167-178

Chapter 167 - Blood Magic Series-2

Athan used his detection barrier instantly after killing the monster and instantly sensed several beings, and they also sensed the detection barrier and broke it apart.

" Shit...When will this turn into smoke and then stone? " Athan cursed under his breath but didn't stay there any longer and flew towards a mountain at the left side at a fast speed before entering the special space.

Right after that, He saw several people zooming at the location of the giant hole as the spider monster finally turned into smokes.

Athan was speechless and muttered, " Couldn't it turn into smoke instantly after dying? " He could only complain at this since it turned into smokes at the same timing as the previous monster.

The stone also didn't appear as it was likely plunged into the hole since Athan killed the monster before it could leave the hole and stand on the solid ground.

The four people who arrived here included a Brazol race man, Two Requiroar race women, and one Blumbra race man.

" Looks like someone managed to kill the monster and even reaped the rewards. Damn it. " The blumbra race man cursed.

One of the women of the Requiroar race looked at him and said, " Do you really think it was a work of a single being? "

" Or what else? no one cooperates with each other this fast, and by some chance, a group of people cooperated and were moving together, then they would definitely fight over the reward. " The blumbra race man replied with a snort.

" Indeed, It's a bit unreal that everything was over at such a fast speed. The being who killed the monster likely used a one-time super powerful item that he might have gotten from the reward because it's impossible to kill the monsters here alone. " The man of brazol race spoke in a hoarse voice, and after saying this, He didn't linger any longer as he flew away.

The blumbra race muttered something and was preparing to fly away, but...

*screeeeeeee....*

Sharp claw-like attacks shot towards him as two women of the Requiroar race assaulted him.

" Fuck....." He was injured because the last-ditch defense he put up wasn't that useful.

" Hehe, Since you are already here, then you don't need to go. " One of the women spoke as attacked the blumbra race man once again.

" Screw you!!, Rule power, Condense. " shouting this, The blumbra race man used all of his energy and covered himself in a flash of silver lightning before shooting away.

A flash of silver lightning streak across space as he successfully escapes after breaking the rule domains of the two Requiroar race women.

" Damn it, He escaped. Remilla, If you had condensed your rule power, then we had a chance to kill him. "

" You are also not sure and said that we only had a chance to kill him. He is indeed powerful, and his bearing had confidence. He had the power to kill one of us easily but choose to escape since he can't kill us when there are two of us. "

Merilla turned silent as she agreed with her sister. These two sisters were born with a strange connection. They could always sense other's general location, So even if some trial separated them, They could always meet up with each other while moving cautiously.

Both sisters also didn't stay anymore and left as Athan heaved a sigh, " Looks like none of them bothered to check the huge pit. "

The main reason for them not checking the hole was how fast the battle ended, and it was obvious that no one would leave their loot after killing the monster.

Athan plunged into the vast pit quickly and reached the ground, where he actually saw a similar stone with blood patterns.

" hmmm? Why is the reward for killing the monster the same? " Athan muttered, and he also checked the mark on his hand and thought with surprise, " Why did the two stars lit up instead of one this time? '

He thought about it and guessed that he only dealt a killing blow to the previous monster, which didn't earn him that much credits according to rules here as only one star lit up. But he killed this spider-shelled monster all by himself, so his Bloodmark filled more, and two-star lit up.

It didn't take long as his unima core started to tremble after he arrived near the stone. The blood pattern on the stone separated and formed into a ball before dissipating.

Athan suddenly felt a strange power as if he sensed something and directly entered the special space before closing his eyes and sitting down the crossed leg.

After a while, Athan saw faint blood-red strings floating around him and thought with astonishment, ' This...is rule power. '

He comprehended a faint rule power related to blood magic...possibly due to the new power he received.

Blood Magic: Vindication Covenant.

But Athan smiled wryly and thought, ' Damn...I haven't build my Erudite palace, so I can't contain this rule power. '

If he didn't contain it, Then he would lose it as soon as he stopped focusing, and he would have to get that same feeling again to comprehend this rule power again.

' Wait...Those rule fragments might work. ' Athan remembered those rule fragments and instantly brought some of them out.

As soon as those rule fragments came out, The blood-red string occupied them as they also turned red.

Seeing this, Athan heaved a sigh before putting the rule fragments inside. He still had some of the normal rule fragments left, so if by chance he comprehended rule power again, He could save them using rule fragments.'

" But I can't delay my progression just because I am in this Bloodpath. " Athan muttered and decided to progress in Erudite Palace plane after filling up the Bloodmark.

But he also needed to get the complete series of this Blood Magi because he knew after getting this second power that there are two more powers of similar nature.

He also knew that this blood magic would show its true power when gathered together, and It displays more strength when used by rule power and primal energy both.

In short, People could get rule power related to this blood magic, and it would display more power when used with it and primal energy.

Athan decided to check the new Blood Magic: Vindication Covenant later as he started to recover his geno energy.

Chapter 168 - Upgraded Strength, Move Boldly

After Athan recovered his geno energy which took a month, He finally started to check his new magic.

He didn't get an additional red ball orbiting around the unima core but the red ball from the second stone entered inside the first red ball as they fused.

He then used the Blood Magic: Vindication Covenant as strands of blood appeared all over his body and formed an armor that covered his chest to the back area.

" Hmm? It doesn't seem my strength increased or anything, but I do feel that my body toughened a bit. " Athan muttered as he didn't manage to learn about the true ability of this magic, Vindication Covenant, just by using it.

He thought for a moment and called Skylord.

" Attack me with your full power. " He felt that since magic blood armor toughened his body, Aka, his defensive stats, then this magic was likely defensive.

Skylord didn't say anything this time and directly attacked Athan with full power.

The moment attack hit magic blood armor; It suddenly shined a bit as Athan once again felt his blood boiling. This time, He hasn't even moved a single step and stood like a shield in one place. Athan couldn't even feel the slightest strain on his body despite being hit with such a powerful attack.

Blood red strands appeared all over his body after the attack finished, and he felt that his physical power was overflowing.

" Could it be?..." Athan suddenly thought of something and used Blood Magic: Slaughter Covenant.

After the two gauntlets appeared on his hand, Athan felt like he could let out the overflowing power within his body as he left the special space and appeared outside before punching in the air.

*CRACK...BOOM*

Space literally bent as the tremendous power of his punch cracked the air and atmosphere itself.

" Huuuu...." Athan took a deep breath while his eyes contained excitement and returned to the special space.

Athan understood the ability of Vindication Covenant and Slaughter Covenant even more as he felt thrilled and thought, ' HELL YEAH...I am finally done running away from others, even if there are multiple people. '

He felt that he could clash with others and even have a chance to beat them without using the geno frame or his geno skills as just with his horned crown and other means; he could definitely kill the opponent one versus one.

He then continued to check and found that he could control this new magic not just to cover his chest and back but his whole body.

After doing many experiments, he left the special space to find more monsters, there was also mention of treasures, but he has yet to encounter one.

' Time to go for hunting. '

But right after he left the special space, he saw a human race woman in front of him. She had light blue wavy hair and a slim body with a round face with a small black birthmark on her left cheek.

' Looks like she appeared here due to shockwaves and sound of the punch that I threw. '

Natalie was shocked and went full alert when she saw Athan appearing out of thin air, twenty meters away from her, ' What's going on? I didn't even sense anything, not even the slightest bit of energy or rule power. '

" What do you plan to do? "

Athan looked at her and asked plainly because if she intended to fight him, he would definitely like to fight with her without using his geno skills and geno frame and test how well he fares.

Natalie was still caution of Athan as she asked, " What do you mean? "

" I mean do you want to fight with me or run away? "

Natalie frowned and said, " Seeing that we are both humans, can't we work together? "

" Nope! You can forget about working together. I am giving you a choice because you are human and get no benefits after killing you. " Athan replied with a smile.

Natalie felt cold inside, but she sensed something strange about Athan, ' Why I can't sense rule powers from him? Whatever the case, I don't want to fight him. He appeared out of nowhere, and I couldn't even sense him, so he surely has a way to hide his whole presence. '

" I'll be leaving. " Saying this, Natalie left as she space jumped and teleported using her full power.

