Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 237: Obtaining the Inheritance

With a flash of darkness followed by light, Fang Hao felt as if he had been thrown into a red-hot blacksmith’s furnace. From all directions came deafening shouts of battle, the clashing of weapons, and the angry roars and screams of the dying! His nose caught the thick, inseparable stench of blood, sweat, and the dust-filled smell of smoke. His ears rang, and his brain felt like it had been stuffed into a giant drum being pounded with full force.

He "stood" on a vast, dark red wasteland (the sky was dark red, and the earth was dark red, as if soaked in blood). Beneath his feet was cracked, steaming scorched earth, embedded with broken weapons, tattered war banners, and... countless, incomplete, giant skeletons! There were humanoid ones, as well as the skeletons of various bizarre Demon Beasts, piled up like small hills.

Around him were countless phantom images of giants fighting crazily! These giants, some over ten zhang tall and others three or four zhang, all had knotted muscles, bulging veins, and rugged faces, either roaring in anger or fighting silently to the death. They wore simple armor made of unknown animal hides and metal scraps, wielding stone axes, bone clubs, and giant hammers the size of door panels, fighting for their lives against enemies! Their enemies included terrifying figures just as tall but shrouded in rolling black mist with indistinct faces, and others were massive, incredibly hideous primordial giant beasts!

The battle was extremely brutal! There were no flashy Spells, no exquisite Moves, only the most primitive, barbaric, and direct collision of power! Fist to flesh, axe to blood! Giant warriors were constantly torn apart by the entities in the black mist or swallowed by giant beasts, while black mist was scattered by battle axes, and giant beasts had their heads smashed open! Severed limbs flew everywhere, and scalding blood poured down like a rainstorm, staining every inch of the land red.

Fang Hao, like a ghost who had wandered into the battlefield, stood blankly in the center. He could clearly feel the tragic Battle Intent and unyielding will that were almost ready to solidify, as well as... sorrow and anger that penetrated to the bone. This Battle Intent was like an invisible heavy hammer, striking his Divine Soul repeatedly, making him dizzy and his consciousness begin to blur. The impact of the blood and slaughter made his stomach churn, and his Dao Heart was faintly shaken.

"Is this... the war soul trial? You want me to watch this?" Fang Hao gritted his teeth, desperately circulating the Chaos Derivation Art and the Ethereal Art, trying to steady his mind. He knew this had to be an illusion, a trial triggered by the war soul incense, and he had to stay awake, or his Divine Soul might truly be crushed and devoured by this endless will to slaughter.

But just then, in the center of the battlefield, a phantom image of a giant warrior—the tallest, most conspicuous one, holding a dark golden giant axe that seemed capable of splitting the heavens and earth—suddenly turned his head. A pair of eyes, burning with raging battle flames and seemingly able to see through the Void Realm, stared fixedly at Fang Hao! Although they were far apart, Fang Hao felt that the other party was looking at him! Looking through him, this "alien" who did not belong here!

"Fight!" The axe-wielding giant (Fang Hao felt he was "Xing," the Clan Chief of the War Heaven Clan!) let out a roar that shook the universe! He pointed his giant axe vaguely in Fang Hao’s direction!

Boom—! In an instant, Fang Hao felt the surrounding battlefield phantoms freeze, then scatter in all directions like a receding tide. But he himself seemed to be pulled forward by an invisible force, appearing instantly at the very forefront of the battlefield!

Before him, an enemy phantom shrouded in black mist, with only two points of scarlet light flickering, was emitting a weird, cackling laugh as it swung a pale white scythe made of bones and vengeful Souls, hacking viciously toward him! Before the scythe even arrived, the cold, decaying, sharp aura that seemed capable of cutting the Soul already made Fang Hao’s Divine Soul sting!

"Holy crap! This is for real?!" Terrified to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, Fang Hao wanted to dodge, but felt his body incredibly heavy, as if suppressed by the power of this ancient battlefield, making it extremely difficult to even Move! He wanted to cast a Spell, but found his body empty; the spiritual power of the Chaos Derivation Art, the yitian sword, the empty clarity mirror—everything seemed not to exist here! He was like a lamb stripped naked and thrown into a pack of wolves, left with only his most primitive body and... his Divine Soul!

No! There was still the star evolution plate! He felt a weight in his hand; the ancient compass was still in his hand, but it was just lying there quietly, unable to be activated.

Watching the bone scythe about to strike his head, the shadow of death instantly enveloped him. A strong sense of unwillingness and anger surged in Fang Hao’s heart! Damn it, I worked so hard to get here and obtained the Legacy clue, am I going to die in this illusion trial? To be hacked to death by a phantom?

"Get lost—for me!" In this desperate situation, the fierceness and stubbornness in Fang Hao’s bones, having climbed up from a menial laborer, were thoroughly ignited! He let out a hoarse roar, no longer thinking about spiritual power or Spells, no longer thinking about movement techniques or Divine Abilities. Purely by instinct, he gathered all his strength, will, and that faint Battle Intent ignited by the battlefield into his right fist. Without dodging or avoiding, he met the incoming bone scythe and punched out!

There was no light of spiritual power, no whistling of wind from the punch, only the most plain, unadorned, and all-out punch! Striking toward the center of those two points of scarlet light!

Pfft—! There was no loud crash as imagined. Fang Hao’s fist felt as if it had hit a mass of cold mist. The moment the bone scythe touched his fist, it melted inch by inch like snow under the sun. The enemy phantom shrouded in black mist also let out a sharp, unwilling howl, collapsing with a roar, turning into wisps of black smoke that were instantly dispersed and purified by the Battle Intent permeating the battlefield.

