Chapter 155: Through This Bitter Journey, Stars Await

Chapter 155: Through This Bitter Journey, Stars Await

These revelations confirmed Shapeshifter’s claims.

Only one final step remained for Shapeshifter’s Skin to become a true "Glorious Legacy"—acquiring the complete isolation ability essential to Luo En’s plan.

“What exactly does ‘pure soul mana’ mean?” Luo En pressed further. “Are there specific sources or methods of obtaining it?”

“The souls of supernatural beings,” Shapeshifter replied. “Especially those possessing Special Bloodlines or innate talents. The rarer the bloodline, the purer the soul mana. But extraction must occur the instant the creature dies—otherwise, the mana dissipates rapidly.”

Luo En fell silent, deep in thought.

Pure soul mana from supernatural beings wasn’t easy to obtain, especially under the Academy’s strict regulations.

But if it happened during the bloody arena...

“I understand,” Luo En finally nodded. “You may rest now.”

Shapeshifter’s silhouette melted away, reattaching itself to Luo En’s skin as it resumed its concealed state.

Returning to his workbench, Luo En took a new notebook to jot down some data, simultaneously recording his discoveries and ideas in his mental library.

His plan was becoming clearer:

First, he needed to deepen his research on isolation layers and experiment with applying them to Soul Steel, preparing for future Darkblade Crafting.

Second, he had to find a way to obtain pure soul mana to help Shapeshifter’s Skin complete its final evolution.

Lastly, he needed to address potential negative effects from soul splitting and determine how to safely handle the separated soul fragments.

“The bloody arena,” Luo En murmured, his eyes gleaming with contemplation. “Not only could it provide the chance to acquire soul mana, but the champion’s prize—the legendary Substitute Puppet—might solve the soul-handling issue.”

Recalling the information from the Slave Merchant, he remembered: the Substitute Puppet could house the user’s consciousness, creating a near-identical “copy” unaffected by harm to the original.

“If I could implant the fragmented soul into the Substitute Puppet...” Luo En mused, “I might avoid direct soul damage while gaining greater operational flexibility.”

Yet this hinged on bold assumptions:

Could Shapeshifter’s Skin truly evolve successfully?

Would the isolation technique work on a demonic sword?

Was the Substitute Puppet truly as powerful as rumored?

“I need more experiments and verification,” Luo En reminded himself, maintaining his usual calm rationality.

He approached the window, gazing at the gradually brightening sky, thoughts racing.

Power was a tool, not an end.

The goal was mastery over power—not becoming enslaved by it.

With this mindset, he returned to his workbench, resuming his experiments.

The Soul Steel gleamed coldly under the light, as though whispering ancient secrets.

Standing before the workbench, he glanced at the crystal where he’d successfully etched a complete isolation rune system, a sense of achievement rising.

This crystal could hold three distinct mana fields, completely isolated and undisturbed for up to a week.

Through weeks of research, he’d poured countless hours into mana isolation layer testing, applying his Alchemy class knowledge in practical experiments.

This focused dedication had finally borne fruit:

【Foundational Alchemy (Entry-Level) Experience +1】

【Breakthrough! Foundational Alchemy (Entry-Level 50/50) → Foundational Alchemy (Proficient 1/100)】

【Acquired Additional Trait: Conception (Enhanced Inspiration for Alchemy Item Creation)】

Luo En hesitated, then felt a surge of new vitality within his spirit.

Breaking through to Proficient in Foundational Alchemy had elevated his understanding to an entirely new level.

Of course, at his current stage, achieving Proficient alone couldn’t stir significant emotional waves.

“Conception,” he mused, seeing the trait’s name—a spark of Inspiration suddenly igniting his mind.

Past weeks had seen slow progress in mana isolation research, but now possibilities seemed endless.

Design concepts formed naturally in his mind, as if whispered by an unseen guide.

Reflecting, this breakthrough hadn’t come easily.

Since starting his mana isolation research, each failure had brought deeper understanding.

