Gate of Life Opens: Is It Worth It?

Yet Carl merely smiled.

Honestly, he had never worried about tempering his body. The Eight Gates Formation inherently possessed methods for tempering the flesh.

Normally, cultivating such an ability came with endless training and pain.

It could be called the Self-Discipline Formation, or even more aptly, the Self-Torment Formation.

A technique built through limitless effort, burning blood and sweat, allowing a mortal body to battle gods.

But in Carl's hands, she only needed to grind enough favorability to advance, without having to worry about her life.

So at this moment, her physical strength was indeed far beyond the ordinary.

And with the third gate of the Eight Gates—Gate of Life—opened, his body's latent vitality would be activated without limit.

Thus, she had more than enough confidence to face the trial of the Ice-and-Fire Spirits' lingering souls.

To put it plainly, tempering the body was nothing more than using energy to permeate every inch of bone, flesh, blood, and even skin and hair.

Normally, Carl could only advance through various methods, instantly drawing upon the power of heaven and earth and using that magic to temper her body.

But with the lingering souls of two spirits about to guide their most core magical energy into tempering her body, Carl suddenly found herself looking forward to it.

If he could raise his physical body to a terrifying level ahead of time, would that mean he could fully use moves like Morning Peacock earlier?

Her strength might even experience an even more terrifying surge in a short time.

After all, each gate was opened upon the foundation of the previous one, producing exponential growth.

If that was the case, then she had truly struck it rich this time, hadn't she?

Carl strode forward resolutely.

At that moment, the Ice-and-Fire Spirits also kept their word and withdrew all fire- and ice-element magical power from the surroundings.

Throughout the entire village, and even in the distant lake, frost and flame auras as vast as mountains and seas continuously gathered toward the two spirits, nearly solidifying into tangible form.

The two spirits' auras rose inch by inch.

Charlotte, standing behind them, immediately revealed a look of alarm.

She had not expected that after reclaiming their magic, the Ice-and-Fire Spirits' own abilities would rise to such a degree.

This had truly become troublesome.

Although Carl was mysterious and advanced at an astonishing pace, facing a trial from the Ice-Fire Elves that possessed both power and ability was practically a brush with death.

At that moment, worried voices rose from the women behind her.

Yet Carl did not even furrow her brow. She even had time to turn back and joke with them, calming their emotions. It was easy to see just how composed she was.

At that very moment, the Ice-Fire Elves exchanged a tacit glance before spiraling around each other.

A tiny ice-and-fire tornado suddenly rose around them.

It held both the scorching heat of flame and the merciless chill of frost.

Two completely opposing forces intertwined at that moment, forming the most extreme destructive power.

And that tornado wrapped itself directly around Carl.

Frost and flames constantly sliced through the air. The magical power erupting around Carl instantly made her realize the terror of this energy.

At that moment, her eyes were filled with determination.

The lingering thoughts of the Ice-Fire Elves were clearly testing his resolve and loyalty, not merely his strength.

Since they harbored resentment, perhaps the source of that resentment had been some form of betrayal and scheming.

So no matter what, all she needed to do now was stand firm against everything and never beg for mercy.

Carl's heart was resolute.

As the ice-and-fire aura continued to assault her and grew increasingly violent, she immediately felt tremendous pressure. The next moment, she lightly snapped her fingers.

Under the Elves' astonished gazes, he spoke:

"Eight Gates—first gate, Gate of Opening, open!"

As her words fell,

a faint, shimmering radiance immediately flashed around Carl's body,

clinging to her skin like a thin membrane.

And the forces that had originally sought to corrode Carl were now blocked by some invisible barrier, with most of their power held back.

The Ice-and-Fire Spirits froze for a moment,

then doubled their output of power.

Seeing this, Carl smiled again.

"Eight Gates—second gate, Gate of Healing, open."

She lightly tapped her shoulder.

As the second gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Healing, opened, a wave of air was already steaming off Carl's body.

Yet his defensive power only grew stronger and stronger, until the Elves increased their output once more.

Carl continued, striking toward her heart.

"Eight Gates—third gate, Gate of Life, open!"

This was the power she had only just obtained through painstakingly grinding favorability.

As the power of the Gate of Life opened, the originally pale-white radiance began to slowly change. A force of vitality even continuously spilled out and swirled around her.

Carl's aura rose by far more than one level.

Green light and shadows, from who knew where, began to continuously spread around her.

The Ice-Fire Elves were truly astonished now.

They had not expected Carl to possess such a trump card.

Seeing that the person before them was such a tough bone to crack, the Ice-Fire Elves instantly threw themselves into the attack.

The original ice-and-fire tornado

instantly transformed into countless blades that swept toward her.

The ultimate trial of ice and fire

continuously compressed the surrounding magic,

until it nearly solidified.

Yet even though Carl revealed a pained expression, she still did not waver in the slightest.

Amid the flames and frost, the Elves' voices continued to murmur:

"Do you truly have no regrets?

As long as you give up resisting and let the people behind you share the burden, we will redirect most of our power elsewhere.

After all, aren't you a group?

And since you are a group, they should bear it too..."

These murmuring voices made the women beside her look extremely distressed.

Although they wanted to rush in as well, Charlotte and Vanessa, standing nearby, reminded them that the women—who had already seemed rather agitated—became the clearest-headed ones at that moment instead.

"Don't go over there. This is a trap set by the spirits' lingering souls.

Once we step inside, Carl will face even greater danger.

And those two lingering souls will also break the oath they just made."

"Besides, don't you believe in Carl?

Since the day I met her, she has never disappointed anyone."

Hearing Charlotte's words was like feeling some force that calmed their minds.

The women forcibly suppressed their emotions.

Meanwhile, Carl felt the skin outside her body continuously being burned, frozen, and split open.

She even slowly sat down cross-legged, silent as a meditating monk.

No matter how the lingering souls of ice and fire ravaged her, she remained unmoving.

Within the massive block of ice, flames darted back and forth.

Scalding steam made it seem as though it could roast a person alive.

The lingering souls of the Ice-and-Fire Spirits slowly emerged from within.

They looked at Carl before them, their voices low and complicated:

"Why are you so steadfast? Are you truly not afraid in the slightest?

For their sake, is it really worth it?"

The Ice-and-Fire Spirits' emotions seemed especially complicated.