86: This is getting serious.

Uka gently stroked Inari's hair, but her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Lin Luo.

Lin Luo took a step forward, his shadow stretched long by the setting sun. He watched Inari with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes, yet he tried to keep his tone calm: "I am Lin Luo, a friend of Lady Uka."

Inside the shrine, after learning that the power she used would actually harm Uka, Inari's heart was filled with guilt and self-reproach. When she heard that Lin Luo could extract the Divine Power from her body, she agreed without hesitation.

Lin Luo pressed his hand lightly on the young girl's head and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique. A faint golden shimmer rose from his palm, seeping into Inari's body like threads of silk, gently guiding the Divine Power that did not belong to her.

Guided by Lin Luo, the Divine Power transformed into golden threads and flowed into his Meridians. This power was pure and warm, carrying Uka's unique aura, like falling cherry blossom petals in a spring shrine. Lin Luo closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully guiding the flow of Divine Power to avoid harming Inari in the slightest.

As the Divine Power continued to pour in, fine beads of sweat broke out on Lin Luo's forehead. Although this foreign power did not reject his body, it still required mental effort to harmonize and control. He could clearly feel that every wisp of Divine Power contained Uka's Origin, and at this moment, it was finding a temporary home within him like a weary bird returning to its nest.

To the side, Uka held her breath and watched the scene intently. She saw the faint divine light around Inari gradually fading, while Lin Luo's aura became increasingly clear and transparent, like a spring carrying moonlight.

At the very moment the last wisp of Divine Power merged into Lin Luo's Meridians, a sudden change occurred.

The pendant on his chest grew hot without warning, and a surge of energy far more refined than Uka's Divine Power flooded into his Dantian like a bursting dam. This power was as vast as the sea yet as gentle as spring water, instantly refining all the Divine Power he had just absorbed.

*Crack—*

Accompanied by a faint cracking sound, the countless Spirit Stones hidden within the pendant simultaneously lost their luster, turning into ordinary jade-like stones. This sudden turn of events shook Lin Luo to his core—this Magical Artifact, which he had worn since he began his cultivation, was now exhibiting an unprecedented abnormality.

Uka keenly sensed the violent fluctuations of Spiritual Qi in the air and instinctively took a step forward. She saw a faint, clear glow rising around Lin Luo; though the light was not dazzling, it carried a heart-palpitating pressure.

"My Divine Power—" Uka suddenly let out a cry of grief. The source of the Divine Power that was originally connected to her mind and Soul had been completely severed, and that empty feeling made her face turn pale instantly.

"This is bad..." Lin Luo felt the surging power within him as the spiritual energy, far exceeding his current Realm, galloped through his Meridians. The refined energy pouring from the pendant had not only swallowed Uka's Divine Power but had also condensed into a brilliant halo at his Dantian.

While Uka's cry of grief still echoed among the shrine's pillars, a world-shaking transformation had already begun within Lin Luo's body.

The pure energy originating from the pendant crashed through his Meridians like a torrential flood, far exceeding the limits his current Realm could endure.

At the critical moment when the spiritual energy was about to spiral out of control, the pendant, which had seemingly exhausted its power, once again released a gentle yet majestic invisible force.

This force seemed to possess a life of its own, transforming into thousands of slender yet tough threads that precisely entangled every wisp of frenzied spiritual energy, forcibly bringing them into an orderly path.

Under the guidance and suppression of this ancient power, the very essence of Lin Luo's spiritual energy was undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

The speed of his Zhou Tian cycle soared to the extreme. The spiritual energy flowed incessantly through his Meridians, becoming more solid and pure with each revolution until it completed a perfect cycle of exactly three hundred and sixty-five rotations, reaching a point of flawless Perfection.

*Boom—!*

A loud explosion, perceptible only to Lin Luo himself, erupted from deep within his Dantian, as if the world were being created anew. The original barriers of his Dantian were completely shattered and pushed open by this majestic power, expanding into an unprecedented, vast, and void-like region.

Within this region, all the spiritual energy compressed to its limit collapsed and condensed toward the center, finally transforming into a tiny yet dazzling core the size of a grain of rice, containing terrifying energy.

Then, like a spring gushing from the earth, a thick and lustrous Spiritual Liquid, resembling jade marrow, bubbled out from that core. Carrying a cool and majestic vitality, it spread rapidly, turning this new, empty region into a shimmering sea of Spiritual Liquid in an instant.

Above the surface of the sea, a thick, pale green Spiritual Mist rose, churning and flowing like a sea of clouds. Within the mist, the rhythm of the Dao seemed to naturally emerge and vanish, profound and inscrutable.

At the same moment his Dantian was reopened and the Spiritual Marrow first condensed, an unprecedented sense of clarity washed over Lin Luo's heart like the dawn.

A strange and mysterious force, not originating from spiritual energy but from an even deeper power, boldly surged into his Sea of Consciousness.

That space, originally shrouded in gray mists, was suddenly illuminated completely by an indescribable intense light! Wherever the light reached, the gray mists melted away like ice and snow. The entire Sea of Consciousness space shook violently, as if unable to withstand this sudden power, and began to rapidly collapse and compress inward.

