Chapter 121: Advancing to C-rank Arcane Skill!

Sterl had the leisure to marvel at the quality of the players' mounts, his expression utterly relaxed.

Meanwhile, the approaching player squad quickly found themselves in dire straits. Before they could even form up properly, just as they neared the massive checkpoint—

The gates below the city walls suddenly swung wide open.

Then, an overwhelming force surged forth!

A heavy horn sounded.

Sterl watched as a torrent of cavalry, followed by heavily-armored infantry, surged towards the players!

In an instant, a cavalry regiment of over a thousand riders was upon the players!

With his Star Insight, Sterl saw clearly that these cavalrymen were elite forces from various nations within the Netherworld, forcibly gathered by the world's will.

Though their armor was standardized, it was clearly not from a single set. Their mounts varied as well—tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves.

There was even an exceptionally large elephant among them.

Generally, the cavalrymen with the same mounts and armor formed squads to fight together. Each cavalryman was at level 60-70, and their leaders were almost entirely elite-tier.

This thousand-strong cavalry regiment was equivalent to a thousand second-class players! They were even stronger than a normal player squad because they had the support of a military formation!

In terms of individual strength, these cavalrymen might not match players with various skills and equipment.

But in a head-on clash, they could easily eliminate an equal number of players, or even twice that number!

"This counterattack means the Netherworld is pulling out all the stops." Sterl couldn't help but marvel. The terrifying momentum of the thousand cavalrymen represented the elite forces of an entire world!

Sterl marveled, enjoying the spectacle without a care.

The first wave of arriving players was incredibly unlucky.

The players charging at the forefront were immediately engulfed and struck by the cavalry's advance!

The leading players instinctively activated their protective skills, raising various colored shields, or their bodies glowed to fend off attacks.

However, it was all in vain!

The cavalrymen at the forefront of the charge plunged their swords into the shields! Although they might not have broken through the players' defenses, the sheer impact force knocked the players off their mounts!

Once they hit the ground, they had no time to react before being trampled by the following cavalry!

Under the massive weight and impact—

Even the sturdiest shields couldn't hold for long!

Not to mention, the cavalry's trampling wasn't just a matter of physical inertia and gravity. Many of them and their mounts were surrounded by strange glows, clearly enhanced by skills.

Players, inherently more fragile than typical wild monsters or NPCs, faced the terrifying charge and trampling of the second-class cavalry, and one by one, they were crushed to death!

And this was just the beginning!

As the cavalry charged, the rear players also suffered!

The player team was split and interspersed!

He got so excited that he rolled over in the watchtower and lay down in a different position.

"Alright, I'll just wait for now..." Sterl couldn't do much at the moment. After the players outside died, the Divine Power and Law Power needed to be worn down by the world's will before he dared to absorb them. For now, he decided to invest his time in training his arcane skill.

Time flew by quickly.

More players gradually arrived, varying in strength, but none were as powerful as the first wave.

Naturally, they were slaughtered by the army, which behaved like rabid dogs.

Sterl wasn't in a hurry. He continued to happily train his arcane skill, gradually maxing out his proficiency.

By the afternoon of the second day, he had successfully maxed out his arcane skill proficiency and skill points.

This time, he advanced his arcane skill directly to C-rank, just one level away from the B-rank arcane skill, Mountain.

However, Sterl was somewhat regretful. It seemed he needed to reach at least level 60 to complete the second stage of the arcane skill advancement. His current status panel showed the following:

[Arcane Skill: Star Soul Rotation (C-rank)]

[Effects: 1 Converts experience, gaining an additional 80% yield]

[2 All your attributes receive a 50% boost]

[3 Talent enhancement, effect increased by 30% (currently selected: Divine Descent, current awakening level at 50%)]

[Proficiency: 4999/5000 [Stage One] (maximum of three stages)]

First, the experience yield had nearly doubled, and the attribute enhancement had reached 50%, effectively increasing Sterl's overall attributes by 1.5 times! The awakening level of Divine Descent had also increased, and the SSS-level talent was nearing a breakthrough, approaching a secondary awakening!

Furthermore, Sterl noticed that his proficiency was almost maxed out, just a tiny bit away from breaking through to the second stage of the arcane skill!

Once Sterl reached level 60, his combat power would receive a significant boost!

After finishing his arcane skill training, Sterl didn't hesitate to head to the battlefield and absorb the Divine Power and Law Power left behind by the dead players.

This time, his Divine Power reached 0.64 points, and the growth progress of his Law Power reached 64 points!

As a result, Sterl could clearly sense a bright full moon illuminating his mental world!

Moreover, he could sense countless "people" on the life-bearing planets silently gazing at the bright moonlight.

Only half of these "people" worshiped the moon, spreading milky-white threads of light, which seemed to be a power called faith, dispersing into Sterl's mental space.

"What's going on here?" Sterl thought as he watched, realizing that by adding celestial bodies or entities that matched the characteristics of the human race to his mental realm, he could promote the flourishing of the human race within it.

And it would also provide more faith power? Although Sterl didn't need this power at the moment, he knew it was undoubtedly valuable.

"But it seems that only Law-level powers can create new entities in the mental realm."

"In other words, if I want to gain more faith power, I need to acquire the laws of the sun, stars, and other celestial bodies, as well as mountains, earth, rivers, and the like—the more, the better?"

Sterl looked at the mental world evolved from his [Divine Office: Human Race], feeling as though he was beginning to understand something.

He now vaguely felt that the [Divine Office: Human Race] might have way more potential than he initially imagined!

He didn't know the circumstances of the fallen deity who previously held this office, but combined with Sterl's SSS-level profession, he gained almost complete compatibility with all laws!