Fang Hao remained in the punching posture, stunned. Just like that... shattered? By his fist? By his will?

Before he could think it through, the surrounding scene changed again!

He was no longer an onlooker but seemed to have "possessed" an ordinary young War Heaven Clan warrior who was only three zhang tall (considered short on this battlefield)! He could feel the soreness of this warrior’s muscles, the stinging pain of his wounds, the fear in his heart, but more than that, an unyielding Battle Intent and a belief in guarding the home behind him!

"Kill!" This body roared, wielding a simple stone axe, and charged toward a lunging giant beast shaped like a lizard, covered in bone spurs! He could clearly feel the fishy wind as the giant beast lunged, the intense pain of the stone axe rebounding when it hit the bone spurs, and the sound of his ribs breaking and the heart-piercing pain from being swept by the giant beast’s tail!

"Ah—!" Fang Hao (or rather, the warrior he possessed) let out a pained roar, but his eyes became even more ferocious. Ignoring his injuries, he threw away the broken stone axe and, using his last bit of strength, lunged up to tightly hug one of the giant beast’s forelimbs, opened his mouth, and bit fiercely into the relatively soft throat of the giant beast with his teeth! Scalding, fishy beast blood surged into his throat as the giant beast struggled frantically...

The scene shattered. He "became" another warrior, covering his companions’ retreat, using his body to block an incoming black light, feeling as if his Divine Soul was about to be torn apart...

Then, he "became" a heavily wounded, dying veteran, leaning against a tattered war banner, watching the distant phantom of the Clan Chief "Xing’s" giant axe crumble. Blood tears streamed from his eyes as he used his last bit of strength to bury a blood-stained bone fragment, carved with the patterns of the War Heaven Clan, into the scorched earth...

Countless scenes, countless battles, countless deaths, countless instances of holding the line and sacrifice... flashed rapidly through Fang Hao’s "consciousness" like a revolving lantern. He was no longer a mere onlooker but constantly "substituted" into different War Heaven Clan warriors, experiencing the battles, pain, beliefs, and choices of their final moments.

Each time he "substituted," that tragic, unyielding, pure Battle Intent was more deeply branded into the depths of his Divine Soul. Under the impact of this endless slaughter and sacrifice, his consciousness was like a piece of iron being repeatedly forged on an anvil—sometimes scorching hot, sometimes cold and stinging—seeming ready to collapse at any moment. Yet, a faint power originating from the star evolution plate and his own Chaos Qi was struggling to maintain the last bit of clarity, preventing him from being completely lost and sinking.

This trial was not about defeating a specific enemy. It was about your Divine Soul experiencing, enduring, and understanding the "War Heaven Clan’s" fighting will and spirit of sacrifice that was integrated into their blood and bones! Using the iron and blood of this endless battlefield to temper your war soul! If you couldn’t endure it, your Divine Soul would be assimilated and devoured by the battlefield. If you endured it, the war soul would begin to form, allowing you to carry the true meaning of the power of the War Heaven Scripture!

Time seemed to lose its meaning here. Fang Hao did not know how many times he had experienced "death" or endured how many Divine Soul impacts. He felt his consciousness had become numb, with only one inextinguishable obsession holding on tightly—I cannot die here! I must become stronger! I must survive! There is still an old dog outside wanting to kill me, the Sun Family and Zhao Family wanting to cause me trouble, and I still have to find my parents and see the wider world!

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

As if sensing his last bit of inextinguishable obsession, the entire dark red battlefield illusion—all the War Heaven Clan warrior phantoms currently fighting, including the axe-wielding giant "Xing"—stopped their actions simultaneously, turned their heads to look at the location of Fang Hao’s consciousness, and then, in unison, let out a roar that shook the universe!

Boom—! All the scenes, sounds, and thoughts, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, suddenly contracted and poured into the star evolution plate in Fang Hao’s hand! In the center of the compass, the dark red light spots transformed from scroll characters suddenly shone brightly, arranging and combining according to a mysterious trajectory to form a complete, clear Cultivation Technique Chapter containing the supreme true meaning of power—the basic Chapter of the War Heaven Scripture! At the same time, a pure, vast, and vibrant power fed back from the star evolution plate, surging along his arm into his nearly exhausted, scarred Divine Soul and... the illusory "body" in this trial illusion!

Fang Hao’s whole body shook, and he felt an unprecedented sense of power erupting from the depths of his Divine Soul! The fighting techniques, methods of exerting force, and understanding of power that he had "experienced" merged into his consciousness like instinct. More importantly, a faint but incredibly tough and pure Battle Intent quietly condensed and took root at the core of his Divine Soul!

The dark red battlefield illusion retreated like a tide.

Fang Hao’s consciousness returned to the cold, blue-light-shrouded "War Heaven Hall," back into his own heavily wounded but real body.

He was still standing in the same place, the star evolution plate in his hand shimmering with light, and the basic Chapter of the War Heaven Scripture in the center area was clearly visible. On the high platform, the war soul incense had burned to the end, the last bit of ash fell, and the flame was completely extinguished.

Crack—. The dark golden light shield covering the high platform made a soft sound, the runes flowing on its surface quickly dimmed, and then, like broken glass, it shattered into pieces, turning into specks of golden light that dissipated into the air.

The Restriction was lifted. He had obtained the Legacy. Although it was only the basic Chapter, and although the condensed Battle Intent was still very weak, he had truly passed the war soul trial!

And almost at the same time the light shield disappeared, a shrill scream full of rage and greed sounded behind him: "You little bastard! Hand over the Legacy and the compass!!"