In just an instant, the vast Sea of Consciousness collapsed into a single point and returned to a state of primal Chaos. This Chaos did not last long before it spontaneously writhed and extended, finally forming a giant Light Cocoon that enveloped Lin Luo's Soul core. Inside the cocoon, time seemed irrelevant as his essence quietly underwent a metamorphosis.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps a moment, perhaps an eternity—the giant Light Cocoon quietly dissipated. Lin Luo's Soul manifested; its form was no longer a phantom shadow but was solidifying step by step, emitting a warm and stable glow.

A power far exceeding his previous level of "Spiritual Perception" was born—this was the more fundamental and powerful Divine Soul energy.

This newborn Divine Soul power naturally spread out. Its perception was no longer limited to the material level; it was as if it could clearly capture even the energy flowing in the air and the subtle breathing of all things.

At the same moment, Lin Luo's Physical Body was also undergoing a fundamental transformation.

The new jade marrow Spiritual Liquid in his Dantian was no longer confined to that vast region but surged out along his Meridians, completely merging with the blood and Qi of his entire body.

This blood, fused with pure spiritual energy, flowed like liquid mercury—heavy and powerful. Each cycle washed through his limbs and bones, forcibly squeezing out Impurities hidden deep within his organs and bone marrow.

Under the penetration of spiritual energy, his bones emitted a faint and dense humming sound, their color gradually turning into a warm jade-like quality. His tendons and skin, nourished by the blood and Qi, became tougher, glowing with a faint precious luster.

His five senses became unprecedentedly sharp under the feedback of his Divine Soul power. He could even clearly "hear" the gurgling sound of his own blood flowing through his veins and "see" the minute tremors of the muscle fibers under his skin.

This was a complete sublimation from the inside out, a leap of life's level toward a higher dimension.

The torrent of power was still surging within his body, but Lin Luo felt it all with a sense of bewilderment. He clearly "saw" the jade-like luster appearing on his bones and felt the majestic power brought by his blood flowing as heavy as mercury. With a slight movement of his Divine Soul, the outline of the entire shrine was mapped into his "eyes" in great detail; even the faint sound of a spider spinning its web under the eaves was clearly discernible.

This was not a Breakthrough he had actively sought, but the result of that mysterious pendant's forced push. The power had come too suddenly and was too immense, so much so that he was momentarily unable to fully control it. A wisp of his aura inadvertently leaked out, causing Inari beside him to instinctively take a half-step back, a flash of primal fear in her eyes.

Lin Luo slowly clenched his fist, and the air between his fingers made a faint popping sound. He looked down at his palm, his heart not filled with joy, but rather feeling heavy.

He had become stronger passively. And he was strong... to a somewhat terrifying degree.

Uka's eyes reddened as she pointed a trembling finger at Lin Luo, her voice carrying a sob: "My Divine Power... it's all gone! You weren't here to help me at all; you were here to steal my Divine Power!"

She stomped her feet in frustration, a weak glow rising around her body—the last remnants of her exhausted Divine Power: "And to think I trusted you so much, letting you into the shrine and letting you near Inari... You had this planned all along, didn't you?"

Lin Luo was met with these accusations as soon as he opened his eyes, leaving him momentarily speechless. He tried to mobilize the unfamiliar power within him, only to find that the Divine Power that originally belonged to Uka had long since been refined without a trace. Looking at the deity who was on the verge of tears, he could only offer a bitter smile and reach out his hand: "Let me explain..."

"I won't listen!" Uka covered her ears and turned away, her thin shoulders trembling slightly. "That was the Origin of my Divine Power that I accumulated for over a hundred years... and now it's all become your nourishment..."

Inari watched the argument at a loss, timidly shrinking behind a pillar. In the shrine where the twilight was deepening, only the sound of Uka's aggrieved sobbing echoed in Lin Luo's ears.

Seeing her like this, Lin Luo was suddenly at a loss. He took a step forward and comforted her in a gentle tone: "I am indeed to blame for this. The change happened so fast that even I was caught off guard. To be honest, I was like a bystander the whole time and couldn't intervene at all."

He spread his hands helplessly and gave an apologetic smile: "Something unexpected happened with my body. But look on the bright side—the connection of Divine Power between you and Inari has been completely severed now, so your crisis is resolved."

Seeing Uka still pursing her lips, he added softly, "The Divine Power may be gone, but as long as the faith remains, it will slowly recover, won't it?"

Inari quickly peeked out from behind the pillar, her hands clasped nervously in front of her chest, her tone exceptionally serious: "I will definitely offer my devotion to Lady Uka even more sincerely from now on! I'll come to the shrine to pray every day and bring my classmates along too..."

She jogged over to Uka, looking up and promising eagerly: "I will definitely help Lady Uka recover as soon as possible!"

Looking at the girl's sincere gaze, Uka's aggrieved expression softened slightly. She sighed gently and reached out to rub Inari's hair: "What a silly child..."