Athan continued to move forward for a chance encounter, and after a few hours, He felt shockwaves from afar and sped up, ' Looks like people are fighting the monster, guess I should help them by killing the monster. '

He grinned as he sped up and soon saw a devastating scene of deformed and damaged lands as three people were reining attacks on the giant lizard-like monster that had three heads and three tails.

The monster had a massive length of 700 meters, and it was currently standing on with its rear two legs, so it also appeared tall.

*Gectoke....gectoke...gectoke**

It produced a strange sound from its giant mouth as three tongues shot out suddenly, which caught the three beings, one grakil race, one brazol race, and one dision race off guard.

The grakil race man and dision race man were fine, but The brazol race man was already injured and failed to dodge the tongue as it wrapped around him instantly before the tongue retracted back into the giant lizard's monster's right side mouth.

Even Athan was stunned at how fast the tongue of this lizard shot out and retracted, ' Looks like that brazol race man is done for. '

Athan didn't hide his presence or anything this time, so the two beings who barely dodged the deadly tongue of the lizard sensed him as the dision race man called out, " This friend, Let's kill this monster together. We can share the reward based on contribution. "

Athan smiled and arrived near them as he used both of the Blood Magic and wore the purple crown.

" Sure. " Saying this, Athan zoomed towards the lizard and punched its right head.

*Boom...*

*Gectoke....gectoke...gectoke*

Right after Athan hit its head, He felt danger and instantly retreated. He also frowned because the punch he threw with his full power didn't damage that monster seriously, ' Just how hard it is? '

He finally knew the strength of these monsters as he thought, ' No wonder many people struggle to kill it. '

The only reason he could kill those two monsters easily was due to the geno technique.

Athan dodged incoming attacks of the giant lizard that shoot dark green lasers from its mouth. His current strength could easily let him dodge the attacks of this lizard. The grakil race man and dision race also didn't have much trouble dodging the attacks, but their attacks didn't inflict much damage to the lizard monster.

" We have to find its weak spot and attack there. " Said the dision race man as he conjured several spinning dark blades that cut through space and attacked the eyes of the lizard monster.

Those spinning dark blades were powerful as Athan sensed several offensive powers from it, but they failed to damage the lids of the monster's eyes.

At this time, Athan said, " I'll create a weak spot, and when I do that. Use your most powerful attacks at that place. "

He didn't want to waste too much of his time and geno energy, so he opted for the plan that he just thought of a few moments ago.

Chapter 169 - Another Blood Magic User, Fight Without Genome Skills

The grakil race man and dision race man were surprised to hear Athan's suggestion, but they didn't mind it.

They almost thought that this human race member was an idiot seeing how he charged forward and punched the lizard monster. Though, soon they were impressed because, just like them, He had no problem evading the attacks of the lizard monster.

" I am going to make an opening, be sure to throw all of your attacks at that place. "

Saying this, Athan dashed forward with even faster speed than before by materializing the wings behind his back.

He nimbly dodged the incoming attacks and used chasm severing as he grabbed it with his right hand before zooming towards the neck of the lizard monster and threw the chasm severing.

The dision race man and grakil race man saw with wide eyes as seemingly a threatless purple slash projectile tore through the extremely tough neck of the lizard monster easily as if cutting a paper.

The power of purple slash ran out after it tore half of the lizard's neck.

" ATTACK!! "

Athan shouted towards the two daydreaming fools as he also started throwing attacks using his domain power.

The other two also started attacking as they threw deadly attacks.

The dision race man conjured two giant orbs with deadly blades spinning around them as they shot towards the lizard's neck and rained blood while the grakil race man condensed his rule domain as a giant phantom materialized that released terrifying flames of three different colors; red, green and black. The flames moved in a narrow and straight line towards the neck.

Both of their attacks hit the lizard monster simultaneously, and they didn't take any break as they released one more attack since they knew that whoever killed the lizard will have their Bloodmark filled by the increased amount.

Athan was also aiming for the killing blow as he was ready with another chasm severing, but Just then, A super-fast blood-red laser hit the lizard monster from a direction that was the other side of the lizard.

Athan cursed under his breath because whoever it was, That person timely aimed that blood-red laser as it took the life of the lizard monster.

The other two directly bellowed as they felt furious.

" DAMN!! "

" WHO IS IT ?"

Athan was silent because that blood-red laser's power felt very familiar to him, ' That was a Blood Magic...That's for sure. '

*ZOOOM....*

The kill stealer appeared, and Athan was surprised to see the person because he was from the human race.

He had a buffy body and short brown hair. After arriving, He spoke domineeringly towards the dision race and grakil race man, " You two, Leave here if you don't want to die. "

They could feel that this human race man was a threat to them as they glanced at Athan. Seeing this, Horokin laughed and said, " We both are human race members. do you think he would side with you? " He then looked at Athan with a smile, " Right, brother? "

Athan weirded out because this man was way older them him. He didn't respond, but the dision race man and grakil race man didn't linger and ran away. They believed that the two humans would likely work together, and they both saw terrifying powers these two humans wielded.

There was a silence for a minute as the lizard monster turned into smoke before a stone appeared.

Athan felt some pressure as Horokin grinned and used his rule domain. Athan also expanded his domain which unfortunately wasn't a rule domain, so Horokin's rule domain suppressed it. But he was not worried.

" You plan to attack me? " Athan asked while raising his eyebrows. He saw a blood-red orb floating around Horokin and guessed that It released the blood laser because he could feel that it was made from the same type of power as his two blood magic.

Horokin laughed and said, " Of course...Don't you also want to kill me? That way, you can get my blood magic. "

" Hmm? Is it possible to get it by killing the person who owns it? "

Horokin shrugged with a grin and said, " I don't know for now, but I'll soon know that after killing you. "

Saying this, He attacked Athan with the same blood-red laser.

Athan wanted to clash, so he used both of his blood magic as he blocked the attack.

This time, He was pushed back, but the attack failed to damage him.

After blocking the attack, Athan flew towards Horokin with his top speed, which brought shock onto Horokin's face as he hurriedly conjured a metal bell with brown and gold patterns in front of him.

Athan punched the bell as a deafening sound reverberated that hurt him, but his attack also produced countless cracks on the bell.

But before he could punch one more time, The bell broke apart as the blood laser hit him one more time, and he was smacked to the ground.

" Why aren't you using any rule power? " Horokin asked with confusion.

He didn't see Athan invoking any rule power, and his domain was also normal, which confused him. One more thing he was shocked about Athan was how his physical strength was so powerful. He had never met anyone with this much physical strength in this layer.

He saw Athan climbing out of the pit and throwing spiral blades towards him, ' I still can't sense any rule power from these attacks. '

Horokin frowned and materialized the giant bell once again to block the spiraling blades.

Seeing this, Athan made several illusion clones of himself, but the horned crown on his head remained unique.

Right after doing this, He threw both of his chakrams towards the right and left sides of Horokin and dashed forward.

Horokin snorted as he used his main power, " Rule domain condense. Devastating Vortex blades. "

Athan felt some pressure lifting off, but he also felt a terrifying power in front of him.

Several greys and a golden mixed colored vortex appeared around Horokin that started to release swirling blades towards Athan.

Athan grinned, seeing this as he disappeared and appeared at the place of his right chakram before shooting several super-fast condense bullets of various offensive nature such as penetrate, shatter, burst, speed, etc.

The bullets were mostly formed from offensive elemental primal energy such as fire, dust, plasma, metal, lighting, etc.

Horokin controlled some vortexes and pointed them towards the right side, but he also left some vortex to his left side.

He didn't take those chakrams seriously at first, but after seeing how Athan exchanged place with the chakram, he grew cautious.

Athan didn't exchange his place with his left chakram but instead appeared at the place where his right chakram was shooting and grabbed it before throwing it again.

This time, the chakram entered into the space channel and disappeared. Previously the chakrams didn't enter the space channel due to Horokin's rule domain, but now that he condensed his rule domain, He could let them space jump.

" It's gonna take some time to kill this guy. " Athan muttered after throwing his chakram and continued with his attack while dodging.

Athan couldn't find the chance to get close to him though it was only a matter of time when Horokin ran out of his energy since he was using his condense rule domain, which consumes a lot of energy.

Athan continued with dodging while exceptionally controlling his chakram such that Horokin failed to predict them and attacked him occasionally.

