<h4>Chapter 20: -20- Early Transcendent</h4>


    The spatial lynx watched as the human began to draw more and more energy into its body.


    ''Dammit, he made a breakthrough before me,'' it thought, slightly disappointed in itself.


    It then looked to the side and saw two humans who hadn''t been there before, standing a long distance from Ss, just watching him.


    ''Who are they,'' it thought.


    ***


    As Ss sat in the lotus position, attuning himself to the swirling forces of death and destruction, a violent shift began to ur within his body. His mind, body, and spirit were in perfect alignment with the dark energies surrounding him. He could feel the ancient power of the Grim Reaper King technique stirring deep within his core, waiting to be unleashed.


    The world around him seemed to hold its breath. The wind stopped blowing, the trees stood still, and even the faint sounds of the nocturnal creatures ceased. In that stillness, Ss felt an overwhelming force surge through his veins—death and destruction, two primal energies, intertwined yet opposing, now coursing through every fiber of his being. It was time for his mortal body to be reforged.


    Ss''s skin began to tingle, then burn, as the first wave of destruction struck him from within. His muscles convulsed, and his bones cracked under the pressure, but he remained still, his mind focused on the transformation taking ce. Every cell in his body screamed in agony as it was torn apart, disintegrating into ck, swirling ash. The essence of destruction itself was devouring him from the inside out, reducing his mortal flesh to dust.


    But as quickly as destruction had consumed him, death arrived to reforge what had been lost. The ck mist of death that surrounded him sank into his body, restoring the cells that had been obliterated. Yet, they were not restored as they once were. Each cell was reborn, imbued with the power of death itself—stronger, more resilient, and pulsing with the dark energy of the Grim Reaper King.


    Ss''s bones, now reforged from the ashes, took on a dark, almost metallic hue, as if sculpted from the essence of the underworld. His muscles reformed next, each fiber infused with an unnatural strength, coiling like tendrils of shadow beneath his skin. His skin itself was rebornst, pale and cold, yet glowing faintly with a sinister aura, like the fog that rises from the graves at dusk. His very flesh radiated an aura of finality—a touch of death that could extinguish life with the slightest brush.


    As the energies of death and destruction continued to cycle through him, Ss''s blood, now ck and thick like oil, coursed through his veins. No longer was it the lifeblood of a mere mortal; it had been transformed into something far more potent, carrying with it the power to erode life and dissolve matter. His heart, which had once beat to sustain his body, now pumped with the rhythm of decay, pulsing in harmony with the forces of annihtion and cessation.


    The transformation continued. From the depths of Ss''s mind, the mark of the Grim Reaper King began to form—a series of intricate, dark patterns that appeared on his back. These tattoos, born from the death and destruction surging within him, glowed faintly, their design shifting like swirling smoke. The tattoos represented the core of his newfound power: the ability tomand death and destruction at will.


    His senses heightened as his body neared thepletion of its transformation. His eyes, now cold and gleaming like polished obsidian, could see beyond the veil of life, into the realm of the dead. He could sense the thin barrier between life and death, feel the subtle decay in everything around him.


    With every passing moment, Ss''s new body became more attuned to the forces of the Grim Reaper King. The deathly energies fed into the destruction that flowed through him, and in turn, destruction empowered the aura of death that surrounded him. The two forces were no longer at odds. Instead, they were bound together in a perfect, terrifying bnce—an endless cycle of decay and annihtion, coexisting within him.


    Suddenly, a crack echoed through the air, and a surge of power erupted from Ss''s body. The energies of death and destruction, which had been swirling around him in the form of ck petals, coalesced onest time before sinking into his skin. His mortal body had beenpletely reforged, transcending its previous limits. Ss was no longer bound by the weakness of flesh; he had be something far more terrifying—an avatar of death and destruction.


    The pain that had once wracked his body was gone, reced by an overwhelming sense of power and certainty. Ss stood slowly, flexing his hands and feeling the dark energy course through his limbs. His transformation wasplete, his body now the perfect vessel for the Grim Reaper King''s power.


