Chapter 96: The Celestial Core’s Ascension

Moweila, having taken control of Bai Yu’s body, relentlessly compressed the liquid before them, compacting it again and again until it finally coalesced into a spherical object.

The object shimmered like a star in the depths of night, radiating a nascent starlight, a nascent planet brought into being.

[It’s a success! With this, not only can your Evernight spiritual core break through, but it will even benefit your Stars spiritual core.]

Moweila’s voice was filled with excitement; she had never imagined the ritual would proceed so smoothly.

****

Midnight had arrived, and moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating Bai Yu’s room.

The moonlight pierced the core of the sphere, causing the entire object to emit a pristine, white glow.

Then, as if consumed by a black hole, the light was relentlessly absorbed by the dark sphere.

It absorbed with insatiable greed, as though intent on devouring everything in its vicinity.

[It’s still not enough! Quick, keep adding materials as I instructed!]

Moweila’s excitement surged, and she urged Bai Yu to continue retrieving various ritual materials from their storage artifact, tossing them relentlessly into the black-hole-like sphere.

Everything vanished as if into thin air, disappearing from Bai Yu’s sight in an instant.

It was then that Bai Yu finally understood why Moweila had demanded so many ritual materials from the Dragon Summer Investigation Bureau; this process was clearly diverging from their initial plan.

Only when Bai Yu saw their storage artifact nearly depleted did the spherical black hole finally begin to stabilize.

It hung serenely in the air, resembling a tranquil orb of water suspended mid-motion.

Then, in a sudden, breathtaking instant, the black hole sphere appeared to collapse inward, contracting and shrinking with immense force.

Bai Yu even perceived the very space around it constricting, a testament to its unfathomable power.

[Now! Swallow it, quickly!]

Moweila’s voice trembled with overwhelming excitement; the spectacle before her had far surpassed her wildest imagination.

Indeed, the ritual had unfolded with such perfection that she could scarcely conceive of how to replicate it.

This was, without a doubt, an unprecedented and unparalleled ascension.

“Swallow it? Are you serious?”

Bai Yu hesitated, wondering if the object might explode within her, or even worse, absorb her entirely.

“It won’t, hurry!”

Moweila’s insistent urging left Bai Yu feeling somewhat speechless.

“Fine, I’ll go for it!”

Bai Yu ceased her hesitation, gritted her teeth, and leaned in without further thought.

Being too short, she even had to stand on her tiptoes to reach it.

Bai Yu swallowed the sphere whole, consuming it without a moment’s consideration!

The anticipated pain never materialized; instead, a sensation of profound comfort washed over her.

It was as if she had swallowed a mint candy.

There was even a faint sweetness, akin to a sugar pill.

And then, just like that, it was gone.

“What the hell? Why don’t I feel anything?”

Bai Yu felt utterly speechless; after all that build-up, it had simply been a sugar pill.

‘What was the point?’

[I know you’re anxious, but try not to be!]

Moweila interrupted Bai Yu, beginning to manipulate the spiritual energy within Bai Yu’s body.

Bai Yu’s spiritual energy had just been completely depleted, and this was the spiritual energy Moweila had rapidly absorbed during the brief interlude.

Within Bai Yu’s body now, the black-hole-like sphere had forged a perfect equilibrium.

It even usurped certain functions of her heart, allowing spiritual energy to truly circulate throughout Bai Yu’s being.

[Perfect!]

If Moweila possessed a physical form at that moment, her heart would undoubtedly have pounded right out of her chest in sheer excitement.

‘It would have leapt right out.’

Bai Yu was still pondering what had transpired when, in the very next moment, her body’s sudden transformation made her eyes widen.

An inexhaustible wellspring of spiritual energy surged through her body, permeating nearly every one of Bai Yu’s cells.

At this instant, faint traces of darkness flickered within Bai Yu’s silvery-white eyes, before they completely transformed into a deep, abyssal black.

Her pupils, now resembling a vast galaxy, lent her a transcendent and ethereal aura.

Bai Yu drew a deep breath, akin to a newborn’s very first gasp, and with each inhalation, she felt the seamless circulation of spiritual energy throughout her being.

The transformation had not yet ceased; at this moment, Bai Yu’s silvery hair gradually darkened, the change extending all the way to its tips.

Bai Yu gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

‘This is the Evernight spiritual core gaining dominance,’ she mused, noticing that it could even alter her hair color.

The black-haired loli in the mirror shook her head, and the cowlick atop her head had also changed color.

Despite this, she remained undeniably adorable.

‘If I were to gauge my current power, I’d say I’m invincible,’ she thought.

She felt as though she could now fell a Sixth-tier vampire like Robert with a single punch, just one punch.

Of course, this was likely a delusion; Sixth-tier Arcanists were not so easily defeated.

Nevertheless, this advancement was still monumental for Bai Yu.

Yet, before she could fully acclimate, the spiritual fluctuations within her body began to surge once more.

It was then that she realized the breakthrough achieved in the dream realm was finally being fully unleashed.

The Stars spiritual core now asserted its dominance once more, repressing the Evernight core that had just briefly held sway.

Her hair and eyes, which had only just turned black, now reverted to their silvery-white hue, the ‘black hair experience card’ having lasted but a few fleeting minutes.

Her internal spiritual energy surged and churned anew, then once more settled into a state of perfect equilibrium.

She had now definitively entered the Third-tier, and the spiritual energy within her had also achieved balance.

Currently, the Stars spiritual core held the upper hand, suppressing the Evernight.

However, this did not diminish Bai Yu’s power; rather, this equilibrium enhanced her spiritual control abilities to a certain extent.

With this, Bai Yu’s ascension ritual finally concluded.

At this moment, Bai Yu felt as if everything around her was within her control, and her spiritual energy seemed limitless.

While she wouldn’t dare claim invincibility over all, she was confident in her peerless strength within her own tier, believing she could exhaust anyone simply by overwhelming them with her sheer volume of spiritual energy.

[Very impressive. Conservatively speaking, your current spiritual energy reserves are at least one hundred times that of others in your tier, and that’s not even accounting for your preposterous spiritual energy recovery rate.]

Moweila remarked with satisfaction.

Bai Yu nodded, understanding clearly that while her spiritual energy reserves were astonishing, this did not equate to her combat power being a hundred times stronger than others in her tier.

[Furthermore, your heart is no longer a fatal weakness.

That black hole vortex can temporarily replace your heart to a certain extent.]

Hearing this, Bai Yu’s heart jolted.

‘Doesn’t this mean I essentially have an extra life compared to ordinary people?’

At once, her mind conjured images of ‘playing the pig to eat the tiger,’ feigning weakness only to spectacularly humiliate her foes.

‘How incredibly cool would that be!’

[Don’t get ahead of yourself. If your heart were truly shattered, while you wouldn’t die, its repair would be incredibly troublesome.]

Although a Witch’s physical constitution was significantly stronger than that of ordinary humans, their regenerative capabilities were not particularly impressive, being only slightly better than a normal person’s.

They simply couldn’t compare to species like vampires in that regard.

It was one of the few weaknesses of a Witch.

[Before you absorb the Reverse Metal, it’s best not to try it easily.]

Upon hearing Moweila’s words, Bai Yu instantly became more subdued.