Royal Stabiliser-Royal Split!
Right at the moment Barla was exhausted from facing Virala and was in a standoff, Inala swooped in and ambushed her. With a series of slaps to the back of her chest, Inala split her Life Stage stack into individual bodies.
Following that, over a dozen strings of Prana wrapped around each body of Barla and siphoned her Prana, and Lifeforce, the pain coupled with her extremely strained physical and mental state plunged her into unconsciousness.
Tertiary Nature-Prana Stitch!
Inala's hands wriggled like that of a spider as he quickly tied up each body of Barla into a cocoon, ensuring she wouldn't be able to even flap her eyelid, not to mention moving the rest of her body.
He grabbed nine cocoons and stared at Virala, "Tired?"
"A little," Virala gasped faintly, "She became pretty scary towards the end. I was almost forced to use my Minor Treasure."
"That's good enough, as far as battle instincts go." Inala nodded and then eyed Blola, "Do you need any more Free Humans or Pranic Beasts?"
"No," Blola shook his head, rubbing his arms to cover the goosebumps that had formed on his skin, "The group you've created specifically for Barla is outright terrifying. I won't be needing anything else as long as I have this in my arsenal."
Primary Nature-Eddy Blade x2!
Primary Nature-Drifting Tunnel x4!
Primary Nature-Satellite x4!
Primary Nature-Imprison x1!
Primary Nature-Prana Shock 32!
Primary Nature-Shredded Lunge x2!
Primary Nature-Bio-Synthesis x4!
Primary Nature-Statue x1!
Primary Nature-Linked Rupture x1!
Primary Nature-Piezo Response x28!
Primary Nature-Human Appeal x1!
Primary Nature-Reactive Counter X16!
Primary Nature-Rectum Merger x2!
Primary Nature-Kinesis Deity!
Altogether, the above list of Natures added to a total of 99, which was meant to be fed into Barla's Astral Chart. Basically, to arm Barla with the best set of Natures, Blola consumed Pranic Beasts and Free Humans that were suitable.
This way, once he revives Barla, she could consume the Free Humans and Pranic Beasts he revives next, and this way fill up her Astral Chart instantly. Inala was the one who brought in all the living beings for Blola's consumption.
Kinesis Deity was gained from a random Free Human whose memories were removed by Virala and then forced to enter the Body Stage using Mystic Kinesis art and forming a Human Avatar out of Rutham.
This list of Natures wasn't anything special or spectacular when viewed normally. However, the reason Blola experienced goosebumps was due to the hundredth Nature that Inala had prepared for Barla's Astral Chart.
Primary Nature-Prana Circuit!
With Prana Circuit acting as the core, all the other 99 Natures part of Astral Chart were integrated seamlessly to produce a certain effect, something impossible to replicate even if one had all the Natures, for they had to be arranged in a certain manner, activated in a certain order, and supplied with Prana in a similar order of quantity.
It required strenuous control and ample practice. However, the results were deemed to be terrifying.
"Consume her first and be ready," Inala said to Blola and disappeared. He appeared near Root and plopped the nine bodies of Barla on the ground, "This is the main dish."
"Empyrean Boar King?" Root's eyes widened in surprise as he grinned giddily, "This outclasses everything I've consumed until now by a large amount!"
"Well, it is a 9-Life Stage Empyrean Boar King." Inala nodded as he watched the Major Treasure of Turnip steadily consume the nine cocoons. The energy it generated as a result funnelled into Root and rapidly allowed him to gather Tangible Natures and even elevate them through the Life Stage.
"Three months remain," Inala said and dropped a large amount of Biome Bombs, "There's an Attributed Creature within each. Train yourself in terms of combat and familiarise yourself with all the knowledge I've imparted to you."
"Yes," Root bowed solemnly, "I'll complete the mission on time, no matter what."
"Alright, work hard." Saying so, Inala returned to nod at Blola, "You can consume her now."
