’I have ten thousand Wish Points now. I can get a lot done with that...’

In the silent, ancient Round Table Hall, Zhou Chen sat on the Obsidian Throne, lost in thought as he gazed at the Wish Points displayed on his Prayer System panel.

After a long while, he spoke in a low voice:

"Strengthen my Spiritual Power to the peak of Tier Two."

"Gradually strengthen my constitution to the peak of Tier Two over a period of seven days."

He made two wishes to strengthen himself. As an Ascender who cultivated both the Spiritual Element and Fire Type, the strength of his Spiritual Power was extremely important, directly affecting many domains such as his Soul, Essence, and the power of his Abilities.

A powerful constitution, on the other hand, was an indispensable foundation for an Ascender. Any Ascender of note in the Extraordinary Realm was basically a Hexagon Warrior, with their power, speed, constitution, and spirit all maxed out.

Take Yao Hu, whom he had met during the Sword Forging Competition. His constitution was so tough he could take a few laps for a swim in Abyssal Contamination. A normal Ascender wouldn’t even be able to charge in; they’d probably mutate and corrupt just by getting close to the edge.

Or take "Gentleman," whose grave must be covered in weeds by now. That guy had a Shadow Affinity constitution, allowing him to endlessly diminish his presence just by standing in the shadows—a natural-born assassin.

Then there was Renie. She had a Flame Affinity constitution. As long as she used Fire Attribute Skills, their power was automatically boosted by 30%. This constitution also earned her the favor of flames, allowing her to easily manipulate over a dozen types of spiritual flames.

Normally, an Ascender’s constitution would only change after their Advancement to Tier Three, when they mastered the Ability Body Essence Materialization. Some exceptionally talented Ascenders could acquire a special constitution during Tier Two, and those born with a constitution different from ordinary people were "The Chosen Ones," envied by countless others.

Zhou Chen had already mastered "Molten Body," a Body Essence Materialization Skill, through the Hammer of Forging. His constitution had changed to some extent, granting him an affinity for fire and metal, but the effect wasn’t yet obvious, so he simply decided to wish for a boost.

The reason he wanted the strengthening to be gradual over seven days was that he was afraid of a sudden, drastic spike in power being noticed by Li Xiye. With a week as a buffer, he could claim he figured it out himself.

[Wish Points -300]

Zhou Chen wasn’t far from Tier Three, so the two wishes only cost three hundred Wish Points. Of course, this didn’t seem like much to him now, but a few months ago, it would have been an unimaginable expense.

Countless Wish Star Seeds transformed into a brilliant, eye-catching river of stars that flowed into his Soul. Zhou Chen could clearly feel his Spiritual Power growing stronger, skyrocketing as if riding a rocket. His thoughts became sharper, his mind clearer, and his Soul more resilient.

The feedback from his body wasn’t as intense, but he could still clearly perceive his physical strength steadily increasing at a slow pace.

After pondering for a few seconds, Zhou Chen asked:

"If I wish for Advancement to Tier Three, how many Wish Points will it cost?"

[Wish Points required: 3000]

’It still costs three thousand Wish Points even at this stage?’

Zhou Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was only a few Golden Soul Fragments away from Tier Three, and it still cost three thousand Wish Points?

He scratched his head. ’Maybe... maybe condensing Golden Soul Fragments isn’t as easy as I thought?’

Although he had consulted a lot of information and knew that condensing Golden Soul Fragments was extremely difficult—perhaps half of all Tier Two Ascenders couldn’t do it—Zhou Chen had never felt any pressure condensing them so far. As a result, he never felt it was that hard...

But now that he asked, he realized how difficult it was to Promote from Second to Third. If he hadn’t condensed any Golden Soul Fragments yet, wouldn’t it have cost tens of thousands of Wish Points?

’A mere three thousand Wish Points is nothing to me now, but advancing this way won’t grant me any Derived Skills... Hmm... I could probably wish for them, but there’s no need. It’s better to wait for the Helandy Alchemy Workshop to deliver the Advanced Secret Ceremony...’

Zhou Chen thought for another few seconds. "How many Wish Points would it take to completely repair the Hammer of Forging?"

[Wish Points required: 1,000,000 Wish Points or one Great Miracle.]

...Never mind, I’m out!

Zhou Chen immediately gave up on the idea. He’d just have to repair it slowly by forging. That many Wish Points was enough for him to become a Crowned King.

He pondered for a long time before asking, "How many Wish Points would it cost to learn the truth behind the destruction of the Old Era?"

This time, the Prayer System took several seconds to give an answer:

[Unable to answer]

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes. ’Can’t it even make a rough divination?’ That did fit the Status of the truth behind the Old Era’s destruction.

He quickly put the matter out of his mind and asked a new question:

"How many Wish Points would it take to create an intelligent AI to automatically manage the Round Table Hall?"

[Wish Points required: 50,000]

’Fifty thousand...’

Zhou Chen considered it. If this AI’s intelligence was on the same level as the Godslaying Weapon Tang Ling, and it was completely loyal to him, then fifty thousand Wish Points wouldn’t be a waste. At that point, he wouldn’t even need to enter the Round Table Hall; he could just be a hands-off boss. The "company" would grow bigger and stronger on its own, reaching new heights of glory.

But for him right now, fifty thousand points was far too much; he couldn’t scrape it together yet.

’Management by an intelligent AI is the perfect choice. As long as the program is set up correctly, it could continuously recruit suitable new members twenty-four hours a day. It’d be faster than ten of me combined. I’d make back the investment in just a few days, and after that, it’s all pure profit...’

’I’m still short forty thousand Wish Points. North Carolina is full of bad guys. If I just grit my teeth, work hard, and put in some overtime, I might just be able to save up enough... Once I get that intelligent AI, I can slack off all I want. Reaching Tier Five without lifting a finger wouldn’t just be a dream...’