While Kurohana had separated a great chunk of her power onto a clone of herself in order to help Nix and the other gods combat against the demons who seemed to threaten the Celestial Plane...
Within Erudinia, XXXX Continent, far away from the Seraph Kingdom.
"Haah...haah...how far are we from the kingdom?" A young man who had a crown on his head and was covered in an aura of royalty, could not help but look his companion by the side and ask this question while panting.
"You know, Your Highness, if you admit your mistakes, we might have been in the Greater Tempest Cliff at this time, allowing you to polish your combat skills and Ascension skill in order to transition into a Rank 3 Adept Windwalker. Then again, this situation does allow you to suppress your arrogance and pride." On the other hand, the young man's companion, who seemed to not run out of stamina, could not help but look at the young man with an indifferent gaze, as if the things the young man had done had nothing to do with him.
These two were none other than Vanadir and Dane, who, in these past few hours or so, have not gotten close to the Greater Tempest Cliff at all.
Feeling the pangs of exhaustion and hunger getting stronger after incessantly running through the continent for a few days already, Vanadir decided to strip off his pride and arrogance and hurriedly sat down as he gasped for air. After getting enough oxygen from the surroundings and drinking a sip of water from a pouch he prepared, Vanadir looked at the standing Dane beside him and let out a sigh.
"Fine, I admit my mistakes. Please use your powers to lead us to the Greater Tempest Cliff, oh great Dane," Vanadir said as he put on a false air of worship and reverence.
"I don't really like being worshipped, plus that sounded sarcastic so..." Listening to Vanadir's words, Dane could not help but mull over his decision. After a short bit, he then said, "You know what, because of that, I'll just sit down and wait for you to be sincere with your words."
Just as Dane was about to sit down beside Vanadir, Vanadir hurriedly stood up and waved his hands erraticly as he exclaimed, "No, no, no! I apologize! I sincerely apologize! Dane, please take us to the Greater Tempest Cliff! I'm sorry for doing that!"
Halfway through his process of sitting down, Dane abruptly heard the prince's plea, causing him to stand up once more as he let out a sigh before looking at Vanadir with a light smile.
"There we go."
"Stand up, Vanadir," Dane said, to which Vanadir promptly complied. After that, Dane then channeled all of the mana in his body towards thr surroundings, enveloping the two in his mana.
He then raised both of his hands as a magic circle appeared a few centimeters away from both of them, expanding bit by bit.
One layer, two layers, three layers...
In an instant, a four layered magic circle was created by Dane as he looked at Vanadir, who was visibly astounded by Dane's magical prowess.
"Hold onto my robe tightly, Your Highness!" Maintaining most of his attention towards the magic circle, Dane could not help but say as a warning to the prince. He then shouted, "4th Circle, Void Shift!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the very next instant, the magic circle expanded to envelop the two as it covered them in a black light. Not long after, this black light dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace of the two being there in the first place.
It was only a matter of time until the two reached the Greater Tempest Cliff.
But that's another tale saved for later.
...
In another part of XXXX Continent, specifically within the boundaries of Tempest Cliff, Horell was currently circulating all of the SP in his body as it grew more viscous and purer in terms of quality.
Kacha! Kacha!
A few minutes later, cracking sounds could be heard coming from his body as his body glowed a faint blue, only for the glow to be suppressed by his will not a moment later.
Horell could not help but let out a satisfied sigh as he opened his sense of vision, looking at the changes the thing he did brought to his body.
"Finally, after multiple months of arduous effort, I've finally achieved an X-grade Transcendent SP Vessel. Not only that, my Spell Core has even reached S-grade Transcendent level."
As he muttered these words to himself, Horell then started to chant an incantations as his Spell Core glowed a faint blue.
"[Self Appraisal]."
Whoosh!
As he casted this spell, multiple strands of blue energy from the surroundings started to coalesce in front of Horell's field of vision, creating a screen that was akin to Aurus and Herellia's system screens. Nonetheless, this screen had information that was more basic when compared to theirs.
________
Horell
Level: MAX
Species: Mana Forminosus Energistus (disguised as Branch Grandius Formosus — High Energistus)
[Heaven-defying SP Vessel] has been evolved to [Sky Sundering SP Vessel]
________
"I wonder what would happen if I evolved with a skill at the Divine level?" Knowing very well that his SP Vessel was now at the X-grade Transcendent level, he could delay his evolution further and allow him to evolve into an Animate with a Divine level skill.