    A deep, ominous silence hung in the air. The surrounding environment—once filled with the sounds of life—seemed to have withered, decayed by the mere presence of Ss''s reformed body. The pool of water nearby had turned stagnant, its surface covered in a thinyer of ck scum, and the dead trees surrounding him seemed to lean away, as if recoiling from the sheer force of his presence.


    His body had been reborn, not as a mortal warrior, but as an embodiment of the Grim Reaper King. Death and destruction now flowed through his very being, ready to be unleashed upon the world.


    "What is this power?" Ss thought as he clenched his fist. He couldn''t quite believe the power his body now held. His strength had taken a huge leap up, with his bodily strength as an early Transcendent lifeform being equal to that of a Late Transcendent lifeform whose fiendgod body refinement technique was specialized in strength.


    Ss''s body had now been reforged and was even more powerful than a natural fiendgod that was birthed by the heavens and the earth.


    He could also now start on cycle 2 of the [Reaper''s Immortal Husk], but unfortunately, there was no duel cycle on cycle 2 the only way to master cycle 2 was through the use of precious natural treasures and essences, so he was unlikely to master cycle 2 and have his body reach the durability of a rank 3 weapon anytime soon as long as he was in this small inheritance realm.


    Ss then turned his attention to his newprehensions. He had finally managed toprehend the path, the way, the Dao.


    First, he decided to look at his status.


    <strong><status></status></strong>


    <strong>Name: Ss Armstrong</strong>


    <strong>Race: Grim Reaper King (Divine Beast)</strong>


    <strong>Innate Talent: Grim Reaper''s Eye</strong>


    <strong>Qi Cultivation: Peak Mortal </strong>


    <strong>Body Cultivation: Early Transcendent </strong>


    <strong><dao></dao></strong>


    <strong>[Path of Death: Lesser Dao of Rot (Minor Completion)]</strong>


    <strong>[Path of Destruction: Lesser Dao of Crumbling (Minor Completion)]</strong>


    ''While I don''t have a weapon path for now, my other two Daos have finally surpassed Kai,'' Ss thought. Kai still had only barely touched on all three of his Daos, with him not spending enough timeprehending the Dao; hisprehensions hade to a natural halt.


    Ss then raised his hand, watching as tendrils of ck mist—the energy of death—snaked between his fingers. His gaze shifted upward, and with a thought, a wave of destructive energy erupted from his palm, crumbling the earth in front of him into dust.


    "Wow," Ss muttered.


    He then reached forward with a thought and picked up a branch that had fallen to the ground.


    ''I''m already capable of using my divine will,'' Ss thought, a little surprised. Divine will, generally speaking, was something only rank 4 adepts had.


    ''Now all that''s left is to develop my divine sense,'' Ss thought. The divine sense was something meant for rank 5 sages.


    ***


    Moments before, while Ss was undergoing the transformation.


    "Master, what is that energy?" the peak Transcendent qi cultivator asked.


    "I''m not sure what technique this Armstrong n youth has managed to find, but it is beyond profound... I believe that is even the manifestation of a Dao higher than a lesser Dao," the master, an early rank 3 disciple, said in slight awe. He had recognized Ss from the battle of the region, and he really wanted to capture him and dig out his secrets.


    ''If this youth is permitted to grow, he will definitely be the number one person of Moonvale Mountain, even surpassing the Redstone n''s patriarch,'' the master thought.


    "Quickly prepare yourself to kill him once his transformation stops," the master said.


    "Why wait until it stops?" the peak Transcendent qi cultivator asked.


    "Because, like I said before, I believe that is the manifestation of a Dao even higher than a lesser Dao. Even if I were to attack, it would likely result in nothing. Plus, there is a slight chance the boy would be able to harness some of the energy to kill me instantly," the master said.


    The peak Transcendent qi cultivator then began to pull out several formation gs, as well as calling his beastpanion—arge brown bear.


    "Come on, Gram, help me kill this youth," the peak Transcendent qi cultivator said.


    ***


    ***


    [A/n: I changed some of the ranks it now goes:


    1. Mortal


    2. Transcendent


    3. Revolving Core


    4. Golden Core]