Chapter 248: Chapter 132: The Middle Rank Level Ancient God Curse Plan
He passed through the tranquil, natural passage of the Spirit Realm Gate.
The Steam Divine Kingdom, built by the Sun Goddess in collaboration with numerous Upper Rankers, slowly unfolded before Zorn’s eyes.
’I arrived directly at the Shadow Rift - Star Dust Plateau.’
’This is so much better than exploring slowly on my own.’
As he felt the familiar aura permeating his surroundings, Zorn’s mind slowly opened up.
It was a heavy, deep, and vast aura, like a boundless ocean.
Only within a higher-level region like this could those at the Upper Rank, Holy Crown, and Legendary levels properly advance.
For High-Level Players,
exploring various regions and searching for resources in the vast Star Realm were all essential tasks.
Whether it was the "Desert Realm" of the hidden sects,
the powerful "Jade Realm" of the Tree of the Magic Ring,
or the terrifying "Ancient Temple" where Upper Rankers gathered,
Zorn was quite familiar with them all.
This brand-new Steam Realm was shrouded in night.
Wide streets were lined with rows upon rows of buildings.
Despite the darkness, the streets, buildings, towers, and factories were all brightly lit, and people bustled back and forth in a ceaseless flow.
At the same time, Zorn also sensed the pervading aura of the Otan Grelle Steam Spirit Realm,
along with the hidden presence of the Sun Goddess.
Zorn searched the depths of the firmament for a moment and finally located the star the Sun Goddess had manifested as her sun.
’She perfectly integrated the power of her sun-star into the celestial canopy over the Star Plateau, making it one of the myriad stars in the sky.’
’That’s a pretty good strategy.’
’Take advantage of the dawning of the Steam Realm’s epic era to inscribe the power of the Sacred Mark in this region where the forces of ’Steam’ and ’Divine Kingdom’ intertwine.’
’This way, even if the previous Steam Spirit Realm were destroyed,’
’this place could still guarantee the eternal existence of the Sacred Mark’s power.’
’And an immortal Steam Sacred Mark can not only maintain the realm’s strength, nurture Magic Ring Seeds, and strengthen their growth, but it can also stabilize the power of a Divine Spirit.’
’It allows one to circumvent enormous risks and embrace a vaster world.’
’And that is the core purpose of embarking on a journey through the planes.’
At that moment, official Transcendents were at the entrance, maintaining order and guarding the passage.
While Zorn was waiting,
a burly, imposing figure descended from the sky.
His powerful presence felt like a mountain.
The expressions of the surrounding official Transcendents changed, and they hurriedly saluted.
"Greetings, Lord Calos!"
Zorn saluted along with the others.
However, Calos walked past the other Transcendents and went directly to Zorn’s side.
He sized Zorn up for a moment.
A hint of surprise flickered across his rough, swarthy face.
But he said nothing more. Instead, he enveloped Zorn in his Upper Rank Level power and flew toward the distant Furnace Peak.
After the two had departed, the other Transcendents exchanged glances.
"Who was that? An Upper Rank powerhouse came to receive him personally?"
"You really don’t know who he is?"
"That’s Lord Zorn Corick."
"Gasp... Lord Zorn? It was really him! He’s my idol!"
"Damn it, it was too dark to see clearly. Otherwise, I would’ve gone over and asked for an autograph."
the Level 4 Fighting Master said, extremely vexed.
* * *
As a Ruler, Calos’s flight speed wasn’t particularly fast.
He spoke as they flew.
"Zorn, your knowledge of Extraordinary Studies is impressively vast, but your journey into the Star Realm is about to begin. I need to go over a few very important points about traveling there one more time."
"First, do not carelessly leak information about our Plane World."
"Our world is chaotic enough as it is. Allowing more powers to get involved will only cause trouble."
"Yes, Lord Calos!"
Zorn nodded earnestly.
"Second, regarding Forbidden Sealed Objects, do not reveal them carelessly. It will incite greed in Transcendents from other worlds."
Calos continued.
"In our Plane World, there are a considerable number of terrifying ’Forbidden Upper Rankers.’ In the outside world, They are known as Ancient Forbidden Creatures."
"In the outside world, They are extremely rare."
"And the Forbidden Items that are transformed from the remains of these Ancient Forbidden Creatures after their death are fought over madly in the outside world."
"At your Middle Rank Level, if you reveal that you possess such a valuable resource, other Upper Rank Level and even Holy Crown Level powerhouses will likely target you."
"So, you must be extremely careful about this."
"Understood, Lord Calos."
Although Zorn was already well aware of everything he needed to pay attention to during his journey through the planes of the Star Realm,
he still listened attentively to the Upper Rank powerhouse’s guidance.
"Alright, ahead is the Teleportation Gate Ailuviya established. It leads to the Immortal Calamity Court · Magic Ring Divine Kingdom."
"Once I see you off, you’ll need to follow the orders and guidance of the Battlefield Priests on the other side."
"Remember, that place is an unfathomable Ancient Divine Kingdom."
"A Star Realm where tens of thousands of worlds converge."
"It’s a terrifying place with a great number of Legendary Powerhouses."
"If you run into trouble, be sure to think carefully before you act."
Calos’s earnest advice made Zorn recall the first time he entered the Star Realm. He remembered being brutally beaten, then constantly resetting, only to be brutally beaten again and again.
Those bloody lessons were learned by treading a path over his own corpse, one step at a time.
After these four months of Ascetic Practice,
Zorn had successfully advanced to Level 10 some time ago.
At this point, the drawback of simply devouring resources to rapidly raise his Level became apparent.
Namely, the Skills from his Dual Sequence were all rather lackluster.
