Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Uhtred pulled up his map panel. Across the terrain of the new zone, one hundred specific points were brightly highlighted in a massive circle.

The most dangerous Grotto Heavens were represented by the smallest markers and a red danger icon on them. These dangerous Grotto Heavens were all positioned at the far edge of the zone where the boundary bordered the third trial grounds.

Uhtred focused his gaze entirely on those smaller markers. Those were his targets.

The System notices continued across his vision:

[Grotto Heavens represent areas where cosmic essence is at its highest density. The total number of Grotto Heavens held by either faction at the end of the phase will add directly to that faction’s internal score. These locations are weighted differently based on the difficulty required to claim them]

[High-tier indigenous beasts currently occupy these Grotto Heavens. These creatures have evolved inside these dense environments and are the natural owners of the territory. Factions must defeat these beasts to assume control of a Grotto Heaven]

[However, claiming control of a Grotto Heaven is not enough to secure victory. The main scoring mechanic for this trial relies on cultivation advancement. In this essence-abundant zone, the System prioritizes level progression above all else]

[There is no barrier-pushing mechanic in this phase. The boundary lines of this zone are fixed from the start. Participants are free to march straight to the edge of the barrier bordering the third trial grounds, provided they have the strength to survive the journey]

[Factions will receive points based on total level breakthroughs. The more individuals who advance their cultivation level on either side, the more points the respective faction will accumulate]

[Aside from collective advancements, individual advancements from top powerhouses and pioneers are weighted significantly higher. The System heavily rewards points for individuals who level faster and higher than the collective average]

Uhtred analyzed the notices quickly.

The rules established two paths to victory. Modern humans and the ancient variants could either focus on mass collective leveling, helping their top pioneers, or balancing both strategies simultaneously.

Damn. This trial’s objectives really align with my goal...

Right from the onset, even without knowing what the trial was about, he was entering into it with the mindset of taking time to actually master the Esoteric blood magic using the essence core of the Homo erectus general.

And even more importantly, he wanted to replicate that weird resonance state he had entered into.

Within that state, he had been able to control elemental magics that he never even had attempted before.

It was a no-brainer that he was very curious and wanted to learn more about it, but now that this trial itself was geared towards advancement and cultivation, it simply couldn’t work better in his favor than this.

[The creation of new cultivation techniques, essence manipulation methods, and combat skills within these trial grounds will also add directly to your faction’s internal score]

[All of these metrics together will determine the final point allocation at the end of the trial]

[The duration of this trial is strictly fixed to a period of 7 days. At the end of the seventh day, the side with the highest internal score will be declared the winner]

[Good luck]

The rapid stream of notices suddenly ceased, and the System provided no further directives.

For a moment, everyone stilled. Then, all of a sudden, Uhtred flashed into movement, dashing into the distance first...

And like a chain reaction, Zara moved next, then Antoine, then Diya, Dennis and their group, then the large crowd of thousands of human ascenders charged forward.

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.

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The first few hours were a rush, but after the initial frenzy of finally having an abundance of beasts to kill for essence cores and having such a dense environment for cultivation, especially compared to the previous barren trial grounds, the novelty wore off and the true reality of the trial settled in.

The only cultivation techniques available to practically every human in this trial were either the low-level basic cultivation technique they had received at the start of the integration from the System, or a slightly better one bought from the multiversal store before their arrival.

Unfortunately, the multiversal store was closed to everyone, and even if it had been open, cultivation techniques were not easy to find for sale. If you did find one, it was usually some low-quality technique, and even then it sold for a high price.

Uhtred could attest to this. The cultivation technique he had bought from the multiversal store, thinking it would be better than the basic one the System gave everyone, was not particularly different.

This was exactly what the System was testing them on in this trial ground. There was an abundance of essence, but the method to cultivate with it was the real issue.

They had to come up with techniques of their own. They needed to develop Earth-made, human-made cultivation techniques from scratch.

This was entirely different from forming a skill technique. Instead, it dealt with the core of assimilating cosmic essence.

