The Fourth-level Path of Life Ability

Halfway through her journey, Vivien encountered survivors who had escaped from the Island of Mist. They were mostly young students, their faces still etched with terror, their bodies trembling.

Upon seeing Vivien, these students burst into tears.

When Vivien asked them about the state of the Island of Mist, the first response she received was:

"Lord Lan... is dead."

Vivien's hand trembled slightly, but she remained silent.

After a long pause, she asked another question: "Did you see it with your own eyes?"

A student replied: "That's what the tutors told us, and then we were sent away."

The Wing Demons continued their flight towards the Island of Mist.

Despite knowing the likely outcome, Vivien felt compelled to see it with her own eyes.

That night, the moonlight was dim, but the silhouette of the island was still visible from the sky, as the mist that usually shrouded the Island of Mist had completely dissipated.

Looking down, she noticed that the lighthouse, which was always lit in the past, had also been extinguished.

Vivien's small glimmer of hope and expectation was utterly shattered.

The Wing Demons landed on the island, and in the darkness, Vivien moved through the buildings, lamp in hand.

In the night, wandering spirits who had lost their sense of self were everywhere, either roaming or hiding in dark corners.

As Vivien passed by, spirits would suddenly emerge and pass through her.

Some spirits stared blankly at Vivien, as if saying:

"Why have you come only now?"

Vivien recognized most of these faces; many were her former classmates.

She could still recall their smiling faces, their youthful appearances, and the memories of their playful times together in the classroom.

The Demon-Hunting Group members who accompanied Vivien, along with the students who had escaped, broke into wails and cries.

Vivien said to her accompanying members: "Send them back to the realm of Yinsai!"

One by one, the spirits transformed into life dreams, crossing between reality and fantasy to reach the other shore of the dream realm.

It was like releasing lanterns into the sky.

Vivien stood alone beneath the lighthouse, gazing at the distant sea, as if waiting for the sun to rise. But the night was so long, it seemed the wait would never end.

Anli emerged from the ancient castle and approached the lighthouse by the sea: "Sister, what are you looking at?"

She didn't know how to console her sister; she was equally heartbroken.

Vivien looked at the sea on the horizon: "I'm thinking about the afternoon when I became the captain of the Demon-Hunting Group. Teacher said I would become the inheritor of the saint's will."

"At that time, the sky was full of dark clouds, and then the sun rose."

"It was so beautiful, the sunlight piercing through the clouds, dispelling the boundless darkness in an instant."

"You know?"

"At that time, I thought I was that rising sun."

As Vivien spoke, her voice began to choke up.

"But I forgot that before the sun rises, there's the darkest and most oppressive storm."

Anli turned her head to look from behind, seeing her usually strong and undefeated sister.

At this moment, she was crying, crying more helplessly than when she was a child.

"Sister."

Vivien turned back, speaking to Anli.

"From now on, we're on our own. There's no safety net anymore."

Anli didn't know what to say, she could only stand with Vivien.

As Vivien gradually composed herself, her usual persistence and stubbornness returned to her face.

Vivien clenched her fists: "We must kill that demon. I want to tell it that this world is not its chessboard or game."

"I want to shatter its bottle, drag it into this world, and let it dissipate bit by bit."

"Let it know that it was never a god."

"It's just a monster through and through, nothing but a shadow created by madmen."

In God-Descended City.

Before the divine temple, Vivien donned the Sage's robe.

Vivien became the third-generation Sage of Truth, officially taking up Lan's ideals and the will of the saints.

"The torch never dies, the temple exists forever."

Beneath the divine temple, a multitude of priests chanted.

The priests of Yinsai looked at this Sage who nominally governed all priests. Although they chanted the same slogan, their faces revealed various expressions.

Some were filled with admiration and envy, some with disdain, while others saw renewed hope.

This was an era of drastic changes for the Trilobite Men.

Internally, the older generation was gradually exiting the stage, while the new generation slowly stepped into the spotlight.

Externally, an unprecedented threat loomed over Yinsai and the Abyss Kingdom like a storm cloud. The monster calling itself the God of Knowledge towered above the mortal realm, its covetous gaze fixed upon the world below.

