Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 413 - 398: Super-Refining

After the mural’s inspection, there were no Tree-man bloodlines present, only Tree-man vassals, so only one person is allowed to enter the Star Connection Cave, and the crowd should choose among themselves.

The crowd looked at each other.

Silver Lake Moon said resolutely, "This is the great Elf Prophet, the valiant Elf Saint, and the esteemed Elf Duke. According to the standards of the Elf Empire, he is the most qualified to enter."

The elves of Silver Lake town nodded gently, agreeing with this statement.

The foreign elves were silent for a moment, then one spoke, "I believe we should rank by the elven bloodline. I do not deny this human’s noble status and the power he obtained from our elf race, but this place was painstakingly built by the elf kings and should not be sullied by outsiders."

"He’s a Tree-man," Zhou Leng spoke in standard Tree-man language.

"See, he only has eyes for the Tree-men, not the elves. I respect him but do not trust him."

Suddenly, the stars on the mural shone brightly, releasing divine light that illuminated everyone.

Finally, all the starry beams focused on Zhou Leng.

The ancient voice of the Tree-man sounded again.

The foreign elves turned pale upon hearing half of it.

The elves, including Silver Lake Moon, looked at Zhou Leng with bright eyes.

The voice said that they heard the pure ancient Tree-man sound and conducted a more detailed inspection, discovering that Zhou Leng actually carries the legacy of the ancient and great Tree-man power, a presence far nobler than ordinary Tree-men.

Therefore, Zhou Leng is qualified to enter and can choose a companion to accompany him into the Star Connection Cave to undergo the trials.

The foreign elves lowered their heads, like wilted leaves.

"Silver Lake Moon, let’s go."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The two walked towards the mural, and the elves behind them sighed silently in their hearts.

They had already guessed that the elves had stolen the great opportunity of the Tree-man race.

It seemed that the foundation of the elven race’s rise might have originated here.

No wonder the elves maintained such arrogance and noble identity, for it was gained illegitimately.

Only cloaked with a shell of lies.

Now, the true inheritor of the Tree-man race entered this place.

The two approached the mural, and as the starlight shone on them, they disappeared.

Zhou Leng and Silver Lake Moon stood in the void, surrounded by darkness, exchanging glances.

Instinctively, Silver Lake Moon moved closer to Zhou Leng, their arms touching.

"It’s nothing," Zhou Leng said calmly.

Silver Lake Moon felt helpless in her heart; of course, you wouldn’t be afraid as the rightful inheritor of the Tree-man, but my ancestors have wronged the Tree-men for unknown years, how could I not be afraid.

At this moment, the voice sounded again.

Silver Lake Moon listened while looking at Zhou Leng in surprise.

The voice said that Zhou Leng holds a faint yet pure Starry Tree-man legacy, and his trial would separate from ordinary Tree-man’s, directly initiating the Starry Tree-man inheritance.

"Congratulations, my Duke," Silver Lake Moon’s address changed once more.

Henceforth, Silver Lake Moon considered herself a retainer of the Elf Duke.

Zhou Leng didn’t know much about elven culture and didn’t understand the change in address, saying, "You should also undergo your trial well."

"Yes."

Suddenly, a pillar of light descended, and Zhou Leng disappeared from the spot.

Silver Lake Moon heard the ancient Tree-man language once more.

"First inheritance, life absorption."

As soon as the words fell, line upon line of green water-light descended from the sky, containing an extremely rich power of life.

Silver Lake Moon was overjoyed and hurriedly used elven cultivation methods to absorb it.

Meanwhile, Zhou Leng appeared in a cave.

The cave was as large as two football fields, with the walls lush with tree roots, unlike the withered ones outside, as though alive.

The cave ceiling was speckled with stars, white as sunlight.

"First high-level inheritance, life super-refinement."

Zhou Leng was still pondering the meaning of life super-refinement when there was a loud boom.

Thick as glue green liquid descended from the sky, like large blocks of jelly crashing down, filling the entire cave and submerging Zhou Leng.

The richness of the power of life surpassed that of ancient tree fossils.

Looking at the viscous liquid, Zhou Leng vaguely felt that normal power shouldn’t be so thick, it seemed like it had changed after years and years of accumulation.

And for the better.

The overwhelming power of life permeated through his skin, entering his body.

Zhou Leng immediately stripped his clothes off, immersing himself in the sea of life gel.

Unlike absorbing ordinary life power, this absorption process left the whole body with a hot and slightly painful sensation.

Zhou Leng tried to operate the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique, but it failed.

He attempted the Star Gazing Technique and failed as well.

When the life force in the body gathered to a certain degree, Zhou Leng felt as if his brain exploded, and the indescribable pain surged through his body.

An endless divine light exploded before his eyes.

Zhou Leng was dazed, and past memories faded from consciousness, only feeling like he was floating in the void, wandering among the stars.

Unknown how much time passed before regaining awareness.

The next moment, something felt off, prompting an instinctual "look" downward.

His body was gone, leaving only consciousness.

Surrounding him was pure life gel, along with a Magic Spirit Bag, spatial wood box, Mother Tree bark, and other items.

"Where am I?"

