Chapter 167: Chapter 127: Consecutive Promotion to Level 2, Divine Level·Final Sense

Lu Cang continuously tempered his physical body... Then, he directly used Sacrifice Soul to enhance its strength.

As a former Level 0 Warrior, his physical limits were too low.

Sacrificing souls had only elevated his Physique to that of a Level 1 Warrior.

Now, Lu Cang directly sacrificed ten thousand souls to temper his Physique.

He soon felt a bottleneck.

However, he could push past this bottleneck by circulating Blood and Demon Tempering. It seemed that strengthening his Physique through the soul-refining was one method of improvement...

...while the tempering from Blood and Demon Tempering was another entirely.

After about five minutes, Lu Cang felt his Constitution had hit a plateau.

’It seems I can’t break through any further this way.’

"Kumironi, I want to advance again."

"To Level 2 Warrior."

Kumironi’s expression was complicated. She sighed softly. "Very few people in this world advance three times in a single day."

But Lu Cang had indeed met the requirements to become a Level 2 Warrior.

In fact, Lu Cang had even comprehended Battle Intent.

His advancement was more perfect than that of any other Level 1 Warrior.

It would be no exaggeration to call it flawless.

"Alright."

"Let’s proceed."

The assessment for a Level 2 Warrior involved demonstrating one’s mastery over their Combat Skills.

Lu Cang unleashed the Demon Quenching Technique on the training dummy that rose before him, blasting it into countless splinters.

This dummy was constructed to have the durability of a Level 5 Reincarnator.

The Combat Skill Lu Cang had just used could truly be called a Transcendent Skill.

The assessment also reviewed his past combat experience.

It wasn’t limited to battles fought as a Warrior; for a Warrior, any combat experience counted, regardless of the methods used...

And Lu Cang’s record included clearing 100 floors of the War God Tower and defeating War God Kai Jia.

Naturally, it was also flawless.

The advancement to Level 2 Warrior went as smoothly as a fish taking to water, without a single obstacle.

「Warrior Mastery — Transcendent Body (Exclusive): Allows for further tempering of physical strength to surpass ordinary Physical Limits. Reduces the difficulty of breakthroughs and raises the upper limit for advancement.」

「Warrior Mastery — Transcendent Skill (Exclusive): Enhances the power of Transcendent Skills and accelerates their rate of improvement.」

「Acquired Talent: Divine Level·Final Sense」

「Effect: Gain a near-precognitive battle Intuition, allowing keen Perception of all impending dangers and their sources. Subconsciously know the correct response to neutralize said dangers. This Perception cannot be obstructed and penetrates all illusions.」

Three consecutive breakthroughs in a single day.

His physical body grew stronger once more.

A Warrior’s breakthrough was just that simple and unadorned.

Two Warrior Masteries, stronger flesh and blood, immense power...

"Do you still want to advance to Level 3 Warrior?"

Kumironi asked.

"Hmm—that shouldn’t be necessary. Thank you, Sister Kumironi. I’ve really put you through a lot of trouble."

Kumironi lightly wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.

’Little Lu Cang, your talent is simply monstrous.’

’Perhaps not just as a Mage, either.’

’Given time, you’ll probably grow to become the most dazzling figure in this world.’

Overseeing three consecutive advancements for the same person had left even Kumironi feeling a little fatigued. An ordinary person’s advancement would have been nothing.

But Lu Cang’s advancements required her to eliminate the contamination from the Gaze.

Eliminating this contamination was exhausting.

Back when she was only Level 5, Kumironi hadn’t been able to completely block the contamination during Lu Cang’s advancement from Level 1 to Level 2.

Now that she had reached Level 6, it was considerably easier.

However, Lu Cang’s Spirituality had also grown much stronger along with his Level, making the resulting contamination even more severe.

Handling three advancements in one go, even Kumironi couldn’t help but need to catch her breath.

"The foundation of your Profession must be solid. Otherwise, even if your Level is higher than your opponent’s, you can still be overcome and suppressed by superior Skill," Kumironi reminded him.

But as she finished speaking, Kumironi herself let out a small, self-deprecating laugh.

’This kid? An unsteady foundation? As if.’

’If a Warrior who has comprehended Extreme Intent and mastered a Transcendent Skill has an unsteady foundation, then no Warrior in this world has a solid one.’

"Well, now that your Profession advancement is complete..."

"I should get back to work."

With Lu Cang’s Warrior advancement finished, Kumironi had to return to the Life Church.

She actually hadn’t rested the previous night, having spent it entirely on matters concerning the Death Church.

You could hear a hint of resentment in her voice regarding the matter.

She had originally come to the City in the Circle to work for just two days before officially starting her vacation.

But then... a sudden lead on the Death Church appeared, and she, the High Priest, couldn’t get away.

Following the lead, she now found herself in charge of the subsequent cleanup mission.

’It all feels a bit tragic.’

Iz and Chi Cheng were also helping out. Their team was a tight-knit group that always supported one another. Although the Life Church’s business had nothing to do with them, since it concerned Kumironi, they would still step in to help.

Obades’s main task was to hold down the fort in the city.

With the combined strength of Izparut and Chi Cheng, they were practically invincible on the continent. Rather than worrying about their safety, it was more important to worry about their base getting attacked while they were away.

As for Lu Cang...

With little power came little responsibility.

