Benares and the Awakening of the Stigmata

In the blink of an eye, spring turned to autumn, winter gave way to summer, and eight months had passed. Ling Mo finally broke through to level thirty in the fifth month, but he did not rush to obtain a Soul Ring. Instead, he remained at the academy to continue studying, practicing various boxing techniques every day.

It was worth mentioning that after eleven months together, although Ling Mo and Huo Yuhao's group could not be called deeply bonded, they had become close enough to speak their minds to one another. Not long after the Newbie Assessment ended, Tang Ya agreed to let Ling Mo join the Tang Sect. Now, whenever Ling Mo saw Beibei, he had to call him Senior Brother. He had found it rather awkward at first, but after getting used to it, he no longer felt anything strange about it.

Shrek Academy operated on an academic-year system, with one month of vacation each year. Eleven months had now passed, and the holiday was approaching. Wang Yan was standing at the podium, explaining the promotion assessment system to Class One, warning everyone not to slack off during the break.

Listening below, Ling Mo could not help but sigh. No matter which world it was, teachers always told students before a long vacation that holidays were not for going out and playing. That was probably something universal.

After returning to his dormitory and packing his things, Ling Mo quickly set off for the Star Dou Great Forest. He had traveled this road many times already and knew it like the back of his hand. With Ling Mo's speed, he arrived at the lush forest on the morning of the third day.

Drawing on his years of experience hunting Soul Beasts, Ling Mo quickly found a six-thousand-year Ghost Vine. Since the unlock order of the Divine Keys was unknown, Ling Mo could only choose a Soul Ring according to the Black Abyss White Flower he hoped for. Even if another Divine Key ended up being unlocked, it did not matter. His soul skills would not be affected by the Soul Beast that produced the ring, and a little less bonus was no great loss to him.

Drawing the purple Soul Ring toward himself, Ling Mo immediately began absorbing it. Since six thousand years did not exceed his absorption limit, he finally succeeded by midnight that same day.

Ling Mo eagerly released his Divine Key Martial Soul. One yellow and two purple Soul Rings revolved around him. Under Ling Mo's control, the final purple Soul Ring lit up, and a black-and-white lance appeared in his hand.

"Woohoo! Taking off!" The unlocking of Black Abyss White Flower made Ling Mo extremely excited. He decided to rest up the next morning before searching for the second Soul Ring for his Herrscher Martial Soul.

Amid Ling Mo's overwhelming excitement, the sky gradually brightened. Dawn arrived, and a ray of morning sunlight fell over his face. Once he entered the Star Dou Great Forest, Ling Mo had removed his cloak for the sake of convenience in battle. The cloak's interference did not matter when sparring with people at the academy, but in the Star Dou Great Forest, a moment of carelessness could truly get him killed. With Ling Mo's current strength, he did not fear low-level Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, but high-year Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were still extremely difficult for him to handle. He had only managed to forcefully kill that six-thousand-year Ghost Vine by relying on Void Law Mode.

After packing up, Ling Mo continued along the road in search of a Soul Ring. Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts were almost impossible to find on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, so he could only venture deeper.

Along the way, Ling Mo carefully observed his surroundings. With Yu Du Chen's help, he avoided many Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts. Finally, after several days and nights without rest, he found a Thunderclap Leopard that was roughly thirteen thousand years old on the sixth day. Based on the order in which Herrschers appeared, the second Soul Ring of the Herrscher Martial Soul should unlock the Thunder Herrscher and Wind Herrscher forms. During his time studying at Shrek, Ling Mo had read about Thunderclap Leopards in the Soul Beast encyclopedia. Before reaching ten thousand years, they were single-element lightning Soul Beasts, but they possessed wind-element bloodlines. Once they reached ten thousand years, they could awaken that bloodline and become mutated Soul Beasts with both wind and lightning attributes. However, it was difficult for such beasts to grow to ten thousand years because Thunderclap Leopards possessed an arrogance deep in their bones that drove them to constantly challenge stronger Soul Beasts. The outcome was obvious. This made ten-thousand-year Thunderclap Leopards almost impossible to encounter. Ling Mo's luck this time was truly excellent.

