Douluo Dalu: Ascension Across the Realms

"As expected… It really is the Origin of Time."

A flicker of joy surfaced in Chen Xiaoming's eyes. The spiritual energy of his Soul Formation stage surged forth from within as he extended a finger toward the wine cup before him. Instantly, an aura imbued with the essence of flowing time enveloped the cup.

In the blink of an eye, the wine cup—crafted from ordinary iron—began to corrode and decay, as if it had endured the passage of decades. Layers of rust crept over its surface, leaving it dilapidated and fragile.

"Let's try reversing time."

Once more, his finger pointed out. The power of the Time Origin surged, shrouding the rust-covered cup in temporal currents. The rust began to recede, fading away as the cup returned to its prior state—until the process abruptly halted halfway.

"Cough, cough, cough…"

Chen Xiaoming coughed lightly three times. His spiritual energy withdrew, and a trace of awkwardness crept onto his face as his gaze drifted toward the system's attribute panel.

Origin: Primary Time Origin (+) 13.715 Trillion / 100 Trillion

"Figures. The system wouldn't be that generous."

He had obtained the Origin of Time, but just like with the Bloodline, there was no "One-Click Comprehension" option. He would have to understand it the hard way—bit by bit, through personal insight.

Currently, within Chen Xiaoming's mind, two distinct clusters of origin energy floated—one large, one small. Sadly, all he could do was look at them for now. Until he fully comprehended them, they remained unusable.

But when he glanced at the experience required to upgrade the primary origin, a look of confusion flickered across his face.

Upgrading from primary to intermediate required 100 trillion experience, yet evolving his bloodline origin to the advanced tier had only cost 10 trillion.

"Could it be that the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space follow different rules? Or is there a fundamental difference between Origin and Bloodline?"

He truly had no idea how the system categorized the two. It was all a bit too opaque.

"Forget it. No point in dwelling on it, better to keep cultivating."

Since it was a mystery he couldn't solve right now, Chen Xiaoming decided not to waste time pondering. Sensing the cultivation level of his Peak Soul Formation Stage, he glanced at the experience required to advance further.

Realm: Peak Soul Formation Stage (+) 13.715 Billion / 1 Billion

Even advancing just one level at the peak required 1 billion experience. Chen Xiaoming's brow furrowed slightly.

Extending his hand once again, he tapped on the realm interface. A swirl of brilliant light flashed, and a torrent of immortal qi (celestial spiritual energy) rushed into his body. His original spiritual energy was instantly transformed into immortal qi. His physique, nourished by the immortal energy, took on a translucent luster.

Realm: Early Soul Transformation Stage (+) 13.705 Billion / 10 Billion

"Just as I thought, tenfold increase!"

Seeing the experience requirement jump to 10 billion didn't surprise Chen Xiaoming. In this plane of cultivation, breakthroughs were usually measured in centuries or millennia.

To have accumulated over 20 trillion experience points in just a year, reaching the Soul Transformation, was already beyond his expectations.

"Let's keep going."

With a quiet whisper, Chen Xiaoming didn't hold back. He had already committed to laying low and biding his time, so might as well max out his cultivation first.

Realm: Early Soul Transformation… Mid… Late… Peak Soul Transformation

Fortunately, in the Renegade Immortal universe, cultivation stages were divided into just four sub-levels. Otherwise, Chen Xiaoming might have burst into tears.

He pressed onward. Upon breaking into the Ascendant Stage, the experience requirement surged as expected—to a whopping 100 billion. Gritting his teeth, Chen Xiaoming burned through another 400 billion to push all the way to the Peak Ascendant Stage.

"Sigh… it hurts."

Burning experience like water, even if it felt exhilarating to spend more freely than a gale throwing gold coins, it was still hard-earned—accumulated breath by breath, through painstaking effort.

In the blink of an eye, over 20 trillion experience vanished into thin air. With 9 trillion remaining, Chen Xiaoming felt oddly unsatisfied—it just didn't feel right leaving it unspent.

His gaze drifted toward the Item section of the system panel, finally settling there.

Item: 100,000 Years Divine Armor (+) 9.308 Trillion / 200 Billion

This divine armor had accompanied him all the way from the Douluo Plane, but its power had long since fallen behind in terms of combat performance. Aside from wearing it to look cool, he barely used it anymore.

Now that he was flush with resources, Chen Xiaoming didn't hesitate for a second—he tapped the upgrade button.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of light erupted as he retrieved the Divine Armor. The originally silver glow was now encased in a golden aura. Golden patterns shimmered along its surface, and the material itself looked completely reforged.

Immortal qi surged within him. Chen Xiaoming pointed at the armor and shot forth a stream of glowing immortal qi. With a muffled thud, the glow shattered against the armor's surface—but the armor remained completely unscathed.

"Oh? That's quite the defense boost."

One level up, and the durability had exceeded even his expectations. Interest piqued, he gathered more immortal qi, adjusted his strength, and struck again.

A milky white beam of light shot forward, colliding with the armor. The golden aura rippled like water, but this time, it couldn't block the attack. The beam slammed into the armor—but the golden patterns flared to life, forming a protective barrier of divine light that stopped the attack in its tracks.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. Worth upgrading."

He nodded approvingly, eyes landing once again on the new upgrade cost: just 1 trillion. Without hesitation, he tapped the button.

"Boom!"

A scorching flame suddenly burst into existence in the void, wrapping around the Million-Year Divine Armor. The fire burned with a violet-gold hue, intense enough to scorch space itself.

Within moments, the armor melted into an unidentifiable liquid under the flame's heat. Under the flame's continued forging, it began to reform—this time into a sleek, obsidian-black armor set.

As the outer shell took shape, the violet-gold flames did not dissipate. Instead, they fused into the armor itself, branding it with mystical patterns.

The once-black exterior faded, revealing the true form of the divine armor: a dazzling violet-gold radiance shining brilliantly in the void.

Chen Xiaoming reached out to touch it. He didn't know what material it was made from—it looked like it had been forged from gold and silver, but felt as soft and smooth as silk.

Applying slight pressure, the violet-gold glow shimmered. Despite the force, the armor held firm, completely unyielding.

"Huh? That's a massive boost in defense!"

What he could previously damage, he now couldn't even scratch—not without using his full power. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but as he looked at the violet-gold divine armor once more, he nodded with satisfaction.

His eyes swept across the inventory, and what had once been a hundred-thousand-year divine artifact… had now evolved into a ten-million-year divine armament.

Chen Xiaoming couldn't help but suspect—just wearing this one divine set back to the Douluo Plane, even a God King might have to kneel.

Maybe… he should give it a try next time he returned to Douluo?

The idea popped into Chen Xiaoming's head unbidden. He could already imagine Tang San's stunned, dog-dumb expression when he saw it—that alone would be worth it.

With a flicker of Violet-Gold radiance, the divine gear instantly equipped itself onto Chen Xiaoming. The glow subdued itself as the armor melded seamlessly into his form, leaving not the slightest visible trace.

Luxurious without being ostentatious. Reserved, yet exuding undeniable presence.

"Mm. From now on, you're the one I'll wear whenever I go out to show off."

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