Right as he said so, a carnivorous mouth swallowed the last remaining body of Barla. A few seconds later, Blola sat cross-legged on the ground and focused on the data he had accumulated, nodding in victory a moment later, "I can successfully revive the Empyrean Boar King!"
"Hahaha!" Virala and Resha raised their fists joyously. Just like that, they gained one more significant advantage that would increase their odds of victory against Brangara. Moreover, unlike Brangara who was never pressed for survival upon entering the Mystic Grade, Barla had to experience completely different circumstances.
She wasn't a pinnacle existence even after becoming the Empyrean Boar King and had to constantly struggle to survive while brimming with hatred. Hence, she was steadily harnessing the true potential of her build, which made her stronger than Brangara if both had the same set of Natures in their Astral Chart.
Rumble!
The earth quaked violently as Blola assumed Transcendent Eater form, transforming into a sea of carnivorous trees that resembled a forest. Each tree reached a height of 300 metres, with the carnivorous mouth attached atop it spanning a length of 80 metres.
The stalk was greenish-brown, with hints of cyan and crimson tracing bark-like patterns across its form. The carnivorous mouth had a rusty texture with hints of olive green, as if moss was growing on it.
Each carnivorous tooth was triangular with a slightly pointy tip, reaching a length of four metres. Every carnivorous mouth had around a couple hundred of these, packed like sardines. The teeth were dense, resembling the tusks of an Empyrean Tusk.
The forest of carnivorous trees was Blola's Transcendent Eater form. And every single one of them could act like the main body. As long as even one such tree was alive, Blola would manage a complete recovery in a matter of seconds.
The only way to kill even a single body of his was to instantly annihilate the entire forest that spanned approximately 80 square kilometres. It was impossible to steadily hack into them. After all, at the 9-Life Stage, having unlocked the Transcendent Eater's true power, Blola could suck Sumatra Continent dry overnight.
So, his recovery would be instantaneous. The destructing rumble of the earth stemmed from the voracious volume of resources the forest was absorbing, destroying the landscape permanently, beyond the point of recovery.
A Gold Empyrean Tentacle that had become a Mystic Tentacle would have to specifically spend decades or even centuries at this spot, vigorously using its power to heal the region back to its original splendour.
All this damage was in preparation to condense a fruit in the centre of the forest, one that emanated a suffocating presence. A mere ten minutes later, following the destruction of the region, the forest vanished as in its centre stood Barla in a state of confusion.
'I thought I died.' Barla thought as she stared at her body, 'The last I remember is Inala ambushing me suddenly.'
'And somehow, I have dropped to the 1-Life Stage.' Her eyes darted to the side to notice a Decaleech sprawled on the wrecked ground.
[Eat it!]
Before she could wonder or guess what was happening, an overbearing voice resounded in her mindspace, prompting her to subconsciously follow it. She blinked her eyes once and realised that she was stuffing the Decaleech in her mouth.
[Activate it and kill him!]
Right as the message popped into her head, there was a rumble as a figure resembling
Brangara landed before her, forming a crater. A fraction of a second later, Barla was at the throat of the figure, hurling out a vicious punch that crushed the latter's windpipe.
Astral Chart-Bloody Affection!
All the blood within the figure flowed into her as she digested it in a matter of seconds. Moreover, thanks to the effects of Bloody Affection, Barla was able to gather and absorb all the data carried by Prana in the blood.
Immediately, a certain piece of information popped into her mind. 'What is...this? It seems...
terrifying!'
A hundred existences popped in her vicinity as Barla felt an urge to consume them subconsciously. Even if she wanted to resist, she couldn't, especially upon seeing the Attributed Region cube far away, 'That bastard ought to be there!'
Once her Astral Chart was filled, Barla rushed towards the Attributed Region cube, watching a figure resembling Brangara stand at its entrance, 'He's here!'
