Leon stepped out of the hall of the Church of Light, the massive doors closing quietly behind him.
The air outside felt different.
He had already decided to leave. There was nothing more to gain here.
The statue had spoken, or at least reacted, but it had not changed anything.
The faction was gone. Its followers were dead. Its stronghold was empty.
He took a few steps forward. Then he stopped.
His expression shifted slightly as he exhaled through his nose.
"...No."
Fwoosh!
In a blur of motion, Leon spun around and rushed back inside the church.
His footsteps echoed sharply across the stone floor as he sprinted down the central aisle.
Within seconds, he reached the end of the hall and leapt upward, his body propelled by overwhelming strength.
He rose to the height of the statue’s face in an instant.
Without hesitation—
SLASH!
His [Power Sword] cut through the air with brutal force. The strike carried far more power than necessary.
The blade connected with the statue’s head.
Crack!
Then a thunderous shatter. The stone split apart violently as the entire head broke free from the body.
It fell to the ground and exploded into fragnts upon impact, scattering chunks of glowing stone across the temple floor.
The faint divine aura that had lingered within the cracks of the statue flickered erratically. The golden light in its carved eyes dimd.
Then it vanished. Silence returned to the church.
Leon landed smoothly and looked at the ruined remains for a few seconds.
"...Alright."
He knew it had been pointless. Destroying a statue would not harm the God of Light. It would not change the future directly. But it felt good.
If a god wanted to watch him through stone eyes, then those eyes could be crushed.
With that done, Leon finally left the building for real this ti.
He walked out of the stronghold of the Church of Light and stepped back into the wild lands of the [Level 50 Zone].
The mont he crossed the boundary—
Fwoosh!
He moved. Leon did not waste a single second.
Every monster in his path was cut down imdiately. His sword flashed repeatedly, spells erupting between strikes as creatures of the zone barely had ti to react before being erased.
Slash! Boom! Crack!
Each kill fed into his experience bar.
He could see it rising steadily with every defeated enemy. His current strength made the area trivial; these monsters were nothing more than stepping stones.
And five minutes later—
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 50!]
[Due to "Heaven’s Blessing", you have gained 300 points in all attributes and 300 free points to distribute.]
"Nice."
Thanks to reaching 350 reputation points earlier, the benefits from leveling were even greater than usual.
Every level granted him a noticeable surge in power, pushing his stats higher and higher.
But then another notification appeared.
[You have reached level 50. Your experience will now be locked until you complete your second assessnt.]
[Do you wish to teleport to the "Advanced Divine Temple" to undergo your third assessnt?]
[Yes] [Affirmative]
Leon smirked faintly.
He never really had a choice in these matters as [Celestial] forced him to move forward.
Still, he did not mind. He had prepared for this mont.
[You have 30 seconds to choose.]
"With that little ti, there’s nothing to think about," he muttered.
He selected [Affirmative].
Ding!
[You have selected "Affirmative" and will be teleported to the "Advanced Divine Temple" in one minute.]
"That’s much less ti than the first two," Leon noted calmly. "But expected."
He had already handled everything he needed to do. There was no lingering business left in the [Lower Domain] for now.
Instead of standing idle, he quickly consud the essences of the monsters he had just slain.
The refined energy flowed into his body, slightly enhancing his attributes further.
Then he checked what he needed:
[Skill Stones x20]
[Enhancent Stones x34]
He knew that hoarding [Skill Stones] was generally optimal, especially before major advancents.
And also since he wanted to use them on [Celestial Hand].
But [Enhancent Stones] were different.
Leon preferred imdiate gains when it ca to his equipnt.
Without hesitation, he crushed thirty enhancent stones at once. They dissolved into streams of light that gathered in front of him.
He selected two items: [Power Sword (Mythical)] and [Elental Dragon Armor (Mythical)]
Both were currently at level 1. Upgrading a mythical item from 1 to 2 required fifteen enhancent stones each.
’Perfect.’
Ding! Ding!
[You have successfully enhanced "Power Sword" and "Elental Dragon Armor".]
Leon opened their panels.