After becoming the Sage of Truth, Vivien chose a path of caution. She neither launched an immediate assault on the Little Person in the Bottle, Anhofus, nor proceeded with the plan to besiege the Sacred Mountain.

Vivien became calmer and more rational. She knew she didn't have the power to defeat that mythical monster yet.

Rashly starting a war would not only fail to kill the monster but would also needlessly weaken the power of the Temple of Truth.

She was waiting.

Waiting for her trump card to undergo a qualitative change – that is, Blood Plague Stuen.

On one hand, she pushed the Demon-Hunting Group to more vigorously suppress and eradicate the power of the Ghost Cult. On the other hand, she rapidly launched a research project on the fourth level of the Life Ability, mobilizing the entire Temple of Truth and the priests to seek answers to the mysteries of life.

In fact, there was originally another path – the road to myth through the Wisdom Ability.

Unfortunately, Vivien found no trace of her teacher's experimental data on another mythical path of the Wisdom Ability on the Island of Mist.

This wait lasted for over thirty years.

Another King of Yinsai had passed away, and the little prince who had received the blessing of spirits at the coronation ceremony became the new King of Yinsai.

In the castle of the Demon-Hunting Group headquarters, a group of people hurriedly gathered in a hidden ritual workshop.

The workshop was brightly lit, filled with groups of priests. They stood at the upper passage entrance, their eyes fixed on the few third-level Seal Priests conducting the ritual in the center below.

"Have they found the three elements of the Life Ability?"

"Weren't they found long ago? It's only now that they've been truly confirmed."

"Isn't it only after confirmation that we can say they've truly been found? How can previous guesses count?"

"Has the fusion experiment begun?"

"It has started, but there are no results yet."

"Be prepared, we might need to activate large-scale ritual arrays soon."

Everyone waited with bated breath. After so many years of experiments, they had finally seen the dawn of success.

Unlike the Wisdom Ability, which the Trilobite Men had been researching and passing down since the God-given era.

The true expansion and research into the core of the Life Ability's power only began after the era of the Temple of Truth.

The Trilobite Men had not delved deeply into the power of the Life Ability. Before Stuen, the Temple of Truth was even searching through ancient classics for records about the Ruhe beasts to analyze and study the differences in the Life Ability.

It took them this long to gradually understand the unique aspects of the Life Ability.

On the stone platform of the ritual workshop, a mass of flesh could be seen constantly changing. A drop of divine blood of the Life Ability transformed into an unidentified lump of flesh under the catalysis of blood energy.

Finally, it merged with another type of blood, the blood of a Life Ability creature.

The lump of flesh underwent a dramatic change, and soon something resembling a heart appeared on the stone platform.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

It was the sound of a heartbeat.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone felt their own hearts leap with it.

The strange rhythm of this bizarre heart's beating even made those present feel extremely uncomfortable, as if they couldn't breathe.

It was as if their own hearts were being controlled by someone else, or as if a hand was gripping them.

However, the few third-level Seal Priests beside the experiment platform were extremely excited, not paying any attention to this minor situation.

"It's fused."

"It's fused!"

The priests leading the experiment cheered jubilantly, looking at the strange heart as if they were gazing upon a beautiful woman.

This was a creation formed by the fusion of the divine blood of the Life Ability, blood energy, and the bloodline of blood disciples.

It was the heart of a fourth-level supernatural life of the Life Ability, an existence that had evolved from the blood disciples created by Stuen.

The three elements of the Wisdom Ability are divine blood, spirit, and consciousness.

The three elements of the Dream Ability are divine blood, memory, and dreams.

Then the three elements of the Life Ability are: divine blood, bloodline (genes), and blood energy.

The Trilobite Men found many methods and finally fused these three elements into one.

Using the mythical blood of the Life Ability as a framework, supplementing it with bloodline genes, and using blood energy as power, they created an imprint.

Or it could also be called a stable, inheritable template for fourth-level supernatural life of the Life Ability.

