It seemed like things were getting a bit complicated.
Sterl frowned slightly. So, after refining Rosalie, he might have attracted the attention of a goddess?
"Can you tell me what the situation is between you and your mother?" he asked.
Rosalie shook her head, her expression bitter as she began to speak.
As the girl talked, her emotions often flared up, and she even shed tears.
In the end, Sterl pieced together the situation from her fragmented words.
The Curse and Spider Goddess, Rosalyn, was a rather unique deity. Her strength was not particularly impressive in the Hall of Valor; she was a weak divine power, but she was an established weak divine power with considerable depth and combat capability.
Her relationship with her daughter was one of devourer and devoured. On the surface, Rosalie was Rosalyn's only daughter, but in reality, Rosalyn had many daughters scattered across the Hall of Valor and several nearby continents, undergoing various trials.
These daughters were produced in large quantities through a process akin to the goddess laying spider eggs. As a result, while the daughters could be considered players, they also possessed monster-like traits.
Once these daughters grew to their potential limits, Rosalyn would refine them into sub-gods—infusing their soul bodies with divine power, granting them a portion of divine-level combat strength. Moreover, due to their close blood relationship, the divine power would not provoke a significant rejection reaction within the daughters' bodies.
However, as a price, these daughters had to endure the erosion and torment of divine power every moment until their deaths.
If a daughter fell prematurely, the contract with Rosalyn would forcefully pull her back to the goddess's side.
This was why Rosalie feared death so greatly.
After she died, the real suffering would begin.
"Even my mother allows us to go to other planets in reality to escape her influence," Rosalie trembled as she spoke. "It's because once we die, our souls can never find liberation."
If it weren't for the special nature of the divine-level formation, which provided her the opportunity to sign a contract and become the Illuminated King, she would have already been nearly refined.
She would likely have become a sub-god, possessing self-will but being unable to do anything, merely sensing her soul being constantly eroded and torn apart.
Eternally tormented.
"Sounds quite terrifying," Sterl remarked blandly.
The Illuminated King could not be deceived.
So, according to Rosalie, the Curse and Spider Goddess should not be able to learn that he had intercepted her most favored "daughter."
However, Sterl didn't believe that Rosalie knew all of her mother's plans.
Perhaps the Curse and Spider Goddess had other ways to monitor her daughters' circumstances.
However, Sterl was not at all flustered at this moment.
A weak divine power might put some pressure on him, but if the goddess truly came knocking, he would not be unable to counter her.
Moreover, having just refined a divine-level entity, Sterl felt a bit inflated with confidence...
Not to mention, based on Rosalie's previous behavior, it was clear that her mother was not someone with a good temper. They had likely already developed a rivalry.
Yielding or backing down would be useless; he silently reminded himself that this time he had been careless.
In that moment, when Sterl had used the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls for recovery, he had seen Rosalie's soul.
Rosalie could be considered half a monster; there were obviously peculiarities about her, and he hadn't been cautious enough!
Reflection!
"But precisely for this reason, I essentially hold a card that could draw the Curse and Spider Goddess into the fray."
"Perhaps I can even refine another god."
Sterl couldn't help but ponder.
Of course, refining a goddess was not something he intended to attempt lightly. Gods could easily detect when a divine-level array was being set up and could take action to destroy it.
A spinning wheel appeared before his eyes, rapidly spinning before finally stopping on an icon that seemed to take up a smaller portion of the wheel.
It looked like he had drawn something good.
However...
[Congratulations! You have obtained the golden skill: Star Guide.]
[Star Guide (Golden)]
[Description: When the Star Clan was shattered, they left behind guiding lights. Those who master this skill can observe specific guiding lights and seek the heritage of the Star Clan.]
[Effect: You can lay down a guiding light that increases your movement speed and energy recovery within its glow.]
[Starlight Enhancement: Within the guiding light, your life force endurance will also be restored.]
"Kind of underwhelming."
"While it can restore energy, the values are just those of a golden skill, and I really have no need for it."
Sterl shook his head helplessly. His energy shortfall was a terrifying gap that required platinum-level skills; this recovery skill was practically useless.
Fortunately, Star Guide was not entirely worthless.
Based on the skill's description, he guessed that it might trigger some plot related to the Star Clan.
After all, his profession originated from the Stardust Clan. Perhaps in the future, he could gain some significant benefits from this skill?
Sterl evaluated Star Guide—there was potential for the future.
Next came Sterl's Dimensional Traveler lottery—
In this wave, he sensed a glowing sphere in his mental realm and chose to refine it.
A new ability appeared on Sterl's panel.
[Shattered Void (Platinum Level)]
[Description: A special technique that embodies the Laws of Space, Blade, and Arcane. This platinum-level skill represents the pinnacle of these skills, and finding such a perfect platinum-level skill across countless main worlds is exceedingly rare.]
[Effect: Depending on your mastery of various Law Powers, the following effects can be formed—
- Space Rending (Understanding of Blade Law and Space Law)
- Edge Cutting (Achieving perfection with all three Laws)
- ??? (Achieving perfection with all three Laws)
]
[Activation Requirement: Must master at least Blade Law and Space Law.]
Sterl sensed that within a void, he casually wielded a weapon he had condensed, immediately causing the surrounding space to tear apart, forming wisps of faint purple shattered realms.
Nearby, some demigod-level individuals unleashed their own platinum-level skills, but they were completely obliterated by the ruptured space, their bodies and skills alike destroyed.
And this was just the most basic version of Shattered Void, utilizing incomplete Laws.
In Sterl's perception, many demigods employed platinum-level skills enhanced by perfect Laws, yet they were still annihilated, unable to withstand even a single clash, directly obliterated!
"What a powerful skill!"
"And it seems... it can be further enhanced."
"The reward from the Dimensional Traveler is yet another exceptional one." Sterl felt that his third talent was indeed impressive; every time he leveled up, the things he drew were fantastic, with none being subpar.
However, the only issue was that for Sterl, mastering Space Law was straightforward and could be achieved quickly, while Arcane Law had long been learned.