Horokin was covered in a sweat as he thought, ' Dammnit, I will soon run out of energy, and I can't see myself attacking this slippery guy. Damn damn damn. '

He became desperate due to the threat he felt and became irritated. He finally decided to run away as he was almost out of his gas, but Athan grasped this chance as he instantly arrived near him with his chakram and punched his head, which burst like a watermelon.

After Sorokin died, Athan saw smokes appearing, and a stone formed that was similar to the one that appears after killing a monster.

" Looks like people can't get the magic directly if they kill the wielder of the magic as they still have to comprehend it from the stone. "

Athan muttered as it didn't take long for the blood ball to form before it dissipated. He then saw this blood ball fusing into the one that was orbiting around his unima core.

After that, He went near the stone that appeared where the lizard monster died, and the same thing happened.

Chapter 170 - Blood Magic Of Versatile Covenant

*Zzzzee.....oooom*

Three deadly blood-red lasers shot from the three red orbs floating around Athan.

Blood Magic: Demolition Covenant.

After Athan used this magic, Instead of just one red orb-like Horokin, He formed three red orbs, and he guessed that it should be because of unima core.

Seeing this, he understood why Mimi said that Unima core could enhance the magic and that it is necessary to use powerful magic.

After closely looking at the powers of these orbs and the laser that shoots from them, Athan found out that the lasers he shot out were more powerful than Horokin and understood that this was highly penetrative and destructive magic.

From the stone dropped by the Lizard monster, He received another magic, Blood Magic: Unbound Covenant.

This magic forms a pair of bloody wings behind his back with a wingspan of twenty meters. The surprising thing about this pair of wings was that they were not totally physical as they were made up of flames, Blood Red Flames.

Instead of the usual orange flame, This pair of wings were completely in the blood-red colored flame.

Athan tested the wings and was pleasantly surprised by the maximum speed he achieved using the wings. He also comprehended more rules as he got an epiphany and stored them inside the rule fragments. He now had

But the most shocking thing was the entirely new thing that happened after the latest two red balls combined, and he finally knew the name of this magic series.

[ Blood Magic of Versatile Covenant ]

After the two red balls combined, The blood-red ball started to consume the energy from his unima core like crazy for a few minutes before releasing blood-red energy from it.

The released energy surrounding the blood-red ball and formed a pool.

The scene inside his energy realm looked like this; The unima core was stationary as it floated firmly in the middle. The blood-red ball that had now blood-red energy surrounding it was orbiting around the unima core.

When Athan used those magics again, He was pleasantly surprised by their output because their power increased by a fold as they become much stronger and his execution of the magics also became faster. These enhancements were because he now consumed the blood magic energy that surrounded the blood-red ball instead of the primal energy from his unima core when he used blood magic skills.

He wanted to test how many times he needed to use various blood magics to empty the reserve of the blood magic energy, but...He could only smile wryly, seeing that the blood ball would always fill up the energy around it by absorbing from his unima core.

' Their power will increase more when I reach the Ruler plane and successfully form my first rule power, which will be likely related to fragmented rules of the blood magic that I comprehended. ' Thinking about this, Athan really wanted to start training in the Erudite palace plane, but he held back as he still wanted to get as many benefits he can get from this bloodpath.

The Bloodmark was filled up to four-star points, and he still needed to fill it up by two more star points. As such, He went out and started roaming.

After full twelve hours, He entered a new area with constant rain and countless dark clouds in the sky. The lightning cracked and fell every second.

" I really crossed a vast distance.." Athan muttered as he continued. He was constantly using Blood Magic: Unbound Covenant which increased his top speed.

These wings weren't just for increasing speed as a thin layer of barrier always surrounded them when he used this magic, and he could also release attacks from his wings which looked like blood-red flaming feathers even though his wings didn't have any feathers. These feathers could explode in a small radius, but they could deal terrible damage if he shoots many feathers at once.

After a while, Athan stopped as he saw a silhouette of a giant monster from afar.

*RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....*

A roar reverberated from that direction, and Athan sped towards it. After arriving there, He saw four beings fighting against a giant bear with two heads and four hands.

A human man, a Terred race woman, a Dision race woman, and a Crysax race woman were fighting against this giant bear that was 500 meters tall with two heads and four arms. Its whole body in shining dark blue scales, and its claws were long and sharp. The bear attacked with its large claws that had lighting dancing around them, and it also released terrifying lighting from its mouth.

Athan frowned because it seems that the fight just recently started, and these four people didn't even deal that much damage to this giant bear.

He didn't want to waste time, so he used his geno frame and instantly charged forward.

A flash of purple that was tinted with a bit of red.

That was all the four people saw as the giant bear that was giving them a hard time fell with a thud and started turning into smoke.

Athan stood amidst the smoke as he gave off a majestic purple shine and spoke, " Leave or Die. "

He enhanced his voice as it reverberated towards the four beings whose faces turned white.

They didn't even wait for a second and instantly ran away using their full power.

After a minute, The smoke dissipated as Athan saw a stone, but this time, Instead of blood-red patterns, There were dark blue patterns on the stone.

Athan descended as he landed near the stone, and the same phenomenon occurred.

The patterns came out from the stone before it turned into a dark blue ball and dissipated. The unima core inside Athan's energy realm also calmed down, and a dark blue ball started to orbit around the unima core just like the blood ball.

[ Lightning Magic of Wisp O' Thunderous ]

Athan felt that this magic was not series magic like Blood Magic he got previously and seemed to be individual magic.

He put it in the back of his mind as he checked the Bloodmark and saw that it was filled up by two stars as expected.

" Now, what will happen? According to the voice of this trial, I should receive the so-called grand reward. " Athan muttered as he waited for something to happen.

But after waiting for a minute, Nothing happened.

" What the heck? "

Chapter 171 - Wisp O' Thunderous, The Castle Gate Opens.

" Why is nothing happening even though I filled up the Bloodmark? " Athan muttered with some confusion. He should receive the so-called grand reward since he filled up the Bloodmark, but nothing happened.

After thinking for a moment, He decided to kill one more monster and see if something happens.

He continued moving, and he encountered a few people on the way, but he ignored them. They also didn't make any move on Athan, seeing how fast he was moving and the blood-red armor that coated his whole body along the barrier around him as both of these things gave of powerful energy despite them not sensing the rule power.

After a few hours of moving, He saw a giant castle whose walls and other structures were constantly burning with flames on them.

The castle was 300 meters tall and 600 meters wide, and a giant gate that was the entrance to the castle; The structural materials of the castle were entirely bright orange mixed with green color as It looked majestic with four flaming towers on each of its corners, and on top of the castle was a long pillar that was also burning with flames.

There were also many people at that location, and they were chaotically fighting against each other.

Athan stopped seeing this and thought, ' Although I held back on my geno energy to kill the bear monster, I still consumed 70% of it to make sure that the bear monster dies. Hmmm, should I go despite not being able to use my geno frame? ' Athan was in a dilemma for a few moments seeing many people at the location.

But after a few seconds, he firmed his mind and moved forward. So what if he can't use his geno frame? He can still put up a fight and won't die instantly. However, he slowed down and concealed himself before moving slowly and silently on the ground.

He observed the fight from afar by enhancing his eyes with magnify mystic intent using his genesis energy and noticed that many people were covered in blood. Still, there was no blood in the ground because it was attracted to the castle's gate before being absorbed by it.

' So that's the reason why they are fighting. It looks like without enough blood spilled, The castle's gate won't open. '

He would be discovered soon if any of them swept their domain towards him or even slightest of their power if he continued moving forward, so he entered inside special space.

' I'll recover my geno energy as much as I can before the castle's gates are opened. ' Thinking of this, Athan started to recover his geno energy.

...

After twenty days, he filled up his geno pond and opened his eyes with a smile, and said, " Looks like everyone is done filling their second branch. "

Mike laughed with gusto and said, " Hahaha, bro, it Looks like you had some good adventure while we were away. "

" The fight outside is really intense; everyone is out for another's blood. " Tiana spoke while looking at the cloud screen.

Avelia nodded and asked with a curious face, " Athan, could this place be the so-called Bloodpath? "

They also got the blood crystal after they reached their limit of reward in the trial of Bloodbath and were told to go to Bloodpath by breaking the crystal.

