124: Chapter 125 Metamorphosis, the Destruction Forge!!

At the 7th Legion base, on the largest training ground.

The atmosphere was somewhat eerie.

The vast field, originally used for training soldiers in combat drills, had now been cleared of a large area.

In the center of the field, two things were placed.

On the left was a colossus standing thirty meters tall with a base diameter exceeding fifty meters.

Its entire body was cast from a dark silver metal, with dense, intricate Formation inscriptions engraved on the surface.

Countless Yuan Crystals of varying sizes were embedded within it, shimmering with a faint light.

This was the Super Star Gathering Array that Master Blacksmith Master Zhou and his team had worked overtime to rush into production.

According to Ling Tian's requirements, the effect of channeling Star Power theoretically reached eighty times that of the previous portable version!

On the right was an array base composed of thirty-six massive metal pillars, each twenty meters tall.

The giant pillars were dark purple, densely covered in lightning patterns, with sharp tops pointing directly at the sky.

This was the Heaven Thunder Induction Array, urgently requisitioned from the legion's armory and reinforced overnight by Master Zhou.

Once activated, it could disrupt weather patterns, forcibly condense a thick layer of thunderclouds covering dozens of miles over a designated area, and channel the violent Nine Heavens lightning!

The two large arrays, just by standing there and emitting faint energy fluctuations, were enough to make one's heart race with trepidation.

The training ground was now surrounded, three layers deep, by crowds of people.

It wasn't just curious soldiers; almost all the high-ranking officers of the legion had arrived.

General Qin Feng and Lieutenant General Zhao Weiguo stood side by side at the very front, their expressions solemn with a hint of confusion.

They truly did not understand what Ling Tian intended to do by having these things built.

Major General Chen Tianhai, Major General Li Wushuang, and several other officers at the Early Stage Yuan Emperor Realm in the legion stood slightly further back, their eyes fixed on the center of the field.

Xia Youchu stood beside General Qin Feng with a calm expression, but her slightly clenched fingertips betrayed her inner tension.

Vice-Captain Qin Hao, Lin Dong, Platoon Leader Sun Hu, and other young officers and elite soldiers squeezed into the outer perimeter, stretching their necks to look and whispering among themselves.

"Good heavens... such a huge spectacle? What on earth is he doing?"

"Just looking at that Star Gathering Array makes me dizzy. How much Star Power is this going to channel? I'm afraid it could crush a mountain into a pancake!"

"And what is that lightning-attracting thing for?"

"I don't get it, I don't get it at all."

Master Zhou, along with a few assistants, was busy performing final checks and adjustments, sweating profusely.

He would occasionally steal a glance at the colossus lying not far away.

Ling Tian had his eyes closed, as if dozing.

Even while lying down, his fifty-meter-tall dark golden body was like a small hill, exuding a suffocating pressure.

[Ding! Detected that the host possesses the special trait [Foundation of Nine Transformations (Gold)]. After this evolution, you may choose one body part for additional strengthening and transformation.]

[Please choose: Skin / Skeleton / Muscles / Internal Organs (must specify which organ) / Senses / Energy Core / Sharp Teeth / Lower Limbs...]

Since promoting to the Yuan Emperor Realm, he had kept his additional transformation opportunity unused.

"Additional transformation, Energy Core!"

Ling Tian said in his heart.

The operation about to take place was a test for the Atomic Furnace. Even with his promotion to the Yuan Emperor Realm, Ling Tian was not entirely confident, so he had to strengthen the Atomic Furnace once more.

As Ling Tian confirmed with his intent, an energy, scorching to the extreme and seemingly capable of burning everything to ash, erupted violently from where the Atomic Furnace was located!

"Roar—!"

Ling Tian couldn't help but let out a low roar. His massive body trembled slightly, and beneath his dark golden skin, a layer of abnormal dark red light faintly shone through. Especially at his chest where his heart was located, the glow was most intense, as if a miniature sun was burning and transforming within his body!

The sudden turn of events startled everyone around him.

"What's wrong?!"

"Lord Ling Tian?!"

"Energy fluctuations... coming from his heart! So violent!"

General Qin Feng and Lieutenant General Zhao Weiguo instantly entered a state of alert, circulating their Yuan Power as they stared fixedly at Ling Tian.

Xia Youchu's heart tightened even more; through the Soul contract, she could feel the violent changes occurring within Ling Tian's body!

"Don't be nervous."

Ling Tian endured the burning sensation in his chest that felt as if it were about to explode, and used his intent to convey a message of reassurance, "Just a little preparation."

