Chapter 519 – All Epic Skills Active, Extra Stages, Trial Evaluation

Mu Yuan stood waiting at the valley exit for two and a half hours. Only after confirming that no new rules emerged with the passage of time did he step forward.

「Prompt: You have passed the Advanced Trial – First Stage.」

The storm ceased. The valley behind him faded like an ink-wash painting, losing its color in the blink of an eye before rapidly vanishing.

In its place came a wave of scorching heat.

He now stood upon a rock slab baked hot by intense temperatures.

Before him—or rather, all around him—stretched an endless expanse of bubbling magma. Across this lava lake, only scattered rock slabs provided footholds.

“Flight? No.”

Pillars of fire erupted, splashing into a line of large characters mid-air.

「Taste the fire, resist the fire, and traverse the magma lake.」

“Similar rules to the previous stage.”

“But this time…”

Energy surged within Mu Yuan. His own erupting power intertwined with fire element particles gathering from the surrounding world, forming a crimson shield enveloping his entire body.

Yet even this blazing barrier warped under the extreme heat.

“This isn’t ordinary magma—it’s from the ninefold earth’s core, magma capable of easily burning through the protective energy of Legendary Realm experts.”

“Moreover, this space is saturated with a conceptual force called ‘Flight Restriction.'”

He himself wielded conceptual power.

Thanks to his two major talents, Devour and Heaven Rewards Diligence, along with frequently loading his generals’ templates for cultivation, the upper limit of conceptual power he commanded might not be exceptionally high, but its variety was incredibly diverse.

He knew a little about everything.

Simply employing flight-related concepts would suffice to briefly counter the Flight Restriction.

However, any other Lord arriving here would have no choice but to honestly tread upon this extremely scorching magma, step by step, making their way outward.

Even with occasional rock slabs for rest along the way, he doubted many Lords could endure it.

Even Law Realm experts, unless they mastered flight-like concepts, would be equally grounded here.

“This space is saturated only with fire element power. Attempting to freeze the magma lake through sheer force is impossible.”

The energy consumption would be too great.

The magma lake was vast beyond measure. Even if a trial-taker commanded ice-related conceptual power, they could only freeze the magma for brief moments.

Mu Yuan pondered, not rushing to depart. Instead, he slowly crouched, tentatively extending his hand into the intensely hot magma, where red fiery bubbles continuously surged.

Sizzle—

In just three seconds, the energy coating his palm was burned away. Thick, iron-like liquid sizzled and crept upward.

At this moment, Mu Yuan had already activated the ‘Dolai Template.’

Under this template, he not only possessed Dolai’s four Epic Skills but also its powerful fire resistance, evolved after devouring vast amounts of fire-attribute Materials.

“Such trivial magma… Hiss!!”

His palm turned bright red, the outer skin peeling and curling back.

Mu Yuan couldn’t help but retract his hand, staring at the already healed skin while inwardly gasping at the chilling realization.

“Even 80% of Dolai’s resistance can’t withstand it. This trial magma pool is terrifying to such an extent.”

Lord Power could load up to three templates simultaneously. However, whether utilizing one general’s power or three, the total strength he could unleash remained capped at 80%.He pondered for a moment, then readjusted the power of the templates he had loaded.

He had loaded two templates.

The Dolai template and the Xiliu template.

He activated Dolai’s Devour buff and Xiliu’s Dragon Princess physique.

In the next moment,

Crack~ Crack~

Mu Yuan’s body suddenly expanded by two sizes, his eyes turning into golden vertical pupils, and small dragon scales densely covering his skin.

His draconic feet stepped on the scorching magma, sizzling as wisps of smoke rose, and a faint fragrance permeated the air.

But,

He wasn’t burned through.

“The water’s a bit hot, but it’s manageable.”

Mu Yuan walked outward step by step.

The magma lake was viscous, with endless fire element energy surging upward, just enough to keep him from sinking.

“This is resisting fire, but what about savoring fire?”

“Come to think of it, the previous trial had a similar hint.”

Mu Yuan contemplated.

In the blink of an eye, he had already traversed most of the distance, and the end of the magma lake appeared in his sight.

He didn’t need to constantly expend energy or climb onto special rocks to rest, so his progress was naturally swift.

But he still felt something was missing.

Mu Yuan figured it out, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and resolved, “Let’s do it!”

The power from the Xiliu template continuously diminished.

His draconic transformation began to fade. Without the protection of the high-tier epic Red Dragon’s power, the scorching heat of the magma lake erupted in full force. Even after layers of external energy mitigation, his skin was scorched and curled, with charred layers peeling off.