Athan nodded and said with a grin, " Yep, you are right. This place is really filled with great boons as I got many new powers. "

He showed them the [ Blood Magic of Versatile Covenant ] and [ Lighting Magic of Wisp O' Thunderous ].

The Lighting Magic of Wisp O' Thunderous consumed his primal energy and some of his soul energy when used, and it would create small dark blue wisps with their numbers depending on the consumed energy. The consumption to create these wisps was not that much, and he can control these wisps, which had the ability to go past any physical objects.

Up until this point, It didn't look that great magic, but their dreadful will go from zero to a hundred with just one thought of Athan.

These wisps, which looked small and docile, were directly connected with Athan's unima core due to the dark blue ball orbiting around it. Upon one thought of Athan, They would crazily consume his primal energy and explode with a rumble of thunder and create a destructive storm at whatever place they were at.

However, the range was 100 meters, and if they are outside of 100 meters around Athan, He can't activate this power.

" We'll talk about other things later. For now, Let's go outside as the castle's gate is shining, and it only needs some more blood before it is opened. "

Hearing Athan's words, Everyone nodded.

He then brought them outside and said, " Use your geno skills and kill one each. I am sure the gate will open by then. "

There were actually more people at the castle as many died and new ones came.

Tiana and others nodded with serious expressions as they exercised full caution and moved before they used their geno skills to kill.

Athan also threw his chakram towards two people fighting with each other and conjured hundred Wisp O' Thunderous before spreading them, but some of the wisps were destroyed by people who noticed them.

Many people near Athan's group noticed them as one of them shouted, " THEY ARE TOGETHER, KILL THEM FIRST. "

Ten people stopped fighting and moved towards Athan and others because one thing they didn't want after entering the castle was a group of people working together.

Athan frowned for a second before he grinned and said to others, " No need to hold back. Use your geno frames and kill them but don't turn them into dust. Hit their vital points like head and hearts. " He then recalled back his chakram and exploded the remaining wisps which dealt tremendous damage to the group moving towards them.

The ten people of various race which even included a human race man were damage to some degree but they still moved forward for one second.

For one second only because the next second, They were no more.

They couldn't even regret coming over because that's how fast they died.

The last thing they saw were colorful lights flashing in their eyes with insanely fast speed as they lost their lives.

The castle's gate attracted the free blood as it absorbed every single drop.

*RUMBLE....*

A loud rumble of gate moving resounded, which put a stop to the current chaotic fight before everyone madly charged towards the now opened gate.

Chapter 172 - Treasure Chest

When Athan and the group entered the gate, They were surprised to find that the castle was way bigger than what it showed from outside.

But something happened that produced worry in Athan's heart; Right after they entered the castle, Everyone separated and appeared at different places, and Athan even failed to sense them using his soul technique.

" They should have fifty percent of their geno energy left, and if they move carefully, I doubt anything will happen to them. " Athan nodded while murmuring, ' They have gained some experience, so I am sure they can take care of themselves. '

He then looked around and saw two more beings here in this big hall with five pathways connected to it.

They didn't bother with each other and moved in different pathways. Athan also chose a pathway and started moving.

Wearing the horned crown, He had activated all four of blood magic as he was covered in blood armor with two blood-red flaming wings behind his back and three orbs floating around him. His hands were covered in blood gauntlets, ready to thrash anyone that blocks his path.

He also used Wisp O' Thunderous as many wisps were flying around him in a ten-meter radius.

He exited the pathway and arrived in another hall with a golden treasure chest in the middle, but along with him, Five more people arrived here from the pathways connected to this hall containing the treasure chest.

Everyone stopped moving as they eyed each other warily.

*Thud...Thud...Thud.....*

One by one, The pathways were blocked by walls that appeared out of nowhere.

Athan frowned and thought, ' Looks like this castle is promoting killing. Nobody would let the other get the treasure chest, so they will definitely fight. '

The other five beings beside Athan were a Human race woman, a Dision race man, a Terred race woman, a Blumbra race man, and an Amarphy race man.

" I don't want this treasure, so I'll watch. When one of you gets the treasure chest, I am sure the pathways will open, so at that time, I'll simply leave. "

The human race woman, who had long black hair with 6ft height and a slim body, spoke with a smile.

Athan was speechless and right away understood her intentions, but he didn't think it would work.

' She likely wanted to reap benefits at the end since she will be uninjured while others fight with each other for chest. '

The Terred race woman snorted and said, " Sure, Just make a contract that if you ever interfere in the fight or produced any intention or greed for the treasure chest, then your soul will scatter. "

The woman's face turned ugly hearing that, but she didn't say anything while the others sneered at her.

Suddenly, Athan received a telepathic message from Talisha, ' We are both humans, so why don't we work together? '

Athan thought for a second as he got an idea and said telepathically, ' Sure, Let's work together. We'll take out that dision race man beside you first. We both attack at the same time in three seconds. '

' 3 '

' 2 '

---Before he could count to one, His face changed because the Terred race woman and Blumbra race man attacked him at the same time.

He was not the only one as Talisha was also attacked by Dision race man and Amarphy race man.

Athan hurridly dodged Blumbra race man's attack, but he didn't have a way to dodge the spatial crimson slashes from Terred race woman, so he braced himself and blocked them.

*slash....slash...slash...*

His various blood magic spells were activated, and the blood barrier blocked one slash before it broke as other crimson slashes hit him. But was not injured since his Blood Magic: Vindication Covenant was showing its full power as Athan consumed his energy.

The blood inside his body boiled, and he felt catastrophic power coursing through his body.

With a flap of his blood flame wings, He disappeared and grabbed the neck of the Terred race woman, who revealed a terrifying look before he punched her with his other hand as her head burst into a red mess.

Seeing this, Blumbra race man's face turned light blue as he hurriedly shouted, " Rule domain condense. "

His body increased in size as dark blue liquid appeared all over his body before forming a solid armor as dark blue sparks appeared all over his body that exuded terrifying force.

Athan didn't back down seeing this and instantly dashed towards him with Chasm severing in his hand and slashed his neck away. His speed had become his second-best advantage over others since he got Blood Magic: Unbound Covenant and completed the full blood magic. His first best advantage obviously being the genome power.

Talisha was ambushed, and she managed to survive two attacks, but she still died by the Dision race man's second attack.

Among the people present here, excluding Athan, The Dision race man turned out to be the most powerful.

After seeing Athan killing the Blumbra race man so effortlessly despite the latter condensing his rule domain, The other two warily looked at him.

Athan smiled and said, " Your turn. "

" WAIT! " The Amarphy race man shouted, and right after that, he instantly formed a contract that he would not have any greedy thoughts about the treasure chest and will not interfere in the fight.

The Dision race man's face turned ugly at this, but he didn't want to give up on the treasure chest, so he attacked Athan right away.

Several small starry orbs materialized as they shot towards Athan in super fast speed.

Athan knew he couldn't dodge, so he braced himself for the attack as he was pushed back several steps but managed to come out unscathed, ' Damn, Looks like I am really a tough nut to crack now. ' Athan thought with a grin.

His body had become so much stronger lately. First, his body was strengthened by unique primal energy from the unima core, and after that, His body was refined by blood magic energy after he completed the magic series. But most importantly, The horned crown strengthened his entire being to a ridiculous level that made him on par with peak beings in this layer and even stronger bodily strength-wise.

To make it even more ridiculous, He ceased to receive damage from others at this layer after he got complete blood magic. At most, He would be slightly damaged by the people who use offensive Rule condense power on him.

Athan released hundred Wisp O' Thunderous towards the Dision race man who managed to kill many of them, but Athan wasn't idle after that as he also threw both of his chakrams from different directions.

The chasm severing in his hand wasn't consumed that much to kill that Blumbra race man, so he exchanged places with his chakrams after exploding the remaining Wisp O' thunderous to disturb the surrounding space due to its destructive lightning storms and threw his chasm severing towards the dision race who showed despair in his eyes.

The Blumbra race man's eyes were widened seeing how Athan toyed with the Dision race man by constantly exchanging his places with his chakrams that always appeared in eccentric places from time to time and finally killed him with that purple slash.

' HOLY CRAP...If I didn't hurriedly back down and formed the contract, my fate would have been the same. '

Athan slowly walked towards the treasure chest without paying any heed to the trembling Blumbra race man.