The priests of the Temple of Truth believed that the power of the Wisdom Ability lay in the extension of wisdom and spirit, so the power extended from the fourth level was the ability to create puppet armies and avatars.

Unlike the Wisdom Ability, the essence of the Life Ability lies in bloodlines. This can be seen from the Ruhe beasts' power to absorb organs from other life forms into themselves.

Its power lies in the fusion of life forms and the evolution of life forms.

After numerous experiments, the priests of the Temple of Truth identified the three elements of the Life Ability. Through this successful fusion experiment, they created a supernatural life template that combined divine blood, bloodline, and blood energy into one transformed entity.

This allows Life Ability users to undergo life transformation through this imprint. If one masters multiple types of these imprints, they could even transform into various supernatural life forms.

One person could even create a race with its own evolutionary growth path.

"It's alive!" The moment the heart materialized, several priests rushed to the stone platform, their eyes wide with awe and excitement.

"The first supernatural life template of the Life Ability," they looked at each other, their eyes filled with wild joy.

Someone suggested naming it right away: "The fourth-level transformation power of the Wisdom Ability is called the God's Grace Stone, and in legend, the fourth-level transformation of the Dream Ability is called the Light of Wish. What should we call this fourth-level transformation power of the Life Ability?"

"Let's name it after Ruhe. Call it the Ruhe Imprint, or simply the Ruhe Seal," the leader deliberated briefly, immediately naming this imprint after the once-famous Ruhe beasts.

Everyone agreed it was fitting. The name Ruhe was suitable in every aspect.

The name was impactful, representative of the power of the Life Ability, and carried the meaning of fusion imprint.

Someone looked at the heart, the first Ruhe Seal in this world, or rather, the first fourth-level life template of the Life Ability.

"This is an advancement of the blood disciple. It should have a new name. What should we call it?"

"A supernatural life form that controls blood divine technique imprints... how about calling it the Scarlet Apostle?"

The third-level Seal Priests eagerly named their creation. This was a moment of pride and glory for them as researchers.

At this moment, a voice came from the other side.

"Ruhe Seal?"

"Scarlet Apostle?"

"These names you've chosen are excellent. I believe they will be passed down through the ages, remembered with your mark on them."

Hearing the voice, everyone immediately lined up, waiting in front of the experiment platform.

An elderly person wearing a Sage's robe walked out from the passage.

Vivien, once the capable and astute captain of the Demon-Hunting Group, was now in her twilight years.

Although she possessed the power of fourth-level divine grace through the Divine Artifact, the Eye of True Knowledge, she ultimately couldn't break through her talent limit to truly become a God's Grace Priest.

After so many years, Vivien was approaching the limit of her lifespan.

Blood Plague Stuen stood beside Vivien. They came from the same hometown, had known each other since youth, shared the same enemies and some painful experiences, and had been comrades-in-arms for decades.

"Lady Vivien," everyone bowed and called out in unison.

Vivien looked at the beating heart: "What else needs to be done?"

"Can we start advancing to the fourth level now?"

The priests exchanged glances: "We've only created the heart of a Scarlet Apostle. We must let this Scarlet Apostle truly develop to know what this life form is really like, whether it's complete or not."

"After all, it's hard to tell if there are other issues from just a heart."

"Only when the Scarlet Apostle truly appears in this world can we say the first Ruhe Seal has been created."

The priests didn't dare take on this responsibility. If there were problems with this Ruhe Seal and it failed during the transformation process, potentially causing an accident with Blood Plague Stuen or cutting off the path to the fourth level, it would be unimaginable.

This was currently their only trump card against the "God of Knowledge."

Another priest added: "Moreover..."

"For an ordinary third-level Ability user, possessing one Ruhe Seal might be enough for direct advancement. But Lord Stuen is different."

"Lord Stuen's mythical form is immense. To fully transform, he needs multiple Ruhe Seals, meaning more types of fourth-level supernatural life templates of the Life Ability."

"Currently, in the known world, the only Life Ability beings we can find are blood disciples."

Vivien nodded: "What do you propose?"

