The world at the foot of Mount Zhenlan was strangely silent.
Mist wound through the broken cliffs and jagged boulders like fingers dragging across a battlefield graveyard.
Jiǎng Mùchéng moved cautiously through the thick undergrowth.
His body alert, elemental senses extended.
📜[TARGET: Stormhide Echofang (雷皮回音兽) – Level 3 Beast]
– Thunder · Wind Element
– Combat Style: Ambush Predator
🧠 Smart Beast, Hidden Killer
Jiǎng narrowed his eyes.
"Where are you…"
He knew it wouldn't come charging out like an idiot.
The Stormhide Echofang was known for cunning—an expert at masking its qi signature, striking from unseen angles.
Rustle.
Silence.
Rustle.
His instincts flared, but he saw nothing.
Not a ripple of grass.
Not a single pulse of killing intent.
Clever bastard.
He gritted his teeth.
"Come on, then. I know you're there."
Suddenly—
ZAAAAAP—!!
A crackling arc of thunder shot from the mist, aimed straight at his back!
Jiǎng spun—but it was already too close.
He couldn't dodge cleanly.
📜[RECOMMENDED: TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE ACTIVATION]
[Initiating Abyssflare Stage – Voidfire Spirit Form]
Jiǎng growled.
"Do it."
🩸🔥[Abyssflare Stage – Voidfire Spirit Form]🔥🩸
Transformation Sequence Initiated:
1. Ashborn Severance – Twilight Descent
His flesh cracked like shattering obsidian.
Hairline fractures raced down his arms and chest.
Black fire leaked from every seam.
His skin withered into fine gray ash, peeling away and drifting into invisible winds.
From his core—
A black sphere began to pulse: the Voidheart Core (渊心神核), beating like a collapsed sun.
2. Oblivion Sutra Awakening – Crown of Thirteen Eclipse Flames
Thirteen miniature black-flame halos spun into existence around him.
Each flame a whisper of ruin: Despair, Silence, Stillness, Extinction…
Abyssal runes rained down his spine, branding into his bones and pulse.
3. Abyssal Embodiment – Voidfire Spirit Ascension
His chest split open with black tendrils—revealing the spinning Voidheart Core.
A spectral cloak of liquid blackfire unfurled behind him, weightless, yet denser than gravity.
Jagged black-flame wings erupted from his back, spreading silently across the sky.
4. Nether Echoform – Starlorn Gravewalker
Every step he took erased his own footprints.
The ground where he walked withered and darkened, illusions scattered into dust.
Where he stood, his figure blurred—the outline of a colossal black titan crowned by rings of dying stars.
🌑 Visual Manifestation:
Skin: Pale silver, flowing rivers of blackfire pulsing beneath.
Eyes: Abyssal black, burning with violet coronas; pupils collapsed like singularities.
Hair: Streams of blackfire strands flowing upward, shedding phantom embers.
Aura: A devouring cyclone of black mist; faint sounds of cosmic winds vibrated within.
📈 Power Surge:
Physical Strength: Elevated to Level 5 · 9-Star equivalent!
Cultivation Strength: Leaped from Level 2 · 0-Star to Level 2 · 9-Star (Peak)!
⚔️ The Counterattack Begins
The Stormhide Echofang lunged from the mist—
Its claws arcing with violet thunder, its fanged mouth split wide.
Jiǎng moved.
Not backward.
Not sideways.
He walked forward, absorbing the thunder around him into the mist swirling at his feet.
Abyssflare Signature Effects Activated:
🔥 Abyssflare Devourance (渊焰蚀灭):
All surrounding light was sucked away.
The world around them plunged into surreal abyssal darkness.
The beast's thunder crackles faded to nothing—no advantage anymore.
🩸 Void Domain: Eclipsefall Abyss (蚀落渊域):
A miniature realm unfolded—collapsing black suns above and below.
Within it, Jiǎng's strength was boosted by 40%.
The beast's wind and thunder qi were muted instantly.
The Echofang hesitated.
