Perfect Power Output, Ultra Instinct

The Mountain of Power is significantly lower than the Mountain of Laws.

There are exactly 100 steps leading straight to the summit, each one covered in strange, secret patterns; every step climbed represents an increase of one unit of force output.

Reaching the 100th step at the peak signifies having achieved the level of perfect force output.

"Junior Brother Jiang, don't be nervous. If you reach a point where you cannot climb further, do not force it or try to break through by sheer will, or your body will be injured," Ji Chen cautioned.

Jiang Luo nodded and walked toward the foot of the mountain.

The matter of Blood Demon King and the summons from Marquis Huanming had not changed his plans.

On the contrary, it had only intensified his sense of urgency.

Previously, he had constantly sought to raise his status, wanting to enter the Giant Axe Arena or the Virtual Universe Company as quickly as possible to acquire more resources and better protect his territory.

The higher the status, the greater the power one possesses.

Reaching the level of Blood Demon King would allow one to do as they pleased within a star sector, with even the cosmic nation finding it difficult to interfere.

Now, facing the threat of Blood Demon King, there was only one path to break the deadlock.

That was to reveal even greater talent and even higher potential, pushing his status ever higher!

Marquis Huanming's willingness to dispatch the Huanming Guard to protect his home planet must have been because he valued his potential.

As soon as Jiang Luo stepped onto the first stair, the secret patterns beneath his feet suddenly lit up.

Immediately, an invisible force manifested in the void, pressing down upon him.

This pressure seemed to permeate every inch of his skin, every sinew, and every muscle.

Enveloped by this force, he felt as if he were deep underwater, or trapped and unable to move, as if solidified in amber.

"What a profound method of testing..." Jiang Luo lowered his head to observe the strange secret patterns beneath his feet.

Although the patterns were too esoteric to fully comprehend, he could vaguely sense that they seemed to involve the Laws of Space.

They even bore a resemblance to the secret patterns recorded in the innate secret technique Space Shatter, which he had recently acquired from the bloodline of the Flame Star Behemoth.

However, even in his pleasant surprise, Jiang Luo remembered his purpose; he was not here today to study the secret patterns of the Laws of Space.

This spatial pressure from the void could completely bind the body, regardless of physical strength.

Even though his physical body far exceeded that of an ordinary Star-level 9, he remained unable to move a muscle.

Only by employing force-output techniques to break his limits and erupt with power greater than his original physical strength could he shatter the confinement.

Jiang Luo activated the force-output technique of the Rainwater Sutra, easily broke the confinement, and stepped onto the second stair.

He climbed all the way to the 33rd step before his speed began to slow.

"It seems Junior Brother Jiang's force-output limit is around 35 units?" Eloise said, somewhat surprised. "With this level of force, he was actually able to clear the third Trial Tower?"

Ji Chen also wore a look of astonishment.

If he were a spirit reader, a force output of 35 units would be considered quite formidable, a rarity even among the Star-level members within the Ancient Wheel Hall.

But for a martial artist, a force output of only 35 units, while not poor, could be considered quite mediocre among the Star-level geniuses of the Ancient Wheel Hall.

He did not know that Jiang Luo had cleared the Trial Tower the second time entirely by using the King Kai Fist to directly amplify his physical strength and overwhelm his opponents with raw power.

However, on this Mountain of Power, the King Kai Fist was ineffective.

Because once the secret patterns of the Laws on each step were activated, the spatial confinement that appeared out of thin air would be based directly on his current physical limits.

Once he activated the King Kai Fist, the power of the spatial confinement would increase accordingly.

Even if his genetic makeup were 12 times that of an ordinary human, it would be useless against a challenge that purely tested force-output technique.

Jiang Luo could feel that the 35th step was indeed his limit.

After all, ever since he had mastered the Thirteen Sword Phantoms, he had not practiced the Rainwater Sutra much.

After devouring the Flame Star Behemoth bloodline and obtaining the Boundless secret manual from the Flint Star Sector Lord, he had also focused his energy on the Flint God Weapon.

However, this was his limit, but not the limit of his cheat.

"Ultra Instinct!"

Jiang Luo's gaze suddenly became tranquil, and his mind and will seemed to sink into a pool of water.

Not a single thought arose, not a single thought stirred!

Following this, every fiber of muscle and every bone in his body seemed to give birth to its own divine will.

Thousands of these divine wills converged into a single, cold, emotionless will.

Facing the powerful spatial confinement, every part of his body reacted by instinctively choosing the most natural and perfect path for force output.

