Chapter 241: Chapter 229: Bloodline Leap
Four years flowed by, silent yet heavy as iron upon the wasteland.
In the Inner City of Blue Cave Mountain, a five-story Stone Tower now stood.
Its body was built from grayish-white Pure Light Rock. The surface of each stone brick was engraved with fine stellar patterns that gave off a faint silver glow in the sunlight.
Instead of a red Crystal Stone, the spire was inlaid with a fist-sized Star Core Fragment that ceaselessly absorbed and expelled the thin Power of the Stars from the world, day and night.
This tower was named the Star-Attracting Tower.
The tower’s master had the surname Li and the given name Xing.
As the morning mist had yet to dissipate, Ian stood with his hands behind his back on the Observatory of the Star-Attracting Tower’s fifth floor, gazing down at the gradually awakening city below.
Four years.
For the survivors in the wasteland, it was a long time—enough for a child to grow into a teen, and for a teen to be forged into a Warrior.
For Ian, it was four years of madly plundering resources with the aid of his panel.
Relying on his panel’s keen detection of Abyssal Aura, he had traveled to every marked and unmarked Star Vein Node for hundreds of miles around Blue Cave Mountain.
Some were just residual ripples of Energy, while others concealed pure, untainted crystals.
He had also made contact with several other nearby shelters, but none of them matched Blue Cave Mountain in overall strength.
Over the four years, thanks to his panel’s repeated Limit-Breaking, the Purification Potion and the Primordial Energy Body Tempering Potion had become Blue Cave Mountain’s best-selling products.
Countless Limit-Breaking Potions flowed to all corners of the continent through the Chixia Business Alliance, bringing back the resources Ian needed.
The original Thirteen Teenagers’ Group had long since shed their immaturity.
Ah Ku, Ah Shu, Stone, and Xiaozhou—the first four to complete their Rune cycles—had broken through to the Condensation Tier one after another a year ago.
Ah Ku awakened [Rock], causing rock-like patterns to appear on his skin during battle and increasing his defense fivefold.
Ah Shu gained [Wood Spirit Sense], allowing him to sense life auras within a radius of several thousand meters, making him unparalleled at tracking in the Wilderness.
Stone and Xiaozhou awakened [Power Burst] and [Ultimate Defense] respectively—one for offense, one for defense—and they coordinated perfectly.
As for Li Yao...
Ian turned his head and looked toward a corner of the Observatory.
The boy—no, the young man that Li Yao had become—was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, his eyes slightly closed and his breathing long and steady.
His bare upper body was covered in overlapping scars, both old and new.
In four years, Li Yao had soared from the Initial Stage of Condensation to the Condensation Middle Stage Peak. He was just a hair’s breadth away from reaching the Late Stage.
His Star Bloodline was extremely thin. It was no wonder the Starfall Core had been left to Li Xing and not him.
Li Yao had awakened a rare Talent: [Fermented Battle Intent]. The more intense the battle, the faster the Energy in his body circulated, and the faster his wounds healed.
In Ah Ku’s words, "When Brother Yao fights, he’s like a mad wolf. The longer he fights, the fiercer he gets. He just can’t stop."
"Brother."
Li Yao opened his eyes, the silver glint deep within his pupils slowly receding.
He stood up and walked to Ian’s side. His voice was much steadier than it had been four years ago, yet it still carried the sharp edge unique to a young man.
"At the outer city stronghold, the new batch of fifty kids all completed their Rune cycles yesterday."
Ian nodded slightly.
After the battle at the mine four years ago, he had Li Yao screen another fifty youths between the ages of ten and fifteen at the outer city stronghold and taught them the Rune Cultivation Method.
Now, four years later, this group of youths had all stepped into the Awakening Tier, and the three most outstanding among them were even touching the threshold of Condensation.
"Chen Jingshan sent someone with an invitation yesterday."
Li Yao took a gilt-edged invitation from his robes and handed it to Ian.
"He said it’s for the ’Chixia Business Alliance’s 100th Anniversary Celebration’ and that he implores you to grace them with your presence, Brother."