He closed his eyes and sank all his focus into his body.

The Atomic Furnace, the core organ he had first awakened, was no longer what it once was after his repeated evolutions.

It was like an eternal stellar furnace, providing him with nearly infinite stamina and blood energy, and it was the source of power for him to fission various energies and unleash destructive attacks!

At this moment, under the infusion of this special transformative power, the Atomic Furnace began a violent reshaping!

Deep within the furnace core, a wisp of Destruction Fire was born!

The pitch-black flames burned silently, emitting no high heat, even giving one the illusion of coldness.

But Ling Tian could feel that the power of destruction and fission contained within this black flame was terrifying!

[Ding! Organ [Atomic Furnace] has completed additional strengthening transformation! Evolved into [Destruction Furnace]!]

[Destruction Furnace]: Special evolved organ.

The recovery speed of stamina and blood energy provided by the heartbeat is increased by 300%!

Incubates [Destruction Fire] within the furnace! Fission efficiency for all energy increased by 500%!

Energy amplification during the fission process increased by 1000%!

Can withstand fission and compression of higher-intensity energy!

And has a certain probability of granting the fission product special [Destruction] attribute bonus damage during the fission process!

It worked!

Ling Tian was ecstatic!

Although the process was a bit painful, this boost was simply incredible!

Fission efficiency increased by five times! Amplification increased by ten times!

What did this mean?

It meant that previously, he needed to carefully spend over ten hours to barely fission and compress one Super Astral Fission Blast.

Now, it might only take two or three hours! And the quality would be even higher!

More importantly, that "Destruction" attribute bonus damage! Just hearing about it, it sounded like it wasn't ordinary stuff!

Ling Tian slowly opened his eyes, and two clusters of pitch-black flames seemed to flash and vanish deep within his pupils.

No one dared to speak loudly; an oppressive atmosphere filled the air.

Finally, Master Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead, trotted over to General Qin Feng and Ling Tian, and bowed, "General, both large arrays have been calibrated, the Yuan Crystals are fully charged, and they can be activated at any time!"

General Qin Feng looked at Ling Tian.

Ling Tian nodded and conveyed his intent: "Understood, begin."

Master Zhou immediately turned and gestured to his assistants.

Several assistants ran to the control hubs of the two large arrays and began to operate them.

Hum—!

The Super Star Gathering Array was activated!

The Formation Plate erupted with brilliant silver light!

Countless Formation inscriptions shone as if they had come alive!

Immediately afterward, everyone felt as if the sky above them dimmed for an instant.

No, it wasn't dimmed.

It was endless silver starlight piercing through the daylight, as if summoned, cascading down from above the Nine Heavens!

At first, it was mere wisps, but soon it connected into a single expanse, turning into thick pillars of silver light that precisely struck the core eye of the Star Gathering Array!

The light of the Formation Plate surged instantly!

It emitted a low roar, like a giant beast Awakening!

Star Power, condensed to the point of almost becoming liquid, was frantically channeled and gathered, forming a silver ball of light over a hundred meters in diameter above the Formation Plate!

The Star Power was so dense it was outrageous; the space itself began to distort!

"Hiss—!"

A chorus of gasps sounded all around.

"This... this much Star Power?!"

"My god! If this goes out of control and explodes..."

"Look! The energy is flowing toward Lord Ling Tian!"

Just then, the silver ball of light split off a thick stream of silver light, like a galaxy pouring backward, and surged toward Ling Tian!

Ling Tian opened his mouth and, like a giant whale drinking water, began continuously absorbing this stream of silver light into his body!

On the surface of his body, specks of starlight began to emerge, and his skin seemed to be covered in a layer of silver gauze.

"He... he is actually absorbing it?! With this much Star Power, is he really not afraid of being assimilated by the stars?!"

An old staff officer in the legion who specialized in Formations exclaimed in shock, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose with a face full of disbelief.

"Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!"

Another white-haired, respectable-looking old Formation Master couldn't help but stomp his feet, anxiously saying to General Qin Feng, "General! Make him stop! Star Power is extremely gentle and stable in nature, but quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes! Forcing such a massive amount of Star Power into the body, even a Yuan Emperor could not withstand it! At best, his Meridians will be destroyed and his cultivation crippled; at worst, he will be directly assimilated into a mindless Star Stone! This is suicide!"

General Qin Feng frowned and looked at Xia Youchu.

Xia Youchu shook her head gently and whispered, "General Qin, trust him."