Still, even though he had found the ideal Soul Beast, the Thunderclap Leopard's instinct to challenge stronger foes made it much more powerful than ordinary Soul Beasts. Ling Mo naturally understood that he had no chance whatsoever of defeating a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beast himself, yet he had come anyway. Why? Because from the beginning, Ling Mo had never intended to deal with the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beast on his own.

Carefully releasing his Herrscher Martial Soul, Ling Mo's yellow Soul Ring lit up the instant it appeared behind him. A vast Imaginary Space opened, and the sudden emergence of the enormous black void startled the Thunderclap Leopard. The pitch-black space forced it to leap backward, widening the distance between itself and the imaginary gate.

Having opened the Imaginary Space, Ling Mo made his next move. He called out calmly, "Come forth, Benares."

A white dragon head emerged from the Imaginary Space, its white scales gleaming brilliantly beneath the sunlight. Benares slowly stepped out of the Imaginary Space. This was the first time it had appeared in this new world in its complete form.

Why was Benares here? Naturally, it had not been born again because Ling Mo unlocked the Herrscher of the Void form. That story began in Ling Mo's previous life. When Kiana's consciousness had been eroded by Sirin, Benares had constantly searched for and protected the queen in its heart. However, its severe injuries eventually brought it down. Its body was taken away by Mei and became Curukara, while its soul was ultimately obtained by Ling Mo and stored in the Stigmata Space. After being nourished by Honkai Energy for a long time, it transformed into a dragon egg.

After Ling Mo attached a Soul Ring to his Herrscher Martial Soul, he unlocked Herrscher of the Void Mode. Naturally, he had to investigate the Imaginary Space, the greatest hallmark of the Herrscher of the Void. Ling Mo discovered that while he could not link to the Imaginary Space as Kiana had in his previous life and obtain nearly endless Honkai Energy, thereby gaining endless Soul Power, the Imaginary Space might possess the ability to store energy. Ling Mo could send Soul Power into the Imaginary Space and preserve it there. Once connected to the Imaginary Space, he could directly use the Soul Power he had stored, meaning he rarely found himself drained of Soul Power.

It was then that Ling Mo discovered Benares. While exploring the uses of the Imaginary Space, he was astonished to find that the Benares dragon egg he had stored in the Stigmata Space in his previous life was actually inside his Imaginary Space. Three years ago, Benares successfully hatched, but it no longer possessed Bella's memories from its previous life. Ling Mo thought that was for the best. Once Kiana had completely mastered the power of the Herrscher of the Void core, Sirin's consciousness had ultimately vanished as well. Perhaps it was better that Benares had no memories. Ling Mo could not return to the Honkai World and could no longer see Kiana, while Sirin's consciousness was gone. Without those memories, Benares would not have to suffer over Sirin's disappearance. That was enough.

Perhaps because Benares was a Honkai Beast rather than a Soul Beast, its growth rate was completely different. Reborn Benares had already grown as large as it had been in its previous life over the past two years, and its strength far surpassed Ling Mo's. By Ling Mo's estimate, Benares should now be comparable to a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast. Though Ling Mo knew his estimate might not be entirely accurate, with its four attributes of wind, lightning, fire, and ice, it was certainly no weakling among Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts.

As if confirming Ling Mo's thoughts, Benares merely slammed a foreclaw into the ground. The moment it released its ice attribute, the Thunderclap Leopard turned into an ice sculpture. Ling Mo immediately opened an Imaginary Space around it, unleashing Spear of the Void without end. The Thunderclap Leopard broke free of the ice and was just about to charge out of the Spear of the Void's encirclement when Benares froze it again with its breath.