The lead experimenter stepped forward: "Lady Vivien, we propose seeking out the former Ruhe beasts."

"In the era of the Royal Bloodline, there were seven Ruhe beasts."

"These Ruhe beasts also possessed the Life Ability, and through generations of exploration and fusion, they evolved into an almost perfect form."

"The Lava Monster, Moon Magic Fern, Burrowing Demon Worm, Sky Beast, Sele Sea Spirit, Star of Death, and Desert Worm."

"If we could obtain just a drop of blood from these perfect Ruhe beasts, it would be enough to evolve into a perfect Ruhe Seal."

"If we could obtain all of them, it would certainly make Lord Stuen the most powerful being."

"It might even allow him to directly step into the realm of myth."

A priest from the surrounding crowd asked: "The Ruhe beasts haven't appeared for many years. Where can we find them?"

"Can't we find something they left behind in the past?"

"Perhaps we could extract divine blood from those?"

The experimenter immediately replied: "Even in the Royal Bloodline era, the divine technique for separating mythical blood from the Wisdom Ability was not very refined, let alone for the Life Ability."

"It was difficult for them to separate mythical blood from the beasts' bodies. However, the Samo family, one of the Royal Bloodline families of that time, might have been able to. They conducted in-depth research on the beasts."

"As for the shells left behind by the beasts, and the so-called Ruhe Swords..."

"People used to treat them as treasures, but after the era of rituals and miracles arrived, everyone knew what they really were. There's no possibility of divine blood in them."

Vivien nodded, falling into deep thought.

"I remember from the records of the last Royal Bloodline and King Henir that at the end of the Royal Bloodline era, all the Ruhe beasts headed towards the sea, ultimately disappearing into the deep ocean."

"Let's start immediately with the plan to search for the Ruhe beasts."

"You don't need to be responsible for this; others will handle it."

"As for the Scarlet Apostle experiment, it needs to be conducted on Trilobite Men, right?"

The experimenters nodded. This was their next step in the plan, and they would mostly use death row inmates for the experiments.

However, Vivien spoke up: "There's no need to find test subjects."

"Let's start with me!"

The Scarlet Apostle was already a completely different existence from the Apostle. Blood disciples were servant monsters without intelligence.

They could only rely on the power of Life Ability users and would immediately vanish once separated from the power of the Life Ability user who created them.

But the Scarlet Apostle was entirely different. It was an independent Life Ability user, a powerful being with intelligence.

Everyone immediately became anxious: "How can this be allowed?"

Blood Plague Stuen also looked at Vivien but didn't say anything.

Vivien insisted: "If we use death row inmates to create Scarlet Apostles, and a fourth-level Life Ability user actually emerges, there might be uncontrollable accidents."

"If we're going to use one of our own for this experiment, it might as well be me. I've lived a long life already."

Vivien made no attempt to hide her aging: "I'm nearing my end."

"My strength weakens day by day, and my body is gradually becoming powerless."

"If it succeeds, I can continue to fight against that demon."

"If it fails, consider it my final contribution to the battle against the demon!"

No one spoke, but the atmosphere instantly became somber.

Vivien, the third-generation Sage of Truth, laughed heartily, breaking through the gloom.

"I'm not going to die so easily. I still want to see that demon fall from the clouds, to see us reclaim the Sacred Mountain and God-Servant City."

"Besides, don't you believe in the success of your own experiment? Where's that confidence I saw earlier?"

This lifted everyone's spirits.

Vivien waved her hand: "Then hurry and prepare. I entrust everything to you all."

Everyone was filled with motivation, and the entire ritual workshop bustled with activity.

However, as Vivien was leaving, she said to Stuen beside her:

"If I fail..."

"Please tell them that Anli will take over as the Sage of Truth."

"I also hope that my agreement with Lester can continue."

"At least, until we destroy that demon."

Stuen nodded without saying a word—

Anli, who had been stationed outside, returned to God-Descended City. The entire Temple's Demon-Hunting Group headquarters was on high alert, with blood-red shadows patrolling every street of the city.