The next instant, Zhou Leng sensed that his body had turned into countless cells, dispersed within the life gel.

Every cell in his body was forcibly infused with tremendous power.

Due to the temporary separation of cells and consciousness, no pain was felt.

Zhou Leng vaguely understood the meaning of life super-refinement.

It seemed to use some Starry Tree-man method to temper every minute part of the body, ultimately achieving maximum refinement.

This refinement was far beyond any current cultivation method.

Slowly, the cells that split from consciousness began reconnecting.

It felt as though countless threads of spirit extended from cells, connecting to consciousness.

Gurgle...

The entire super cultivation pool began to boil.

Each cell endured the terrifying impact of the power of life, changing from the most microscopic level.

The general shape of each cell remained unchanged, but their mechanisms of operation and storage of power evolved.

Especially the mitochondria supplying energy to the cells, which experienced the greatest changes.

The mitochondria within the cells began to emit a faint light.

Each cell seemed like a speck of starlight in the sky.

The pain from the cellular transformation slowly appeared.

It felt as if each cell was being gently cut and ground by a blade.

A single cell feeling this is negligible, but there are over thirty trillion cells in the human body.

Thirty trillion blades cutting the body.

At first, it was just a subtle pain, bearable.

As the cellular changes became more intense, Zhou Leng felt a pain far more horrifying than the Land of Blades.

Zhou Leng’s consciousness was initially silent, but slowly, it began to tremble, and finally, it roared in anger.

After a violent struggle, consciousness became exhausted and entered a numb state.

One cut hurts, thirty trillion cuts also hurt.

The unimaginable trauma-like pain continuously assailed Zhou Leng’s consciousness, like relentless tides.

But when the pain accumulated to a certain extent, a special feeling suddenly emerged in the heart.

The perception of cellular changes became clearer.

This was a feeling never experienced before.

In fact, ordinarily, these cells should change as well.

Eating poorly, lack of sleep, bodily injury, low mood, being harmed... during these times, each cell would also feel pressure and pain alike.

But it seemed as if I had neglected these cells, even ignored my own body, leading to a disregard for my own heart.

Gradually, Zhou Leng’s consciousness sensed these cells with intent, sensing them one by one, "observing" them one by one.

This white blood cell seemed to be working hard, frantically absorbing power.

This red blood cell was quite content, continuously gathering the power of life gel to fortify the body.

This cardiac muscle cell appeared proud, like a strong man exercising muscles in a gym, occasionally glancing to see if other cells were watching.

This hair cell was a slacker, seemingly feeling it had no use, lazily floating in the life gel.

This brain cell thought a lot...

...

Unknowingly, the pain remained unchanged, but the power to endure it grew stronger.

Zhou Leng continued to sense each cell.

Every cell was a part of himself.

Slowly, he entered into a strange state.

An extreme connection between self and self.

In a trance, Zhou Leng sensed the microscopic state of cells, how they operated, how they changed, how they coped with external pressure and damage...

Feeling every small "self", an indescribable emotion rose in the heart.

It turns out there are countless "selves" in my body striving to live, striving to cultivate.

Those countless "selves" care for me, strive to help me, all moving forward together.

It turns out, this is us.

In that instant, Zhou Leng understood what life super cultivation meant.

Touching the self, perceiving the self, conducting micro-cultivation of life, that is life super cultivation.

There was even an illusion of becoming a Divine Spirit, creating a planet, and on that planet, creating a new humanity.

Now, I was holding up the planet with my hand, observing the humanity I had created upon it.

An indescribable throbbing spread throughout the body.

Only today did I truly know who I am.

Zhou Leng thought with awe, worthy of being a trial of the Starry Sky Race, just the initial step of inheritance is an unfathomable method of cultivation.

Here, time seemed not to pass, Zhou Leng slowly perceived each cell of the body.

Without knowing how much time had passed, an unprecedented mental fatigue appeared.

In a blurry state, the number 13562846 appeared.

Over thirteen million body cells formed an unprecedentedly close connection with consciousness.

The body seemed to be at its limit, drowsily falling asleep.

Not knowing how long had passed, Zhou Leng opened his eyes, his gaze slowly clearing.

It seemed as though he had a strange dream, dreaming that he could observe and perceive every cell.

That feeling was like parents observing a small baby, also somewhat like children observing cute little animals.

And also, as if watching countless small selves striving to live, striving to cultivate, striving to exist.

A strong warmth flowed through his heart.

Zhou Leng blinked, looked up, and saw his body was still there, lying in a cave.

Everything just now seemed like a dream.

But, Zhou Leng knew it wasn’t.

Because, consciousness truly formed a close connection with over thirteen million body cells.

"High-Level Civilization, Stellar Inheritance, infinitely wondrous..."

Zhou Leng had never heard of such a peculiar inheritance, but at the thought that the Tree-man Race already valued life, he felt at ease.

Perhaps, in the culture of the Tree-man Race, a life capable of exchanging and communicating with the self is considered a high-level life.

"Then what about humanity..."

"The body has more than thirty trillion cells, even more, now I can only connect with over thirteen million, perhaps, in the future, I can slowly connect, until the body and consciousness are completely fused."

"At that time, I might formally become a Starry Sky Divine Spirit."