With one dragon and one human working together, a black Soul Ring slowly emerged. The appearance of the Soul Ring finally made Ling Mo stop. He walked forward and hugged Benares's dragon head, pressing his forehead against it. "Bella, protect me while I absorb the Soul Ring."

Ling Mo released his hold and summoned Black Abyss White Flower. Grasping the shaft with both hands, he slowly drew the Soul Ring toward himself and began absorbing it. The instant he touched the Soul Ring, a violent consciousness surged through it and attacked Ling Mo, seeking to destroy his mind. But how could the soul of a mere ten-thousand-year Soul Beast shake a soul that had endured fifty thousand years in his previous life?

The lingering soul consciousness of the Thunderclap Leopard quickly dispersed beneath Ling Mo's repeated assaults, while Ling Mo remained completely unaffected. He had never considered the Soul Beast's soul shock during the absorption of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring to be a threat. What worried Ling Mo was whether his current body could withstand the massive Soul Power brought by a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. If it could not, he would end up exploding to death. However, unlocking Black Abyss White Flower could solve this problem to a certain extent.

The massive Soul Power of the Soul Ring caused Ling Mo's hands to burst apart. Blood dyed his hands and the ground before him red, but the gentle power flowing from Black Abyss White Flower restored his shattered hands to normal. As he continued absorbing the Soul Ring, the same thing began happening to other parts of Ling Mo's body. His torso, legs, and hands repeatedly burst and healed. Before long, Ling Mo had become a man drenched in blood.

Three days passed like this. With the immense amount of Soul Power stored in the Imaginary Space over the past few years, Black Abyss White Flower continued healing Ling Mo's body. Yet at this point in the Soul Ring absorption, its healing ability was clearly beginning to fall behind the rate at which Ling Mo's body was collapsing.

"Damn it, did I still underestimate the difficulty of absorbing a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?" Finally, after his entire body burst apart once more, Ling Mo could no longer endure the strain and lost consciousness. Seeing its master faint, Benares became extremely anxious. Powerless to do anything about the situation, it could only send its Honkai Energy into Ling Mo, hoping it might help somehow.

As a Divine Key that had already transformed into a Martial Soul, Black Abyss White Flower naturally would not increase its output simply because Ling Mo had received Benares's Honkai Energy. Yet Ling Mo, after receiving that Honkai Energy, underwent a strange change.

A fiery red light shone across Ling Mo's back after he received the Honkai Energy. As Benares continued transmitting Honkai Energy, the red glow grew deeper and deeper. A blood-red tattoo gradually emerged on Ling Mo's back, depicting a flaming greatsword crossed with a crescent moon.

The moment the blood-red tattoo appeared, the way Black Abyss White Flower released power immediately changed. No longer was it gentle Soul Power, but violent Honkai Energy. Yet Ling Mo's body healed rapidly beneath that Honkai Energy, and the countless cracks across his body quickly closed. In this way, Ling Mo miraculously continued absorbing the Soul Ring under a new balance.

Another day passed in the blink of an eye. Near dusk, Ling Mo finally succeeded in absorbing the Soul Ring. However, the enormous expenditure and the repeated destruction and healing of his body left him unconscious even after the absorption was complete.

A night passed, and dawn arrived once more. Morning dew fell drop by drop onto Ling Mo's face. Benares, which had been silently standing guard beside him, spread one of its wings, using the enormous dragon wing to shield Ling Mo from the falling dew.

At that moment, Ling Mo knew nothing of the outside world. His consciousness was within an empty space, pitch-black all around. Aside from a vast amount of Honkai Energy, he could sense nothing else, nor did he know how to leave. After a long while, Ling Mo seemed to realize something. There was nothing but Honkai Energy, yet it could contain his consciousness. This gave him a powerful sense of familiarity.

"Isn't this the Stigmata Space?" He immediately used the method from his previous life to mobilize the Honkai Energy in the space. Feeling the Honkai Energy drift back and forth according to his will, Ling Mo silently confirmed his suspicion.