He touched the golden treasure chest as it shined brightly before the lid on it disappeared and revealed a small thing.

A Cube that was shining in gold, dark orange, and green. Athan picked up the cube before it disappeared and appeared inside his soul realm.

[ Congratulations, You have received a peak-grade Spirit Rule Enchantment. ]

" Spirit rule Enchantment? What's that? " Athan murmured.

After Athan received the treasure, The pathways once again opened. Seeing this, Blumbra race man was overjoyed as he instantly dashed towards the closest pathway.

" Wait.." Athan shouted towards the Blumra race man before dashing towards him with a flap of his wings.

*Zooooooom...*

The Blumbra race man's heart turned cold when he saw Athan appearing in front of him and said in a trembling voice, " Wh-what do you want? "

Athan didn't waste time and directly asked, " What is spirit rule enchantment? "

The Blumbra race man felt weird because it was common knowledge, but he didn't dare to slight Athan and hurriedly answered, " It is used to strengthen our Armament spirits in the Spirit Astride Plane. "

Athan frowned and thought, ' Seeing his face; It should be common knowledge. Hmm...Is the treasure I got not that impressive? '

He took out the thing he got and showed it to the man before asking, " What do you think about this thing? "

The Blumbra race man's eyes shone with greed, but he didn't have the guts to do anything, so he obediently answered, " Th-this is a highest grade spirit rule enchantment filled with pure offensive power. "

Athan smiled and took back the treasure inside his soul realm, ' Looks like it is a good thing. ' He then continued to on the path as he ignored the Blumbra race man who just sighed and turned back.

He didn't want to walk in the same pathway as Athan, so he went back to the hall and entered a different pathway.

Chapter 173 - Terrified And Ferocious

After moving for a while, Athan appeared in another hall that was a bit bigger than the previous one.

There was a giant statue of a lion in the middle of the hall. The lion statue was made up of dark orange and green color materials as it gave off a mysterious sheen.

As soon as Athen entered the hall, He felt a terrifying suppression on him that was familiar to him, ' Sealing my powers, huh? '

But he was not worried because...

*Kacha....*

That force of sealing couldn't seal his powers due to the unima core.

He looked at the scene in the hall carefully and was somewhat surprised what seeing what was happening.

There were a total of eight people in the hall. A big floating oval stone hovered in front of the Lion statue, and a man of the human race was floating in front of the oval stone.

Athan moved forward a few steps and heard a sound inside his head.

[ The one who deals the greatest damage to the oval stone will win the treasure. One more participant left. ]

The person floating in front of the oval stone seemed to have his power unsealed as he used his most powerful attack on the big oval stone.

Two swirling orbs of bright green and black conjured as they hit the oval stone.

*TING.....*

The oval stone wasn't scratched at all as it just shined for a few seconds.

Afterward, The man's powers were sealed again as he disappeared and appeared on the ground at his initial position.

Right after that, A woman of the Crysax race disappeared from where she was standing and appeared in front of the floating oval stone.

She also used her most powerful attack on the oval stone after her powers were unsealed.

" Athan..!! "

Athan looked in the direction of the voice that came from the pathway that was next to the pathway he came from and was pleasantly surprised.

"Hahaha. It looks like our luck is good. " Athan laughed as he saw Tiana coming towards him with a smile, ' Looks like nothing happened to her. Well, with the white gold energy we've gathered, I don't think anything can happen to her and Avelia as long as they were careful and avoided one-shot kill attacks from others. '

But a funny thing happened; just when Tiana was 5 meters away from Athan, He disappeared and appeared in front of the oval stone.

" Ehh..." Athan was dumbfounded for a moment, but he focused and just threw a punch at the oval stone.

*TING.....*

After he was done, Tiana disappeared from her place and appeared in front of the oval stone.

Athan sent a telepathic message to her, telling her to use her geno skill.

Tiana nodded as she used Symphoning gale. She could now control the output, so she only conjured a small Symphoning gale that consumed 5% of her geno energy.

But a shocking scene occurred; The oval stone that always shined after getting hit any attack didn't shine this time and instead started to wither.

By the time Symphoning gale ran out of power, half of the oval stone was gone while the other half was not white anymore but withered.

The people who were watching had their jaws dropped to the ground.

" Wh-what is that power? "

" Monster..."

They couldn't believe their eyes, and fear painted their faces.

The oval stone started to recover slowly as it got energy from somewhere.

Tiana then returned to the place where she was standing as everyone heard a voice that reverberated in the hall this time, instead of inside their heads.

[ The winner has been chosen. ]

Right after that, The Lion statue started to dissipate as it turned into a small ball that was a mix of bright orange and green before shooting towards Tiana.

The ball appeared inside Tiana's energy realm as she received the reward.

The other people in the hall didn't stay any longer and scattered after glancing at Tiana with a fearful expression.

Seeing this, Athan smiled as he felt that this was a truly awesome development.

" So? What did you receive? "

Athan asked Tiana, who opened her eyes with a smile and said with some excitement in her voice, " It looks like I received series magic like your Blood Magic. It's called Bane Magic of Star Flames, and it has four different Magic spells, but it seems that I can't use them right away. "

" You can't use it? Why? " Athan appeared confused and asked because he was able to use the magic he received right away after getting them.

Tiana smiled wryly and said, " I have to comprehend the magic from the ball that I received to use them. Each magic I comprehend will allow me to use it. "

Athan fell into thought hearing her, ' The difference between us is that I have unima core while she doesn't. The unima core allowed me to comprehend the magic I received directly, but it seems that the normal Primal core doesn't have such abilities. '

After reaching this conclusion, He told Tiana about it, which made her speechless.

" Let's go, Athan. I'm sure there are rewards in this castle that will allow me to increase my soul strength. Let's go, let's go. I don't want to fall behind you. "

Tiana grabbed Athan's hand as she led him towards one of the pathways.

As long as they are together, She believed that nobody could stop them.

...

At another place, Avelia encountered a tough situation right after she left the first hall.

" Cough...." She wiped away the blood from the corner of her mouth as her eyes burned with fighting spirit.

Her left leg was cut off from below the knee, but it was slowly being regenerated with gold energy.

She wiped the black blood that appeared at the corner of her mouth as she cracked a grin and said with a ferocious expression, " Now only you are left. "

The grakil race man was also injured as he was somewhat fearful of the ferocity displayed by Avelia in the chaotic fight that just occurred in the hall.

There were eight mangled corpses of different races in the blood-filled hall.

Avelia didn't wait for her ankle to heal as she shouted, " DIE!!! "

The four wriggling silver sticks orbited around her as she used her third disruptive ray towards the grakil race man and killed him as he lost control of his energies and couldn't use them anymore after being hit by her geno skill.

She had consumed seventy percent of her primal energy, which was slowly being filled, but her greatest loss was that she only had 15% of her geno energy left.

She had impressively used her geno art which didn't consume any more geno energy, just like Athan's horned crown, and fought the hard battle.

She could swear that today was the day she suffered the most painful injuries. She was wounded many times in this battle as she even lost her arm and leg sometimes, but that was the only way she could kill the opponent; By catching them off guard and using her geno art could which create chaos when they used their attacks on her.

She was maimed in the process many times because she had to take their attacks head-on to catch them off guard to use her geno art, but since she had lots of white gold energy, she didn't mind injuries to her non-vital parts of her body as she tried her best to avoid fatal attacks.

She had bathed in the blood in this battle and felt that she learned a lot as she almost met death many times.

" The reward better be worth the injuries and pain I suffered. " Avelia muttered as she moved towards the golden shining dreamy orb that was floating on top of a square platform in the middle of the hall.

Chapter 174 - Killing Promoting Castle

Avelia walked up the platform and touched the shining orb.

" Ouch...* Avelia felt a sting on her hand before the orb gave off a blinding white light.

The white light spread across the whole hall as golden motes of light released from the corpses and blood that littered the hall.

The golden motes then entered into the shining orb, and after that, The shining orb entered into Avelia's body before it released a certain kind of energy.

Avelia's face changed as she hurriedly sat down crossed-legged.

The pathways of the hall didn't open even after that because Avelia was in the process of digesting the rewards she received.

The hall became clean with no sign of blood and corpses.

...

