Chapter 553: Spirit and Flesh Unlocked, The Advancing Kaito Shirogane
Knight Girl slowly lowered her hands, and her body shape transformed from that mature posture back into the petite figure of a young girl.
She let out a breath, seemingly a bit tired. This was the first time Kaito Shirogane saw the other party reveal such an expression.
Obviously, the appraisal of the essence of power like the [Stairway] consumed much more of her energy than appraising those materials normally.
"An amazing stairway. Even in the entire Space, the length of this [Stairway] can be considered profound."
Knight Girl leaned on her sword with both hands. Her posture inexplicably made Kaito Shirogane feel a sense of déjà vu, reminding him of Saber.
He quickly cast aside some currently baseless guesses in his mind and examined this unfamiliar power system.
No, it should be said that for Reincarnators, for the Infinite Dimensional Space, perhaps the [Stairway] was the most essential power system.
Whether it was Reincarnators breaking through the attribute extreme being called breaking through the First Ladder, or after obtaining an S-Class evaluation, the hidden special reward given by the Space letting Reincarnators perform extra material smelting, and encountering the [Stairway of God] here.
It all corroborated one point: in this Space that could touch the myriad heavens and worlds, and touch power systems as numerous as stars, the [Stairway] was the most essential power that integrated all power systems.
Combined with the previous narrative of the Multi-Faced Alien, the [Stairway] was probably the result "observed" by the [Infinite Dimensional Space] as an [Observer].
The Space collapsed those countless types of power systems into a unified [Stairway System] through its own observation.
[Stairway of Spirit and Flesh (Tier 11) - The stairway of soul and flesh and blood, a trial of the essence of life]
[Special Reincarnator EX051, do you want to unlock... Stairway of Spirit and Flesh (Tier 11)?]
Kaito Shirogane didn't unlock it directly, but continued to ask:
"Miss Knight, after unlocking the Stairway of Spirit and Flesh, can I still continue to explore the [Stairway of God]?"
Knight Girl seemed to already have a deep understanding of this Reincarnator who radiated an extremely greedy thirst for power. She nodded.
"The [Stairway of God] is an imperfect stairway. Strictly speaking, it is a stairway with no visible end and lacks footholds. Even in the eyes of many cultivators, the [Stairway of God] cannot be considered a true [Stairway]."
"You will understand this after you unlock the new stairway."
Kaito Shirogane nodded. Because he was overly greedy, he always paid extra attention to descriptions like "upper limit" and "future height."
He never worried about his inability to climb the stairway; he only worried about choosing a stairway with a not broad enough future.
After knowing that it wouldn't affect the pursuit of the [Stairway of God] with an invisible upper limit that Knight Girl mentioned, Kaito Shirogane immediately chose to unlock the stairway.
[Confirm]
[Stairway unlocking...]
In an instant, beneath the one and a half rings of traits on Kaito Shirogane's right arm, the dim meridians instantly lit up.
In the next moment, those meridians radiated a blue-white luster, instantly extending from his arm into Kaito Shirogane's body like electricity.
Kaito Shirogane unconsciously spread his arms, feeling a powerful and cool force pierce through his whole body.
In just an instant, every bit of skin, every inch of muscle, and even every nerve ending of his body was lit up.
He felt his body become light and transparent, then abruptly tightened!
Creak~ Snap!
When Kaito Shirogane's overly terrifying physical body instantly tightened, it was as if a steel whip lashed the air, producing a blazing white vapor trail.
Kaito Shirogane's body was wrapped in a blue-white luster, and his whole person directly floated up. He felt incomparably terrifying energy violently triggered within his body.
That feeling was even more powerful and turbulent than the Qi he obtained after activating the 4x Kaioken, and even more surging than the frantically runaway Satsui no Hadou after he unlocked the killing intent restriction.
Even... more powerful than those two combined.
That is... the power of the soul!
In Kaito Shirogane's current body, the most powerful attribute wasn't Strength, nor Constitution, let alone Spirit and Agility.