Under Ling Mo's control, the Honkai Energy within the Stigmata Space began to boil continuously. Finally, guided by his thoughts, it transformed into the Yae Village of his previous life. Having accomplished this, Ling Mo wandered through the familiar village. It was still as it had been in his previous life, but unlike then, Yae Sakura and Kallen were no longer beneath the towering Cherry Blossom Tree at the center of the village...

Watching the cherry blossoms drift down before him, Ling Mo could not help but lament the unpredictability of life. The days he had spent learning swordsmanship beneath that tree with Yae Sakura felt like yesterday, yet now he was alone.

Ling Mo slowly woke in the real world. Immersed in memories of the past, he had ultimately left the Stigmata Space. He knew he would eventually have to face the reality that he could no longer meet them. Lying on the ground, Ling Mo slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Benares shielding him from the morning dew, he slowly rose and walked to its side, hugging its dragon head. He pressed his cheek tightly against the pure white scales and gently stroked the top of its head. "Only the two of us are left..."

As if sensing Ling Mo's emotions, Benares closed its eyes and quietly accepted Ling Mo's caress. After a while, Ling Mo released Benares from his embrace. "All right, it's time for you to go back too. I'll let you out to play again in a few days."

The Imaginary Space opened, and Benares gradually vanished into it. Ling Mo reached back and pressed his hand against the stigmata on his back. He could feel that this stigmata was no longer the one from his previous life. The reason the Stigmata Space in his previous life had taken the form of Yae Village was because Yae Sakura had been its master, so Yae Sakura had determined what the Stigmata Space looked like. But the Stigmata Space now could take whatever form Ling Mo imagined, which meant Ling Mo was the master of this Stigmata Space.

What did that mean? It meant the stigmata Ling Mo had awakened in this life was his own stigmata. What the stigmata on his back and the Stigmata Space contained were Ling Mo's memories and glory from fifty thousand years of fighting Honkai. "What is this? Did I awaken myself?"

Having figured this out, Ling Mo did not know whether to laugh or cry. Still, awakening the stigmata brought him quite a few benefits. The Divine Key Martial Soul now had an additional mode capable of using Honkai Energy, which was certainly helpful to Ling Mo.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Ling Mo stopped overthinking and excitedly released his Herrscher Martial Soul. "Let's see my first Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Hehehe."

As the Martial Soul appeared, one purple and one black Soul Ring emerged before Ling Mo's eyes. "Huh?! Where's my hundred-year Soul Ring? Where's my huge yellow Soul Ring?!"

That was right. The Soul Rings that appeared with his Martial Soul were not the yellow-and-black rings Ling Mo had expected, but the surprising purple-and-black pair. "How did my hundred-year Soul Ring become a thousand-year purple Soul Ring?" After racking his brains, Ling Mo still could not figure out how his hundred-year Soul Ring had turned into a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring. However, a higher Soul Ring age did not harm him, so he simply let it be.

Putting away his Martial Soul, Ling Mo swiftly raced toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. His next stop—the Far North!

Just as Ling Mo had expected, the Herrscher Martial Soul's second Soul Ring had unlocked the Thunder Herrscher and Wind Herrscher forms. Then the next Soul Ring should unlock the Herrscher of Ice and Death Herrscher. Because of that, compared to the nearly nonexistent Soul Beasts possessing both life and death attributes, Ling Mo decided to head for the Far North and seek an ice-attribute Soul Beast for the third Soul Ring of his Herrscher Martial Soul.

More than half a month had already passed since the vacation began. Ling Mo had to quicken his pace now. To arrive in a short time, he even used Void Law Mode for spatial movement from time to time. Though, at Ling Mo's Soul Power Level, each movement only covered a few hundred meters, it still shortened his journey considerably.

After five days of long-distance travel, Ling Mo finally saw snow filling the sky ahead. The boundless snowfield clearly told him that this was the destination of his journey—the Far North.