Read Novel Full Chapter 1529: Forged Beyond Limits
Chapter 1529: Forged Beyond Limits
BOOM!
At first, Orion only registered a deafening ring in his ears, as the massive hammer hadn’t actually struck his physical form.
But a split second later, a wave of numbness, swelling pressure, and agonizing pain erupted from every single tentacle on his body, instantly severing his perception of the outside world.
The colossal hammer fell again and again. With each strike, his body was treated like raw iron on an anvil—shattered, then forcefully compressed. Through this brutal process, the hidden impurities within his form were violently purged, bit by bit.
If the first trial was focused on forging external artifacts, this second stage was entirely about forging the flesh itself. Endure three thousand strikes to be reborn, or perish on the anvil.
Orion finally understood what those dying sparks of cosmic fire had been when he first arrived. They were the extinguished life forces of previous challengers from the Death-Soul Race.
CRACK! SNAP!
The sickening sound of shattering bone and bursting tentacles echoed out. Under the relentless bombardment, Orion’s Death-Soul avatar was instantly reduced to a pulp of pulverized bones and severe internal hemorrhaging.
Yet, this was far from over.
Seeing that Orion remained stubbornly silent, refusing to let out a single howl of agony, the titan increased the tempo of his swings.
A series of sharp, metallic clangs rang out. The sound of the hammer striking the Death-Soul avatar was changing. That resonant ring only occurred when two incredibly hard objects collided. It meant that as his impurities were burned away, Orion’s physical durability was skyrocketing.
"A thousand tempers, a thousand strikes—the divine vessel takes form!"
The titan roared, suddenly halting his barrage. Or, more accurately, he hadn’t stopped; he was gathering his strength. The next blow was the ultimate threshold: the one-thousandth strike.
The power of myriad absolute Laws manifested around the massive hammerhead. The weapon descended inch by inch, carrying an unstoppable, apocalyptic momentum.
DOOM!
The sound of the impact shifted entirely. The moment the hammer struck, the Death-Soul avatar froze—and then disintegrated.
Complete and utter atomization!
A cloud of black-gold dust billowed outward. Where his body had been, nothing remained but a pile of ash.
A sudden cosmic wind swept the dust away, revealing Orion at the center. He had been compressed down to a mere three inches in size, his entire being glowing with a brilliant golden luster.
Compared to his original state, this condensed Death-Soul avatar was the purest, most undiluted essence of his physical form. Only Orion knew the truth: in that split second, the raw durability of this avatar had utterly shattered the limits of the High Lord realm.
A Demigod’s physique. A true Demigod’s body, forged through a thousand brutal tempers.
Mystical divine runes were already weaving themselves across his avatar, carving deep into every inch of his new flesh, making it immensely resilient and deeply attuned to the ambient magic.
"The divine physique awakens, its might echoing through the cosmos!" the titan bellowed. "We continue!"
Seeing Orion survive the one-thousandth strike, a burning fanaticism lit up the giant’s eyes. It wasn’t admiration for Orion; it was the pure, unadulterated thrill of a smith who could finally keep hammering his masterpiece.
"The dross has been purged! Next, we fold in the essence!" The titan raised his hammer. "My kin, can you withstand it?!"
The titan swept his massive hand through the void. In an instant, countless mysterious, shimmering golden crystals of varying sizes materialized across the cosmic expanse.
"Do you see them?! These are the true essences left behind by our fallen kin! I hammered them out myself, heh heh heh!" The colossal smith gazed at the floating crystals with overwhelming pride. "For the next thousand strikes of the second phase, I will forge them into your flesh, piece by piece. It is a process of supreme empowerment, but also one of volatile expansion. My kin, I begin now!"
The roar of wind and thunder erupted once more. Cosmic fire blazed across the world-shadowing hammer, radiating a blinding light.
A hundred of the closest mystery crystals instantly melted down into liquid gold, coalescing directly beneath the hammer’s massive head.
SWOOSH!
Sounding like a howling gale mixed with boiling iron, the hammer violently smashed the mystical liquid directly into the Death-Soul avatar.
The three-inch avatar swelled to the size of an infant in the blink of an eye.
Exquisite! An involuntary groan of pure pleasure escaped Orion. Under the hammer’s strike, it felt as though every single cell in his body was cheering in ecstasy.
WHOOSH!
But the euphoria was short-lived. The titan violently ramped up the frequency of his strikes. Countless more crystals melted into golden fluid, engulfing Orion like a tidal wave.
The Death-Soul avatar steadily grew larger. The tentacles that had been pulverized earlier rapidly regenerated, growing back infinitely tougher and more attuned to the cosmic energies than before.
However, this rapid physical expansion soon filled Orion with mounting terror. He realized that his body was absorbing the mystical fluid endlessly, without any sign of stopping.
It was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the resources provided by this trial dimension were so absurdly abundant it bordered on insanity. On the other hand, Orion knew perfectly well that his newly forged body had a strict capacity limit.
If he kept absorbing at this rate, he would absolutely explode. When that happened, he would likely be reduced to just another one of those floating mystery crystals.
Fear and acute anxiety gripped Orion’s mind. He was in desperate trouble.
I have to think of something. I have to survive the three thousand strikes! I refuse to let my death just pave the way for someone else!
How do I stop my body from absorbing this fluid?
It’s impossible! The titan is literally hammering the liquid into my flesh by force. I can’t just stop it. Suppressing the rising panic induced by the forced infusion, Orion frantically brainstormed a way to survive the forge.
If I can’t stop the inflow, then my only option is to expand my own capacity! But how the hell do I increase my maximum capacity right now?
Orion’s mind raced. He could feel his physical limits rapidly approaching.
Meanwhile, the titan smith was just getting into the groove, unleashing a flurry of five hundred consecutive strikes in one breathless go. Seeing that Orion was still successfully absorbing the essence, the titan grew even more ecstatic.
If Orion survived the crucible, it meant the Death-Soul Race would gain another peerless pillar of strength. If he failed, given the sheer volume of essence he had absorbed, his resulting explosive death would undoubtedly yield a crystal of unimaginably high quality. Either outcome thrilled the giant, fueling him to swing the colossal hammer with even greater fanaticism.
Whatever! Orion gritted his teeth. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
In such a narrow window of time, Orion simply couldn’t formulate a perfect countermeasure. His absolute greatest trump card tied to this Death-Soul avatar was the projection of his tremendously powerful Demigod will.
Devoid of better options, Orion summoned the Demigod phantom, enveloping his avatar’s exterior like a shield in a desperate bid to physically block the mystical fluid from entering his body.
Unfortunately, the attempt failed completely.
It’s not stopping it! I’m dead!
No... wait... something’s changing!
Just as Orion was plunging into despair, he noticed an unexpected shift—a potential turning point.
Under the brutal, relentless pounding of the hammer, the phantom projection of his will shielding the avatar was being slowly pulverized and forcibly driven into the mystical liquid, merging directly into the Death-Soul avatar’s flesh.
At first, Orion had simply assumed this was the normal degradation of his phantom will taking damage.