For the first time—it showed fear.
Jiǎng spoke.
His voice was not human—it echoed like the death rattle of a star:
"Your hunt ends here."
🖤 Black Star Cataclysm Strike (黑耀灾劫)
Jiǎng's wings folded inward—gathering all the abyssfire, void qi, and thunder surging through him.
He drew a sigil into the air with a swipe of his hand—
A compressed black glyph shining with the light of dying stars.
And he released it.
BOOOOM!!!
There was no sound.
Only vacuum.
A black nova burst outward, swallowing the beast in endless darkness.
The Stormhide Echofang shrieked—but no sound escaped.
Its spirit, flesh, and qi were devoured into the void pulse.
Only ashes and a cracked core fell to the ground.
🏆 Victory Secured
📜[QUEST COMPLETE: Stormhide Echofang Slain]
🧬 Acquired Item: Thunderhide Pulse Core (雷皮脉核)
Jiǎng stood above the fallen beast, breathing slow.
The mist returned—but it could no longer touch him.
"This power..."
He flexed his fingers, feeling the abyssfire gently coil around his bones.
"This is only the beginning."
The battlefield was silent.
The mist, the broken ground, and the faint scent of ozone mixed with scorched earth—all bore witness to Jiǎng Mùchéng's overwhelming, devouring power.
As the black nova faded into the dark sky, Jiǎng slowly turned his gaze inward.
"AI…"
His voice was still hoarse from the transformation echo.
"What was that?"
"What… am I now?"
The AI's voice answered calmly.
📜[SYSTEM RESPONSE: ELEMENTAL BODY ABSORPTION – FULL FORM UNLOCKED]
"Congratulations."
"You have just activated your First Stage True Manifestation."
"This is the complete form of your Stage I Elemental Body Absorption—the merging of the Iron Element and Flame Element within your flesh."
Jiǎng frowned, still flexing his blackfire-wreathed hands.
"But it's so different... so much stronger, so much more monstrous than before."
"The first time I used my body technique, I didn't look like... this."
He touched his own skin—pale silver marbled with rivers of writhing black flame.
The AI explained:
"Previously, you had not absorbed enough elemental resonance."
"Your First Form was incomplete—more like a 'partial ignition.'"
"But after absorbing the battlefield surge between Léi Xuánzi and Mù Bǎifēng..."
"You triggered a true full evolution."
📜[Abyssfire – Flame Classification]
🔥 Abyssfire (渊焰) is the product of Iron's indestructibility fused with Flame's destruction.
– It is not an advanced flame.
– It is a mutated basic elemental flame—born purely through your absorption traits.
"It exists because your body refused to settle for only one force."
"Thus, the Abyssfire embodies contradiction: destruction and defense, offense and endurance."
Jiǎng exhaled slowly.
His body still hummed with black cinders.
"A flame born by merging... even before reaching Level 3..."
He grinned, the blackfire reflecting faintly in his violet-crowned eyes.
"Then what about the Second Form?"
"Can I activate it?"
The AI's tone instantly became serious—almost urgent.
📜[WARNING]
❗ Activation Denied.
"You are currently only at Level 2 · 9-Stars."
"Activating your Second Form now would unleash energies your cultivation channels cannot stabilize."
"The strain would tear your elemental pathways, collapse your meridians, and cause irreparable damage to your foundation."
"You could cripple your future path... or worse."
Jiǎng clenched his fists.
The temptation was real.
The surge of strength he felt now... it whispered at the edge of his mind:
"More. Stronger. Faster."
But he gritted his teeth and nodded.
"Fine."
"I'll wait."
He closed his eyes briefly, steadying his breathing.
The AI, sensing his restraint, finally added warmly:
"Good."
"You will reach that stage soon enough."
"Today... you surpassed yourself without sacrificing tomorrow."
