Chapter 767: Second Floor, Fearsome Body-Refining Power
"Courting death! He's not even circulating spiritual power and wants to step into the crimson light with just his flesh?!"
In the air, several figures stared wide-eyed at Mo Yu's actions, waiting for him to reap what they assumed would be his own destruction.
Sizzle.
The instant Mo Yu stepped into the red barrier, the terrifying heat surged in, suffocating in its intensity. White steam rose immediately from his skin as his flesh was rapidly scorched.
His blood and meat sizzled under the crimson glow, as though they were about to spontaneously ignite.
The excruciating pain swept over him again.
Mo Yu's expression tightened for a brief moment, his fists clenching. The crimson light here was indeed far more vicious than the outer desert.
Yet after enduring the furnace-like trial on the first floor, and with the Force Ape Divine Body's exceptional adaptability, his resistance to the red light now was leagues beyond what it had been.
He raised his head and glanced at the others, who were watching him with mocking pity, and smiled faintly.
Within his Supreme Sea, the Heaven-Shaking Force Ape phantom roared, and Mo Yu's flesh and blood seemed to awaken in response. His entire body quivered—then began greedily absorbing the crimson energy sinking into his muscles and bones.
His body was… strengthening once more.
The white steam rising from his skin gradually faded. Under stunned stares, Mo Yu's figure reappeared clearly within the crimson barrier.
Ran Ben, Han Yue, and the others' pupils shrank sharply.
Mo Yu's skin was completely intact, shimmering faintly with black light. The blazing red rays not only failed to damage him—they made his flesh glisten like polished obsidian, like a walking Force Ape.
The barrier's brutal light seemed incapable of harming him.
"How is that possible?!"
The same incredulous thought echoed in every mind present.
Mo Yu ignored their shock.
He nodded lightly at Cai Lin and Mang Lie, then calmly clenched his fist. His gaze swept past the others, who were inching forward like tortoises, and the corner of his lips curled upward.
"Looks like I'll be going ahead this time."
With that, he stomped down.
His figure blurred into a streak of black light and shot forward, tearing through the crimson barrier. In the blink of an eye, he left Ran Ben and the others far, far behind.
They stared after him in dazed silence, unable to react for a long time.
Only Cai Lin remained unsurprised, a faint smile touching her cold, beautiful face.
Nine-colored light erupted from her body, transforming into a brilliant arc as she followed after him.
…
Outside the Refining Tower.
The earlier clamor had been replaced by stunned quiet. Every gaze was fixed on the glowing curtain wrapped around the tower's first floor.
More precisely, on one particular dot of light.
That dot, representing Mo Yu, had started dead last—yet in the span of a few moments, it surged forward like a comet, overtaking all nineteen others and entering the second floor first.
The gathered onlookers' expressions twisted between awe, disbelief, and speechlessness. There was nothing they could say.
…
"So this is the second floor?"
Inside the tower, Mo Yu's curious gaze swept across his new surroundings.
He once again stood atop a stone platform, enveloped in a glowing barrier, just as on the first floor.
But beyond the platform spread a bleak icefield of frozen earth, tinted an eerie blue. The sky, too, shimmered faintly with pale azure light that seeped into every corner of the world.
The blue radiance pulsed with biting cold—wherever it touched, the air solidified, space itself seeming to freeze.
On top of that, fierce astral winds howled across the land. These winds were so savage that even exposed stone would be shredded to dust in an instant.
Even without stepping off the platform, Mo Yu could feel the dread power of the cold and wind outside.
Together, the blue frost and killing gale were undoubtedly even more vicious than the first floor's dissolving crimson light.
But that was exactly the kind of environment capable of forging a near-indestructible body.
Anticipation flickered in his eyes.
His heart stirred as he suddenly turned. A perfect, seductive figure emerged in the distance: Cai Lin had arrived.
"Looks like you're in your element here," she said with a soft smile.
Mo Yu chuckled. "My true self walks the path of lightning, but I walk the path of the flesh. This tower is practically a sacred land for me. Just the first floor alone doubled my Divine Beast Body's strength."
"Doubled?" Cai Lin blinked, visibly surprised by the magnitude of the gain.
While they spoke, more stone platforms began to appear across the frozen wasteland, each bearing a newly arrived figure.
Every one of them looked miserable—skins cracked and charred, steam rising from their bodies. Some still bore half-melted armor or artifacts. Clearly, the crimson barrier had nearly stripped them to the bone.
None of them had the time to marvel; they sat to recover at once. Only after their injuries mended and their spiritual power stabilized did they breathe in relief.
Then, as if drawn by the same unspoken thought, they all turned to look in one direction.
Toward Mo Yu.
Their gazes varied—curiosity, wariness, hostility, murderous intent—but all shared the same underlying question.
They had all barely crawled through the barrier, clinging to their lives with the help of precious treasures. Yet Mo Yu had walked through it faster than any of them, with no apparent strain.