He’d tested dozens of rune combinations, multiple materials, enduring countless setbacks—metal overheating, materials becoming brittle, unstable mana fields. Each failure held valuable lessons.

Staring at the densely filled notebooks, Luo En’s grasp of Alchemy had evolved from theoretical knowledge to true internalized understanding.

This improvement directly impacted his other skills, including potion research and spell practice.

More surprisingly, the Conception trait offered not just enhanced Inspiration, but a completely new perspective.

He could now perceive the subtle mana flow balances within Alchemy items, discerning resonance and repulsion between different materials.

Checking his profession advancement interface, Luo En smiled faintly:

【Profession Advancement Info Unlocked: Alchemist (Two-Star)】

【Class Advancement Requirements:
1. Foundational Alchemy at Proficient √
2. Alchemy at Mastery
3. Transcendent Perception at Proficient √
4. Independently complete production of three or more basic Alchemy items √
5. Successfully improve at least one existing Alchemy item blueprint】

He’d already completed three attribute-based mana crystal refinements for the Workshop—stabilizing energy efficiency and fulfilling the basic item production requirement.

“Two conditions left,” Luo En refocused on his experiment. “With Mastery-level Alchemy and the Conception trait, completing the remaining requirements should be much easier.”

Thanks to his advanced Alchemy and the Conception trait, his mana isolation research had made breakthrough progress.

What once required trial-and-error now felt intuitive—he could foresee the effects of rune combinations without physical testing.

The path to Alchemist mastery had opened, the first step in the “Furnace Conception” journey.

“There’s still some time,” he calculated. “Since Aolifu’s incident, the bloody arena was postponed to a month and a half from now—plenty of time for further preparation.”

In the coming weeks, he needed to elevate his Alchemy skills as foundational preparation for demonic sword crafting.

He must also train Daire, ensuring she had enough strength to stand out in the arena.

With this resolve, Luo En took a deep breath and resumed his meticulous work.

Outside, the sky had fully brightened—a new day had begun.

——————

Aolifu slumped against the cold cave wall, his breathing weak.

Yet his eyes retained a clarity strangely at odds with his grotesque mutation.

Once a strong physique now sagged like a desiccated corpse, skin an unnatural grayish-white, sunken eye sockets and protruding cheekbones.

His once-handsome face was unrecognizable. The right side had mutated worse, black liquid oozing constantly from his pores, emitting a rotting stench.

Most terrifying were his eyes—no longer orbs, but two thin tentacles dangling limply from his cheeks, occasionally twitching like dying snakes.

“My... sweet... little Aolifu,” Xin Xi Ya’s voice slithered from the cave depths, sticky and warped. “Still not dead yet?”

Aolifu strained to turn his neck toward the woman who’d once been beautiful.

Xin Xi Ya’s lower body had swollen threefold, coated in thick mucus. Countless tentacles extended in all directions—some as thin as hair, others as thick as arms.

Her face retained human beauty, but compound eyes now ringed her sockets, while her mouth stretched into a grotesque slit like an ancient legend’s cleft-mouth monster.

“Why not drain me completely?” Aolifu rasped, confusion flickering in his eyes.

Xin Xi Ya’s grotesquely transformed body undulated elegantly—her movements paradoxically graceful despite the horror.

Her tentacles danced like exquisitely crafted props, tracing perfect arcs through the air.

Though coated in mucus, her skin gleamed like pearls, shimmering temptingly in the cave’s dim light.

“You think I’m just mindlessly draining you?” she cooed. A thick tentacle reached out, gently caressing Aolifu’s cracked lips, secreting a viscous liquid.

The instant it touched his skin, the liquid was greedily absorbed.

His eye-tentacles lifted slightly, a flicker of vitality returning.

“Don’t look at me like that, darling,” Xin Xi Ya’s tone suddenly softened. “I just need mana so desperately—this new body requires massive nutrients to stabilize.”

“And actually,” she giggled, “I’m helping you. Your spirit pollution was already at critical levels. If left unchecked, you’d have become an unconscious monster long ago.”

