Chapter 148: The Nine Kingly Weapons (Part 4)

Time passed, and before long...

"It's your turn, young Titan. Are you ready?"

"Yes!" Muria watched the legendary metal in its molten state within the Eternal Flame and nodded.

"Here's a little heads-up, it's going to be unpleasant."

Muria's lips twitched. "Hurry up."

"As you wish!"

Beneath Muria, the altar lit up with radiant glyphs, casting numerous streams of light that streaked across his body.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft..." Under the barrage of light, Muria's body, now stronger than when he was at the gold level, was effortlessly sliced open.

Pale golden blood sprayed out as dense wounds appeared on every inch of Muria's skin. The Titan youth let out a pained grunt amidst this intense assault, the long, narrow wounds covering his body reminded him of a punishment from his previous life—death by a thousand cuts.

"Hephaestus, isn't there another way to draw blood?" Muria's eyes twitched with pain.

His pale golden blood dripped down, seeping into the glyphs of the altar beneath him, turning the vibrant glyphs a pale gold. The Eternal Flame at the very top of the altar seemed to be covered in a faint golden light as well. At the same time, a miraculous change occurred in the legendary metal within the flame.

"This method drains blood the fastest," Hephaestus's voice echoed from all around.

"But it hurts," Muria grimaced, as the glyphs on the altar gradually turned gold with his blood.

"This pain is nothing," a voice full of disdain came from the void. "There's worse to come, young Titan. You need to learn to adapt."

"I'll adapt to your grandfather's pain," Muria cursed inwardly. He had never suffered such grievous injuries before, being flayed alive.

But now, having advanced to the level of Soul Intent, Muria's body became even stronger, demonstrating terrifying regenerative abilities. The bleeding stopped, and all wounds healed rapidly.

In less than ten breaths, all of Muria's wounds had healed, and his complexion, pale from blood loss, returned to a healthy glow. However, his aura weakened imperceptibly.

Recovering from injuries came at a cost.

Yet, just as Muria caught his breath, the now golden glyphs on the altar lit up once more. Countless streams of light spilled out, grazing his body without harming his bones, merely slicing through his skin and muscles, subjecting Muria to another round of "death by a thousand cuts."

"Damn it!" Muria stumbled, kneeling on one knee. Pale golden blood flowed like a stream from his wounds, while the altar beneath him emitted a strange suction targeting the blood.

"Whoosh!" Muria felt his blood drain even faster, his complexion quickly paling again, a shade of greyish-white enveloping his body.

As more glyphs turned gold with Muria's blood, the nine-tiered altar began to glow with a golden light, undergoing an indescribable transformation.

The Eternal Flame at its peak danced more vigorously, turning a pale gold and becoming more animated, while the legendary metal it scorched underwent wondrous changes, emanating a faint vitality as if coming to life.

When the legendary metal changed, Muria, kneeling and weakened by the altar's strange suction and significant blood loss, found his wounds healing much slower.

His sharply defined face began to hollow, his once robust muscles atrophying. His aura plummeted rapidly.

Feeling his life force drain away, Muria was near madness, hating the sensation. "Enough, stop it, let me catch my breath!"

"You can't handle this?" The void spirit's voice carried a mocking tone from all directions. "To forge weapons as extensions of oneself, how can you not pay a price? There's more pain to come. If you can't bear it, you can give up anytime, and I'll send you back. But as a price, leave your legendary metals here. If you can't endure this pain, it means you don't deserve them."

"What joke are you making! Bastard!" Muria staggered to his feet. "When did I say I would give up? I am to forge nine weapons at once; I can bear this pain."

"Phew!" With sunken cheeks and atrophied muscles, Muria took a deep breath. Even in his skeletal state, he still looked majestic and imposing.

"Cassio, you've thought this through." Muria drew a heavy breath, taking out the crystal vial Cassio had given him, and without hesitation, drank it down.

"Gulp! Gulp!" As Muria drank the tree sap, a rich life force burst forth from within him. A jade-like radiance enveloped him, and visibly, Muria's body began to recover.

His heart beat furiously, sounding like thunder, reminiscent of river water striking the shores. His emaciated muscles began to swell, the greyish-white on his skin fading to a healthy glow, with faint golden light flickering. His body started to produce blood again.

"Young Titan, since you insist, I'll give you another hand," the spirit's voice rang out. As it spoke, the Eternal Flame flickered slightly. From the cascading waterfall of light above, a bright stream of light separated and shot towards Muria.

Muria had no time to dodge before the terrifying stream of light merged into his body.

"Ugh!" It felt as though a volcano erupting with hot and violent power was stuffed inside him, its force spreading throughout his body, tearing apart his flesh and blood vessels, making him groan in pain.

However, having just swallowed the sap of the Eternal Tree of Life and with the stream of light containing vast and pure power, Muria's injuries healed rapidly, feeling his physique strengthen slightly from before.

Before he could rejoice, an even more overwhelming power from the light that entered his body tore through his veins again, merging into his flesh. Faint golden beads of blood emerged from his skin.

As soon as the blood beads appeared, they were sucked into the altar. But Muria had no time to care about this as six twisting dragon horns emerged from his forehead, along with dragon wings, tail, and scales, entering the Dragon Titan form.

However, this transformation was different. The once majestic dragon armor now showed dense cracks, with incandescent light shining through, threatening to burst Muria's body apart.

Muria radiated dazzling light, surrounded by thunder, swirling hurricanes, and flaming dragon breath. Beneath him, eighteen mysterious rings of Soul Intent emerged, emitting a golden glow and slowly rotating. Outside these rings, a nineteenth ring of Soul Intent began to form.

As Muria stood, pale golden light once again shot from the glyphs, slicing through his dragon armor with ease...

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