Chapter 282: Final Refinement, Partial Authority of the Hall of Valor
The power of the Silent Domain is about to truly unfold.
It's important to understand that Sterl wants to learn the Curse Law himself, which is quite troublesome. A curse is a rather unique form of Law that requires Sterl to endure various powers of curses, to suffer greatly, and to spend a long time gaining insight amidst the endless curses.
Alternatively, Sterl could first seek a legendary ability related to curses and then try to comprehend the Law, but that would also take a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, to ensure the defeat of a legendary powerhouse and extract their legendary ability, he would need to expend a Fate Token.
At this moment, Sterl finds it most cost-effective to devour from Rosalie.
…
Meanwhile, Rosalie is in a state of indescribable fear.
She knew this day would come, but she didn't expect it to arrive so soon.
After her death, she had just logged off for less than a second.
"I'm offline!"
"Could it be that my mother's arrangements didn't take effect?"
"No! No!"
…
But suddenly, a scream escapes Rosalie as her in-game body is engulfed by a swirling black hole-like creation that appears out of nowhere. Rosalie attempts to resist; at this moment, her character's attributes seem to remain intact, and she unleashes a platinum-level skill.
However, that skill cannot manifest any power and is directly blocked by the multicolored glow emanating from the black hole-like creation. Subsequently, the skill is consumed by the black hole entity.
Rosalie's physical body is also devoured, leaving only her soul behind.
Next, the black hole creation opens its massive mouth.
In an instant, Rosalie's soul is sucked into it.
When Rosalie regains consciousness, she suddenly feels that she has been forcibly pulled back to [Transcendence].
She finds herself trapped in the position before her body was shattered, unable to move.
"Mother! No!"
"Please! Let me be reborn once!"
"According to your words, I am still not mature! I don't want to become [Divine Attachment]!"
"Please don't…"
This time, Rosalie is genuinely terrified!
She pleads helplessly, but after a long while, she realizes that everything is eerily calm.
"Right, the mechanism of Heavenly Curtain Canyon causes this place to be in a secluded space, and there's a formation blocking it. With the same divine-level power, my mother can't find me for now."
"But… what am I supposed to do?"
"I seem to… still be able to open the character panel, and all my attributes haven't changed. Since my soul has been pulled back, does that mean [Transcendence] didn't erase my character??"
Rosalie laughs and cries at the same time.
She doesn't even know—
"What good is it to retain my attributes in a soul state? Without a physical body, they can't be utilized at all."
As Rosalie complains, a voice suddenly speaks from beside her: "No, it's still useful."
Instantly, Rosalie's soul reveals a look of extreme terror.
"Mother? No! Spare me!"
"I didn't intend to escape; I'll come back with you right away…"
She quickly realizes that the voice beside her belongs to a male, not her "mother" at all.
But when Rosalie turned to look back, her heart sank even further.
For standing there was another terrifying entity, this extremely perverse and mysterious demigod! He held a translucent Flame in his hand, gazing at her soul with a strange expression.
"Master! Spare me!"
"No, wait… save me!" Rosalie's soul screamed in desperation.
She was also in a desperate situation, and when the divine-level formation dissipated, her "mother" would surely come to collect her soul. Her only hope was to seek help from this mysterious demigod.
Even if he was a bit twisted, at least being made into a [Divine Attachment] would be better than nothing!
However, Sterl hesitated for a few seconds before responding, "Save you?"
"Do not resist!"
He then activated the effect of Illuminated King's protection, choosing to refine Rosalie's soul.
For some reason, he discovered that this demigod's soul was quite peculiar, resembling something that had undergone a certain modification. It couldn't be classified as a player, or perhaps it could be considered half a player and half a monster.
Thus, Sterl easily refined Rosalie's soul…
Throughout this process, the demigod offered no resistance; instead, feeling the tangible essence of the Illuminated King's protection, he eagerly agreed.
"As long as I can retain my will, it's acceptable."
"Losing my freedom and serving this demigod as my master is no issue." After sensing the situation, Rosalie immediately realized…
Her entire soul felt as if it had been cleansed. Subsequently, some dark tether left by her mother within her soul was also refined. Ultimately, her entire spirit transformed into a brilliant golden ethereal shadow, simultaneously taking on the form of a gigantic spider that crawled beside Sterl.
Sterl was momentarily taken aback. He had merely intended to test the waters; if Rosalie did not wish to become his Illuminated King, he would simply shatter her soul.
But he never expected her to be so proactive.
Sterl found himself wondering… could it be that I actually ended up at a disadvantage this time?
Out of caution, he chose not to turn Rosalie's soul into a tattoo but instead sent it directly to a small world.
"If you dare to move anything, you'll be dead."
Sterl issued a warning.
