As Su Chen was about to fall asleep, a sliver of his consciousness flared to life.

[Current Trialists: 3/12]

[If twelve Masters of All Things are not gathered within thirty days, the trial will begin automatically.]

‘Two new people arrived at once?’

A thought surfaced.

He pondered for a moment, then shifted his perspective. When he opened his eyes again, he was seated at the head of a starlit round table at the core of the celestial expanse. Starlight cascaded around him like a waterfall, and twelve high-backed chairs stood silent as monoliths.

Almost simultaneously,

two new imprints appeared on the chairs beside him, one after the other, separated by less than a breath.

A figure solidified to his left—a humanoid, red Lizard-man.

The silhouette on his right, however, was completely different. Its face was a blur, as if seen through a thin mist. It appeared both male and female, its features shifting subtly in the light and shadow, making it impossible to tell if this was the effect of a Magic Blessing or simply its natural racial trait.

‘So, there really are aliens.’

Su Chen sighed to himself. The fact that they could appear here proved they were both Masters of All Things.

‘Considering the different time zones, could they have completed some world quest around dawn and ascended at the same time?’

‘They might be working together. If not, they’re at least from rival factions. In any case, they must be connected somehow.’

‘It can’t be a coincidence that their imprints appeared at almost the same time.’

As Su Chen sized up the two newcomers, they were doing the same to him.

The three consciousnesses shared the table. The starlight flowed in silence, yet it felt as if invisible blades were clashing between them.

Before anyone could speak, their consciousnesses were expelled from the trial grounds.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Ruoruo, lying beside him, had naturally sensed the change. With her emotions recovering, she couldn’t quite suppress the underlying concern in her voice.

“Two new people showed up in the trial grounds,” Su Chen said frankly. “One was an alien Lizard-man, and the other was a faceless person I couldn’t get a read on.”

He had previously explained his path to ascension to her, telling her he would have to compete with eleven other Masters of All Things for the unique medium of authority: the Seven-Colored Soul Pearl.

In fact, he had learned from Captain Zhang that a Six-Star expert from their own corps had also embarked on this path to ascension.

To be precise, it seemed to be a major ascension trial exclusive to Six-Star hidden classes.

Refusing it meant forfeiting the only chance to make this choice and losing the path for further advancement.

But accepting it meant participating in a brutal, deadly trial.

“Given your current lead, it should be a sure thing for you.” A gentle softness appeared on Ruoruo’s usually aloof face.

In the past, her expression would have been as cold as frost, never betraying the slightest hint of worry.

But ever since her ascension to Four-Star Spirit Hunter Chief Priest, her face had quietly gained a touch of human warmth. This was especially true of the ripples in her eyes, which revealed the emotional fluctuations within.

Of course.

Perhaps feeling she had revealed too much of her concern, Ruoruo looked away. Su Chen, lying beside her, had no intention of pointing it out.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s get some sleep. We have to be up early for the big battle tomorrow.”

…

Now was the time to pursue a routed enemy with all remaining strength, not to seek fame through false magnanimity.

Riding the wave of this city-wide upgrade, the people of Dongfu City had to press their attack relentlessly and inflict a devastating blow on the four allied ruling powers.

Unbelievably,

by five o’clock the next morning, thanks to the tireless efforts of the exploration and transport teams who had worked through the night, Dongfu City’s Crystal Prism Tower had successfully been upgraded to Level 5. This in turn unlocked a variety of Level 5 building units.

This incredible feat was accomplished in just 29 hours.

The opposing Oran City paled in comparison. It had taken them a full eight days, and amidst their ongoing turmoil and chaos, it was estimated they wouldn’t be able to reach Level 6 for at least another week.

Of course,

it was a huge question whether the four allied ruling powers would even survive that week.

Early the next morning, a large base belonging to the people of Dongfu City appeared in the wilderness outside Oran City. Level 5 defensive towers and residential buildings were erected in quick succession.

A tide of people surged forth.

Although the plan had been to limit the force to a few thousand elites and the two elite corps, the sheer momentum of the populace proved uncontrollable.

For one, the hatred forged during the Battle of the Twin Cities was irreconcilable.

For another, many people had their own selfish motives; having tasted the spoils of war, they were eager to reap more rewards from this battle of annihilation.

Fortunately,

the situation didn’t devolve into a disorganized, undisciplined mob.

On the contrary, faced with the mighty advance of the Dongfu forces, the enemy inevitably launched an attack after spotting them with Insight, only to suffer a crushing defeat.

Soon,

over a hundred cannons were successfully deployed to the base.

Since Su Chen had previously led a team to completely eliminate the Oran border outposts, their advance was entirely unimpeded.

“They can run, but their base can’t.”

「An hour later.」

The cannons all took aim at Lorentz Manor on the outskirts of the city and its seven surrounding satellite fortresses.

BOOM!

BOOM!

The artillery barrage roared to life. As the ground trembled, orange-red firelight erupted among the buildings over a kilometer away.

The Barrier generated by the crystal pillars on the manor’s periphery held for less than twenty seconds. After another round of precisely calibrated artillery fire, the outer Barrier disintegrated in an instant.

As for the satellite fortresses, which had no Barrier protection of their own, they might as well have been made of paper. One after another, they were blown apart, leaving craters ten meters deep as their reinforced concrete was smashed to pieces.

Just then.

VMM!

A sinister, bone-white light shot into the sky from beneath the manor.

The Bone Wheel, one of the six Soul Artifacts, had been activated once more. A hundred-meter-tall Skeleton Giant rose from the ruins, its eyes burning with an eerie blue death-fire. In less than a breath, two concentrated beams of death energy burst from its eyes, shooting straight toward the Dongfu City artillery position.

In the nick of time…

Su Chen, who had been watching over the advance, appeared in the sky. A Maw of the Void Technique bloomed from empty space with a deafening roar.

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