His most powerful attribute was Energy!
Every time he absorbed various spirit bodies, Kaito Shirogane would obtain enhancements. In the end, he couldn't even remember how many enhancements he had obtained in total.
Because of special constitution issues, his Energy attribute always displayed as [?].
But this overly powerful Energy attribute, Kaito Shirogane had always found difficult to mobilize.
It was as if the Yellow Springs within his body flowed quietly, but was difficult to control according to his will.
At this moment, that dormant soul power seemed to begin to awaken as well.
Knight Girl looked up, watching the levitating Kaito Shirogane, her eyes full of expectations.
A [Stairway] as high as Tier 11 belonged to an extremely rare height in the entire Space.
Currently, the highest stairway inferred in the Space, apart from the [Stairway of God] with an unknown upper limit, was probably anchored at the Tier 13 level.
But that was also only inferred based on the level of power systems; no one had yet been able to unlock a Tier 13 stairway, let alone climb it.
On Kaito Shirogane's body surface, blue-white meridians continuously extended from his right arm, quickly wrapping his whole body.
He was almost swallowed by the blue-white light. In the next moment, Kaito Shirogane was suddenly awakened by an intense tearing sensation.
His whole person fell from the air, and he saw the blue-white meridians stagnate at his left shoulder.
It was the [Left Arm of the King]. This arm affected the climbing of the stairway?!
He opened his panel.
[Stairway of Spirit and Flesh unlocked]
[Currently climbing the First Tier - Remnant Soul · Decaying Body... Success!]
[You obtained Aging Resistance (Intermediate), Trait · Soul Return (Soul power recovery speed increased by 35%)]
[Currently climbing the Second Tier - Condensed Soul · Quenched Body... Success!]
[You obtained Trait · Steel of the Soul (Rare) (Soul defense power additionally increased), Trait · Steel of the Flesh (Rare) (Physical defense power additionally increased)]
[Currently climbing the Third Tier - Flame of the Heart · Body of Steel... Success!]
[You obtained Special Ability · Spiritual Flame (B+) - Your soul can ignite a special flame of spirit, burning the opponent's spirit and soul. Intensity is linked to soul power and Spirit attribute]
[You obtained Special Ability · Steelification (B+) - Your physical body can change its properties, turning into special metal. Intensity is linked to basic Constitution and basic Defense (Currently can turn into Lonsdaleite). Duration is linked to soul energy]
[Currently climbing the Fourth Tier - Soul Domain · Regeneration... Success!]
[You obtained Trait · Soul Regeneration (Rare) - Even if the soul is damaged, it can slowly regenerate]
[You obtained Trait · Super-Speed Regeneration... Detected that Reincarnator EX051 already possesses Trait · Super-Speed Regeneration. Trait enhancing]
[You obtained Trait · Instant Regeneration (Incomparably Rare) - Begins regenerating the instant the physical body is damaged, healing speed extremely fast]
[Currently climbing the Fifth Tier - Holy Soul · Immortal... Failed]
[Holy Soul: Perfectly purified soul, Not obtained (Unlock progress 13%)]
[Immortal: Conceptual-level immortal physical body, Not obtained (Unlock progress 57%)]
A long string on the panel made Kaito Shirogane's eyes flash constantly with bright light.
He finally understood what Knight Girl meant when she said he would understand after unlocking the stairway.
So climbing the stairway inherently bestows power upon the climber!
Every tier of the stairway grants extra power, whether it be traits, resistances, or even active abilities!
Without needing any special bloodline, just climbing the [Stairway of Spirit and Flesh] is enough to let Reincarnators obtain powerful physical and soul defense, and even [Super-Speed Regeneration], a powerful trait very popular among the Reincarnator group!
This is the power of the Stairway!
However, Kaito Shirogane also understood that it was precisely because he had previously purified his bloodline through his special constitution and that [Curse and Blood of the Same Origin] potion,
That he climbed so smoothly at this time, reaching the level of the Fifth Tier all at once.