Clearly, this was to guard against any schemes the Ghost Cult and the God of Knowledge might attempt during this crucial moment.

Anli still looked as young as she did years ago, as if she had never aged.

She watched her sister, who now walked with a slight stumble, and said with concern:

"Be careful."

Vivien patted her hand and smiled.

Vivien lay down on the experiment table, surrounded by a team of more than a dozen specialists, each tasked with a crucial role in transplanting the Scarlet Apostle heart.

"Lady Vivien," one of them began, "According to the plan, we will..."

They carefully explained the procedure, their nervousness evident as they faced the third-generation Sage of the Temple of Truth.

First step: separate all of Vivien's Wisdom Ability bloodlines to avoid conflicts between the two Abilities.

Second step: completely protect Vivien's brain, preserving her memories, thoughts, and personality.

Fortunately, since Vivien hadn't reached the fourth level, her brain hadn't been deified into a mythical organ.

Third step: Blood Plague Stuen, the source of this Life Ability mythical bloodline, used the divine technique of Bestowing of Power to transfer the mythical bloodline from the Scarlet Apostle heart to Vivien.

This divine technique, created by Yinsai, could be used not only on the Wisdom Ability but on other Abilities as well.

However, it had its drawbacks. Each person could only receive the Bestowing of Power once or twice, and it would affect their subsequent strength growth to some extent.

Fourth step: transplant the Scarlet Apostle heart. The surgeon performing the operation had previously studied at the House of the Witch Doctors before joining the Temple of Truth. He was considered an expert in both medical and divine techniques, and a leader in the new era of medical arts.

Vivien said to them: "Don't be nervous. Just do as you've planned."

Vivien fell into a deep sleep as the surgery, or experiment, began in this hidden space.

This was the world's first experiment to transform a Wisdom Ability user into a Life Ability user.

When the divine blood was separated, Vivien completely stopped breathing.

She seemed to have become a corpse, entering a state of suspended animation.

A priest quickly stepped forward, using divine techniques to protect the fading spark of consciousness in Vivien's mind, safeguarding her brain from decay.

But without the Wisdom bloodline, her consciousness, memories, and thoughts became rootless duckweed.

Stuen appeared in the shadows, reaching out to take the Scarlet Apostle heart and holding it suspended above Vivien.

The heart, possessing immense power, slowly descended and was transplanted into Vivien's body.

Immediately, powerful blood energy began to surround her body, constantly eroding and simultaneously remodeling her original form.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The sound of Vivien's heartbeat caused one assistant to faint on the spot.

The pressure emanating from her body intensified, forcing everyone to take several steps back.

"Get out, all first-level and second-level priests leave immediately," a third-level Seal Priest shouted.

Several assistants were quickly cleared out, as they were no longer needed.

As the blood energy continued to fill and remodel Vivien's body,

The Life Ability bloodline merged with the Trilobite Man shell, immediately giving birth to intelligence and activating the sleeping brain.

"Ha!" Vivien gasped.

She came back to life from a state of death, slowly opening her eyes.

This was the body of a young woman.

A woman, not a Trilobite Man.

But to call her human would clearly be unreasonable. This was a supernatural life of extreme power, an unprecedented life form.

Her birth was at the fourth level, with blood-red long hair and dark green eyes.

A Scarlet Apostle.

"A divine countenance."

"Another divine countenance."

"Such a powerful form, such a perfect life form!"

Even the experimenters were extremely excited.

The creation of the Scarlet Apostle life template had yielded an unexpected result: a being with a divine countenance.

Especially for the priests, each of them had an innate pursuit and desire for this kind of divine countenance.

In their view, this appearance represented power.

It represented being closer to divinity.

Look at who possessed divine countenances: the Creation God Yinsai, the Mother of Life Shelly, God's messenger Hila - needless to say, in the eyes of mortals, they were supreme gods.

Just looking at Blood Plague Stuen, one could imagine how powerful beings with this life form truly were.

From this fervor, it wasn't hard to see why Anhofus once believed that the secret of eternity and immortality was hidden in the form of gods.

