The Price of Willpower's Metamorphosis

Wu Sheng felt as if he had been dreaming; in the dream, he had become a member of the Woodborn Clan, and from the time he could first remember, there was only his mother at home, caring for him with meticulous devotion.

Above him, there had originally been two older brothers, but both had perished in the clan wars. It was only through his father's desperate struggle that he and his mother were saved, though his father was unfortunately killed in the end.

Later, this Woodborn youth grew up slowly. He possessed decent talent as a warrior, and shortly after advancing to Planet Grade, he already had a force exertion amplitude of over 30 times. He was highly regarded by the elders of his clan, who believed he could become a Sky Grade expert and hold his own.

He was equally full of confidence; while becoming a powerhouse was indeed his heart's desire, it was merely a means to an end. What he truly wanted was to provide a stable life for his mother and himself, so they would never have to live in fear again.

However, during the selection for the Blood Trial, he—already at the fifth order of Planet Grade—was forcibly abducted by a team member. His mother resisted with her life, only to meet the fate of being killed.

In that moment, his heart completely shattered, and he spent the rest of his journey in a daze.

It was not until he saw the generous rewards offered in the Blood Trial that he rekindled his desire for survival and strength, accompanied by an intense hatred for this unfair and bloody law of survival.

If he had sufficient strength, he wanted to change this cruel reality where the weak were prey to the strong.

Over the past year, he had cultivated painstakingly, but because he had only received the basic rewards for an "Excellent" rating during the test, his progress was relatively limited.

His foundation was too thin; lacking proper guidance from a teacher early on, he had significant deficiencies in both cultivation and secret arts. Relying solely on his own fumbling and the few basic secret arts from the rewards, he had only reached the seventh order of Planet Grade and a 50-fold force exertion amplitude after a year of bitter training.

However, after entering the Trial Ground, he refused to accept his fate. He remained cautious throughout the journey, trying his best to preserve himself, hoping to find an opportunity for a new breakthrough in the time to come.

Although he killed a few people during this period, he often ended up injuring himself in the process.

He could only hide alone in a concealed tree hollow, silently recovering from his wounds like a lone wolf, constantly licking his own injuries.

It was not until he encountered that short, Green-Robed Youth and was pierced through the throat by a sword that he left this cruel world, filled with nothing but deep unwillingness.

At that moment, he felt he had been liberated, yet he also felt as if he were still thinking.

"Hoo..."

Inside a hidden tree hollow, Wu Sheng rubbed his aching forehead with his small hands and exhaled a long, heavy breath.

The Innate Secret Art "Soul Devour" was a technique that assisted his will in undergoing metamorphosis, but this metamorphosis carried a certain risk of backlash.

With the assistance of "Soul Devour," he needed to fuse the pure soul power of the deceased into his own soul while simultaneously experiencing the life of the dead.

Borrowing the experiences of others to sublimate his own will—this was the heaven-defying aspect of "Soul Devour."

However, if that strand of pure soul power was too strong, he might end up trapped in someone else's dream forever, never to wake up again.

Back when he was with the Wu Gang Clan, having just advanced to Planet Grade, he had believed that his experience from two lifetimes—his past and his present—gave him an absolute advantage in willpower. During a small-scale battle, he had once devoured the soul power of a third-order Planet Grade Bone Snail Clan member into his Inner World.

That time, he had nearly fallen into a permanent coma; fortunately, his will was strong enough to shatter that dreamscape, allowing him to barely wake up.

But that only brought him back to consciousness. For a long time afterward, his mind remained foggy, and he would occasionally sink into endless illusions, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality.

It took a full year for him to shake off those negative effects, and in the process, his will had also risen by a small realm.

"It's a good thing I refined hundreds of Wind Chime Fruit beforehand, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to walk out of that Woodborn youth's dream so smoothly. Forcing it open would have caused a massive backlash. It seems that the metamorphosis of the will isn't something that happens just because you want it to!"

Wu Sheng shook his head with a wry smile and checked his simple light-brain. Although he had only spent one day performing the Innate Secret Art, in this Trial Ground, there was immense danger at every moment, and one day was still too long.

"Hmm, my will is still stuck at the peak of Planet Grade; it's so hard to break through! Everyone is still in the initial exploration stage, so I'm safe for now. But the further we go, the fewer these safe places will be!"

Over this past year, his strength had also improved to the seventh order of Planet Grade. It wasn't particularly fast; in fact, one could say he was at the bottom of the barrel in this Trial Ground.

That was because his time had been primarily spent practicing secret arts, followed by refining the Wind Chime Fruit.

As for his strength, he had his own plans.

Every time the Innate Secret Art "Soul Devour" was used, it could absorb a portion of soul power. As long as he could continue this, his spiritual consciousness should reach the ninth order of Planet Grade ahead of everything else, which would be enough for self-preservation.

"I need to pick up the pace. While everyone is still fighting on their own, I must break through my will and spiritual consciousness first!"

A red glint flashed in Wu Sheng's eyes. He stood up once more and began to walk slowly toward the outside.

"Mu Ming!"

Wu Sheng's eyes dimmed slightly as he softly uttered the two words. This was the name of that Woodborn youth; he had wanted to shock the world with a single feat, only to die at Wu Sheng's hands.

"At most, only 100 people can survive... I wonder if I will be among them!"

After a brief moment of reflection, Wu Sheng stepped out of the cave and began searching for his next target.

A day later, he found an eighth-order Planet Grade warrior from the Dark Sand Clan, killed him easily, and refined a portion of his soul power.

He also obtained a dozen Battle Suits and other weapons.

Three days later, he found a seventh-order Planet Grade spiritual master from the Flood Abyss Clan, killed him easily, and refined a portion of his soul power.

He obtained another dozen Battle Suits and other weapons.

Six days later...

Slaughter, constant slaughter. Wu Sheng was like an assassin hidden in the darkness, either patiently waiting for "prey" to come to him or actively creating disturbances to lure "prey" into his traps.

These people were either ordinary trial-takers or excellent ones, but they were at least one grade weaker than Wu Sheng in terms of weapon amplification. Coupled with his use of Soul Illusion to interfere, he managed to finish off his opponents without danger.

Otherwise, he would have been like Mu Ming of the Woodborn Clan, forced to rely on prolonged, desperate battles and willing to suffer heavy injuries just to gamble for a sliver of survival.

Although these people could choose their own weapons, their own Battle Suits were fixed to a single set.

When the trial ended, if the number of people remaining exceeded 100, they would be ranked according to the number of Battle Suits in their possession.

While somewhat arbitrary, it was very straightforward: it was meant to force you to keep killing, preferably killing those strong individuals who held a large number of Battle Suits.

Generally speaking, as long as you had 8,000 Battle Suits, you could basically walk out of the Trial Ground smoothly. With 9,000, the success rate was over 95 percent. If you had 10,000, you were guaranteed one of those 100 spots.

However, having that many Battle Suits meant you also had to have the ability to keep them.

If you worked hard to accumulate the required amount only to be killed and robbed in the end, that would be truly tragic.