Chapter 306 – Upgrade Paradise

Lu Yuan quietly watched from behind.

He was thoroughly familiar with han xun’s strength.

han xun’s mental light was at the second-stage, and he had also undergone the level SSS new martial arts “cold hell battle body” modification.

Any new martial arts transplant must go through four phases: “acclimation,” “maturity,” “control,” and “Mastery.”

han xun had reached the “control” phase regarding his use of the core energy field of the “cold hell battle body” within him.

This made his combat power stand out even among level SSS contenders.

A few level SS Ancient Evil Deity creatures were no match for him, and dealing with them was just a matter of time.

han xun specifically instructed Lu Yuan not to intervene; hence, he focused his attention more on the elephant deity curse on his right chest.

Since entering the secret realm, Lu Yuan’s elephant deity curse had been burning, a sign that often preceded its manifestation.

Moreover, whenever Lu Yuan closed his eyes, he would briefly see glimpses of the “demon mountain” in his dream.

He could see the imposing three heads and six arms elephant man standing atop the pitch-black mountain, coldly staring down at him.

“Am I walking right into the trap?”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, jadedly.

Suddenly.

A burning sensation emerged between Lu Yuan’s eyebrows, and the sign of the elephant deity curse on his right chest intensified.

Before he could comprehend the reason, he noticed the light dimming around him.

A vast shadow silently spread to his feet.

Lu Yuan turned abruptly, witnessing an enormous form standing silently behind him, akin to a small mountain.

A massive creature with four forelimbs, neither fully resembling an elephant nor a wolf, coldly gazed down at him, its lone eye exuding a frigid and malevolent aura.

“Zzz-“

Data collecting the evil energy wave from its pupil membrane spiked intensely, eventually grading it as “SSS.”

Lu Yuan locked eyes with the ancient elephant deity creature, the decayed and icy aura flowing silently between them.

Simultaneously, behind Lu Yuan, han xun was slashing his longblade in a cold, breathtaking arc toward the figures ahead…

In a fraction of a second.

Lu Yuan ultimately chose to strike back fiercely.

“Buzz-“

The blood sphere within Lu Yuan spun rapidly, sending waves of energy surging through his body.

Platinum Qi burst forth from his pores, wrapping around his body like thunder.

“Grandmaster Divine Elephant Style: Flower Scattering!”

Lu Yuan launched himself like a phantom. As the enormous ancient elephant deity creature in front tried to roar, Lu Yuan struck its face with a powerful palm.

“Crack-“

His Platinum Thunder-encased hand effortlessly cratered the creature’s face.

The terrifying force from the Grandmaster Exertion, channeled through his rapidly vibrating muscles, transmitted through his palm.

The creature’s body immediately trembled violently.

Without waiting for a reaction, Lu Yuan followed up with another punch.

“Grandmaster Divine Elephant Style: Dragon Devourer!”

“Boom!”

A burst of blinding platinum light exploded in the dark environment.

The terrifying aura appeared and vanished in an instant…

“Swish!”

han xun sliced through the two ancient elephant deity creatures in front of him and quickly turned around. He was momentarily stunned.

Lu Yuan was crouching about ten meters away, quietly inspecting a mutilated corpse on the ground.

“Han-Ge.”

Noticing han xun’s gaze, Lu Yuan raised his head and slightly brightened his eyes, waving at him.

“Something tried to ambush me, but I took care of it just in time,” Lu Yuan explained shyly.

han xun slowly sheathed his longblade and walked over step by step. When he saw the corpse of the Ancient Evil Deity creature at his feet, his eyes narrowed.

The corpse in front of him was several times larger than the three ancient elephant deity creatures he had just slain.

Its specific features were unrecognizable, as it had been completely destroyed from the inside out.

Its internal flesh and bones had turned to mush, with only its skin remaining intact, leaking and being absorbed by the floating collector.

han xun’s expression showed a hint of shock.

Though he had been engaged in battle, he had felt the powerful aura emanating from this creature when it appeared.

An aura strong enough to even make him feel a hint of threat.

But in just a fleeting moment, Lu Yuan had eliminated this powerful Ancient Evil Deity creature?!

This realization caused han xun to fundamentally reassess Lu Yuan’s combat power. In his understanding, Lu Yuan’s strength was around level SS, with the potential to reach level SSS at full exertion.

Now it seemed that Lu Yuan’s power might far surpass level SS.

How long had it been since han xun last saw him in the Wailing Ruins?

Under normal circumstances, even if there was a breakthrough, such an enormous leap in power was unheard of…

A flurry of thoughts raced through han xun’s mind. After a pause, he finally said, “Make sure to collect all you can; it all counts as merit.

Mark the parts we can’t take. When a dedicated team comes in later, they’ll account for it as merit as well…”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuan nodded, watching han xun walk away without saying much.

He then turned his attention back to the corpse of the ancient elephant deity creature in front of him. After contemplating for a moment, he gently placed his hand on it.

The blood sphere within him began to spin, and through his pores, a powerful suction began.