However, for Uhtred, who had a formless core, this was where his talent grade and uniqueness could finally shine.

After the initial rush, he had battled several beasts along the way while heading toward a Grotto Heaven he had picked out right from the start, when the System was delivering the notices.

He was not foolish enough to head directly for the most dangerous Grotto Heavens yet. Even if he wanted to, he simply lacked the strength to reach them.

In fact, he hadn’t even gotten halfway into the zone, and he was already meeting creatures that were close in strength to the Nascent realm Dunestrider Serpent he had faced in the first trial grounds.

To be very clear, these creatures were not in the Nascent realm at all. The strongest Uhtred had seen was a Level 24 Quinkana Land Croc, a freak of a prehistoric creature. It was a huge crocodile the size of a bus that controlled air, water, and earth magic to a terrifying degree.

Before that, Uhtred had faced three separate Level 23 Guillotine Stealth Marsupial Lions. Just as their name suggested, their magic allowed them to blend with the surroundings, and they possessed a terrifying set of jaws with teeth that looked like guillotines.

Those damned lions were nothing like normal lions. They hid high in trees and attacked by lunging down and beheading their prey in one clean swoop.

Coupled with their already broken stealth magic, they were a hassle to deal with.

Uhtred had also faced several other beasts along the way, but one commonality among all of them was their insane magical prowess... or rather, their insane reserves.

These beasts were wanton in their essence usage.

Coming from the previous Age of Hunger trial, where all the beasts had evolved to adapt to a harsh environment, these beasts here were like spoiled rich young masters who had never had a worry in their entire lives.

They used cosmic essence like it was literal air. In fact, that was not too far from the truth. The essence here was that dense after all.

They had developed crazy techniques to harness the essence in the air, and if the speed of their assimilation was not enough, there were thousands of other beasts to kill for their essence cores.

”Damn these things!” Uhtred huffed as he delivered a killing blow to a beast with a staggered elemental strike of flash-heat and cold, before brutally butchering it with air magic enhancing his star-metal battleaxe.

He beheaded the last of the Level 24 Quinkana Land Crocs that was defending a medium-sized Grotto Heaven, just as Zara splattered the head of the one she was battling.

”I thought you said you wanted to observe them for a bit more to understand their essence cultivation technique,” she asked with a flat look on her face, flicking her beast blood-coated fist.

Uhtred’s eyes twitched at her words. Zara had journeyed with him into the trial grounds, and so far their main goal had been to study some of these powerful beasts and understand how they cultivated cosmic essence so they could create a spin-off technique from it...

Or rather, more specifically, so Uhtred could create a technique from it.

However, they could not even get close enough to any of the beasts without triggering their perception and starting a fight.

The beasts would immediately turn hostile and begin attacking them, treating them as threats trying to take over their Grotto Heavens.

”If you’re going to keep killing the beasts anyway, I would rather just use the basic techniques we have and begin cultivating in the vacant Grotto Heavens. This is the third one we’ve left empty just because you want to ’decipher techniques’.”

”Tch,” Uhtred hissed dramatically. ”You know, I had never noticed how much of a sassy person you were up until now. Was it because Diya was always there to keep you in check?”

Zara snorted. ”I am just telling it how it is.”

”Fuck! If you’re going to nag anyway, then just stay here and leave me to do my thing. I didn’t have this many problems when I was traveling alone.”

”Hah! Who knows what will happen if I leave you this time,” Zara looked pointedly at Uhtred’s buzz cut hair. ”Look what happened to you in the last trial. If none of us are with you this time, you might wind up completely bald.”

”How does that even relate to— You just wanted to take a dig at my hair, didn’t you?”

Zara did not respond. She was already digging into the beast’s body for its core.

Uhtred took a deep breath to calm himself, then spoke with a steady, more serious voice.

”I need to create a technique as soon as possible. Among our population, we’re all still stuck with low-level cultivation techniques while the ancient variants got that ’Inheritance Shard’ thing...”