I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

“You... you... what are you planning to do!?”

Ning Fengwan was in a panic, feeling the object pressed against her body, too afraid to move. It was as if she were a prey animal encountering a sleeping lion, terrified that even the slightest bump would awaken it.

“What do you think I want to do? Hmm? Professor Wan?”

Xue Jing sat behind the young girl, wrapping her in his arms and resting his chin on her shoulder, his voice low as he spoke.

His breath brushed against Ning Fengwan's ear, causing her to shudder, her toes curling tightly as a tingling sensation spread through her body.

“No... don't do this...”

The girl murmured softly, a whisper of protest, but her entire being was limp and powerless. Her delicate hands pressed against Xue Jing's arms, seemingly trying to push him away but lacking the strength to do so.

Her long, black hair, wet and clinging to her pale face, was like silk.

Her fine eyelashes trembled gently, and her once-assertive and spirited phoenix eyes were now filled with helplessness and vulnerability. Her lips parted slightly as if she were suppressing something...

Xue Jing was captivated by her current allure, his pupils fluttering slightly. He couldn't help but hold her tighter.

Then he leaned closer to her neck, lightly brushing it with his lips and teeth.

“Mmh~”

Ning Fengwan shivered, involuntarily biting her lip, as a misty layer formed over her eyes.

“!!”

The girl suddenly lifted her head, revealing her swan-like, graceful neck.

Underneath the water, a pair of hands moved gently, not venturing to more sensitive areas, just lightly skimming over, like an itch that couldn't quite be scratched, barely perceptible...

For over ten minutes, this continued. Ning Fengwan's eyes grew vacant, her mouth slightly open, her body leaning back against Xue Jing.

Every so often, her body would tremble, indicating she hadn't entirely lost consciousness.

The girl turned her head slightly to glance at Xue Jing's face in profile, her narrow phoenix eyes filled with an inscrutable meaning.

At this moment, the ring on her cat-like tail emitted a platinum glow.

Ning Fengwan sensed a peculiar force radiating from the ring, permeating her body.

Simultaneously, Xue Jing's movements paused.

[Godly Substance Detected, Absorbing Divinity...]

‘Divinity!?’

Xue Jing's eyes widened in surprise, looking at the panel that had suddenly appeared, where divinity increased steadily, point by point every few seconds.

‘Promoting the fusion of the cat and the cat tail ring can actually absorb divinity?’

Xue Jing found this face perplexing.

But on further thought, it made sense.

The cat tail ring was a divine relic bestowed in a Lion Sage ceremony, linked strongly to the other god Bastet.

Now, Ning Fengwan and the cat tail ring were further integrating, extracting the power belonging to the other god Bastet from within it.

An other god is still a god, also possessing divinity.

Xue Jing contemplated for a moment and then began to gradually progress with his hand movements.

Suddenly, Ning Fengwan’s body stiffened, her back straightened, and her toes clenched tightly, released, then clenched again.

She gripped Xue Jing’s arm with immense strength, almost causing his bones to creak.

Xue Jing spoke softly, his voice laced with amusement, "Teacher Wan, feeling better now?"

Ning Fengwan curled up, burying her head into her thighs, her expression unseen, she murmured muffledly, "I don’t know what you’re talking about..."

Xue Jing chuckled, not pressing further, instead asking, "How does it feel? Bastet's power."

Ning Fengwan closed her eyes to sense it, hesitantly replying, "I seem to have... grown stronger?”

Xue Jing glanced at the five deep finger marks on his arm, raising an eyebrow, "I can feel it."

With his current physique, even a dull knife might not leave a mark on his skin.

Yet Ning Fengwan, in a trance, managed to grip hard enough to cause him pain.

The power of the other god, Bastet, was indeed formidable.

"Has it only enhanced your physical strength?” Xue Jing pondered a moment before continuing, “Carefully, see if there’s any other kind of power."

Ning Fengwan closed her eyes again.

After a while, she suddenly stretched out her right hand.

"Clang—"

Five sharp silver claws extended from her fingertips.

For some reason, when Xue Jing saw those claws, a strange feeling of danger made his scalp tingle.

"What is this?" Xue Jing suppressed that feeling, and asked in confusion.