Aolifu hesitated, recalling the first time he'd seen his fully Awakened companions back in the cave. They had lost all rationality, reduced to primal instincts and raw desires.

"It's me", Xin Xi Ya declared proudly, lifting her head with a voice brimming with pride. "I've been regularly drawing off the excess polluted mana from your body, helping you maintain balance between rationality and corruption."

Her tendrils coiled more intimately around Aolifu's body, her tone turning seductive and tender. "It benefits us both, doesn't it? You stay alert, and I..." Xin Xi Ya's grotesque yet undeniably beautiful form unfurled in the darkness. "...become more perfect."

Aolifu stared in shock at the creature before him, gradually piecing everything together. Xin Xi Ya had indeed become a monster after her Awakening, but she hadn't completely lost her rationality. Instead, she'd seemingly discovered a method to channel her mutation into a twisted form of "evolution" rather than chaotic degradation.

"How did you do it?" Aolifu couldn't help but ask.

Xin Xi Ya's compound eyes shimmered with mystery. "Dear Aolifu, that's a secret all my own. Perhaps one day I'll tell you, but only if you behave yourself." Her tendrils secreted more of that mana-rich fluid, nourishing Aolifu while deepening their strange, almost symbiotic bond.

Aolifu could clearly sense that each time Xin Xi Ya extracted mana from him, she returned a portion of processed mana to his body. This cycle sustained his life and, more importantly, his lucid consciousness.

Her tendrils wrapped around his body, lifting him gently. "Besides, I didn't abandon you, did I? The others fled long ago."

Indeed, the cave stood completely empty. Just before dawn, the thirty-something man claiming to be the "Abyssal Eye" representative had suddenly turned pale and announced the arrival of the extermination squad. Without warning the others, he vanished through a secret passage. When the remaining Awakened discovered this, they scattered in panic, unwilling to help Aolifu, who had been drained dry by Xin Xi Ya.

Only Xin Xi Ya, driven by some twisted affection or mana-source dependency, prepared to flee with Aolifu in tow.

At that moment, both of them simultaneously sensed a terrifying mana fluctuation from afar.

"It's time", Xin Xi Ya's voice turned serious. "We can leave now... Those who've lost their rationality will just flee in chaos, unaware that all exits to the outside world have already been sealed."

A cold chuckle escaped Xin Xi Ya as her lower body's soft tissue rapidly expanded, completely enveloping Aolifu. The tendrils, now saturated with mana from their continuous extraction, spun rapidly like a biological drill bit, burrowing deeper underground.

"They're coming", Xin Xi Ya's voice echoed from all directions, tinged with unmistakable fear. "That massive mana fluctuation... It's Fuyuanzhang Hajieke."

...

Hajieke hovered above the Edge Forest, his violet robe flaring in the wind. His face remained expressionless, but his eyes crackled with thunderstorm-like intensity. As this Moonlight Rank mage gazed down, the entire forest seemed to tremble under his aura.

"Ready?" he asked. His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced hundreds of meters of space, clearly reaching every Enforcement Team member's ears.

"Yes, Fuyuanzhang." The Enforcement Team leader stood respectfully, head bowed, afraid to meet this figure's gaze. "We've set up the containment formation. All possible escape routes have been cut off."

Hajieke nodded indifferently, not sparing the leader a second glance. To him, these Enforcement Team members and ordinary apprentices were no different—mere insignificant gears in the School system.

"Begin."

The Moonlight Rank mage raised his right hand, cleanly tracing a purple arc. He inhaled deeply, starting his Overmagic incantation. This preparatory motion alone distorted the surrounding air, causing distant trees to sway without wind, rustling as if paying homage to his power.

Without uttering a single incantation, a mere flick of his fingers caused the formation to expand at visible speed, soon covering the entire target area, creating visible mana ripples in the air. The complex spell configuration left bright trails in the sky, the formation composed of countless interlocking micro-components. Each piece floated in precise, millimeter-perfect formation, creating a grand and intricate mana structure.

Hajieke's expression remained calm, as if weaving such complex spells was child's play. The Enforcement Team members looked up in awe, some less experienced ones stunned into immobility by the spectacle.

