Chapter 583 The Ninth Time
The scattered power continued to be gently released, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Those who were meant to break through their limits did so, those who were meant to grow stronger grew stronger, and those who were meant to be optimized were optimized. Everyone quietly awaited the Moon God's orbital departure.
As for that terrifyingly massive rainbow bridge connecting Earth and the Moon, Bai Mo had already privately informed the Federation's Presiding Council that it would be retracted at the last moment, promising it wouldn't affect anyone's departure.
Temporarily under someone else's roof and forced to bend the knee, the Federation's Presiding Council could only grudgingly acquiesce to this final act of capriciousness.
...
"I succeeded..." Dong Fang Sa ripped off his black robe, pitted and corroded by the special spirit qi. Crumpling it into a ball, he flung it with all his might in a random direction, releasing the joy of his success.
After countless trials, the limits that had previously blocked his progress vanished, and the path to becoming a six-stage Longevity Master was clear.
He had even accumulated the greater part of the necessary resources for the transition from the fifth to the sixth stage from Bai Mo.
Upon returning, a decade of secluded cultivation at most would be enough to consolidate his gains, and Dong Fang Sa would likely step into the world's top tier of six-stage powerhouses, further propagating the path of the Feng Shui Spirit Master.
Having obtained everything he needed, he had already decided to leave this place immediately.
Perhaps due to a flaw in the array's design, the power converted from the Star Core and infused into Dong Fang Sa and the others still carried a unique corrosive quality. Some of those who accepted this power instinctively sensed that something was amiss.
Were it not for the immense temptation and his substantial initial investment, Dong Fang Sa would have hesitated before absorbing it. However, it wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility of the other party tampering with the spirit qi; he simply believed it was unnecessary.
If one wished to control small fry like them, there was no need for such trouble. Psychic Spirit Arts were countless, and with a difference of several major stages, resistance was virtually impossible.
...
Compared to Dong Fang Sa, who was willing to let go and leave without a trace of hesitation, the performance of the other eight was rather pathetic.
Only Lanna and Mo Er Si, who had awakened first, had briefly entertained the thought of leaving. The six who emerged from the mental world later were completely blinded by their greed for power.
Unfortunately, Lanna and his companion's fleeting insight couldn't sustain their resolve to leave in such an environment.
Every second they absorbed, their aptitude and power increased. This temptation was too difficult to resist for those who had always lingered at the bottom, frequently scorned by others.
The obsession with becoming a superior being was the best rope to pull them ashore from their bitter sea of despair, where they had endured so much disdain.
"Grow stronger. Once you are strong, you will have everything..." The voice of the devil, named Desire, was seducing the crowd.
...
After Dong Fang Sa unhesitatingly chose to leave, the others seized the main channel that had originally supplied him, each absorbing one percent of its power.
From their distorted expressions, it was evident that this was the limit of what they could contain.
The core of the absorption array was designed by Dong Fang Sa, based on his own powerful five-stage body. Ordinary people would definitely not be able to endure it.
As for the role of the eight individuals on the periphery, in Dong Fang Sa's view, they were merely a filter, used to slightly purify the power before it entered his own body.
High-stage cultivators might be able to discern the difference between the purified and unpurified power, but to this bunch of scoundrels who knew nothing about cultivation, it was like drinking 70-proof rubbing alcohol versus 90-proof "Water of Life"—there wasn't much of a real difference.
...
Time passed, second by second. Although the eight individuals exerted their utmost to seize power that wasn't rightfully theirs, over ninety percent of the refined spirit qi still dissipated into the environment. This special spirit qi began to spread across the Moon.
Bai Mo, situated at the center of the Star Core grinding disc, was single-mindedly focused on weakening the Daoization within it. Everything happening in the outside world seemed to be irrelevant to him.
The rainbow bridge continuously fed into the grinding disc, which resembled a meat grinder, while pure spirit qi flowed out from the other end.
As this process continued, Bai Mo could feel the pressure ease slightly, but compared to the vast amount of Daoization, the reduction was still a drop in the ocean.
...
Lanna savored everything that was happening to his body, even as it was accompanied by intense, soul-deep pain.
Ever since he slew the "self" within his mental world, the power continuously pouring into his body had begun to broaden his foundation.
If his body previously was like a teacup, able to hold only a cup's worth of spirit energy, then the current special spirit qi was frantically expanding that teacup, until it stretched into a bucket.
"It's happening again?!" When the teacup truly became a bucket, the still-unsatisfied Lanna was dragged back into his mental world once more.
The mission he received was still the same—kill himself.
"Did you think the same trick would work on me twice?" He grinned, cheerfully quoting a Saint Seiya catchphrase.
By the end of the last battle, Lanna had largely overcome his weakness of being unable to strike himself fiercely. Now, he had grown even more ruthless; even if someone looked exactly like him, as long as they stood in his way, he would kill them without hesitation.
Of course, a naked original staring at a naked clone still felt somewhat uncomfortable mentally. At the very least, he was unwilling to attack certain very obvious weak points, because he couldn't get past the "testicle-ache" barrier.
However, compared to last time, after Lanna shed his psychological baggage, this battle was much easier. He once again blasted the "self" in his mental world into dust.
He possessed a body full of spirit energy but knew no methods of using it, still only able to fight with the most primitive means. As a clone, it naturally could do no other.
This was also the reason he could win with relative ease.
If he had known a multitude of Spirit Arts, the clone, performing with super stability due to its lack of emotional fluctuations, might well have been able to turn the tables and blast the original into oblivion.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
The nearly crazed Lanna killed himself eight times in a row; by the end, he was numb to it.
With each victory, his foundation grew stronger: from a teacup to a small bucket, then from a small bucket to a large bucket, and from a large bucket to a small pool...
He hadn't advanced in stage, nor had his life-level transformed. He simply felt his foundation become incomparably robust. If one had to describe it, it was like a monster, fully charged, capable of fighting ten opponents of the same rank.
"The ninth time is coming!" Lanna muttered to himself, his mind now incapable of holding anything else.
But this time was different; a voice appeared directly in his mind.
P.S.: Happy New Year, everyone.
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