Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Divine Blood Heart

"By controlling the formation’s core, I can crush both the descendants of evil gods and demon cultivators, ruining their schemes."

"Once I become the State City God, my rise will be unstoppable!"

Though becoming a city god offered great benefits, Mu Lin soon frowned.

Controlling the formation core wasn’t simple.

First, the city’s top talents stood in his way.

The descendants of evil gods and demon cultivators would never let him seize control of the City of Heart’s Prison’s core formation.

Second were the defenses the Grave Lord himself had built.

To protect the formation from sabotage or theft, its core lay hidden deep within the city’s heart. Reaching it meant breaking through countless barriers—layer after layer of traps and seals.

This was no easy feat. Wandering Bug, the black fierce tiger, and Spirit Void Master had spent ages in the city just cracking the outermost seals left by the Grave Lord. Even with six experts working together, penetrating deeper would take… forever. Their Cultivation, stuck at the combining Essence and Evil realm, barred them from approaching the core.

"So the formation core and its promise of power are just illusions? I can only watch from afar?"

But after scanning his surroundings, Mu Lin realized this wasn’t true. Normally, a weak lone cultivator like him couldn’t reach the core—a heavenly master’s masterpiece. Yet he held a trump card: Ink Dragon, the River Lord.

"When the Grave Lord built this formation, he used black river water as its connective veins. A clever choice—water symbolizes unity in mysticism, and the black river’s forbidden energy made it ideal. But he never foresaw me manipulating this water through the royal authority crown."

By following the underground dark river network, Mu Lin could bypass all barriers and reach the core directly.

He gestured to Ink Dragon.

Drip. Drip.

Water droplets fell from the dragon’s scales, pooling beneath it. Though the puddle was shallow, Ink Dragon vanished with a splash when it stepped in.

【Spatial Transfer】

Through the black river’s link and this ability, Ink Dragon teleported into the underground dark river, racing toward the city’s heart. Mu Lin’s consciousness rode along, steering the dragon.

But he soon found the Grave Lord had fortified even this path. The first level of defense? The black river itself.

Mu Lin’s Ink Dragon, fused with the black river water, became a seventy-six-meter-long serpent.

The underground dark river’s corrosive black river water eroded all trespassers. Even Mu Lin’s symbiotic Ink Dragon would eventually dissolve if lingering too long.

The second level of defense manifested as black river monsters. While navigating the tunnels, Mu Lin spotted clusters of corpse ghosts suspended in the murky current.

As his Ink Dragon neared, the corpses stirred. With a sickening splash, the reanimated horrors lunged at him.

"Too easy to be true," he muttered.

Boom… roar!

The massive water dragon spiraled forward, crushing the corpses with sheer strength. Its serpentine tail flicked, propelling it toward the City of Heart’s Prison’s core.

Three minutes later, Mu Lin opened his eyes.

"Failed."

Though breaching the corpse ghosts, his Ink Dragon met the second barrier – a writhing mass of 100,000 bloodsucking leeches. The mighty dragon lasted mere seconds before being drained to nothing.

"Troublesome, but not hopeless."

A paper figure peeled from his robes. Plop!

The Substitute Paper Figure merged with black river water, forming a new Ink Dragon, the River Lord. Unlike the city-destroying Solar Flame Explosion or armor-piercing Annihilation Thunder Gun, this technique excelled in attrition warfare.

"Losses mean nothing. Three hundred attempts? Five hundred? I’ll breach it eventually."

Thus began his trials outside the City of Heart’s Prison.

Second assessment:

"Leeches too dense. Lightning-armored charge failed… Must rethink."

Third assessment:

"Success! The Black Water Mystic Serpent’s Transformation Technique’s second form – weaker but stealthier. Black fog concealed my passage through the leeches… Wait, a white-robed woman? Stunning…"

Fourth assessment:

"Destroyed again. The weeping siren’s hair-strangle technique bypassed my Black Water Mystic Serpent’s defenses. Her sorrow-song saps willpower…"

Fifth to seventh assessments:

"White-robed guardian remains impassable… Ah! Time-worn defenses show cracks – paper figures slip through finger-width gaps…"

Thirteenth attempt: “Died again, caught and killed by a water spider.”

Nineteenth attempt: “How did I die?”

Twenty-first attempt: “Found the cause—poison. The river water here holds colorless, scentless toxins…”

Thirty-third attempt: “Huh? The black river water monsters are killing each other. Why?”

“Right. The black river isn’t controlled by anyone—just instinct. Plus, it’s suppressing countless evils.

But those evils can’t die. While the river holds them down, their influence lingers. After millennia, the black river’s monsters, tainted by the strange aura, split into factions. They fight and kill each other… My chance is here. To reach the formation core, I don’t need to battle them. Just lure them into turning on each other while I slip past.”

Outside the City of Heart’s Prison, Mu Lin’s eyes gleamed as he saw his path.

Inside the city square, Wandering Bug, Spirit Void Master, descendants of evil gods—Crimson, and others buzzed with anticipation.

Their divine blood ritual had reached its pivotal stage.

Had Mu Lin been there, he’d have witnessed an altar surrounded by blood-drawn formations. Monsters controlled by the heartbeat marched toward it.

Upon reaching the altar, each monster ripped open its chest without hesitation, plucked out its heart, and laid it reverently around the stone. Thousands of hearts—human cultivators’, evil spirits’—now piled around the altar, exuding danger and taboo.

Yet a warped holiness also radiated from the structure. All watched as the hearts rapidly melted away. As they dissolved, a new heart took shape atop the altar—faint and ghostly at first, but solidifying with each consumed offering.

“Hmm…”

Though incomplete, the spectral heart already pulsed with power. A sweet fragrance—not cloying, but pure—drifted from it. Every observer felt primal hunger. This heart seemed to fill some void in them, promising completion through consumption.

These seasoned talents recognized the sensation: bodily perfection, transcendent evolution. A higher form of life called to their basest instincts, as beauty calls to mortals.

…

The perfect heart’s emergence meant the divine blood ritual approached its climax. Excitement spiked—but so did wariness. All knew the blood’s completion would trigger open warfare.

Yet each contender brimmed with confidence.

Wandering Bug/descendants of evil gods—Crimson/black fierce tiger/Spirit Void Master: “The divine blood will be mine!”