Thinking of this, Kaito Shirogane simply continued to press Knight Girl, because he had already judged that Knight Girl was an existence with individual thinking consciousness, so speaking to her was more like dealing with other Reincarnators.
"Miss Knight, I suppose you should have also heard of the sayings [First Ladder · Attribute Ladder], [Second Ladder · Energy Ladder], [Third Ladder · Authority Ladder]..."
Knight Girl shook her head. She raised her right hand, as if looking at the [Ring] inlaid with Incomparably Rare and above traits on her own and Kaito Shirogane's right arms, and said:
"Among Reincarnators, those who can touch various true stairways do not exceed 5%. Those who can completely maintain the possibility of the [Stairway of God] probably aren't even 1%."
"The Space naturally prepared a special [Stairway] for that group of people who cannot touch the truth, a [Power Ladder] exclusive to Reincarnators."
"First Ladder · Attribute Ladder, Second Ladder · Energy Ladder, Third Ladder · Authority Ladder, Fourth Ladder · Radiance of the Heart and Pulsation of the Soul..."
"And then?"
Kaito Shirogane had also heard of these four ladders and deeply agreed. At this time, he wanted to know the classification after this so-called Power Ladder.
But Knight Girl shook her head.
"There is no more. This false and rough [Power Ladder] ends here. There is no path ahead."
"Ordinary Reincarnators reaching this stage reach the endpoint. Unable to find the true stairway, they will ultimately turn into nourishment for others."
Kaito Shirogane was stunned for a moment, then grinned.
This was indeed the style of the Infinite Dimensional Space. Even guys the Space deemed to have no aptitude still had to be utilized in this form.
Using a so-called [Power Ladder] to let them climb to a stage valuable enough, and then offer them up to be devoured by more valuable individuals.
He... liked this approach very much!
However, although Knight Girl said this [Power Ladder] was just a false stairway shaped by the Space, Kaito Shirogane felt it indeed had its unique aspects.
Although this ladder wasn't detailed enough, it very clearly stratified the strength among Reincarnators.
A First Ladder Reincarnator most of the time simply cannot match a Second Ladder Reincarnator who has mastered the ability to release energy;
And the gap between a Second Ladder · Energy Release Reincarnator and those Third Ladder Reincarnators who have mastered special authority rules is even more massive.
Fourth Ladder · Radiance of the Heart and Pulsation of the Soul even possesses the special power Kaito Shirogane covets—Light of the Heart!
It's just that the channel for promotion between each ladder is unclear, and after promotion, it doesn't continuously give various enhancements like the [Stairway of Spirit and Flesh]. Instead, only after each major ladder will it grant gains similar to [Transcendent Characteristics].
This is like a "roughcast house" that possesses the prototype of a [Stairway]. What it gives is not enough, not detailed enough, but it's enough for ordinary Reincarnators to use temporarily.
Kaito Shirogane temporarily planned to improve himself in a manner where three kinds of stairways progressed concurrently.
He examined his various panels. Next, he had many things to do.
Smelt materials, perfect the smelting of the second ring, and unlock the [Fierce] tier advancement mission!
Find a way to continue climbing the [Stairway of Spirit and Flesh]. He already had some thoughts. Looking at [Holy Soul (Progress 13%)], he associated it with his soul which had been repaired by golden soul fragments. That was probably what's called a Holy Soul, or a method of soul purification.
Finally, it was cultivation, further cultivation! Completely absorb the "war reparations" sent by various factions, turn them into nourishment, and let himself step into the realm of [Magnetic Field Rotation].
Improve Constitution, allowing himself to activate higher multiples of Kaioken, and activate that kind of ocular jutsu for a longer time;
Hunt Scarlet Great Sins, increase total attribute points, and climb the activation extent of the [Limiter]!
Kaito Shirogane seemed to see countless terrifying powers laid out before his eyes.
I want it... I want it all!
(End of Chapter)
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter