After receiving a new piece of information, Sterl's expression remained unchanged. His only thought was to help Linna, Rayna, and the others elevate their soul levels. That way, even if they accidentally perished in the game world, they could return to reality with their skills intact, and their lives wouldn't suffer as a result.
Sterl sensed two pieces of information from the soul panel.
First, the Zero Phase represented the process of soul power coming into existence from nothing, allowing only for self-defense. Upon reaching the First Phase—level 100 and completing the transformation—the combat capability of soul power would be on par with any conventional means.
Second, Soul Treasures were independent of the soul power system and could additionally bestow soul abilities and various special enhancements.
"So..."
Sterl recalled the Key of the Realms lying in the small world. If he were to venture into the upper realms, his tasks would increase by two: find a way to rapidly elevate his soul level to complete the transformation, and gather Soul Treasures.
After organizing his thoughts, Sterl vanished from the cave.
At that moment, data was flickering on his task bar.
[Coordinate Broadcast Countdown: 9:44:51]
Sterl checked and indeed found he could not log off or use his teleportation ability.
He attempted to switch accounts using his disk but discovered that would be considered a bug exploit. However, the cost was relatively low, requiring only 50 blood-colored documents. Unfortunately, Sterl's documents were nearly depleted...
He couldn't afford to waste them like that.
Deciding against it, he swiftly flashed away to Heavenly Curtain Canyon, waiting for his pursuers to arrive.
Calculating the time, he realized that if he completed the escape task, he could switch back to his main account and participate in the first round of the Valor Combatants tournament.
"After all, I'm not the first one scheduled to compete."
"I just need to make it back before it's my turn."
Before long, a small team of figures slowly appeared outside Heavenly Curtain Canyon.
"What's going on?"
"Do these Swallowing Heaven players dare to come to the main world? That's just asking for death!"
"If we take them down, we'll get... seven hundred merits?"
"This is a gold mine!"
The group of players looked quite excited. They were special class practitioners known as bounty hunters.
The uniqueness of this class lay in their ability to accept missions issued by the Transcendence system and open special merit shops to exchange for many precious resources.
Bounty hunters sacrificed part of their professional strength in exchange for the authority to take on tasks, which caused their class rank to be artificially inflated. Under the same conditions, they couldn't defeat opponents of the same level.
However, bounty hunters could rapidly develop by utilizing resources from the merit shop! Their growth speed far surpassed that of ordinary classes.
This squad was the first to arrive after discovering the [Transcendence] mission! At this moment, they looked at the generous rewards of the task, rubbing their hands in anticipation.
"Heavenly Curtain Canyon is known for its peculiarities in the Hall of Valor; we should be cautious."
"Let's use formation C and be ready with teleportation items at all times."
After resting for a while, the squad decisively stepped into the spatial tunnel.
Meanwhile, players from all directions were pouring into Heavenly Curtain Canyon. They all came to hunt down that unknown Swallowing Heaven player!
"What a pity; I killed that old man too quickly earlier and couldn't gather any information from him."
Just as Sterl felt a twinge of regret, he noticed that within [Mark of the Heavens], there seemed to be a hidden star map, containing extremely complex information. However, with his shared origin profession, Sterl could easily decipher the information.
With his powerful soul strength and mental attributes, he quickly deduced a coordinate.
"This is another continent—the domain of Ashen??"
Sterl paused for a moment before making a decision... Afterward, he would head to the continent ruled by Ashen and work on his legendary ascension.
The reason Sterl hadn't initiated the legendary promotion task until now was primarily due to the conditions that varied according to different professions.
In addition to some specific requirements, legendary tasks also had fixed conditions.
He needed to master an arcane skill, which Sterl had already completed.
He required several high proficiency skills that could correspond to the legendary abilities he would form in the future; in this area, Sterl already possessed legendary skills, which he had cleared directly.
He also needed a significant number of legend points, but Sterl couldn't be bothered to check how many he had at the moment; he had accumulated nearly a thousand points by now.
When he had slain the Will of Hell, he had gained 500 points in one go.
What was most unique about the legendary ascension was that it would generate a special task based on the player's current coordinates.
The task required players to exert a significant influence on a certain faction, empire, or race, creating a regional legendary story. Moreover, this "story" couldn't be developed in advance; it could only be initiated after triggering the promotion task.
Sterl had been taking his time to start the ritual because completing a legendary story would require a considerable amount of time and might necessitate some strategic planning. This wasn't just about defeating monsters or killing enemies; it also involved waiting for circumstances to evolve.
Thus, creating a legendary story was best done in conjunction with other objectives—like collecting traces of the Starry Clan—so as not to waste time.
Nearby the Hall of Valor, there weren't any resources for Sterl to develop, and initiating the promotion ritual would simply waste time.
If he were to go to another continent...
Sterl pondered for a moment and decided to spend 10,000 Valor Contribution Points to purchase an item.
[One-Time Teleport Beacon]
[Description: It is said to harbor a fragment of the source of the world. This special teleportation item allows for free teleportation within the Crystal Barrier Galaxy. ]
[Effect: You can activate the teleport beacon to move to a location you have previously visited, limited to Alpha 8 and its adjacent areas within the Crystal Barrier Galaxy.]
"This is the kind of thing that costs 10,000..."
Sterl tossed the teleport item in his hand like a chess piece, feeling frustrated.
At this point, Valor Contribution Points were practically useless to him, but 10,000 points... that was no small sum!
If it weren't for his concern that Twilight might trigger a quest to contest the authority of the Hall of Valor after he left, making it impossible for him to return quickly from another continent, he would never have considered redeeming it.
"I'd prefer not to use this thing if I can avoid it."
Sterl muttered as he stored the teleport item in his small world.
Then he continued with his tasks.
The second minor gain came from the blood-colored spheres he had previously collected.
Sterl quickly opened them up.
A series of notifications began to refresh before his eyes.