Chapter 75: Pushing Beyond His Limits!

After all, at present, the Devouring World Art was the fastest method for improving his strength.

It did not require him to slowly refine and absorb energy. Instead, it simply swallowed energy whole into the Swallowing World Pearl, allowing him to achieve a direct and brute-force increase in power.

With this thought, Ryan swiftly activated Devouring World Art, Devour with his right palm, targeting the pile of Low-Grade Origin Stones in front of him.

WHOOSH!

The next moment, terrifying World Devouring Power erupted from his palm.

In an instant, more than a hundred Low-Grade Origin Stones were ground into dust, scattering through the air like countless tiny stars.

Then, the dust transformed into a highly concentrated stream of Origin Energy, which was instantly swallowed by Ryan’s palm as if devoured in a single gulp.

After absorbing such a concentrated surge of energy, Ryan’s face immediately flushed.

His meridians felt like inflated balloons, filled to the point of swelling.

But in the next moment, the concentrated energy coursing through his meridians was completely absorbed by the Swallowing World Pearl.

However, it was like a mud ox disappearing into the sea.

Despite swallowing such a tremendous amount of energy, the increase in World Devouring Power was only a tiny fraction of what was required for the next breakthrough.

Ryan frowned and gritted his teeth.

"The next multiplier level actually requires this much energy..."

"If this isn’t enough, then I’ll just keep devouring!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out another hundred Low-Grade Origin Stones and continued activating the Devouring World Art.

BOOM!

When he devoured another extremely concentrated surge of energy, the Swallowing World Pearl suddenly trembled with a muffled boom.

The next moment, the black evil energy contained within the pearl expanded outward by a full circle.

The World Devouring Power had finally increased to two times its original strength!

"It took two hundred Low-Grade Origin Stones just to reach two times the power."

Ryan’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"Again!"

He immediately took out another large pile of Low-Grade Origin Stones and continued devouring them with the Devouring World Art.

After repeatedly using the Devouring World Art, Ryan’s meridians and muscles gradually became accustomed to the tremendous intensity of the devouring process. They no longer ruptured or bled as easily as they had at the beginning.

The process continued.

Ryan continuously took out pile after pile of Low-Grade Origin Stones from his spatial ring and devoured them as though they were worthless.

As the World Devouring Power continued to increase, however, the number of Low-Grade Origin Stones required for each subsequent increase also grew.

Three hundred stones to reach three times.

Four hundred stones to reach four times.

Five hundred stones to reach five times...

By the end, Ryan had devoured a total of 4,400 Low-Grade Origin Stones.

And all of this had taken no more than the time required to drink a cup of tea.

The Devouring World Art had actually reached a terrifying nine times the World Devouring Power!

At this point, Ryan could clearly feel that his Overlord Body was approaching its limit.

Wherever the concentrated World Devouring Power passed through his body, black gas swirled violently, while a faint stinging sensation spread through his muscles.

Ryan estimated that his Overlord Body could withstand, at most, ten times the World Devouring Power.

Unfortunately, the Low-Grade Origin Stones in his spatial ring were already running low.

Only 424 stones remained.

That was nowhere near enough to reach the next multiplier level.

Ryan had never expected that it would take more than four thousand Origin Stones just to increase his World Devouring Power to nine times.

He had originally thought that exhausting this batch of Origin Stones would allow him to increase the multiplier to around twenty times.

The reality was far below his expectations.

Ryan could not help but sigh.

Cultivating the Devouring World Art was truly expensive.

To raise it to a truly formidable level, the amount of Origin Stones required would undoubtedly reach an astronomical figure.

However, once the multiplier increased, the benefits were equally astonishing.

If he included the threefold increase in physical strength provided by his Superior-Grade Origin Realm Combat Skill, along with the tremendous physical strength granted by his Overlord Body, which already far surpassed that of ordinary Bloodline Fighters,

Ryan’s strongest attack could now unleash power exceeding thirteen or even fourteen times that of an ordinary attack.

That was already comparable to the power of a Spirit Rank Middle Grade Combat Skill!

If the increase in attack power was roughly quantified, Profound Rank Low, Middle, Superior, and Top Grade Combat Skills could increase power by approximately one, two, three, and five times, respectively.

Meanwhile, Spirit Rank Low, Middle, Superior, and Top Grade Combat Skills could increase power by approximately ten, thirteen, sixteen, and twenty times, respectively.

It had to be said that the Devouring World Art was truly powerful.

Once activated, it could grant Ryan a level of strength that he would otherwise be incapable of possessing, allowing him to forcibly transcend realms and ranks.

It was truly an overpowered technique for fighting above one’s realm.

Its weaknesses, however, were equally obvious.

Its energy consumption was terrifying, and the backlash was severe.

With Ryan’s current total Origin Energy, he could unleash at most one or two full-power attacks before nearly exhausting himself, or maintain the Devouring World Art for only a short period before falling into a weakened state.

If he could find a Bloodline capable of significantly increasing his total Origin Energy while remaining at the same cultivation realm, then seal and control that Bloodline...

He would be able to sustain the Devouring World Art for a much longer period.

That would truly be perfect.

As this thought crossed his mind, Ryan suddenly realized something.

Improving the Devouring World Art had not actually taken much time.

He had not expected that this method of swallowing energy whole would have another advantage. It could save a considerable amount of cultivation time.

Before entering the cave, he had checked the time.

It had been just past 1 PM.

Based on his current estimation, there should still be more than an hour before 5 PM.

"I should still have plenty of time. I can’t afford to waste it. Let’s continue improving my cultivation realm."

With this thought, Ryan once again took out Low-Grade Origin Stones one after another.

He closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and began rapidly refining them, desperately increasing the Origin Energy within his body.

...

Time flew by.