Ning Fengwan opened her eyes, somewhat uncertain as she said, "I suddenly learned this. It seems to be called..."

She thought for a moment, "The name is in a language I haven’t heard before... In Chinese, it would translate to 'Snake Slayer Special Forces'?"

"Snake Slayer Special Forces?" Xue Jing repeated.

Ning Fengwan nodded.

"Suddenly, a lot of information appeared in my mind, related to 'Bastet'."

"The wild feline warrior goddess Bastet; one of her titles is 'Snake Slayer'..."

Ning Fengwan searched the newfound knowledge in her mind, trying her best to translate it into Chinese.

“He slaughtered the ‘Serpent of Chaos, Apep’... His claws were tainted with the blood of the serpent, thus gaining the ability to counter ‘anything related to serpents,’ known as the ‘Serpent Slayer’s Might.’”

She turned her gaze to Xue Jing, inexplicably holding a faint smile.

“...The serpent is the origin of dragons, hence, ‘dragon kin’ also fall within the scope of the Serpent Slayer’s counter.”

The girl lightly trailed the claws in her hand across Xue Jing’s chest, emanating coldness from all sides.

Xue Jing noticed that just the proximity of those claws caused his skin to prickle, triggering the Golden Scale automatically, the imprint of dragon scales surfacing.

“What do you think, Mr. Xue, heir of Canglong Stream, who harbors a real dragon inside himself?”

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow, “I only practice martial arts called Canglong Stream, not actually a dragon. Would I still be countered?”

Ning Fengwan pinched her chin, contemplating, “Godly powers do seem to defy logic in such ways.”

“I have this vague feeling now, that you are indeed a ‘dragon,’ and can easily be torn apart in front of this Serpent Slayer.”

Xue Jing twitched his mouth.

What is this? BattleGreymon? Dinosaur Bane?

I practiced some dragon-related martial arts and ended up with a debuff?

Suddenly, he thought of something and exclaimed, “Wait, aren’t you the leader of the Dragon Sect?”

“And now you have a power that suppresses dragons?” Xue Jing’s expression turned peculiar.

He wondered what expression Mr. An, who wanted Ning Fengwan to attend the grand ceremony at the Dragon Sect’s main temple, would have upon learning of this situation.

She withdrew the silver claws known as ‘Serpent Slayer’ and scratched her face, showing a troubled look.

“I originally thought, if really out of options, I'll go there... Now everything is more complicated...”

Xue Jing wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, and smiled, “Let’s deal with the future when it comes.”

Ning Fengwan nodded slightly, resting her head on Xue Jing's chest, her heart filled with peace.

But soon, she sat up, softly questioning, “Why... hasn't it gone back into its sheath?”

Xue Jing was helpless, “Fengwan, you truly underestimate your allure... How could I have no thoughts in such a situation?”

“What should we do then?” Ning Fengwan asked in distress.

Xue Jing pondered a moment, then leaned closer to her ear, whispering softly.

After hearing him, Ning Fengwan's face, already flushed, turned even more crimson, and she quickly shook her head, “No... No way, how can we...”

Xue Jing didn’t give up, but continued to tempt her like a devil, “The condition to deepen your fusion with Bastet is related to me... You know this, don't you? It's beneficial.”

“In the future, to continue receiving Bastet's power, must I restrain myself every time?”

“Fengwan, you wouldn’t be that cruel, right?”

His tone was incredibly gentle, with not a hint of urgency, instead offering gentle persuasion, as if he were merely rationally discussing the benefits.

Ning Fengwan, already unable to resist him, was easily swayed by his seemingly logical reasons, her mind becoming hazy as she murmured, "Then I'll...give it a try."

...

There isn't much to say about the process.

In short, Xue Jing got on with it.

It's worth mentioning that during this time, the cat's tail ring emitted a platinum-colored glow again, allowing Xue Jing to absorb another wave of divinity.

The only serious issue Xue Jing found was that the sharp tiger fangs were slightly harmful.

Luckily, he had his golden scales to protect him, handling it perfectly and even feeling a little thrilled.

In the bathroom, Ning Fengwan wore nothing but Xue Jing's white T-shirt, which was overly large for her and long enough to cover her thighs.