Ian took the invitation, his fingertips tracing the intricate chixia patterns on it.
Four years ago, he was a promising newcomer in need of Chen Jingshan’s "investment."
Now, he was the helmsman of the most powerful force in Blue Cave Mountain aside from the Chixia Business Alliance, truly standing at the pinnacle of Power.
The name "Li Xing" was known to all in both the Inner and outer cities.
Even the veteran Peak of Condensation experts from the City Lord’s Mansion had to greet him politely as "Mr. Li."
A complete reversal of status, in just four years.
"Tell Chen Jingshan I’ll be there."
Ian casually placed the invitation on a nearby stone table, his gaze once again turning to the distant Wilderness.
The Energy in his body had accumulated to a critical point.
The Starfall Core on his chest burned hot day and night. Deep within his bloodline, the miniature Star System brand was spinning faster and faster.
Under the pull of Gravity, the orbits of the three planets were on the verge of breaking free from some invisible restraint.
The bottleneck to the Manifestation Tier was right before him.
"Send word."
Ian turned around. His voice was calm, yet it made every muscle in Li Yao’s body tense instantly.
"Starting today, the Star-Attracting Tower will be closed for seven days. No one is to come within a thousand meters of it."
Li Yao’s eyes lit up. "Brother, are you going to..."
"Yes." Ian nodded, his eyes as deep as the night sky.
"It’s time."
「That night, at midnight.」
The gray clouds that had been gathering over Blue Cave Mountain for days suddenly split open.
It wasn’t the wind naturally scattering them, but some unseen force tearing them apart!
Through the fissure, the deep, starry sky was revealed.
Then came a second fissure, a third, a fourth...
Countless cracks spread out like a spiderweb, tearing the gray clouds to shreds.
Across all of Blue Cave Mountain, nearly a hundred thousand people in both the inner and outer cities looked up at the same time.
"The... the sky is cracking?!"
"Are those... stars?!"
"So many stars! I’ve never seen so many stars before!"
Cries of alarm, screams, and prayers mingled together, drifting on the night wind.
Atop the Star-Attracting Tower, Ian sat cross-legged with his eyes shut tight.
On his bare upper body, dense silver patterns emerged on his skin, spreading from his chest to his limbs and finally weaving into a complete star chart on his back.
At the center of the chart, the miniature Star System brand was no longer an illusion but had solidified into a tangible form.
The three planets spun madly, their mutual gravitational pull sending out ripples in space.
’Come on...’
Ian muttered to himself, forming an ancient Star Seal with his hands in front of his chest.
In the next second, the countless stars revealed in the firmament all trembled in unison.
OMMM!
A low, resonant hum came from the depths of the starry sky, piercing through the clouds, penetrating the Earth, and reaching straight to the Soul.
Immediately after, all the stars lit up at once.
It wasn’t their usual gentle twinkling, but a blazing eruption!
Countless silver beams of light descended from the starry sky like swords of heavenly punishment, accurately striking the top of the Star-Attracting Tower.
BOOM!!!
The intense rumbling shook the entire Blue Cave Mountain. Dust rained from the roofs of the Inner City’s houses, and spiderweb-like cracks spread across the outer city’s earthen walls.
"Activate all defensive Barriers!"
The City Lord’s majestic voice echoed from above the City Lord’s Mansion.
At the Chixia Business Alliance, Chen Jingshan stared intently in the direction of the Star-Attracting Tower, his face a mask of shock.
’This kid... he actually made it this far...’
The young man who needed his "investment" four years ago was now triggering a celestial phenomenon to break through to the Manifested Saint realm!
’That’s a Manifested Saint! A titan! There aren’t even twenty of them on the entire continent!’
Atop the tower, Ian was undergoing the most perilous trial of his life.
The Power of the Stars was not a gentle nourishment, but a violent deluge pouring into his body!
Every silver beam that slammed into his body felt like millions of steel needles piercing every inch of his flesh, every fragment of his bone, every one of his meridians.