“Hiss—!”

At this point, he also utilized a bit of Dolai’s power.

His energy was vast, and his physical body was not weak—tempered through long training, it was thousands of times tougher than metal or stone. Even if he truly fell into this magma pool, he likely wouldn’t die.

At most, he’d shed a layer of skin, but it would heal quickly.

Strictly speaking, it couldn’t even be considered an injury.

But it hurt.

“Damn, it really hurts… Huh?”

Along with the scorching, intense heat, a certain mysterious fire power was also transmitted.

As his skin continuously burned and healed, his resistance to fire seemed to be gradually increasing.

「Prompt: Your fire resistance has increased.」

「Prompt: Your fire resistance has increased.」

The successive prompts confirmed his own speculation.

“So this is savoring fire?”

“The correct way to pass this trial is to gradually enhance one’s fire resistance by confronting the magma until reaching the end of the path?”

“If the trial-taker is too weak and cannot elevate themselves to a barely passable level within the trial time, they have no choice but to fail?”

Mu Yuan already had the conditions to walk out directly.

However,

He gritted his teeth and continued to immerse his physical body in the magma.

“What kind of trial is this?!”

“The improvement isn’t even that significant—why should I suffer like this?”

But! But!

At his current stage, even Devouring excellent-grade Materials could hardly lead to a Breakthrough—he had Devoured too much, and his various stats were already high. Any improvement at all was rare.

“Other Lords who come here probably have to suffer to clear the trial too!”

“If others can do it, why can’t I?!”

He was the leader of the younger generation of Heaven·Taixuan, the man who wielded Miracle, Yuan himself!

Half an hour later, an expressionless Lord Mu pulled his legs out of the magma.”Is this the limit already? Hah, this trial level is nothing special.”

Feeling utterly bored, he strode out of the lava lake.

…

Third level: The Land of Absolute Permafrost.

Lord Mu cleared it in 35 minutes.

…

Fourth level: The Bramble-Thicket Land.

Lord Mu cleared it in 35 minutes.

…

Fifth level, sixth level, seventh level, eighth level…

Mu Someone hacked his way through all obstacles.

Even without using Lord Power, he could reach the eighth level.

His usual approach was to temper himself for a while, fully obtaining all available “benefits,” then loading an appropriate epic template to blaze through the level with lightning speed.

Tenth level!

Twelfth level!

Fourteenth level!

“Damn it, just how many levels does this advancement trial have?!”

He’d forgotten to ask.

The Cold Moon City Lord hadn’t mentioned it either.

Just how many levels do I need to clear to get a perfect evaluation? Or how many to fully complete the trial?

Mu Yuan had no idea.

The only thing he knew for certain was that starting from the twelfth level, he no longer had the luxury to focus on tempering.

He had to go all out, giving his absolute best – the slightest carelessness would mean failure.

He hadn’t forgotten his original goal – to achieve the highest possible evaluation and obtain the perfect clearance rewards.

And now before him was the sixteenth level…

「The Land of Annihilation!」

Before him lay a space of fragmented reality, where wisps of gray wind would suddenly appear and slash downward.

This was…

Annihilation Wind!

The kind of storm one might encounter within spatial turbulence.

Wind containing spatial properties and the conceptual nature of annihilation!

And here, every part of this shattered world was filled with immense conceptual power.

Just like when the Cold Moon City Lord entered her second phase, covering heaven and earth with concepts.

No,

the conceptual power here was likely even stronger.

Annihilation Wind was renowned alongside Destruction Lightning for possessing ultimate destructive capability!

With its spatial properties, each wisp of wind came and went without trace, almost like teleportation.

Mu Yuan could only load the Dolai template, relying on the ‘Space-Tearing Seal’s’ control over surrounding space to predict where the Annihilation Wind would blow from.

Even so, he still couldn’t defend against everything.

He could only avoid 90%.

The remaining 10%…

Endure! Just tough it out!

Mu Yuan used the Rakshasa module to manifest the ‘Fiendish Sea.’

His body became formless and featureless, possessing the characteristics of an undying sea that never runs dry.

However,

Swish—

Swish—

Swish—!

With each pass of the Annihilation Wind, the Fiendish Sea would diminish by a portion.

His body, composed of fiendish power, grew increasingly thin and faint, like dissipating smoke clouds.

“Boom—”

The sea of fiends dissipated as Mu Yuan fell backward.

Two seconds later,

He sprang up like a leaping fish, dodging a suddenly appearing wisp of Annihilation Wind. The Willpower Light in his mind blazed like a pillar of fire reaching for the heavens.

He continued sprinting forward, his speed undiminished even with his damaged body.

Some time later.

Swish—

“Crack~!”

The towering Willpower Light shattered like a glass pillar.

Mu Yuan’s legs were sheared off, and he flopped forward onto the ground.

Two seconds later.

“I refuse to believe this! Moon Coronet Giant Wolf!”

Scythe Moon Armor, Body Integration!

Mu Yuan transformed into a giant wolf, holy moonlight erupting from his body as a bright moon hung high in the sky.

He raced across the moonlight at near-teleportation speeds.

But soon,

Swish swish swish!

The moon hanging high in the sky, seemingly part of the background, was actually being sliced apart section by section by the Annihilation Wind.The full moon developed gaping holes and soon dissipated with a thunderous roar.

The Moon Coronet Giant Wolf was also slashed with multiple large wounds, and Lord Mu once again plummeted to the ground with a splat.

This time, his body was even more battered.

“Damn it!”

Lu Liu Armor! Undying Golden Body!

Mu Yuan pushed himself up from his supine position.

A dazzling golden light erupted from his body, as if he had transformed into a golden statue. The annihilating winds struck down, producing only crisp clinking sounds without causing any harm.

He flew forward like a fearless war god.

But soon, the golden radiance began to dim.

Before the golden light completely faded, the annihilating winds sliced through its protection.

Mu Yuan adjusted his posture and lunged forward.

“Cough, as expected of an attack equivalent to at least the second stage of the Law Realm.”

“And with such numbers, endless and continuous, it’s like dozens of beings of this level are constantly attacking.”

“I’m… I’m in quite a sorry state.”

Mu Yuan suspected that even the Ice Burial Grand Duke would be completely annihilated within seconds if he were here.

If not for relying on epic abilities like the Space-Tearing Seal, Devour, Desolate Kingbone, Soaring Nine Heavens, Fiendish Sea, and others, he would never have lasted this long or traveled this far.

As he thought this, he collapsed on the ground like a lump of mud.

His life force was flickering weakly, and his vision began to blur.

But in his blurred sight, he saw…

A glimmer of dawn, just a few thousand meters away.

A few thousand meters.

This was a terrifying land of death, but for just a few thousand meters…

It’s possible!

Flesh Shackles—First, Second, Third Stages—all severed!

His entire body became like a cosmic singularity, with infinite power continuously surging forth. His depleted body instantly became replenished, his complexion turned rosy, and his severed legs regrew in the blink of an eye.

He planted his feet on the ground, twisted his waist, and fixed his gaze ahead.

Ripples of space undulated in his mind.

He quickly estimated thousands of possible locations and paths of the annihilating winds and determined the most suitable route to traverse.

—He didn’t have more time for analysis and judgment.

Go!

The ground cracked, and a storm howled behind him.

Lord Mu, his entire body steaming with blazing Qi, tore through the heavens and earth, making two sharp turns along the predetermined trajectory as he charged forward.

“Swish, swish, swish, swish!”

The winds swept past.

His arms were annihilated.

His legs were also annihilated.

But his remaining torso crossed the finish line.

The winds ceased.

Time and space froze.

The shattered realm filled with annihilating winds behind him gradually faded.

The pain in his body vanished, his battered form restored in an instant, and his depleted energy was fully replenished.

Only the mental and conscious fatigue remained, lingering and unshakable.

「Ding!」

…

Frontline, Cold Valley Mountain Warzone.

“Tianyuan has probably finished his trial, right?”

“The difficulty of the advancement trial’s stages adjusts to some extent based on the trial-taker’s own Realm.”

“With Tianyuan’s capabilities, as long as he dares to fight with everything he has, he has a chance to clear all thirteen stages and achieve a perfect rating.”

It’s just that the trial content is extremely brutal. Even with sufficient power, one must dare to risk everything and fight with utter desperation to pass through.

At least, that’s how it was for her back then.

She was a Lord who had cleared all thirteen stages! Though the process wasn’t exactly pleasant.

What about Tianyuan?”I don’t think I told him how many levels he needed to pass?”

“But it’s precisely this way that he can gather all his strength and fight to the end.”

She had gone through the same back in her day.

…

[Notice: Due to your ‘Unique’ rating clearance during the territory promotion trial, you may challenge additional levels in this advanced trial.]

[Notice: You have cleared ‘Thirteen Levels’ + ‘Three Additional Levels,’ totaling sixteen levels.]

[Notice: You have completed the advanced trial. Trial Rating: Unique]

[Rewards being calculated…]

(End of Chapter)