Approximately an hour later, Ryan suddenly opened his eyes.

He immediately stood up, dismantled the formation plate and formation feet of the Disguise Formation, and stored them inside his spatial ring.

Then, he walked out of the natural cave.

The moment he stepped outside, Ryan swiftly activated the Spider Silk Swing secret technique.

One strand of Spider Silk after another shot toward the towering ancient trees.

Ryan’s body soared through the forest canopy, moving with incredible speed.

He swung from tree to tree like Tarzan traveling through the jungle on vines, yet the smooth and agile movement also resembled Spider-Man swinging through a city of skyscrapers.

Just now, Ryan had successfully broken through to the Origin Sea Convergence Realm Seventh Stage!

He could have spent even less time on the breakthrough.

However, he had not expected the amount of energy required to advance from the Origin Sea Convergence Realm Sixth Stage to the Seventh Stage to be so enormous.

After reaching the Sixth Stage, the speed at which his cultivation realm advanced had clearly slowed.

Previously, consuming a single Top Grade Origin Power Pill had usually been enough to advance one stage, and there might even have been some energy left over.

Converted into Low-Grade Origin Stones, that would only amount to around twenty stones.

Now, however, using Origin Stones to increase his cultivation realm was clearly less efficient than using ranked pills.

After all, Origin Stones could not simply be swallowed.

They had to be refined and absorbed through the palm, which inevitably resulted in a small amount of energy escaping during the process.

If one wanted to rapidly increase one’s cultivation realm, energy-type pills specifically designed for cultivation advancement were still more effective.

Still, it was not bad.

Ultimately, after frantically refining more than thirty Low-Grade Origin Stones, Ryan had successfully broken through to the Origin Sea Convergence Realm Seventh Stage.

The number of Low-Grade Origin Stones remaining in his spatial ring had also fallen to 394.

In order to rapidly increase his cultivation, Ryan had risked rupturing his meridians by frantically refining and absorbing the Origin Stones.

Fortunately, his previous experience with the Devouring World Art seemed to have significantly widened his meridians.

This indirectly increased the speed at which his Origin Energy Sea could refine and absorb the energy from the Origin Stones.

Only because of this was Ryan able to refine and absorb so many Origin Stones in such a short period.

Moreover, after his meridians widened, he noticed that the process of breaking through seemed to involve fewer bottlenecks and obstructions than ordinary Bloodline Fighters experienced.

He was not sure whether those bottlenecks simply did not exist for him or whether he had not encountered them yet.

Even if they did exist, however, the resistance should be much weaker.

Ryan had not expected the Devouring World Art to provide such an additional benefit.

At this moment, only a little over half an hour remained before 5 PM.

Fragmented sunlight filtered through the leaves overhead, gradually becoming softer.

Ryan, who had just broken through, looked radiant.

His five senses had become sharper, and his physical strength had increased once again.

With strands of Spider Silk continuously shooting from his hands, he moved through the treetops with the agility of a leaping ape.

His movements were swift and nimble.

He swept through the branches without disturbing even a single leaf, his body gliding like a swimming serpent as surging Origin Energy flowed continuously through his meridians.

Only now did Ryan truly experience the powerful effect of the Spider Silk Swing.

For high-altitude movement during combat or for escaping, this technique was definitely a rare low-tier divine skill.

Its instant activation, low energy consumption, and terrifying swinging speed made it almost indistinguishable from true flight.

It was especially effective in environments filled with obstacles.

Forests, jungles, stone forests, rocky regions...

In such environments, the Spider Silk Swing could display an extraordinary degree of utility.

With the Spider Silk Swing secret technique and his Godly Travel Boots working together, Ryan’s movement through the trees felt completely different.

His evasion speed had increased tremendously.

Whenever he encountered flying exotic beasts, Bloodline Fighters on the ground, or groups of mercenaries, he simply chose to bypass them.

There was no need to create unnecessary conflicts.

It would only waste his time.

Thanks to the Gray Light Shield’s ability to conceal his aura, anyone below the Origin Ascendant Realm would find it extremely difficult to detect him while he moved through the branches high above the ground.

Even though Ryan took numerous detours to avoid trouble, his speed remained astonishing when traveling at full power.

After roughly half an hour, with 5 PM approaching but not yet arriving, Ryan suddenly slowed.

Through the gaps between the trees, he could vaguely see a group of people stationed in the forest ahead.

This area was not the very center of the Ashfall Forest, but it was already relatively close to it.

Ordinary people naturally would not dare to venture too deeply into the forest.

According to legend, terrifying high-tier exotic beasts inhabited the central region.

Some people had even claimed to have seen Third-Tier and Fourth-Tier exotic beasts there.

The outer regions were relatively safer, although they were still frequently inhabited by large numbers of First-Tier and Second-Tier exotic beasts.

"Are they from the Sterling Family?"

Ryan’s gaze sharpened.

He immediately slowed his swinging speed.

Then, he severed the Spider Silk strands in his hands, performed a nimble roll in mid-air, and landed silently among the dense branches of a large tree ahead.

From a distance of roughly ninety meters, Ryan used the surrounding branches and leaves to conceal himself as he secretly observed the group ahead.

With ninety meters separating them, countless branches and leaves providing cover, and the powerful concealment properties of the Gray Light Shield, even a highly vigilant Origin Ascendant Realm expert would find it difficult to detect him easily.

He had only vaguely seen a few figures from a distance.

He still could not determine whether they were members of the Sterling Family.

Therefore, he had no choice but to stop, observe them carefully, and confirm their identities.

After all, if he recklessly approached a group of Bloodline Fighters without knowing who they were, he could easily find himself in unnecessary danger.

Venturing carelessly into the already dangerous Ashfall Forest and provoking a large group of Bloodline Fighters would definitely not be a wise decision.