Rosalie, now in the form of the gigantic spider, quickly adapted to her new body and soon transformed back into her previous youthful appearance before being sent into the small world.
At that moment, all the scars on Rosalie's body had completely vanished, leaving only her graceful figure. With the scars removed, her face appeared incredibly pure, resembling a girl who was completely naive to the world.
However, Sterl was well aware of the cruelty that lay within this cursed girl.
"I'll keep her as long as she's useful. If she becomes a liability or harbors ulterior motives, I'll simply shatter Rosalie's soul and absorb it."
Sterl shook his head, not wanting to dwell on it any further.
However, he also guessed that Rosalie might be somewhat special. After her death, her soul was pulled back to [Transcendence]. Could it be that she too had made a pact with the Hall of Valor? This would explain why she didn't want to die; after signing a contract with the Hall of Valor, death would mean eternal servitude.
Yet, Sterl found it strange because, compared to the previous alien woman, Rosalie's fear seemed excessive, as though there was some hidden reason behind it. He didn't dwell on it much; he would inquire more carefully later. Right now, the most important thing was…
Sterl was about to claim the final rewards from this Heavenly Curtain Canyon.
He slowly floated in the office, and instantly, countless blood-red threads surged into Sterl's body.
Familiarity breeds ease.
In this wave, Sterl transformed into a Crimson Cocoon right where he stood, beginning the process of refining and cultivating.
He spent only a few hours before he opened his eyes again.
Then, he opened his panel to look at the refreshed notifications, revealing an extremely odd expression. The rewards he received were substantial, but not what Sterl had anticipated.
First, the core function of the Blood Sacrifice Array was to establish the acquisition of an ability, and naturally, Sterl chose the most valuable one.
The divine authority from the [Heavenly Curtain Mechanism]!
Sterl's panel displayed the following:
[You have received the sacrificial benefits from the Blood Sacrifice Array. You have gained the following enhancements.]
[All attributes have increased by fifty points.]
[You have a higher affinity for Flame, Frost… and other Law Powers, making it easier for you to comprehend these Law Powers and improve their levels.]
[You have gained life force; your life force limit has increased by 20%.]
[You have acquired a measure of blood force. Detecting your possession of [Origin of Chaos], you have received a total of twenty points of blood force.]
[You have acquired the divine authority [Creation (Concept Level)].]
The notifications were densely packed, and each one was extremely explosive.
The overall attribute increase speaks for itself—this was always a significant enhancement for Sterl.
Increasing affinity for Laws was also good.
After all, gaining a new Law always brought a slight passive bonus; additional Law Power was always beneficial.
The enhancement in life force, while not a qualitative change, brought Sterl another significant step towards developing into a humanoid boss.
What surprised him the most was that this time, using the Blood Sacrifice Array was different from the last time when he intercepted the Archduke of Blood's array and amassed a large amount of blood force that he couldn't utilize.
Because he possessed the Origin of Chaos, Sterl could directly convert the blood force into usable blood force.
A full twenty points!
This total included not just the demigod and divine-level boss forces, but the entirety of all life within the Heavenly Curtain Canyon!
Adding in the blood force that Sterl had previously collected, his blood force now reached 29.65 points!
That's right—he had worked tirelessly before and barely accumulated 10 points of blood force, but now, after this wave of the array, he was close to 30 points.
Sterl felt that it was time to rethink his plans.
In addition to the Flowing Water Law, he could now unlock two complete-level Laws and find a compatible platinum-level skill to enhance those new Laws!
This would significantly elevate his combat power.
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As for the ultimate prize…
Sterl excitedly opened the divine authority panel and, sure enough, there was a new entry: [Creation (Concept Level)].
There wasn't much information on the panel, just a brief line: [Superior conceptual divine authority, even the faintest trace contains incredible power.]
[Yes/No to assimilate?]
"Of course."
Why even hesitate?
Sterl decisively chose to assimilate it.
Superior divine authority?
Conceptual divine authority?
Though he didn't fully understand what it meant, he had a rough idea.
As far as he knew, all known divine authorities of the gods were objectively existing concepts, such as those related to humanity, nature, Flame, the moon, and so on…
However, creation wasn't an objectively existing thing; it was an action, a concept—hence, it was referred to as conceptual divine authority.
Moreover, ordinary deities could only possess divine authority over objectively existing entities.
Didn't that imply that this conceptual divine authority was of a higher caliber?
Having completed his analysis, Sterl increasingly felt that he had hit the jackpot!
However, after assimilating this creation divine authority, he only sensed a tremor in his mental world, unlike the immense changes when the divine authorities of nature and humanity settled into place.
It felt as if nothing had happened.
No, that wasn't quite right…
It couldn't be said that nothing happened.
[As a Creator's Act]—this special skill had changed!