For Sterl, the optimal solution was to stay in Licitris's Heavenly Palace for the time being.
He wasn't afraid of wasting time.
Because he had invested in Blood of Contamination!
A buff was shimmering with a hesitant glow on Sterl's panel.
If this buff were classified by quality, it would definitely not fall under Iridescent-Level; it was Radiant-Level, even stronger than the usual Radiant.
[Holy Spirit Bloodline (Remaining Time: 21:04:11)]
[Description: From the upper realms, this bloodline power is the purest of its kind. Even gods would rejoice upon encountering such a creation; you will ascend! You will rise!]
[Effects: 1 Active: All your skill qualities and proficiency will increase by one major tier (Cooldown: 1 day).
2 All damage you deal will be classified as Holy Spirit damage, ignoring any reduction or mitigation upon hitting the target.
3 Upon activating the bloodline, you cannot be killed by any means that reduce your life force, nor by any instant-death spells. When you die, you will automatically resurrect, and all your attributes will increase by 30%, lasting for 12 hours with a 24-hour cooldown.
4 You can learn all lower realm skills without any conditions, and you have gained permission to learn upper realm abilities.
5 You are immune to all interference from lower realm abilities.]
[Tip: The Holy Spirit Bloodline is a state acquired by beings from the upper realms upon active activation. You have gained the blessing of the Holy Spirit Bloodline through contamination.]
This buff was visibly powerful and invincible.
Each of its five effects was monstrous!
What does it mean to increase the quality of skills and proficiency by one tier?
Sterl's Shattered Void could directly transform into an Iridescent-Level ability that outputted at least ten times more, along with the proficiency boost.
Transforming damage into Holy Spirit damage was also extraordinary, as it ignored all damage reduction and immunity effects.
Not to mention, some divine authorities of certain gods were related to defense.
With this, Sterl could easily leverage one-fifth of the Holy Spirit Bloodline's effects to ignore divine abilities.
And then there was the passive effect of being Imperishable after activation.
The last two enhancements were particularly noteworthy.
One allowed him to learn lower realm abilities without any conditions, which was extremely practical for Sterl. He immediately exchanged for all the Iridescent-Level abilities available from both the hell and main world factions and learned them.
At the same time, this enhancement opened up the permissions to learn upper realm skills, though Sterl couldn't access them and had to let that go.
However, he suspected that this permission was likely very important! The powers of the upper realms were probably far beyond those of the lower realms! But without permission, he would forever be separated by a set of great doors, unable to wield that terrifying might!
Sterl vaguely guessed that this Holy Spirit Bloodline might not be something everyone in the upper realms possessed. Some gods could expend all their resources to ascend to the upper realms, but without this bloodline, they could only activate lower-tier abilities.
In the upper realms, they would merely be weaklings at the bottom tier.
The other enhancement allowed immunity to all interference from lower realm skills. This interference included all negative effects—not only control effects but also anything that Sterl subjectively deemed harmful to himself.
For example, the backlash from skills used in the lower realm or the weakness caused by some high-level abilities were all completely immune.
Holy Spirit Bloodline!
Exaggeratedly powerful!
Moreover...
Sterl knew that the two fallen figures did not possess this bloodline; they only had the Blood of the Holy Spirit.
He hadn't fully understood the effects of the Blood of the Holy Spirit at the time; it was only after he inquired among the players in the main world using his main account that he learned the details.
The various enhancements were not comparable at all, and the Blood of the Holy Spirit only displayed a partial unlocking of upper realm skills.
"This is the great catastrophe..."
"Truly terrifying."
Sterl felt that he had pushed himself to the extreme, striving to become stronger at any cost.
Thus, he found it absurd.
He considered himself to have decent talent and cheats, yet he might die without any value?
He felt a bit stunned, even slightly despairing.
The world had become a cage!
Sterl could only wait for death.
And this was merely the prelude to the great catastrophe!
Now he understood why those divine beings were frantic to escape to the upper realms; some things cannot be overcome just by working hard!
Who could stop the catastrophe of world annihilation??
"The only way is to evolve the cheat; I can enhance the Holy Spirit Bloodline once more."
Sterl thought at that moment.
Currently, the enhancement symbol on the Holy Spirit Bloodline was gray, needing his cheat to be upgraded before it could amplify.
He estimated the worst-case scenario—
After the cheat upgrade, he could probably extend the duration of the Holy Spirit Bloodline a bit. At that point, he could gain some enhancement attempts, and with that, he would have a chance to turn the tables.
But the only problem was, how could he obtain the Fortune needed to evolve the cheat?
Sterl was now caught up in the great catastrophe. It wasn't just that his Fortune was being backfired; even if he managed to survive, his Fortune wouldn't increase.
The amount of Fortune needed for the cheat evolution wasn't much, but that last little bit was something he couldn't just wait for.
Unless...
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Sterl found that after the outbreak of Blood of Contamination, his connection to the outside world had basically come to a halt. He couldn't even use the logout trick.
So, he organized his mailbox, which contained resources sent by Sosia, Sonis, and Teresa from time to time. Some were regular recovery potions, while others were specifically items Sterl had requested from them—resources that were abundant now, including whatever oddities they could find that might be effective in critical moments.
He also had them collect information based on his needs.
For example, how to obtain Fortune, some literature regarding the power of faith and Divine Power, and information about the great catastrophe and the Devourer of All Things.
Sterl first stored various items in his small world.
He sensed that he might have to fight for a while in the layer of hell.
Then he began reading through the assorted information he had gathered—
The power of faith was a commonly existing force, and even those who weren't gods could find ways to collect it...
Alpha 8 had once produced some ancient artifacts that described how people from the upper realms and the lower realms had once joined forces to fend off creatures resembling the Devourer of All Things...
Finally, Sterl's eyes lit up; he had found something useful! Among the information about Fortune, there was a very effective method:
The most common and stable way to obtain Fortune was to kill someone who possessed it, thus taking their Fortune, or kill someone who had been abandoned by heaven and earth to receive a reward of Fortune from the world.
Sterl didn't know who possessed Fortune, but he knew exactly who was despised by the world!
That was the demon who already owned the Origin of Chaos—the Archduke of Blood!
"Great! Great!"
"The Archduke of Blood, I'm going to rely on you again."
Sterl's eyes gradually brightened.