Vivien slowly walked down from the stone platform. Her sister Anli draped a robe over her shoulders, while everyone else lowered their heads and knelt, not daring to look at her.

Looking at a being with a divine countenance inexplicably gave people the feeling of gazing directly at a deity, inspiring awe and reverence.

"Lady Vivien."

Vivien looked at her fair hands: "So the appearance of a Scarlet Apostle possesses a divine countenance."

She turned back to look at Stuen: "The first Ruhe Seal has succeeded. Many years ago, I promised you that I would help you find the fourth-level path of the Life Ability. It's finally about to be realized."

A somewhat cold smile appeared on Stuen's face: "The doom of that demon is also approaching."

At the foot of the Sacred Mountain.

In this forbidden area that made Yinsai tremble at its mention, there was actually a bustling city.

A city full of heretical and religious atmosphere.

In this city, everyone was a believer of the God of Knowledge, and all Ability users were members of the Ghost Cult.

Over the years, the Ghost Cult had also undergone massive changes.

All three of the old generation of High Priests had died. Among the new three High Priests, Xiao, who controlled Divine Contract, had become the leader of the three High Priests.

Xiao had an independent ritual workshop, located near the edge of the Sacred Lake.

This was the forbidden area of the Ghost Cult, and no one dared to approach it lightly.

After becoming a fourth-level bone demon, Xiao didn't abandon his teacher Lan's experiments on the mythical path. He had always been dedicated to exploring the mythical path of the Wisdom Ability.

In the seventh year of becoming the Divine Contract High Priest.

The egg left behind by the second-generation Sage of Truth, Lan, finally hatched.

But what emerged wasn't the reincarnated being that Xiao and Lan had anticipated.

Instead, it was a unique white stone monster with beautiful patterns.

It was indeed very powerful, born with a transcendent mythical bloodline.

It probably wouldn't take long for it to become a fourth-level Demon King, with power far surpassing its predecessors.

However, it clearly had no connection to the former Stone Demon King; they could be said to be two completely unrelated beings.

"It failed!"

"But it didn't completely fail."

Xiao summarized: "The experiment regarding increasing divine blood through reincarnation was indeed successful."

"But the experiment to retain memory and personality after reincarnation failed."

"What's the reason?"

"Is it because destroying the brain structure makes it impossible to carry the previous generation's memories and personality? Or were there other issues during the reincarnation process?"

Xiao suddenly looked towards the Sacred Mountain, at the so-called deity at its peak.

He suddenly thought that if he could figure out the secret of how Anhofus created his mythical body, perhaps he could solve this puzzle.

Xiao, this traitor to the Temple of Truth, was gradually going further and further down the path of the Wisdom Ability—

Dream Realm.

God's messenger Hila, who had just obtained a mythical body, held a small mirror, watching the scenes that had unfolded in the mortal world over these years.

Especially when she saw Lan's death, she sighed.

"Lan is dead too."

"But it's good that the Temple of Truth still stands."

Unlike Yin Shen, God's messenger Hila's inclinations had always been clear.

Yin Shen took a few steps, holding Shelly's hand as they stood by the window.

"The combined efforts of the Temple of Truth and the House of the Witch Doctors have finally pushed the Life Ability to the fourth level."

"If all goes as expected, the mythical body of the Life Ability should appear soon."

God's messenger Hila followed, standing beside the deity.

"But they need to find the Ruhe beasts to obtain enough Ruhe Seals."

Yin Shen: "As long as we don't deliberately conceal it, Stuen, as a God-created Man, should be able to sense the presence of other Ruhe beasts once he enters the area of the Bottomless Abyss."

"We can let them find the City of Beasts at the bottom of the ocean trench, and obtain Ruhe Seals from the beasts."

God's messenger Hila had obtained immortality. Yin Shen's only obsession in this era was Shelly.

That is, the transformation of the Life Ability.

Shelly, held by Yin Shen's hand, jumped to look out the window: "Gurgle gurgle!"

Yin Shen held Shelly's hand, stroking her head.

"Don't rush."

"In the next era, we'll create a new world together."

Shelly: "Gurgle gurgle!"