High-density mana flowed from Hajieke's fingertips like a river into the spell structure, making its glow increasingly brilliant. The aerial formation began rotating, emitting a piercing hum.

—Overmagic Multi-Layered Barrage!

As he channeled mana, the spell configuration suddenly erupted into a massive dark purple beam hundreds of meters in diameter, directly striking the underground cave's location.

The beam instantly ionized the air along its path, generating countless tiny lightning bolts that wove around the main beam like a spider's web. The earth trembled beneath this terrifying mana impact. Everything around the cave—trees, rocks, soil, even moisture in the air—vaporized or decomposed instantly from the extreme heat. Dozens of kilometers in every direction were reduced to ash, no life remaining. The surface melted into a massive glass-like crater, with gray smoke still rising from its edges.

Throughout this cataclysmic assault, Hajieke's expression never changed. Even as the beam continued its bombardment, he leisurely adjusted the wrinkles on his long robe.

To this Moonlight Rank mage, the spell capable of destroying an entire region was merely one of many tools in his arsenal. When the beam finally dissipated, he landed slowly at the crater's edge, scanning the scorched land with indifference.

"Continue searching. Confirm no survivors." Hajieke's tone remained flat. "I've cleared the rat holes. The cleanup's yours now." Without waiting for the Enforcement Team leader's response, he turned and left, his figure gradually fading into the air.

Only the scarred wasteland remained, silently testament to the terrifying power of a Moonlight Rank mage.

At the same time, on the top floor of Black Mist School's Workshop, Luo En gazed at the towering beam of light in the distance, his heart equally stirred. Even across such a vast distance, the destructive mana fluctuation remained unmistakable.

The entire Black Mist Jungle seemed to hold its breath after that earth-shaking strike, all creatures instinctively shrinking into shadows out of fear of that power.

"This is the might of a Moonlight Rank Full Mage", Luo En murmured, his eyes burning with endless yearning. The gap between him and those Elementary Apprentices might be vast, but it was merely the difference between a carp and a small shark. Between Moonlight Rank mages and apprentices like him, though, lay a chasm as wide as that between deep-sea leviathan whales and tiny coastal shrimp.

His gaze lingered as thoughts swirled in his mind. If a Moonlight Rank mage like Fuyuanzhang Hajieke could annihilate dozens of kilometers with a mere gesture, how terrifying would a Dusk Sun Rank mage be? As for the legendary Archmages and Lich Kings, what kind of beings were they?

Soft footsteps approached from behind. Liliya walked up, watching the now-calm sky.

"Teacher, what was that just now?"

"Fuyuanzhang's extermination operation", Luo En replied simply. "Looks like the 'Abyssal Eye' hideout has been completely destroyed."

Liliya shivered slightly. "That power... simply unbelievable."

"Yes, unbelievable", Luo En turned, a faint smile in his eyes. "But it also reminds me—our journey is long, and there's much to learn."

Liliya sensed his determination, nodding earnestly. "Yes, teacher."

Returning to the Workshop's interior, Luo En couldn't help glancing at the horizon once more, his thoughts drifting again. This extermination operation would undoubtedly shake the Black Mist Jungle's balance. Where would the surviving "Abyssal Eye" members flee? Were Aolifu and Xin Xi Ya among them? What level of power did Fuyuanzhang's terrifying display represent? Within this endless world chain, could a Moonlight Rank mage truly be considered a top-tier force?

These questions flashed like stars in Luo En's mind, but he knew he wasn't yet qualified to seek these answers. What he needed to do now was continue honing every skill, improving every attribute, until one day he could truly stand at the pinnacle, gazing down upon all.

"Per asprera ad astra (Through hardships to the stars)"—a mysterious adage etched into the Central Hall's stone tablet at School, its origins long forgotten, yet its meaning undeniably profound. Many had tried interpreting this ancient phrase, and Luo En had his own understanding:

"No matter how small one starts, the path to the stars must have an end."

With that thought, he reined in his wandering mind and returned to his work.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end