Nonetheless, the question, "Will the trial of transition become harder?" lingered in his mind. In the end, he decided to just go with the flow and see what happens along the way.
"By now, I'm pretty sure Master has solidified his grasp over his newfound powers as a Rank 1 Animate."
As the Almighty Creator, sole wielder of the Primordial Decree, I beseech the words written on this novel to transform into that of transition!
*insert transition here*
Well... that's good enough.
Anyways, with those two things happening concurrently, another thing was taking place within the Inheritance of Area 52 while Aurus was grinding the shit out of [Spirit Tempering].
Of course, this thing had something to do with Herellia, who had the ulterior motive to come back to this inheritance in order to enhance her Bronze Key, only for her to find out that the key was a sign of her becoming a ruler candidate.
And now, she was treading the Trials of the Sanguine Ruler, which could hopefully make her become a Sanguine Ruler at the very end.
"[Supreme Sanguine Art: Rupture]!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the moment, Herellia was currently facing against multiple branches and saplings of various shapes and sizes. The only similarity they had was that they exuded the aura of blood, which also coincided with the path Herellia was going to take.
As she shouted the name of the skill, the blood red tendril that was connected to her body, gradually became thicker as it sweeped horizontally towards the enemies, instantly destroying the enemies into particles, particles that seemed to be the remnants of the blood aura they exuded.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Swoosh!
Not long after killing them all, these remaining particles then headed towards Herellia's body, which Herellia's body unconsciously absorbed as the aura surrounding her body turned more and more intense.
Ding!
"A notification?" Herellia, who was recuperating her stamina after the previous one-sided fight, could not help but become dumbfounded at the thought of a notification. Did I level some skill up or something?
Nonetheless, Herellia opened her notification log, to which she became dumbfounded after she skimmed through the notifications.
'A voice says, 'As the Sanguine Ruler, one should have the aura of blood always surrounding them. This trial shall help you consolidate your powers and even offer you the requirements needed to become a bona fide Sanguine Ruler.''
'You have absorbed the remnant blood aura of your enemies, obtaining the skill [Sanguine Aura (Lesser)]!'
"I actually obtained a new skill from this trial?" Herellia could not help but ask herself as she looked at the notifications once more, and then at the skill description she opened up not long after.
She then closed both screens a few seconds later as she noticed that a new wave of enemies appeared a few meters away from where she was, around the double or triple the quantity compared to the wave she fought before.
With a deep breath through her body, she then activated the full might of her newly obtained blood aura and muttered to herself, "I guess there's no turning back. With this choice I've made, there's definitely no turning back."
"This is the path I've chosen."
"And I shall see it to the bitter end!"
"[Supreme Sanguine Art: Amaranthine Blossom]!"
...
And finally, while those three things are happening concurrently (when are we going to get used to this?), within the Inheritance of Area 52, Aurus was assiduously enhancing and evolving the skill he obtained from the inheritance as part of the first trial, the Trial of Comprehension.
At the current moment, Aurus was back to the form he had once he had evolved from A-grade to S-grade, a smooth white wooden sculpture. Well...at the current moment, he was tinted a green color due to his Flux being evolved, as well as the fact that he was radiating a light that was akin to the rays of heaven, which was all due to the current level of his [Spirit Tempering].
Within the span of thirty minutes, Aurus was able to enhance and evolve the basic C-grade Mortal [Spirit Tempering] to the current X-grade Mortal [Boundless Spirit Tempering].
Ding!
Hearing the notification from the system, Aurus, who was enhancing [Boundless Spirit Tempering], could not help but open his sense of vision as he had a hunch as to what was going to happen next. He then brought up the notification log of the system, changing his aura into that of satisfaction and excitement.
'[Boundless Spirit Tempering] has leveled up.'
'[Boundless Spirit Tempering] has reached the MAX level.'
'[Boundless Spirit Tempering] has met the necessary requirements and is ready to transition into a new level of power.'
'[Boundless Spirit Tempering] has been exposed to great amounts of skill experience, allowing it to inprove itself and refine to become something better. Once the skill evolves, the skill will have a guaranteed chance of becoming a Special grade skill.'
Reading the notifications one by one, the aura around him intensified as he then commanded the system...