📜[SYSTEM UPDATE – ABYSSFLARE STAGE I REGISTERED]
▪️ Transformation: Abyssflare Stage – Voidfire Spirit Form (Active)
▪️ Primary Flame: Abyssfire
▪️ Fusion Elements: Iron · Flame
▪️ Next Target: Full stabilization and cultivation to Level 3 · 0-Star
Jiǎng slowly suppressed the transformation, letting the blackfire retract into his bones, wings dissolving into mist, the thirteen eclipse-flames dimming into hidden scars along his meridians.
His normal form returned—though his presence now carried a heavy, quiet weight.
The quiet of a storm… waiting to awaken again.
"Alright," he said, finally smirking to himself.
"Mount Zhenlan gave me this strength."
He picked up the Thunderhide Pulse Core from the cracked earth and slipped it into his pouch.
"Now it's time to head back…"
"And take my next step."
The blackfire faded.
The thirteen eclipse flames winked out one by one, dissolving into the mist.
The Voidheart Core pulsed one final time in Jiǎng's chest—and then quieted, sinking deep into the marrow of his soul.
Jiǎng stood there silently, feeling his power retreat into slumber.
He clenched his fists and smiled wryly.
📜[Transformation Sequence: Abyssflare Stage – Terminated]
📉 Cultivation: Returned to Level 2 · 1-Star
📈 Body Strength: Stabilized at Level 5 · 1-Star
"Hah…"
He chuckled under his breath.
"At least I grew."
He looked up at the swirling thunder-mist above Mount Zhenlan.
"Last time, I could barely call myself Level 2."
"Now..."
He glanced down at his clenched fists.
"I have the foundation of Level 5 strength, even if my cultivation lags behind."
"One star at a time."
With a deep breath, Jiǎng turned and began making his way back toward the Academy.
🧭 Path of Return… or So He Thought
The terrain twisted into jagged cliffs and mist-choked ravines.
The thunder overhead grew heavier.
And then—
He saw it.
In the distance, a hollow crater carved deep into the mountain floor.
It was not natural.
At the center floated a crystalized pillar of pulsating light—half buried in the earth, emitting faint pulses of qi vibrations that licked the air like fog.
The energy from it—
It felt like a thousand beasts breathing in unison.
📜[SYSTEM ALERT: UNKNOWN ENERGY FIELD DETECTED]
📊 Estimated Yield: High-density elemental qi resonance
🧬 Estimated Growth Potential: Level 2 · 9-Stars achievable
Jiǎng's eyes widened.
"That…"
"If I absorb that... I could skip months of training...!"
But then—
He noticed something.
The ground trembled.
The mist shifted.
Golden eyes. Red eyes. Green slitted eyes.
Shapes moved within the shadows.
Beasts.
At least six… maybe more.
He recognized the aura signatures immediately.
Level 3 Pulse Merge Beasts – Thunderfang Howlers, Mistlash Crocodiles.
Even one Level 4 aura – a Blackrock Direwolf prowling the upper ridge.
They weren't just wandering.
They were guarding the crystal pillar.
📜[SYSTEM: ENERGY FIELD IDENTIFIED]
Name: Wild Pulse Nexus (狂脉源泉)
Description:
– Formed when elemental leyline fractures expose raw qi veins to the surface.
– Attracts beasts instinctively to feed on the exposed energy.
– Functions as a "natural training accelerator" but under extreme territorial threat.
Survival Rating: 3.2% for solo Level 2 cultivators.
Jiǎng exhaled slowly, heart pounding.
"A natural Wild Pulse Nexus…?"
He licked his dry lips.
"If I can absorb even a fraction of that energy..."
"I might reach Level 2 · 9-Stars in one leap."
But…
"If I fail…"
He imagined himself torn apart by a pack of wild beasts before even touching the energy core.
He tightened his gloves.
Looked down at his hands.
And smiled crookedly.
"Since when did I get anything the easy way?"
"Let's make it count."
Jiǎng Mùchéng crouched, cloak wrapping tight around him.
The mist thickened.
The beasts prowled.
And ahead—
The Wild Pulse Nexus glowed like a silent invitation to both glory and death.