Chapter 110: God Ascension State!
1. In the Cavern of the Fire God
"Your Excellency, there's a Saint-level participant from the Martial God bloodline slaughtering other Saint-level contestants in a frenzy. The Grand Sacrifice hasn't started yet. Should we intervene?"
(Jiang Zhe, clad in armor, is actually disguised by Orianna. The domain lord aura sensed by the realm master is deliberately released by Orianna.)
In the underground cavern, an emaciated elder sat cross-legged on a mat. As he opened his eyes, flames seemed to burst from the void around him, and his eye sockets glowed like two blazing stars.
This was an immortal god of flame.
The immense pressure of his immortal power settled on the realm master-level inspector, the divine might pressing down like a mountain.
The immortal elder didn't answer at once. Instead, he turned his head slightly.
Drip — drip —
Drops of blood fell from dark red stalactites on the cavern ceiling, collecting in a stone vat that was already half full.
"Everything is proceeding as usual. No need to interfere."
The elder murmured, sounding half-dazed as if still waking from sleep.
Then his gaze snapped back to the inspector, and his voice turned stern.
"Martial God… I remember which branch that is. You're sure he's from the Martial God race?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. We've tested his blood. The insignia crafted from it resonates with him. Also..." The inspector hesitated, then continued, "He's only at Saint-level. Those demonic outsiders usually just send Hero-level warriors here to train."
"How many Saint-level participants has he killed so far?"
"Over 500."
"Heh, quite a talent. Let him keep going. Once he's slain a thousand, bring him here. I'll personally verify his identity. If he passes, I'll take him as my disciple."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"That will be all. Dismissed."
2. Jiang Zhe's New Power
In a quiet valley, Jiang Zhe burst out of the earth, startling flocks of birds.
He washed off in a pool, feeling the explosive power coursing through his body. After adapting to it, he donned a dark blue robe and stepped ashore.
"Haha! A life gene level 22 times stronger than normal humans — just a notch below the fourth layer of the Nine Tribulations Manual."
"And Life Blueprint, you didn't disappoint me. Advancing to the third stage granted me another innate secret technique."
Jiang Zhe's heart surged as he recalled the newly inherited memories.
"An innate secret art — [God Ascension]!"
Activating it, energy erupted from the "Thunder Prison World" in his chest, drawing in cosmic origin energy. Crystalline formations quickly enveloped his body.
In a blink, they sealed him inside a three-meter-wide crystal sphere with 10,081 facets.
Through the semi-transparent shell, Jiang Zhe appeared to be peacefully asleep.
Whoosh — whoosh —
The crystal core exhaled streams of blue energy streaked with dark purple arcs. They swiftly gathered and solidified.
A colossal blue energy giant over a hundred meters tall took form.
Its proportions were perfect, radiating harmony and strength. Draped in a robe of condensed energy that left half its muscular chest bare, its face was identical to Jiang Zhe's.
At its core, embedded within the giant's head, lay the crystal encasing Jiang Zhe's true body.
The giant came to life, clenching fists, rolling its shoulders, stretching its arms… then let out a deep rumbling sound.
"Woohoo!"
"Susano'o? Time to pilot my own mech!"
Given Jiang Zhe's current state, that joke wasn't entirely misplaced.
Visually, it was almost identical to that iconic manga technique.
In this giant form, Jiang Zhe punched and shattered a small mountain, testing his new body while reflecting on the [God Ascension] ability.
3. The Power of [God Ascension]
Innate Secret Art — [God Ascension]:
When activated, the user enters the God Ascension State.
In this state, the user's flesh becomes pure energy, immune to soul attacks. The only fatal weakness is the "life crystal core" inside.
While active, the user can burn their divine body for a tenfold boost in power. As the divine body shrinks to just the life crystal, the burning stops and the state ends.
Jiang Zhe clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Good grief! Burning the divine body? Isn't this like gaining an immortal god's trait ahead of time?"
Immortals can burn divine power to achieve a thousandfold burst of strength.