Kumironi gave Lu Cang several special documents, her only request being that he help decipher the information within them.

As for payment, the Life Church was also very generous.

Lu Cang mainly wanted some Spiritual Medicine to heal injuries, especially the kind of top-grade Potions that weren’t sold to the public.

The Life Church’s Recovery Potions were of a much higher quality than those from ordinary potion shops.

As for money...

He really didn’t need it.

What he lacked were the things money couldn’t buy.

In the end, he received five vials of Life Elixir in exchange for decrypting five documents.

Each vial of Life Elixir was potent enough to instantly heal any physical injuries on a Warrior of Level 5 or below.

Used correctly, they were as good as several extra lives.

...

「Battle Arena」

The battles for the War God Cup were set to begin at 12:00 sharp.

It was 11:00 now. Lu Cang had already arrived at the Battle Arena and was looking over the tournament schedule.

Battle time limit: four hours. Rest period: fifteen minutes.

Matches would begin daily at 12:00 PM, with the queue for the final match of the day closing at 9:00 PM.

The time limit was extremely generous to accommodate different fighting styles, but of course, the vast majority of matches wouldn’t last the full four hours.

Most fights were over in about five to ten minutes.

If you defeated an opponent before your next one had finished their fight, you could use the downtime to spectate in other arenas.

As for the opponent matchups...

Lu Cang glanced over the bracket.

As expected, he and Lu Luwei were on opposite sides of the entire bracket, so there was no chance of them meeting early on.

The same was true for the third and fourth-ranked Level 4 contestants.

Lu Cang also noticed that besides himself, quite a few other Level 3 Athletes had entered the tournament...

’So I’m not the only one with the ambition to fight above my weight class.’

’I just wonder if they have the skill to back it up.’

...

Lu Cang reined in his thoughts.

He then entered the Gate of Battle.

Lu Cang glanced around. Xu Zhou wasn’t in the Battle Arena at the moment. He then browsed the different rooms available within the Gate of Battle.

[Level 4 Archer: Ice Heaven Monarch — Ice Heaven Snow Realm: 1v1 Duel — Come get wrecked. 15-win streak. Loser calls me Daddy.]

[Level 4 Mage: Magic Monarch — Golden Kingdom: 1v1 Duel — Invincible Mage. I’ll wreck anyone.]

[Level 4 Assassin: Undefeated Assassin — Bright Day Valley: 1v1 Duel — Taking all challengers.]

’So many Level 4 rooms.’

’Probably because the War God Cup is about to start. Everyone must be warming up.’

’Come to think of it, I’ve never entered one of these private rooms before. Anyway, I’ve already finished my 500-win streak... and my score is more than seven hundred thousand points ahead of second place. There’s no real need to keep queuing for matches.’

’Besides, my opponent later will be Level 4.’

’I might as well fight a few rounds now to test the waters. I’ve never fought a Level 4 Reincarnator before. The chances are slim, but it would be disastrous to suffer an unexpected defeat due to carelessness.’

Lu Cang glanced at the Ice Heaven Monarch’s room.

And walked inside.

WHOOSH~

An icy wind howled. The entire arena was a vast, white expanse, its ground a sheet of slick, frozen ice.

Dozens of enormous ice pillars stood at various points across the field.

They were all of different, staggered heights.

This was the Ice Heaven Snow Realm arena map, a favorite among many Athletes...

Mages could harness the abundant Ice Element, Archers could use the pillars to maneuver and create safe firing positions, and Assassins could use the vast snowfield and howling wind to conceal themselves. As for Warriors... they didn’t have much of an advantage, but most Warriors couldn’t be bothered with such details anyway.

"Lu Cang?"

Seeing the "Undefeated" title above Lu Cang’s head, the Archer named Shan Heng grew tense.

Still, he said, "Ready up."

Lu Cang nodded and, with a single thought, confirmed he was ready.

The instant he did, his opponent rapidly retreated, fleeing into the distance!

The first rule of an Archer’s combat style is to create distance...

SWOOSH!

The battle began.

Simultaneously, hundreds of Arrows flew at Lu Cang from all sorts of difficult angles.

The Archer’s figure was almost completely obscured by the ice and snow!

With the naked eye, it was impossible to get a clear look, or even to see his form at all.

He was also wearing a Pendant that could block Perception, shielding him to some extent from sensory probes. If Lu Cang hadn’t awakened his Divine Level·Final Sense Talent, he estimated he’d only be able to sense a vague area, not the Archer’s precise location.

Now, however, his Perception could not be obstructed.

The Archer’s movements were laid completely bare to Lu Cang’s Perception.

’Looks like he’ll be easy to catch.’

Lu Cang didn’t use his Magic Staff. Instead, he simply pointed a finger.

"Instant White Flash."

SWOOSH!

A thin beam of light shot through the Archer’s body, instantly piercing his heart and killing him in a single blow.

’I originally wanted to get in close and try out my Combat Skills.’

But then he reconsidered.

’If Lu Luwei turns out to be a tough opponent, I should keep my Combat Skills as a trump card. It might be a nice surprise for her.’

’She’d never expect a Root Mage like me to be hiding Combat Skills, right?’

’Besides, I haven’t revealed my Death Priest Profession in the Battle Arena either. Very few people know about it.’

’No one would ever imagine that with my current strength, I’m still thinking about hiding even more trump cards for a fight.’