With a toothbrush in hand, she vigorously brushed her teeth, her face still flushed, eyes slightly narrowed with a resentful gaze toward Xue Jing beside her.

Remembering how she was forcefully held down earlier...she almost choked to death.

They had agreed it would just be hands...

Then he tricked her saying hands were not enough...

The girl was slightly remorseful.

Why did she just impulsively agree to such a thing?

Spitting out the foam and rinsing her mouth, she angrily exclaimed, "You scoundrel, this is the last time! Don’t even think about it again!"

Standing beside her, Xue Jing, for some reason, looked entirely refreshed, and simply nodded, "Alright, alright."

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Ning Fengwan was infuriated.

"Xue Jing, you're quite pleased with yourself, aren't you?"

With an innocent face, Xue Jing replied, "How could I, Teacher Wan?"

Ning Fengwan's sharp, spirited phoenix eyes showed a trace of determination, "Don't think I'm just saying it. This is definitely the last time. Even if you kneel and beg next time, I won't help you."

With his hands on her shoulders, Xue Jing comforted her, "Alright, Teacher Wan, don’t be angry. I’ll be more careful next time."

Staring at him furiously, Ning Fengwan declared, "There won’t be a next time!"

Xue Jing chuckled softly, "Alright, alright, no next time."

...

In the middle of the night, Xue Jing lay on the bed.

Ning Fengwan, having reverted to her black cat form, was curled up on his chest, deeply asleep.

He gently stroked the smooth fur of the cat, then turned to glance at the panel.

【Divinity: 309】

"That's quite a lot..."

Xue Jing reflected, deep in thought.

Merely facilitating a fusion between Ning Fengwan and the Cat Tail Ring resulted in such an immense gain of divinity, akin to extracting the divinity of a godly relic.

Can he really hope to achieve such gains every time? Would he not soar to new heights?

Perhaps it won't be long before he could perceive what the divine avatars of "Twins" or "Shadow Flame" truly are.

“But, in the end, what exactly is ‘divinity’?” Xue Jing pondered this ongoing mystery.

If divine essence is the power source of divine relics, then those drained by him should naturally lose their abilities.

However, in reality, the divine relics from which he extracted divinity showed no apparent change... at least not that he could detect.

The same goes for the otherworldly god Bastet... even after Ning Fengwan's divinity was absorbed, she still wielded Bastet's power, acquiring the "Serpent Slayer" ability.

After contemplating for some time, Xue Jing shook his head.

Forget it, he would think about this later; it seems irrelevant for now.

He opened the interface, scrolling down to the divinity skill section.

His finger hovered between "Twins" and "Shadow Flame."

“Not sure what enhancements Shadow Flame Lv2 will bring... maybe lower consumption, increase in power, or something like that.”

After some thought, Xue Jing decided to upgrade "Twins."

For now, the conditions to further refine "Fitness" haven't been met, and divine essence wasn't urgently needed elsewhere.

The upgrade for "Shadow Flame" wasn't pressing either.

He happened to have 300 points of divinity, just enough to raise Twins to the next level.

【Twins Lv3】

【Passive: Possess two lives; after death, freely choose resurrection time within seven days; cooldown: seventy days】

【Active: For each level, designate a bodily-related ability to manifest double effect upon use】

【Currently activated: Physical Strength, Movement Speed】

【Current options: Physical Defense, Reaction Speed, Computational Ability, Concentration, Memory, etc.】

At Lv3, the cooldown time for "Twins" has reduced by another ten days, prompting a glint in Xue Jing’s eyes.

It seems his earlier assumption was correct. If each level reduces cooldown by ten days, reaching Lv10 might indeed allow for endless resurrection.

Suppressing his rising anticipation, he focused on selecting the next active ability enhancement.

What should be the choice this time?

Xue Jing's gaze shifted between "Reaction Speed" and "Physical Defense."

Logically, reaction speed was an excellent choice, but "Physical Defense" meant more than just defense for him now...

Physical defense could also be termed as the body's endurance capacity.

The maximum power he could unleash using the five lethal moves in Hidden Dragon Style was closely tied to his body's endurance capacity.

...