Agony?
No, this was beyond the scope of mere "pain."
It was a tearing apart and remolding on the level of Energy.
’This feeling... is it a bit like the process of a Level Three Wizard condensing an Elemental True Form, as described in the records from Shadow Moon Tower?’
He could clearly feel his bloodline boiling, evaporating...
Then, under the infusion of the majestic Power of the Stars, it re-condensed and sublimated.
In his sea of consciousness, the miniature Star System brand spun at an extreme speed. The orbits of the three planets completely broke free from their bonds and began to expand outward!
The orbital radius of the first planet tripled!
The second one increased fivefold!
The third... directly broke away from the original plane of the Star System, carving out a tilted arc and forming a new triangular structure of Gravity with the other two planets!
"Argh!"
Ian suddenly threw his head back, an irrepressible roar bursting from his throat.
The silver patterns on his skin shattered inch by inch, and before any blood could seep out, it was vaporized into a bloody mist by the Power of the Stars.
But in the next moment, denser, more complex patterns grew anew from deep within his flesh, covering his entire body like new shoots on a branch.
At the same time, the star chart on his back was also undergoing a dramatic transformation.
The once-blurry illusions of stars began to solidify, differentiate, and reorganize...
One, two, three...
Ten, a hundred, a thousand...
Finally, the entire chart transformed into a real, miniature starry sky. It was no more than three meters in diameter, yet it contained thousands of stellar illusions.
The three main stars at the center were as solid as reality, emitting heart-pounding gravitational waves.
A new Bloodline Technique awakened: [Starry Sky Domain]!
Although it was only a prototype, and although it could only be maintained for a few dozen breaths...
It meant that Ian had officially stepped into... the Manifestation Tier!
RUMBLE!
The final silver beam of light crashed down, completely engulfing the Star-Attracting Tower.
The blinding silver light made everyone instinctively shut their eyes.
When the light gradually faded and everyone opened their eyes again, the gray clouds in the sky had closed back up, and the stars were hidden.
The world-destroying spectacle from moments before seemed as if it had been a mere illusion.
But atop the Star-Attracting Tower, the figure slowly rising to its feet was suffocatingly real.
Ian opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, there was no longer a glint of silver, but a swirling illusion of a starry sky.
Three main stars moved slowly along new orbits, their every revolution causing the surrounding light to bend ever so slightly.
He raised his right hand and made a grasping motion.
Without using any Energy, with just a single thought...
The air within a hundred-meter radius of the tower suddenly froze. Rubble, fallen leaves, and even the weapons in the hands of distant Guards slowly floated up, suspended in mid-air.
The range of his Gravity Manipulation had exploded from the initial three hundred meters of the Condensation Stage to... three thousand meters!
Its precision had been refined from a crude "increase or decrease in Gravity" to the ability to individually control an object’s gravitational direction and magnitude, and even... create localized gravitational Singularities!
’So this... is the Power of a Manifested Saint...’
Ian muttered to himself, his voice holding an irrepressible tremor.
Four years of accumulation, a breakthrough in a single day.
Deep within his bloodline, the ancient Inheritance concerning "Gravity" had finally had its second veil torn away.
It was no longer a vague "Phenomenon Manipulation," but had touched upon a part of... the Rule Essence.
For example, he could now clearly perceive the "mass distribution" of all objects within a three-thousand-meter radius, "see" the paths of gravitational lines,
and even vaguely grasp the profound connection between "Gravity" and "Space-Time Curvature."
It was still a rudimentary understanding, but the path forward was now incredibly clear.
’Once I completely digest this Inheritance...’
Ian looked up at the night sky, his gaze burning like fire.
But in the next second, a jolt ran through his entire body.
Deep in his consciousness, it felt as if something had been triggered.
It was... a Soul connection that spanned the endless Void.
The moment his projection broke through to Manifested Saint and his bloodline deeply awakened,
the fundamental insights into the "Gravity Rule" transformed into a massive stream of information, flowing through the Soul channel...
and surged toward another world!
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