Athan and Tiana were moving in a pathway that actually led them to big open ground.

There were already six people present here without including Athan and Tiana and as they entered the ground, they heard a voice.

[ Waiting for two more participants ]

Athan and Tiana understood as they simply stood on the ground just like others. The ground had ten pathways connected to it, and it looked like three football fields put together.

A loud sound reverberated after two more people arrived on the ground from two different pathways.

[ Survive for thirty minutes. All those who survive will receive the reward. Each person who dies during the thirty-minute survival will contribute to the increase of the rewards. ]

*Roarrr...*

*Screeeeeee....*

*Awoooooo*

Beasts of varying sizes conjured on the ground out of nowhere and started attacking the people.

Two beasts also appeared near the place where Athan and Tiana were standing.

A minotaur-like monster with two broad axes in both of its hands and a giant ape that held a large hammer with both of its bulging arms.

Athan had all of his blood magic activated and also used Wisp O' thunderous before creating illusion clones as he launched towards both beasts.

*ROARRRRRRR...*

The Ape that had magma-like vein patterns on its body destroyed all of the clones with one roar from its mouth that released dark orange shockwaves visible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, Athan was already in front of The Minotaur-like monster as he punched hard on its head.

*Splat...*

*Thud...*

The minotaur's head burst before it fell with a thud. He didn't even need to active the Wisp O' Thunderous.

Tiana was not just watching as right after the Ape destroyed Athan's clones, Devilish dark-red wings unfolded from her back as she disappeared and appeared right in front of the ape.

The Ape was startled as it opened its mouth and released a magma jet stream towards Tiana.

Tiana was exactly waiting for this as she used her geno art: Solace of blood night.

A thin dark red veil appeared around Tiana as the entire attack of Ape was absorbed and turned into powerful enchantment that increased all of her bodily strength, mind, and soul.

Tiana didn't give any chance to the Ape after the geno art enchanted her as she put both of her hands together and smacked hard on the head of the ape.

*Burst....*

The Ape's whole body was smashed to the ground; From 100 meters tall, It turned into a 20-meter mess of flesh.

After the genome tree's second branch filled up, The ability of their geno art didn't consume their geno energy anymore.

Athan's geno art enhanced all of his stats to a very high degree, and it was constant. He could physically pound anyone in this layer.

Tiana's geno art creates a thin veil that could absorb any damage thrown to it and turned it into powerful enchantment that powers up her considerably.

Her strength becomes even stronger than the passive enhancement of Athan's horned crown, but she had to suffer pain in her mind and body both, and if she can't endure it, then the enchantment wears off.

But she improved a lot by using it many times in the trial of Bloodbath so she was able to endure a lot more than her first time.

The ape and minotaur turned into motes of golden light that recovered Tiana's energy while Athan didn't consume any energy so he didn't get anything. But right after that, Three beasts spawned near them.

Two of them were the same size as the previous ones, but one of them exuded a power equivalent to the peak-ruler plane expert.

Tiana looked at it and said to Athan with determination, " Leave that giant three-headed snake to me. "

She dashed towards the three-headed snake beast that gave off similar vibes to the peak-ruler plane expert who has completely comprehended and mastered one rule power.

Athan respected her choice as he quickly finished off the two small fries and watched Tiana's fight while also ready to intervene if she comes under threat of death.

But after watching for half a minute, he was surprised and smiled, ' Looks like the match is over. '

Her geno art makes her invincible unless she can't endure it or encounter a power that can break apart her geno art ability.

Tiana carefully avoided some attacks while powering herself up through the geno art and finally killed the three-headed snake beast.

She was still enchanted by Solace of blood night, so she didn't descend and simply waited for more beasts to spawn, which indeed happened after the three dead ones turned into golden motes.

But Athan suddenly frowned because along with four beasts that spawned near them, Two other beasts were being led by a human race woman towards them.

" HELP..!"

Athan and Tiana didn't have time for that because the four beasts that spawned near them were all giving off-peak-ruler plane aura.

Athan dashed towards the two beasts to his left side and conjured chasm severing before grabbing it.

Tiana also appeared high in the sky above the two bear-like beasts with solid armor of dark green with orange patterns and sharp long claws.

She didn't use any attacks and dodged the attacks of beasts as she displayed fabular aerial maneuverability.

While dodging the attacks, one of the bear beasts roared as a wide area of dark green energy blast shoot towards her.

Seeing this, Tiana used her geno art once again even though her enchantment from the previous battle was still there.

Tiana gritted her teeth while feeling pain and took it all as she coldly eyed the woman that appeared 10 meters away from her after she absorbed the dark green energy blast.

She was waiting for her to appear here, along with the two beasts tailing her as she finally used Symphoning Gale, with the remaining 15% of her geno energy.

She controlled the dark red feathers moving like a tornado and targetted the woman who appeared near her.

That human race woman had slight smirt as she was going to thank Tiana, but she didn't expect that Tiana would attack her with such a terrifying attack that was rapidly withering all of her powers along with her life.

" St-stop this...We ne-- " She had disbelief in her eyes as she withered away. The disbelief was because she thought that she and Tiana could work together to kill the beasts and never took into account that Tiana would attack her. She thought Tiana would not benefit if she attacked her as Tiana would most definitely die because of the two beasts she led here, along with the two on Tiana's plate.

But she was wrong.

After killing her, Tiana humphed with cold eyes as she murmured something. She didn't immediately use her remaining dark red feather tornado, which was her geno skill but started moving towards the two beasts led here by the human race woman.

The two bear-like beasts ran after her, and Tiana flapped her dark red devilish wings as she flew up in the sky when all four beasts were almost going to catch her.

The dark red feathers, which moved like a tornado, separated into four groups as each of them covered the head area of the four beasts.

The beasts cried loudly as they started to wither, but she knew that it wasn't enough, so she instantly dashed towards the two beasts led by the human woman and hit the withered part of their head, which instantly killed them as her geno art still enchanted her.

She was going to finish off the other two, but Athan was standing on top of the two headless bears as he smiled at her and said gently, " You fought well. Now go and take some rest while recovering your energy. "

Tiana smiled somewhat tiredly towards Athan before disappearing as Athan sent her into the special space.

Athan looked at the remaining people who were still struggling to defeat the current wave of beasts.

" Time to clean up the battlefield. " Athan smirked as he released a hundred more Wisp O' Thunderous and moved towards the nearest chaotic fight. This fight appeared chaotic because two beings led their beasts towards a Grakil race being which created the current chaotic fight where six beasts were ganging up on three people.

Athan cracked his neck as he dashed forward; his aim was not just six beasts but everyone as he conjured two chasms severing in both of his hands.

...

At another place, Mike and Qerin actually met up in a trial hall, but Mike's left hand was no more after the fight for the prize was finished.

Mike and Qerin didn't have the white gold energy inside them, so it takes time to heal their moderate injures while it was simply impossible to regenerate the cut-off limbs for them.

Qerin was not that injured as she was attending to Mike's wounds and said in a worried tone, " Can you stop being so reckless? Look at your injuries, idiot. "

" Hehehe..." Mike grinned but didn't say anything. He fought valiantly in the hall as he ripped apart many with his geno art.

He had to use his geno skill two times, but it was worth it. Qerin's geno art was useful in any situation and could support the attacks thrown by Mike to make sure that his attacks always hit the enemies.

Overall, both used their geno skills twice, so they still had 30% of geno energy left inside them.

" Go and take the reward, and don't say no to me because you deserve it. " Qerin said after healing and dressing his would and sealing his cut-off arm.

Mike rubbed his nose with a smile as he touched the treasure chest in the middle of the hall.

Chapter 175 - Ascending, An Eerie Place

[ Congratulations, You are the winners. ]

Athan and Tiana stood on the ground as they received a golden orb that entered inside them.

Both of them were surprised after receiving the golden orb as they hurriedly sat down crossed-legged.

This golden orb was the same as what Avelia got, and their effects were similar.

Plane Ascending.

In the Erudite Palace Plane, They have to create a general frame of Erudite Palace using their Primal energy, Soul energy, and Genesis energy.

The Erudite Palace plane is connected to all three realms inside their body; Energy Realm, Genesis Realm & Soul Realm, and creating the Erudite Palace Plane is the first stage in the Erudite Palace Plane: Palace Creation.