They were completely mismatched with his status as a major boss.
As his Level increased,
if he wanted to obtain good Skills and powerful Witchcraft, he had to acquire, nurture, and forge them himself.
The Skills gained just by awakening a Sequence were often not very powerful.
And the next place he was headed, the Star Dust Spirit Realm Battlefield, was somewhere he would have to stay for at least a year, possibly even three to five years.
It would be the perfect place for Zorn to reshape his power as a Curse Fighter.
At the same time, Zorn also planned to unearth his Middle Rank Level Ancient God Curse there.
Although the Ancient God Curse in another region was said to be the most perfect one for the Middle Rank Level,
Zorn thought about the encounters he’d had while traveling through the Spirit Realm.
He feared it would be too difficult for him to reach that region.
Since that was the case, Zorn decided not to force the issue of obtaining the Middle Rank Level Ancient God Curse from that other place.
The Ancient God Curse from this Star Dust Spirit Realm Battlefield was also extremely powerful.
Moreover, it could synergize perfectly with the stars of the Star Trace Fighter path.
Even when Zorn reached the Holy Crown Level in the future,
as long as he assimilated enough Eternal Night Star Trace Crystals,
it would still be immensely useful.
And if used within the Star Dust Plateau Realm, its effects would be even more extraordinary.
Before long, Calos had brought Zorn to the entrance of the Divine Kingdom Passage that led to the Ancient Divine Kingdom.
The Upper Rank powerhouse, Lady Ailuviya, was waiting there.
Zorn also felt the gaze of the Sun Goddess from the depths of the starry sky.
After all, Zorn’s mission was crucial to whether the Steam Divine Kingdom could be legally established.
Even the Sun Goddess herself was paying close attention.
Ailuviya’s gaze swept over the two men.
"The passage’s power is ready. It connects to a minor Divine Kingdom, where a Priest will receive you."
Ailuviya then looked at Zorn, her expression turning serious.
"The Divine Kingdom’s assessment is extremely difficult. You must be careful."
"I will!"
One after the other, they entered the deep Star Realm Transmission Passage.
Zorn could feel the aura of the Disaster Court Tree of the Magic Ring growing heavier and denser.
Just as Zorn was completely immersed within it,
VMMMM!
a tremor ran through the surrounding Spirit Realm Layer Realm.
Zorn appeared in a vast plaza where the ground itself shimmered with a faint starlight.
The surrounding Divine Kingdom Guards were all uniformly Level 8.
The Priests not far off were Level 9, and some were even Level 10.
Above, hidden in the starry night sky, were several powerful Level 13 and Level 14 experts.
The Divine Kingdom Guards and Priests here,
came in all shapes and sizes, their races all different.
There were Dwarf Spellcasters the size of children.
There were members of the Titan Race who wore no armor, their bodies gleaming with a black metallic luster.
There were also people from the Half-soul Race, their bodies a pale green.
In the distance, Zorn even saw a patrol team of Transcendents composed of Elves, Humans, and Beastmen. They flew past on a Divine Kingdom airship.
In this vast Spirit Realm,
aside from the Demon Realm,
nearly every other realm was a mixture of various races.
This teleportation area
was situated atop the ancient Stone Pillar Peak.
As far as the eye could see, the immense Star Plateau stretched out endlessly in all directions.
The starlight glow had perfectly merged with the Calamity Court’s Divine Tree of the Magic Ring.
Calos walked toward the Priest’s Stone Platform to register for the Divine Kingdom battlefield mission.
Zorn followed behind, silently surveying his surroundings.
’Back in our world, Lord Calos rode the tide of the new era to advance to Level 12, but in this Advanced World, Upper Rank Powerhouses are everywhere.’
’This is what a high-level territory is like.’
Before long, Calos finished the mission registration.
He came to Zorn’s side and placed a Space Bracelet in his hand.
"I’ve registered your identity in the Divine Kingdom. Your credentials are in here. From now on... you’re on your own."
Zorn took a deep breath.
"I understand, Lord Calos. I’ll do my best to complete this mission."
Two nearby Level 8 Divine Kingdom Guards wearing black Rift Armor walked over.
"Battlefield Apostle ’Zorn Corick,’ come with us."
"Your battlefield assessment will be in 14 Star Hours."
"Understood!"
Zorn waved goodbye to Calos, then followed the two Level 8 Divine Kingdom Guards onto the Divine Kingdom airship.
These Divine Kingdom airships, capable of tapping into the Divine Kingdom’s power cycle, could travel through its Spirit Realm Layer Realm.
This allowed them to reach their destination quickly.
One Star Hour was roughly equivalent to one day.
So, 14 Star Hours was about two weeks.
As they traveled,
a wealth of information about the Star Trace Spirit Realm Battlefield surfaced in Zorn’s mind.
On the Star Dust Plateau,
the Three Great Divine Kingdoms—Star Remains, Eternal Curtain, and Calamity Court—
continuously invested resources into the Middle Rank Level Star Trace Battlefield Spirit Realm.
The primary reason was, of course, the top-tier, precious resource produced there: the Eternal Night Star Mark.
This was not only a crucial resource for promoting the growth and strength of the Tree of the Magic Ring,
but also the core resource for strengthening the Star Trace Extraordinary Sequence.
The Star Trace Battlefield Spirit Realm was also the place where the ancient Star Trace Ancient God had fallen.
Although, over the long eons, the resources from the remains of the Star Trace Ancient God had been mostly depleted,
Zorn knew very well.
The resources in the Place of the Curtain Robe, where the Middle Rank Level Ancient God Curse known as the "Ancient God Art" was buried, had not yet been touched.
And that was the core reason Zorn was willing to enter this ancient battlefield.
