victory.

Mingling Zi / Evil God Spawn – Scarlet / Black Fiend Tiger / Lingxu Zi: “The Divine Blood will undoubtedly be mine!”

(End of Chapter)