But that wasn't even the most astonishing part.
The truly insane bit was this — the hundred-meter-tall blue energy giant was now one of Jiang Zhe's permanent life forms.
It wasn't just something conjured temporarily each time he activated the art.
In the future, once he became immortal, he could transform this energy giant into a divine body, ultimately forging a god form far larger than typical human immortals.
Human immortals had a notorious weakness — their divine bodies were too small and burned up quickly.
But with [God Ascension], Jiang Zhe could switch freely between his two life forms, without that worry at all.
A hundred meters tall was nothing yet — that was just his universe-level peak form. As he reached domain lord, realm master, and immortal levels, this "blue energy giant" could grow vastly larger.
And with Life Blueprint still having fourth and fifth stages to cultivate, there was no telling how [God Ascension] might evolve, just like [Monstrous Strength] had.
More advantages:
Other immortals had to stop burning their divine bodies at some point — or they'd lose half their power, fall into a coma, or even risk death.
Jiang Zhe was different. He could burn his energy giant completely down to his human flesh, then slowly rebuild it without worry.
"I wonder if burning the divine body in God Ascension State can stack with burning divine power after I become immortal? If so… would it be 1,000 × 10? A ten-thousandfold boost?"
He was itching to test it.
4. Laying Low Again
The energy giant dissolved into streams of blue vapor streaked with electricity, sucked back into the life crystal. The crystal itself softened, flowing like liquid back into the "Thunder Prison World" in his chest.
Jiang Zhe reverted to his human flesh form.
He didn't try burning the divine body for that tenfold power burst.
He was still deep in enemy territory. On this continent, spanning 1.5 billion kilometers, there were 99 realm masters scattered about — and possibly another immortal god lurking somewhere.
He couldn't afford to let loose just yet.
Even the commotion he'd caused testing the form was risky. After carefully erasing all traces, he flew low, leaving the valley.
5. Another Mission from Above
Time passed.
There were 34 days left until the "Grand Sacrifice in the Holy City."
The Ancient God Arena was already in chaos. Bloodshed broke out constantly as the ancient god descendants displayed their personal might.
In a primal forest, Jiang Zhe stood on a branch as thick as a man's waist, staring at half-decayed bones in the stream below.
"Anna, isn't this the poor fool I killed early the day before yesterday?"
"Yes, Master. You killed him 39 hours ago. He was a seventh-rank domain lord."
"Strange. A universe-level corpse takes decades or centuries to rot. Why is a domain lord's body decomposing so quickly?"
Though he voiced the question, both he and Orianna knew the answer.
— Every Grand Sacrifice would produce two treasures: Ancient God Blood and Ancient God Race Essence Blood.
"Anna, as a 'Lord of Matter,' can you try to trace the source?"
"I can—"
She stopped abruptly, her expression grave.
"Master, a realm master is headed our way. 300,000 kilometers… 200,000… 100,000… he's here!"
This realm master didn't conceal his presence. In a near-instant, he appeared on a tree crown just 100 meters from Jiang Zhe, clad in the striking gold robe of an inspector.
"Martial God line… Zhe?"
"Yes, sir." Jiang Zhe quickly put on a look of humble awe and bowed. "Zhe greets the Exalted Half-God."
"Why have you stopped your slaughter?"
"Eh?" Jiang Zhe was taken aback. He hadn't expected that question. But he quickly answered, "Exalted one, I've killed enough — they're too weak. It's boring."
The golden-robed realm master chuckled lightly and didn't comment.
Instead, he asked, "How many Saint-level contestants have you killed now?"
Jiang Zhe counted the Saint insignias in his ring.
"Exalted one, a total of 802."
"I'll give you a chance. Kill 1,000 Saint-level participants. Bring their insignias to inspection point 001. I'll take you to meet a god personally. You'll become a disciple of the divine."
With that, the realm master vanished.
"Master, he's gone," Orianna said. "Do you want to keep going?"
"Yes. We keep to the plan — two tracks at once. Never put all your eggs in one basket."
End of the chapter
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