Everyone's eyes burned with fervor as they stared fixedly at the churning ocean of spiritual energy overhead.
They had endured countless bloody battles and struggled this far for this very moment!
The next instant, streaks of blood-red light shot into the sky.
Blood Tokens appeared in their hands and floated above their heads, humming and trembling as they resonated subtly with the ocean of spiritual energy above.
For the vast majority, the tokens above their heads produced barely a foot of blood-red light, drawing down a strand of spiritual energy that poured into them like a trickling stream.
For geniuses such as Wen Qingxuan and Wu Ling, the spiritual energy they drew down was already considerable. It formed pillars of light as thick as an arm, enveloping them as it began to cleanse their flesh and refine their spiritual energy.
Above Luo Li's head, however, the tokens sent blood-red light soaring skyward, drawing down a pillar of spiritual energy as thick as a wagon wheel. The dense spiritual energy had almost condensed into liquid!
Her entire figure disappeared within it, leaving only the faint, blurred outline of her seated cross-legged. The sheer force of that infusion stunned everyone.
As for Mu Chen...
A rainbow bridge of blood-red light slammed into the vast ocean of spiritual energy overhead!
Boom!!!
A surging waterfall of spiritual energy thundered down, spanning the War Realm as it plunged straight toward him, as though the Heavenly River had burst its banks, as though the starry firmament had overturned!
The spiritual energy Luo Li drew down was already immense, but before this waterfall spanning heaven and earth, it seemed like a stream beside a great river, a firefly beside the radiant moon!
The spiritual energy Mu Chen alone drew down was several times greater than everyone else's combined!
Even the Five Deans seated on thrones of light in the sky could not conceal the astonishment that flashed through their eyes.
Mu Chen's figure was instantly swallowed by a torrent of spiritual energy so pure that it dazzled the eye.
A small sun composed entirely of spiritual energy seemed to rise where he stood, its radiance too fierce to look at directly.
Terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations surged outward from him like tangible waves. Fortunately, the battle platform's light barrier contained them; otherwise, who knew how many trial participants would have been swept away by that torrent!
The torrent of spiritual energy flooded his body.
An ordinary trial participant-even a genius with a fifth-grade spirit body like Luo Li-would likely have had their meridians burst instantly under such a terrifying infusion, their body exploding into fragments.
But Mu Chen was different. He possessed the innate chaos saint body dao embryo! His spirit body had already reached the seventh grade!
The instant the torrent rushed into his body, he took the initiative to gulp it down like a whale!
The countless pores across his body seemed to open all at once, becoming tiny vortices that worked in concert with the torrent pouring down from overhead, inside and out, devouring this incomparably pure spiritual energy.
Within his qi sea, his blood and vital energy, which had surged like rivers, and his accumulated spiritual energy first abruptly stalled under this colossal influx of external power, then erupted into a furious boil!
"Sensing realm... break!"
Without encountering any bottleneck, Mu Chen's aura surged sharply upward as he officially entered the spirit movement realm!
This was only the beginning!
The spiritual energy pouring into him seemed endless!
Spirit movement realm early stage... spirit movement realm mid-stage... spirit movement realm late stage...
Spirit wheel realm... divine soul realm...
One day.
Two days.
The infusion of spiritual energy showed no sign of stopping.
The infusions on the other battle platforms had long since ended, one after another.
Yet the torrent above Mu Chen's head remained vast, continuously washing through his body!
Heaven fusion realm-achieved!
Yet the instant Mu Chen's cultivation stabilized in the heaven fusion realm-
An abrupt change occurred!
In the deepest recesses of his body, a shackle that seemed to have lain dormant for countless ages was suddenly broken open. A ravenous hunger originating from the very source of his bloodline erupted without warning!
His body, every inch of his flesh, every strand of his soul, roared with a greed that transcended instinct!
An irresistible pull abruptly dragged Mu Chen's consciousness into the deepest reaches of his sea of consciousness.
There was no light, no darkness, no above or below, no direction, no past or present.
There was only absolute silence, and an emptiness that nurtured all things.
A weathered ancient scroll slowly unfurled within it!
There was no painting upon the scroll, only rising chaos qi that evolved into indistinct yet magnificent visions-
A sky-supporting giant cleaved the primordial void with an axe; a Dao Ancestor preached, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth; a divine bird spread its wings and tore the firmament apart; a Giant Kun swept its tail and stirred the sea of stars; gods and demons waged war, staining chaos with blood; all things grew, cycling through reincarnation without end...
Finally, every vision faded away. The churning chaos qi gradually settled as well, merging back into the weathered ancient scroll.
The ancient scroll grew still once more, and Mu Chen finally "saw" it clearly!
Three thousand Dao traces resonated and intertwined!
At that moment, inspiration blessed Mu Chen, and understanding welled up in his heart.
This was a divine ability nurtured by the innate chaos saint body dao embryo when his cultivation broke through to the heaven fusion realm!
Chaos Dao Diagram!
It could anchor his own being, evolve myriad arts, and fuse myriad Daos!
It was nothing less than an innate divine ability capable of growing with him!
High in the sky, the boundless ocean of spiritual energy, which seemed capable of submerging everything, finally began to visibly shrink and dim.
The spiritual energy waterfall that had spanned heaven and earth, so thick it took one's breath away, now slowly dwindled like an ebbing tide.
From a surging river, it became a murmuring stream, then finally a slender thread of light that gradually ceased.
Mu Chen slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze was clear and limpid, like the boundless night sky, like an ancient well or a deep pool.
Heaven fusion realm, peak.
He was only a single step away from the higher heaven transformation realm!
Feeling the mighty, pure spiritual energy surging and roaring through him like great rivers, as well as the explosive strength contained in his flesh and bones, Mu Chen could not help feeling pleased.
"Though my cultivation didn't rise as high as I expected, this isn't bad!"
If not for his innate chaos saint body dao embryo, a physique unmatched throughout the ages, his requirements for refining spiritual energy would not have exceeded those of ordinary people tenfold, a hundredfold!
If not for his innate divine ability suddenly emerging midway through the infusion and devouring a tremendous quantity of spiritual energy!
Otherwise, with the total amount of spiritual energy from this infusion, he truly might have broken through the heaven transformation realm's barrier in one go and reached the heaven reaching realm!
Yet, inexplicably, Mu Chen had a premonition... below the rank of Supreme, no one should be his match!
He had not tested it and did not know his precise combat strength, but he simply had that feeling.
It was wondrous!
Mu Chen slowly exhaled a long breath. Once it left his body, it remained condensed, shooting several yards like a strip of white silk before slowly dissipating.
He stretched his body, and his bones gave a series of crisp, harmonious chimes, like jade chime stones striking one another.
Looking around, he found that the vast expanse of the War Realm now seemed unusually empty.
After their infusions ended, most trial participants had submitted their preferences... chosen an academy, and returned to where they had come from to await the Five Great Academies' official admissions.
Now, apart from Mu Chen and the Five Deans, only two people remained in this War Realm.
Luo Li, and...
Wen Qingxuan!
She had not left either?
Seemingly noticing Mu Chen's gaze, Wen Qingxuan turned her head. Her pride seemed etched into her bones; even having lost to him had done nothing to temper it.
Yet the look she gave Mu Chen was rather different from before. Instead, it held a hint of teasing.
It felt rather baffling...
Mu Chen paid it little mind. Meeting Luo Li's gentle gaze, he took her hand.
"Luo Li, which academy did you join?"
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