"Phew."
For the first time, Sterl felt a hint of fatigue.
He slowly descended from the air and landed on the ground. The rainbow-colored Polluted Blood had been largely evaporated by him, so the ground beneath him had turned into crystallized soil and stone.
In the distance, he could see a tide-like rainbow-colored ocean gradually surging toward him, threatening to fill the area that had been evolved.
Before the ocean reached his feet, Sterl rose up again.
"This time, the gains should be substantial."
"It's time to return to the Hall of Valor and reorganize."
"Moreover... it would be best to analyze what other benefits the Hall of Valor might offer; I could just grab what I can and leave."
"Two figures have returned to the upper realms, so Solomon's information might have already spread."
"Now, I can ignore the Blood of Contamination and simply endure the filth in the spatial tunnel to break through."
He adjusted his mindset and returned to normal while "speaking," choosing to whisper his thoughts for safety.
The potential calamities from both realms weighed heavily on Sterl, leaving him no time for lamentation.
This time, he had overcome a great catastrophe and even turned misfortune into fortune, but next time might not be so lucky.
This calamity could be something that beings in the upper realms who were ten or even a hundred times stronger than Sterl might struggle to withstand; he could only...
Continue to grow stronger! Move forward swiftly!
Only then could he grasp his own destiny.
Sterl sensed a shift, and the Fortune within him settled down after a tumultuous surge, finally stabilizing at exactly 100 units and coalescing into a cloud.
He casually pulled out an ancient scroll and opened a portal.
Just as he was about to leave, he sensed that his fourth talent had somehow recovered from its cooldown.
He activated it casually...
A faint glow illuminated around Sterl.
He jumped into it, and the previously obstructive Blood of Contamination passed through his body without any ripple.
...
"Is the spatial formation still not fixed? The guys are waiting."
"I've told you, it's not a formation issue; it's some kind of special substance blocking all energy flowing to that layer of hell."
Sterl looked up at the long-missed sunlight, beside him was a fully armed squad arguing with a person who appeared to be an Array Master.
The Blood of Contamination isolated everything within the layer of hell, while outside the layer, its corrosive power had corrupted all the spatial passages connecting to the outside world.
People outside could only be surprised at their sudden inability to enter the layer of hell, without realizing the terrifying changes happening inside.
Moreover, the Blood of Contamination had annihilated the entire layer of hell in less than a week.
So...
No one realized the countless players from the three major factions and the three deities had advanced and perished.
Sterl gazed into the distance—
The Principality of Florence was once again bustling with activity; various residential buildings had already been easily repaired by the efforts of various powerful individuals.
Because many players were coming to hunt the demon, a lot of them took on small tasks to help rebuild the Principality of Florence in the Hall of Valor.
Sterl looked at the uniquely green tower and the fruit vendors at the edge of the tower selling various fruits, feeling quite pleased.
Hell had become unbearable!
The influence of the Blood of Contamination made everything even more uncomfortable...
But now, he could see the various lives of the residents, and he could observe the arguments between players from the Golden Kingdom, Ashen, and the Hall of Valor.
This truly lifted his spirits!
Sterl stepped forward, approached a fruit stall, and casually picked up an oval, translucent green fruit, tossing it into his mouth.
"Crunch, crunch."
At this moment, Sterl couldn't help but smile slightly.
He began to reflect on whether he had been too cold in the past.
For the girls who cared for him, he should have responded with more emotion.
Otherwise...
No matter how much he portrayed himself as a cold-hearted machine focused on strength, he would still feel a pang of sadness when familiar faces left.
With a smile, he continued to munch on the fruit, quickly finishing his replies.
"I'm fine."
"As for the things in the layer of hell, don't ask; knowing won't do you any good. Anyway, I'm the big winner here."
"Sonis, send me the coordinates, and I'll come find you shortly."
He then replied to the other girls, teasing them a bit, indicating that he would log off soon to connect with them emotionally.
Next, he ignored Sonis's message, "Master, that won't do; I'll come find you."
Sure enough, a minute later, the girl obediently sent him the coordinates.
Sterl strolled slowly toward the southwestern side of the Principality of Florence, a small Flame swirling in his hand. Discover new content at m vl-em,py-r
Inside it, a divine-level soul was being continuously refined, transformed into nourishment for the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls.
On his palm, a miniature hidden formation was running, ensuring that the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls wouldn't be detected.
After checking, he returned the Flame to his pocket dimension.
"The refining efficiency is pretty good; the energy from the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls combined with a divine-level soul should barely elevate my soul level to 30."
This soul fragment came from a soul devoured by the Will of Hell. Sterl learned through his fourth talent that it was extremely difficult for the Will of Hell to refine souls.
It required centuries or even millennia, which allowed Sterl to easily obtain two swallowed soul fragments from the remnants of the Will of Hell.
In contrast, the three divine-level entities that were not swallowed were completely turned to ashes.
The remaining two soul fragments fell into Sterl's hands.
One was the one he was currently refining.
The other was...
Licitris's.
Alright...
In the end, Sterl couldn't resist using Divination to check if there was still a chance to rescue his "lover" whom he had met in hell.
After all, the success rate of Divination was low; Sterl didn't regard it as a controllable resource, so if it was wasted, so be it.
The final result was quite encouraging.
It revealed to Sterl that it was possible to rescue soul fragments from the Will of Hell, as well as...
Reviving a divine-level soul was simple: just prepare a body to merge with the soul, and the quality could be slightly inferior, possessing at least demigod strength. However, he had to consider that low synchronization and fusion rates could lead to soul destruction.
Sterl initiated the creation of divine authority, allowing him to produce a perfect body.
However, Sterl was not planning to adopt such a solution.
While the essence of the soul would remain unchanged and it would still be that person, all skills and power would dissipate.
The power didn't matter; he could train again.
But Sterl believed that a person's existence relies not just on the imprint of the soul, but also on the accumulation of memories.
A Licitris whose memories had been wiped clean would not truly be Licitris. If he revived her using this method, the Succubus Queen, who wanted to maintain her perfect demeanor even in her final moments, would truly be... gone.
"There are countless strange and miraculous abilities in the upper realms."
"Retaining skills during revival isn't impossible either."
"Why should I rush?"
"Licitris's soul can also serve as reserve food. If it comes to a critical moment, temporarily devouring it could elevate my soul level to ninety-nine, evolving into a cheat, which would be a key turning point."
Within the divine-level soul, there were some instinctive reactions; directly devouring the souls of other divine-level entities might result in backlash, but Licitris should pose no problem...