There was no need for his consciousness or brain to manipulate it at all.

The spatial confinement shattered with a boom!

Jiang Luo ascended to higher steps as if he were merely out for a stroll, his climbing speed even faster and more relaxed than it had been before the 35th step!

At the foot of the mountain, Ji Chen and Eloise suddenly widened their eyes, looking in disbelief at the figure walking step by step toward the summit.

"Is the Immortal Ladder... broken?"

Others, even Domain Lords or World Lords whose force exertion techniques were near perfection, had never displayed such a silky smooth and effortless posture while climbing the Mountain of Power.

It was as if the spatial confinement on the Immortal Ladder simply did not exist.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Luo had already ascended to the 80th step.

Eloise, refusing to believe it, stepped onto the first rung as well.

Immediately, an invisible spatial confinement wrapped around her.

The Immortal Ladder... it seemed there was no issue!

Jiang Luo left the 99th step and stepped onto the summit before finally exiting the state of Ultra Instinct.

There are two major hurdles to cultivating Ultra Instinct.

The first is the state of mind and willpower.

The second is physical strength, as the initial stages of Ultra Instinct place a massive burden on the body.

Jiang Luo had no issues with either of these.

Therefore, before heading to the Flint Star World, he had already manifested this divine ability from Dragon Ball and achieved initial mastery.

He had made quite thorough preparations before going to the Flint Star World.

It was a pity that even Thanses had failed to force out all of his trump cards.

Rumble~~~

The entire Mountain of Power seemed to begin trembling.

Jiang Luo was startled: "Such a huge commotion?"

At this moment, almost all the disciples of the Ancient Wheel Hall on the continent, from World Lords down to Star-level, looked in astonishment toward the direction of the Immortal Mountain in the center of the continent.

"This commotion... has a Universe-level powerhouse cleared the Mountain of Power?"

"No, the commotion from a Universe-level reaching the summit of the Mountain of Power isn't this exaggerated! Could it be a Star-level?"

"A Star-level reaching the realm of perfect force exertion?! What kind of joke is that!"

At the summit of the Mountain of Power, Jiang Luo suddenly looked up toward the distant void.

A golden stream of light, as if tearing through the firmament, plummeted toward him at an incredible speed.

A terrifying aura locked onto him from far away, causing his entire body to tremble, unable to move.

That was the divine might of an Immortal!

The golden light dissipated, revealing a tall man with steel-colored skin and cold, deep eyes.

"Greetings, Marquis Mo Yan."

Jiang Luo recognized him immediately; it was the master of the Ancient Wheel Hall, Marquis Mo Yan.

"It is you?!"

Marquis Mo Yan seemed even more surprised than he was.

Jiang Luo had only been cultivating in the Ancient Wheel Hall for five years, and during his second attempt at the Trial Tower, he had cleared the third tower, jumping from the bottom of the rankings to over one hundredth place.

Such a rapid rate of progress had once startled him.

However, he had been somewhat disappointed after discovering that Jiang Luo had cleared the third Trial Tower not through progress in origin laws.

He had not expected that only seven years later, this Jiang Luo would give him another surprise.

"Hahaha!" Marquis Mo Yan laughed aloud, "Not bad, a Star-level who can clear the Mountain of Power and reach the realm of perfect force exertion.

"You should know that even many Universe-level geniuses in the core layers of the five giants cannot reach the level of perfect force exertion.

"The last Sacred Hall disciple who could do this at the Star-level was over 500 epochs ago, and he went on to win first place in the grand finals of the Genius Tournament representing our Gulun Universe Kingdom!"

As an important hurdle to achieving immortality, perfect force exertion—while far less difficult than the law hurdles—was generally only reached at the 100-unit force exertion level by World Lord-level powerhouses.

Being able to achieve this at the Star-level was definitely a remarkable feat.

Even though Marquis Mo Yan valued talent in law comprehension more, he felt delighted by Jiang Luo achieving such a feat.

Anyone who could reach the extreme in any one aspect could be called a peerless genius!

"Since a Star-level can clear the Mountain of Power, you are directly rewarded with 10,000 Hunyuan units of universe currency, and there are additional rewards as well. Come with me to collect them..."

Jiang Luo wore an embarrassed expression: "Marquis Mo Yan, could you wait until I finish challenging the Mountain of Souls before I go to collect the rewards?"

Marquis Mo Yan was stunned, looking down at Jiang Luo: "The Mountain of Souls? Are you not a martial artist?"