The golden orb which entered their body instantly created this palace inside them, but it didn't stop as they got sufficient resources from this golden orb to progress further and started to progress.

The golden orb was supposed to be used for the peak-ruler plane so they can break through to Spirit Astride Stage. But Athan and others were not in the Ruler plane, which created the current situation.

After completing the first stage of Erudite Palace Plane: Palace Creation, they moved to the second stage: Palace Consolidation.

This stage usually takes a long time because they have to consume their primal energy, genesis energy, and soul energy to consolidate the palace every day.

The consolidation in this stage means that they have to make the palace robust and solid and closely connect it to the three realms of their body.

The golden orb gave them tons of soul energy, genesis energy, and primal energy to consolidate the palace, usually taking other people a century because there were no resources that gave them soul energy. There were some but very rare and hard to come by.

But this Roumbra Blood War dimension had tons of soul energy. Athan speculated that this dimension absorbs all soul energies of dead beings even when Roumbra Blood war is not taking place. Furthermore, when the Roumbra blood war starts, Many powerful people die, gathering sufficient soul energy to reward others.

After Athan and Tiana completed the second stage: Palace consolidation, They moved onto the third stage, Erudite Engravings.

The golden orb can't directly finish this stage because they have to do it with their own will. After all, it requires them to create their own abilities from all of the knowledge and things they comprehended until now.

Erudite Engravings. They have to engrave their Erudite Palace with all of the things they learned and comprehended until now.

The golden orb seems to be giving them all the required things and even assisting them by calming their minds and letting them enter Fatal Cogitation State.

Athan and Tiana thus started engraving all of the things they comprehended until now, such as all intents, concepts, domain powers, the spells they created, etc and this requires extensive works of mind and soul.

When the universe senses the engravings of knowledge and comprehension and deems it worthy for the word " Erudite, " It will recognize and baptized their Erudite Palace with rule power. Thus, their Erutie Palace will finally be worthy of the word " Erudite," and they will be able to sense and create rule powers.

Athan and Tiana were engraving all of their knowledge and comprehension, and it was going smooth due to the Fatal Cogitation State.

...

At another place, Mike and Qerin actually met up in a trial hall, but Mike's left hand was no more after the fight for the treasure chest was over.

Mike and Qerin didn't have the white gold energy inside them, so it takes time to heal their moderate injures while it was simply impossible to regenerate the cut-off limbs for them.

Qerin was not that injured as she was attending to Mike's wounds and said in a worried tone, " Can you stop being so reckless? Look at your injuries, idiot. "

" Hehehe..." Mike grinned but didn't say anything. He fought valiantly in the hall as he ripped apart many with his geno art.

He had to use his geno skill two times, but it was worth it. Qerin's geno art was useful in any situation and could support the attacks thrown by Mike to make sure that his attacks always hit the enemies.

Overall, both used their geno skills twice, so they still had 30% of geno energy left inside them.

" Go and take the reward, and don't say no to me because you deserve it. " Qerin said after healing and dressing his would and sealing his cut-off arm.

Mike rubbed his nose with a smile as he touched the treasure chest in the middle of the hall; A bright golden light radiated from the treasure chest after its lid disappeared with Mike's touch, and all of his energy was recovered before a ball of light entered inside him. The ball of light was a series magic like Athan's Blood Magic of Versatile Covenant.

Unfortunately, His injuries were not healed, and only his energy got recovered.

Qerin noticed that Mike's injures were not recovered said in displeasure, " It would have been better if the reward included full healing, just like full energy recovering. "

Mike smiled wryly and said, " But it still can't recover our geno energy. Anyway, we are together, and we still have 30% of geno energy left on each. We can use our first geno skill six times so we won't have a problem winning one more time. "

Mike then told her about the reward he received, which was just like Athan's magic, and said, " But it seems that I can't use it directly and have to comprehend it. Since that's the case, Let's continue and win one more to get rewards. "

" First, promise me that you will not be reckless next time. Otherwise, I won't let you leave this hall. "

" Alright, I promise you that I will not be reckless...unless..."

" Unless what? What?? "

Mike rubbed his nose with a smile and said, " Nothing...I promise I won't be reckless. Now let's go. "

Qerin pouted, but she didn't insist anymore as both of them started walking into one of the pathways.

After walking for a while, They finally reached the other end and were shocked to see the scene in front of them.

In front of them was ground with red sky and dark orange half-moon.

The ground had many pits filled with blood-like liquid mixed with different shades of other colors.

" What...is this? " Mike mumbled, looking at it.

Qerin frowned and said, " Let's go back and choose a different pathway; this place is giving me a bad feeling. "

But suddenly, They felt a forceful pull as both of them flung forward and landed on the ground.

[ Stay in any blood pool for thirty minutes. If you can survive that, Then you will receive rewards. After that, You will have to complete a single challenge to get grand rewards and leave this place...Alive. ]

[ Choose any blood pool; each blood pool has different effects. If you are lucky and choose a blood pool that has low...effects, you might survive. ]

Chapter 176 - Life & Death Situation

Mike and Qerin tried to move out of the ground and even tried to open up a pathway, but nothing worked.

Qerin couldn't help but sigh as she spoke, " Sigh...It looks like we have no choice but to choose a blood pool and stay in it for thirty minutes. " She then looked at Mike and said with a serious expression, " Listen, Mike. I'll go into that blood-pool which had red and green mixed liquid while you wait and observe. If something happens to me, then you can save me. "

" Absolutely not! I will go first, and you will observe. " Mike steeled his face and said to Qerin. His face showed that he wouldn't budge in this decision.

Qerin felt helpless and said, " Then we'll go together. "

Mike grinned at her, which made Qerin feel uneasy, but before she had a chance to do anything, She saw Mike jumping into the closest blood pool that was just five steps to his left side.

*Arghhhhhhhh*

Mike screamed right after he jumped inside the blood pool.

" Y-y-you BIG IDIOT. " Qerin panicked and dashed towards Mike, who suddenly stopped screaming.

" Don't come in. I am just kidding. I am not feeling any pain. "

Qerin suddenly stopped and looked at Mike with her eyes wide opened, but after a second, She angrily said, " You idiot...Just wait until you come out. I'll teach you a lesson. "

Mike grinned and said, " Sorry, Qerin. I thought that I would feel pain after diving inside the pool, so I screamed. As they say, you will feel better if you scream when enduring pain. But really...nothing is hap-ppe-ni...."

Mike suddenly felt that the world was spinning, and his eyes started to feel heavy. He couldn't even speak properly.

" Mike? What's going on? What is happening to you? "

Mike was inside the blood pool that reached his waist, and he was in a daze as he barely spoke, " I do-don't know...If-feel like sle-sleeping."

Seeing this, Qerin panicked as she also jumped into the pool, but before she neared the pit's border, She was pushed back by some force.

Qerin was panicking right she couldn't save Mike, " MIKE!! Don't close your eyes. Stay awake. If you sleep, then I will forever leave you and will never meet you again. MIKE!!! "

Mike was feeling exhausted, as if all of the powers inside his body were leaving. His soul was weakening, his mind was also exhausted, and he could barely control his body.

Hearing the cries of Qerin, Mike felt that he should definitely not sleep here. If he slept, then he would be done for. He...felt that he would die if he slept.

With what little control he had, he forcefully shook his head and tried to move his limbs, but it had an adverse effect as he lost his standing balance and his whole body submerged into the pool.

" M-MIKE!! "

The blood pool started to boil as the blood-red and bright orange hue of the liquid created bubbles.

Mike's body came out as he floated on the blood pool, but his eyes were tightly shut, and his face had a frown.

Qerin wanted to go inside the pool, but no matter what she did, She failed, but right then, she heard the telepathic voice of Mike.

' Qerin, Don't worry about me. I am fine...for now. You will also have to dive into the pool to leave this place, so select a pool and submerge inside. You will know wh- '

His telepathy was suddenly cut off as Qerin hurridly asked, " Mike...Y-you, are you okay? "

Mike slowly nodded his head with a painful expression on his face while floating on the blood pool.

Qerin wiped her face before sighing a big relief.

She then walked towards the pool she selected at first and jumped inside.

*Splash....*

Qerin also didn't feel anything at first, but after a while, She started to feel the same as Mike, and before it could overwhelm her, She submerged herself inside the blood pool.