In no time, thick blood mist started to rise from the decomposing flesh, flowing into his body through his palm like a stream.

“Snap, snap.”

With the absorption of the blood mist, Lu Yuan could visibly see his blood sphere growing within him.

As it spun, it drew and refreshed his blood, causing his martial body to rapidly strengthen in a short period.

Not only that, but faint glimmers seeped from the corpse, which Lu Yuan also absorbed.

Before long, Lu Yuan had completely absorbed the entire body, the decomposing flesh turning to ash, leaving only a wrinkled skin.

Lu Yuan picked up the skin and gently tore it, and it ripped apart like a piece of paper.

“All the essence has been absorbed by me. It looks like my previous assumptions were entirely correct…”

Lu Yuan felt the slightly enlarged blood sphere within his body. Although pleased at having discovered this quick path to self-strengthening, he couldn’t help but muse, “It’s just that this absorption process feels like I’m practicing some demonic technique…

It gives off vibes like the Star-Absorbing Technique or the Northern Divine Skill…”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but recall the murals he had seen earlier in the Hutian secret realm.

Some of those murals depicted little figures who practiced pure martial arts absorbing a large amount of mysterious strength from the corpses of Ancient Evil Deity monsters, then quickly becoming stronger.

It was exactly what he was doing now.

“It seems that the true path of cultivation for a Grandmaster in pure martial arts is indeed like this…”

This also explained why, later in the murals, the little figure was collectively killed by the Ancient Evil Deities.

His strength was derived from using the corpses of evil deity creatures as resources.

“The mural depicted the little figure also absorbing power emitted by followers and worshippers… Could he be ‘eating’ his own kind?”

Lu Yuan didn’t think so. What the little figure absorbed from his fellow worshippers was probably not flesh and blood essence but something else.

He just didn’t know what it was yet.

Having consumed the corpse of the Ancient Evil Deity creature, Lu Yuan checked his professional panel.

[You Experienced a Battle. Professional Experience +75]

It seemed that professional experience for [Grandmaster Martial Arts (Extraordinary)] could indeed be gained through combat.

Though the experience points were few, a few more level SSS Ancient Evil Deity creatures, and he wouldn’t be far from leveling up from Grandmaster Martial Arts LV2 to LV3.

Lu Yuan then glanced at his [Elephant Deity Emissary: Ming King Stance (Extraordinary)] progress bar.

He had just noticed a faint glow similar to an elephant deity emissary’s heart seeping from the corpse. Now, observing it, he found that the progress bar had indeed increased.

It had risen from 5% to 7%.

Not much, but it was still progress.

Upgrading his profession, enlarging the blood sphere, and advancing the progress bar-killing an ancient elephant deity creature brought three benefits.

At this moment, Lu Yuan felt as though he was in heaven.

“Following others is ultimately inconvenient…”

Lu Yuan glanced at han xun’s figure not far away, thinking, “I need to find an opportunity to leave the main group.”

After tidying up the battlefield, Lu Yuan and han xun continued forward.

It seemed that this eerie forest was teeming with ancient evil deity creatures.

Along the way, they kept encountering attacks from Ancient Evil Deity creatures.

It seemed that all ancient creatures in this forest were somehow tainted by the elephant deity power, exhibiting varying degrees of elephant deity features.

Nearing the edge of the forest, han xun stood quietly beside the massive corpse of an ancient elephant deity creature, his alloy long blade in hand, and his gaze shifting between the body at his feet and Lu Yuan beside him.

After a moment of silence, han xun spoke, “Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

Lu Yuan quickly dealt with the corpse and followed closely behind han xun.

From the entrance until now, their two-person team had encountered attacks from three level SSS Ancient Evil Deities.

All were swiftly and decisively terminated by Lu Yuan.

After absorbing the three level SSS ancient elephant deity creatures, Lu Yuan’s blood sphere had expanded by about one-third.

The surging energy coursing through his body left Lu Yuan feeling that he was on the verge of a breakthrough in several of his basic attributes.

Not only that, his [Grandmaster Martial Arts (Extraordinary)] had smoothly leveled up from LV2 to LV3, granting him 1 attribute point and 1 skill point.

His [Elephant Deity: Ming King Stance (Extraordinary)] panel’s progress bar had also risen to 11%.

The gains were indeed substantial.

“The curse is reacting more aggressively too…”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, touching the burning sensation on his chest where the elephant deity curse resided.

The two emerged from the eerie forest, confronted with a vast black plain.

No vegetation grew on this plain, only numerous massive black stones standing. The end of the plain remained mysterious.

From his current observations, Lu Yuan estimated the size of this elephant deity secret realm was three to five times larger than the Wailing Ruins.

Upon exiting the forest, they quickly spotted Yin Muqing floating in mid-air like a giant light bulb.

They rapidly advanced towards Yin Muqing, noticing her standing impassively with a silver alloy long blade, her feet atop a small mountain constructed from the corpses of numerous ancient elephant deity creatures.

Unfortunately, the essence had already been harvested from the bodies. Otherwise, Lu Yuan could have benefitted greatly one more time.