---
[Power Sword 2 (Mythical): 15,000 Attack Power, 7,000 Strength, 3,500 Agility. Requirent: Complete the "Orc Trial of Strength"]
[Blood Heart Blessing: Every attack with this sword holds double the "Strength" of a usual one.]
---
[Elental Dragon Armor 2 (Mythical): 4,000 Defense, 2,500 Spirit, 2,000 Constitution, 1,000 Agility. Protects slightly from elental attacks. Requirent: Have at least two out of the four basic elent sub-talents.]
[Blood Heart Blessing: Able to cast "Storm of Elents".]
---
"Amazing."
The stat increases were significant.
Combined with his already overwhelming attributes, the upgrades pushed him to an even higher level of dominance.
Still, Leon crossed his arms thoughtfully.
’I really need to focus more on gathering Skill Stones and Enhancent Stones consistently.’
Treasure Chests weren’t reliable as he couldn’t find that many of them.
And true abundance of such resources only existed in the [Higher Domain].
That, however, would co after this final assessnt.
Ding!
[You are about to be teleported to the "Advanced Divine Temple".]
His minute had passed without him realizing it.
[May the will of the "Heavenly One" be with you.]
BOOM!
A massive beam of light descended from the sky and enveloped him completely. The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly as the column of energy lifted him upward.
The sensation was familiar. It had happened twice before.
His vision turned white. Sound faded. Then everything shifted.
Ding!
[You have arrived at the "Advanced Divine Temple".]
[Please enter the temple to begin your assessnt. You may also rest inside if you want to, though be careful.]
Leon imdiately noticed the additional phrase, "Though be careful."
That had not been present during the first two assessnts.
He opened his eyes fully and observed his surroundings.
He stood in a vast clearing surrounded by enormous trees.
Their trunks were thicker than buildings, and their height stretched so far upward that he could not see their tops.
Dense foliage blocked any visible path outward.
There was only one clear direction: ahead stood the Advanced Divine Temple.
It resembled the previous temples in structure, massive stone pillars, a grand staircase, an imposing entrance, but this one was partially consud by nature.
Vines wrapped around columns, branches intertwined with the architecture, and patches of moss covered parts of the walls.
Hundreds if not thousands of players stood around the clearing.
Their expressions were calm.
Most had already grown accustod to the strange chanics of [Eternal Ascension].
Even so, tension lingered beneath the surface: this was the final assessnt in the [Lower Domain].
After this... The [Higher Domain] awaited.
Leon walked forward steadily, passing other players without paying them much attention.
So glanced at him briefly, sensing his powerful aura, but no one approached.
He climbed the steps and entered the temple.
Inside, he found the familiar corridor that existed in every Divine Temple.
The walls were engraved with strange symbols and text he still could not read.
"To be honest," Leon murmured to himself as he walked, "it’s strange that every temple has this corridor."
It served no apparent purpose other than to delay arrival at the main hall.
Was it symbolic? Or sothing more?
He ran his fingers briefly along the wall, examining the markings.
They were intricate, ancient-looking, and completely incomprehensible.
’There’s probably a reason,’ he thought. ’Just not one I understand yet.’
He reached the end of the corridor.
Fwoosh!
The space opened abruptly into a massive hall.
Tens of thousands of players were already seated throughout the chamber.
The scale was overwhelming, but the atmosphere was eerily controlled.
Leon imdiately opened his [Friend List] to check on Emilia.
Next to her na, it still displayed [Advanced Divine Temple].
That ant one of two things: she was sowhere in this hall waiting, or she was still completing her advancent task.
Either way, she was close. Leon stepped forward.
Ding!
[Killing is forbidden here, but violence is allowed to resolve conflicts. Any violators will be obliterated.]
A grin spread across his face.
"There it is."
That was the reason for the warning earlier. Within this temple, players could fight each other.
They simply could not kill. It created a dangerous balance.
Conflicts could erupt freely, grudges could be settled through force, and rankings could be established through dominance.
But crossing the line into murder would result in imdiate annihilation by the [Heavenly One].
Without hesitation, he began walking toward the center of the hall where the towering [Divine Stele] stood.
It was ti to receive his rank.
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