Her voice was not loud, but it carried a strange sense of persuasiveness.

General Qin Feng recalled the various miracles Ling Tian had created before, gritted his teeth, and raised his hand to stop the Formation Masters who wanted to step forward and intervene, "Keep watching!"

The old Formation Master was so anxious his beard was twitching, but he dared not defy the military order, so he could only stare fixedly at Ling Tian, muttering incessantly, "He's crazy! He's crazy! A War Beast is just a War Beast; no matter how strong the power, what does it know about energy control, what does it know about Formation balance?! Doing this is bound to cause trouble! Serious trouble!"

Ling Tian turned a deaf ear to those discussions and doubts.

All his focus was concentrated within his body.

A massive amount of Star Power surged into the Destruction Furnace!

The Destruction Fire burned fiercely, beginning to scorch and fission this extremely stable Star Yuan Power!

This time, it was much easier than the last!

On one hand, the Destruction Furnace had been greatly strengthened after the evolution, and the fission efficiency had surged.

On the other hand, he was now in the strengthened Yuan Emperor Realm, and his control and tolerance for energy were incomparable to before.

But even so, the fission process remained difficult.

The Star Power was too stubborn.

Ling Tian could feel that the Destruction Furnace was operating at overload; the furnace walls were even heating up.

He had to divert a portion of his Mental Energy to protect the furnace.

Time passed minute by minute.

On the training ground, only the low hum of the Star Gathering Array and the whistling sound of energy flow remained.

Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at Ling Tian.

They saw Ling Tian's massive body, sometimes shining with brilliant silver light, like a Star God descending to the world.

Sometimes, it was obscured by the dark red Destruction light emanating from within, like a dormant Vicious Beast.

The two lights flickered alternately, and his aura constantly fluctuated between stable and violent.

One hour passed...

Two hours passed...

Ling Tian still maintained that posture, frantically devouring and fissioning the Star Power.

The old Formation Master went from initial anxiety, to later numbness, and now to... stupefaction.

"Impossible... how is this possible..."

He muttered to himself, "With so much Star Power poured in, even a piece of Divine Iron should have been deformed by the pressure... How is he completely fine? Still transforming? What on earth is inside his body?!"

General Qin Feng and Lieutenant General Zhao Weiguo's expressions also became increasingly solemn.

They could clearly perceive that an extremely terrifying power was brewing within Ling Tian's body!

That power was full of destruction and deathly stillness, making them both feel palpitations!

"Is he... compressing energy?"

Lieutenant General Zhao Weiguo whispered, his eyes flashing with sharp light.

"Yes, not just compressing; he is undergoing some kind of qualitative change."

General Qin Feng nodded, his palms slightly sweaty.

He found that he understood this War Beast less and less.

Three hours...

Five hours...

The sky went from noon to evening, and from evening to late night.

The Star Gathering Array was still operating at full capacity, channeling even more majestic Star Power under the night sky.

Ling Tian was like a bottomless pit, accepting everything that came his way.

Countless torches and lighting artifacts were lit around the training ground, illuminating the field as if it were daytime.

No one left.

Everyone was captivated by this incredible scene, wanting to see what kind of result Ling Tian could produce.

Even Master Zhou had bloodshot eyes from staying up, but his spirit was exceptionally excited as he stared at his masterpiece and Ling Tian, as if witnessing some kind of miracle.

Finally, at the tenth hour, the darkest moment before dawn.

The restless, terrifying energy fluctuation within Ling Tian's body reached a peak, and then... suddenly retracted!

He slowly stood up, stretching his body, which stirred up a gust of wind.

Then, he opened his mouth.

There was no sound.

But everyone felt that the surrounding air, light, and even space were frantically collapsing toward his mouth!

An extremely condensed, extremely compressed dark red speck of light appeared deep in his throat.

The speck of light was initially only the size of a grain of rice, but as Ling Tian continued to drive his power, it began to slowly expand.

Fist-sized...

Basin-sized...

Millstone-sized...

Finally, it expanded to a degree that was Soul-shattering!

A terrifying energy ball with a diameter exceeding one hundred and fifty meters, with brilliant starlight flowing on its surface!

Super Astral Fission Blast!

The moment the energy ball appeared, the temperature of the entire training ground rose sharply!

The ground began to melt!

Some soldiers closer to it, even behind energy shields, felt their skin burning with pain and had difficulty breathing!

The violent aura of destruction, mixed with the deathly stillness of fading stars, impacted everyone's mind!

"This... what is this?!"