"BASTARD!" Even if she wanted to think, she couldn't due to the influences of Natures in her Astral Chart affecting her in an extremely specific manner, especially the Nature of Prana Circuit that was driving her insane in a selective category alone. It influenced her to focus on
her hatred and lock in on the target before her, all to fight and destroy it in the most vicious way possible, using the method ingrained into her mind space just moments ago.
Her figure crashed into the target as the duo stumbled into the Attributed Region cube. There
was a series of flashes, following which Barla was on the losing end. After all, the number of enemies she had to face was steadily increasing.
Minor Treasure-Spirit Puppet!
Standing over a dozen kilometres away from the Attributed Region cube was Virala, holding a
gun in his hands. It was his Mystic Ewworm form's tool-made out of Tratham-that had
now been elevated into a Minor Treasure.
It allowed him to create Spirit Puppets, which was an extension of his skill of Spirit Puppet
Slip taken to the extreme.
Spirit Puppet Slip was a skill that allowed Virala to create a puppet body of himself that
resembled the original. He would then insert a Spirit Container cluster in its heart, allowing it
to operate on its own.
These puppets could perform limited tasks. Of course, Virala usually filled their mind space
with all the necessary data first. This way, the Spirit Container cluster only selected the type of action the puppet needed to perform from its database.
Spirit Container cluster existed in cultivators at the Spirit Stage. So, as the limitation stated,
there could only be a maximum of 100 before the cluster collapses on itself. Moreover, they were Spirit Stage's Spirit Containers, which meant they were incredibly fragile.
So, the puppets couldn't perform strenuous activities for long. If one of them were to fight at
full strength, it would collapse on its own in a matter of seconds. Usually, in such cases, Virala didn't use them as autonomous puppets but instead controlled them like Spirit Weapons, allowing them to unleash their full strength without issues.
However, they were Spirit Stage's Spirit Containers, which meant the puppets created by Virala couldn't assume his various transformations.
But, the Minor Treasure of Spirit Puppet overcame that limitation. It allowed for the Spirit
Container cluster to be combined into a whole, similar to when a cultivator entered the Body Stage.
Even though the limit was 100 Prana as before, the Spirit Container was a Body Stage version now, instead of the Spirit Stage cluster before. Secondly, transformation was now possible for the puppets, which meant that a puppet in his human form could assume Mystic Ewworm form, Empyrean Boar King form, and all the various Partial Transformation combinations.
Of course, the Spirit Puppets only had 100 units of Prana, so they had to limit themselves in
terms of transformation and only use the robustness of their physical body to fight. The Prana would be reserved strictly to command the body autonomously.
Boom!
Virala pressed the trigger as pieces of his bone shot out like bullets and landed on the
Attributed Region cube. Upon gaining Inala's permission, the bullets passed through the wall and fell inside.
There was a spike in Prana as each bullet transformed into a human form of Virala-assuming
the appearance of Brangara. A group of such figures landed on the floor and spontaneously charged towards Barla, intending to kill her, succeeding a few seconds later.
"Let's do it as many times as necessary, before she gets the hang of it," Blola muttered as Parute Trees sprouted on Barla's corpse and absorbed all the nutrients that formed her, including the contents of her Astral Chart. With minimal losses, Blola was able to revive her once again and equipped her with the set of 100 Natures.
Once! Thrice! Thirty Times! Barla continued to be killed by the horde of Spirit Puppets
released by Virala. Two whole months later, there was finally a change.
Boom!
A massive gaping hole formed on the Attributed Region cube, circular in shape, spanning a
radius of three metres. Standing behind it was a panting Barla, having absolutely shredded all the Spirit Puppets along her path of attack.
"Huff...hah!" She gasped, feeling like she was about to lose consciousness at any moment. She
watched as the surrounding dense water tried to close the gap but seemed to be struggling for some reason, as if a mysterious force was preventing it.
"Finally, she achieved it." His eyes brimmed viciously as Inala got up from his spot and stared
at Barla ravenously, "The weapon necessary to pierce through Brangara's stacked power of
Subtle Terrain Domination is now ready!"
State of Harmony-Astral Puncture!