None of them understood why.
But they were not fools. Whatever shock and confusion they felt, they buried it deep and turned their attention instead to the second floor's frigid terrain.
After a brief survey, Ran Ben, Han Yue, and the others began moving again.
Each drew out an item glowing with spiritual light—rare treasures suited to resist the environment of this level.
Ran Ben shot one last cold look in Mo Yu's direction, then flicked his finger. The greenwood in his hand burst into emerald flame, wrapping him in a cloak of verdant fire.
The flame was the Windward Blaze, a strange fire that repelled all wind. It was a perfect counter to the astral gales.
"I'd like to see if you can catch up this time," he muttered under his breath.
With that, he shot out from the barrier as a streak of green light, racing across the icefield.
The others followed suit one after another, unleashing their defensive techniques and charging forward at top speed.
Mang Lie was last to depart. He gave Mo Yu and Cai Lin a slightly amused look, but said nothing. Seven-colored light surged around him as he rushed out into the storm.
"I'll keep refining my body here," Mo Yu said quietly. "You go on ahead to the third floor."
"Be careful," Cai Lin replied with a slight nod.
Nine-colored light cascaded over her form, then shot away like a rainbow spear.
Once they were all gone, Mo Yu smiled faintly.
Those so-called divine reward opportunities inside the tower meant little to him. The true treasure here was the tower itself—its unparalleled ability to temper flesh.
"Let them chase their fortunes," he murmured. "I'll claim my own."
With that, he stepped lightly off the platform and walked into the frozen wasteland.
The second floor's trial would sharpen his body again—perhaps enough to finally push his Divine Beast Body to great completion.
The deathly icefield stretched as far as the eye could see. Astral winds slashed the ground, and blue frost seeped into every corner, turning the land into a barren, killing ground.
Yet amid this brutal storm, a lone, lean figure trudged forward, step by step.
His pace was slow. Each step seemed to drain enormous strength. But for all its slowness, his stride was utterly unshakable—even the raging wind could not make him falter.
Mo Yu pressed on.
A gust of wind, carrying a stream of blue frost, sliced across his body.
A deep gash opened upon his skin, nearly down to the bone. No blood emerged—only a dull, icy blue sheen.
The frost surged into the wound at once, freezing flesh solid. The onset of near-necrotic pain stabbed like a dagger through his nerves.
His steps paused briefly, trembling—but the foot still came down, steady and determined.
As the pain crescendoed, the frigid current slowly faded. The flesh that had seemed ready to die off began to stir once more, reviving and knitting back together.
And when it did, it was tougher than before.
Scar after scar carved itself into his body.
But he walked on like a pilgrim, steadfast amid ruin, enduring agony in exchange for power.
Time lost all meaning.
The astral winds eventually failed to tear open new, brutal wounds.
Now, when they raked across his flesh, they only created shallow, fleeting cuts—easily healed as faint black light rippled beneath his skin.
Looking closely, one would see a faint blue radiance flowing beneath his flesh, woven into his muscles and bones.
That light carried a chilling power strong enough to freeze a standard Sixth-Grade Sovereign to death in an instant. Yet within Mo Yu's body, it pulsed with life and strength, slowly fusing deeper into his Divine Beast Body.
He exhaled—a swirling breath of pale blue frost.
The astral winds that met it froze in place, shattering into dust.
Black light surged over him. The biting chill within his flesh vanished entirely, replaced by a comfortable, gentle warmth.
It was as though the extreme cold of this level no longer existed for him.
Mo Yu looked inward. The Heaven-Shaking Force Ape phantom in his core had grown significantly larger and denser, its frame now like cast iron, glimmering with harsh, metallic light.
The ape's pressure rolled outward uncontrollably. The peak beneath his feet began to crack and crumble, then finally collapsed under the weight of his presence.
As the mountain shattered, Mo Yu floated calmly in the air.
There was no trace of spiritual power radiating from him at all—yet when the astral winds, which could shred ordinary experts, slammed into him, they left only faint white scratches across his skin before fading.
His body had advanced once more.
The threshold of great completion was now right before him.
But the second floor could no longer do much for him.
"At last," he whispered.
He clenched his fist, feeling the nearly explosive power surging within his flesh, and smiled in satisfaction.
His gaze swept toward the distance. By now, the others were no doubt already on the third floor, some perhaps attempting to break into the fourth.
With that thought, he moved.
Black light erupted beneath his feet as bestial strength exploded outward.
Boom!
The ground disintegrated under his stomp. Astral winds split apart beneath the backlash, shattered like fragile glass. The blue frost storms that once threatened to freeze him were now completely unable to impede his advance.
Mo Yu's figure shot forward, transforming into a streak of light that tore across the icefield.
His speed left Ran Ben and the others' earlier pace in utter ruin.
He soared past the boundary of the second floor like a thunderbolt.
(END CHAPTER)
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