Her blood pool also started to boil as bubbles appeared

Qerin, who slowly surfaced on the blood pool, also had her eyes closed with a painful expression.

She and Mike were experiencing an entirely different thing inside their head after they submerged into the blood pool.

They were fighting against creatures that had the same color as the respective blood pool they dived into.

Qerin's left leg slowly started to wither as a painful expression appeared on her face with her eyes closed, but she was also fighting the creatures internally. Her body parts would sometimes wither and recover.

The same thing was happening to Mike, and these changes depended entirely on their fight against the small creatures that came into different shapes but the same color as their blood pool.

As time passed, The liquid inside the pool was also slowly reducing.

After ten minutes, Mike's half-body was gone, and he had a frightening face as he desperately fought.

Qerin's situation was better than Mike's, but not on a large scale as her whole left hand, half of the right hand, and whole right leg were gone.

While they were in this strange process, two pathways formed at different places automatically, and two people arrived at this place.

One of them was an Amarphy race woman while the other person was.....Avelia!!

Her aura was different from before, and she exuded a clear rule power from her existence.

She and the Amarphy race woman were quite far from each other because the pathways they came from were not close to each other.

But their reaction was similar to Mike's and Qerin's. They also didn't want to stay here, but the pathways they came from were sealed when they tried to go back, and they heard the same voice and rules inside their head, which told them to survive in the blood pool for 30 minutes and complete a challenge...to leave this place alive.

Avelia frowned and thought, ' What is this shtty place? And why force people to do this? But I don't think they would force people to die here since the main goal of this castle should be to reward the worthy. '

Thinking about it, She didn't hesitate much and dived into the pool that was closest to her.

After that, More people appeared as new pathways opened, and they also couldn't escape and had to select a pool before diving inside.

...

Athan and Tiana were still engraving their Erudite palace as they would need ten more minutes to finish engraving all of their comprehension and knowledge in their Erudite place.

After ten minutes...They were finally done engraving everything as they felt a strange power entering their body and their Erudite palace.

Both of them opened their eyes simultaneously after they finished the third stage of the Erudite Palace plane: Erudite Engravings and were baptized by the universal rule power. Now, they could also sense, comprehend and create Rule powers.

But there was still the last step before they breakthrough to the Ruler Plane.

Fourth and last stage of Erudite palace plane: Erudite palace establishment.

Everyone's Erudite palace had a different design as it was their choice on how they want to build it. Of course, they could also change the structure and design of their Erudite palace later when they enter the Ruler plane, but they can't change anything a second time as long as they are in the Erudite palace plane.

Athan and Tiana moved the Altar spirits and Soul Altar inside their Erudite Palace.

" Master...Is this our new home? We won't be able to stay in the special space anymore? " Skylord asked as he looked around the palace. The palace was big enough to house everyone, but it was empty because there were only marvelous designs and no furniture, so it looked broad and empty.

" It will be boring here. " Lucent said with a sad face. They were used to stay in the special space and play together with Mimi and other Altar spirits. But after Tiana and others filled their second branch and decided to go out and practice in this Bloodpath zone, They took their altar spirits with them.

Athan was speechless and said, " I am not going to confine you here. Just stay here for a bit as I finish the last stage of the Erudite palace plane and complete the breakthrough. "

He ( genesis avatar ) sat down crossed-legged after saying this and started the final process.

The golden orb was still eager to help as it floated in the center of the palace and constantly produced energy and bathed the whole palace with it.

Tiana also did the same as both she and Athan started the last stage.

...

There is another reason why the Ruler plane is called that way and comes after the Erudite palace plane. That reason is; A palace should have rules, so they need to create rules inside their Erudite palace and " Ruler " Because they are the Ruler of their Erudite palace.

Chapter 177 - Dead?

The last stage: Erudite palace establishment, was to merge the power of their Altar spirits in the palace by imposing a rule.

This rule can be without any actual power, and they just need to make a verbal rule inside their palace so that their Altar spirits can be baptized by the Rule power of the universe and merge their source ( Soul Altars ) and their powers into the Erudite palace.

After sitting down, Athan used his domain and told his altar spirits to do the same. After that, Athan spoke as he looked at his Altar spirits, " From now on, Your sources are connected to the palace, and you are the Ruler's guards. You will support and protect the Ruler; that is me. This is the rule. "

" WE OBEY THE RULER. "

".....OBEY THE MASTER. "

*

" Ahh..sorry...I mean RULER. " Lucent messed up as a whimper released from its mouth in embarrassment.

Athan shook his head with a smile and observed them.

All three of them suddenly felt an overwhelming power pressuring upon them for a second before the Rule power of the universe baptized them as their body structure started to change on a fundamental level, and they became stronger than before.

Outside...

Athan and Tiana opened their eyes as they finally broke through to the Ruler plane. But Athan still had something to do, so he said to Tiana, " Wait for a while, I need to do something. "

Saying this, He once again closed his eyes and brought out all of the Rule fragments of Blood type rule he comprehended.

The blood-red rule fragments started shining right after entering the Erudite palace as they slowly disappeared because they were engraved inside the palace.

" Rule of Flexile Blood..." Athan spoke as he felt newfound power inside him. Now his blood magic spells will also become more powerful than before, easily matching the peak-level people and their condensed rule domain because the magic he and others received seemed to be more powerful than rule domains.

After he was finished, He didn't do anything anymore and opened his eyes outside while the golden orb that was a lot smaller compared to when they received it first was silently floating inside the palace.

Tiana saw Athan opening his eyes and asked curiously, " What were you doing? I sensed a complete rule from you just now. "

Athan smiled and nodded, " Yep, I comprehended this rule when I received the Blood magic of versatile covenant. This magic thingy is really very good as it could even let us comprehend a rule. You should also comprehend the magic you received, as it will let you get a complete rule eventually. "

Hearing this, Tiana said with surprise, " If that's the case, then the magic we got should be a power of higher level. "

" That should be the case, and we will know more about it once we go to the next layer of this Roumbra Blood War dimension. Anyway, since we are done here, and the pathways are also opened, let's move onto the next--"

[ Everyone inside Ifrit Dandraid Castle will be transported out in twelve hours, and the castle will return to slumber. ]

[ Everyone has twelve hours in this castle of death, Be sure to survive if you want to go out with the rewards or become the nutrients and rewards of others after death. ]

Athan and Tiana didn't waste time and started moving towards a pathway.

...

At the place where Mike, Qerin, and Avelia were inside blood pools...

The blood pool where Mike and Qerin entered was almost dry, but their current state was nothing short of a nightmare. Only five minutes were left before their 30 minute time is up.

Qerin was still better as she regained her body slowly, and she was also winning the internal battle. But Mike...

Inside his blood pool, The only thing left from his whole body were few things.

His intact head, neck, and half of his chest where his heart was beating and half of his abdomen.

That was all he had while his other body was gone, but Mike was still alive.

He was surviving with the barest minimum requirement for one having primal energy.

With bloodshot eyes and half-consciousness, He was muttering and thinking only one thing.

" Survive...survive...survive..."

He had protected his most vital two things while internally fighting.

Just as the voice said something about luck. He was not so lucky to have chosen this blood pool.

Avelia, on the other hand, was in a similar situation as Qerin. Not lucky but not unlucky too. Though, She still had to survive 15 minutes in the blood pool.

Qerin's body had only one part left to recover, and that was the ankle of her left leg, but the five minutes were up before she could recover them.

After her hellish 30 minutes were over inside the blood pool, Her body started to shine with the same color of the blood pool liquid, which was nowhere to be seen now because the pool was empty.

Qerin's ankle was instantly healed after her body started to give off a strange shine and energy.

*groan...*

Qerin groaned in comfort as she felt warm and cozy inside her body.

The bright shining light finally stopped as Qerin saw something inside her Energy realm and was very surprised by the knowledge and comprehension she received.

" So the internal battle with those creatures who used those powers on us was to help us get this..."

Qerin murmured this, but she was more worried about Mike as she hurriedly left the pool and dashed towards Mike's pool.

She arrived there in a second, and when she finally saw the state of Mike, Her eyes overflowed with tears as she shouted, " MIKE!!! "

She jumped inside the pool as there was no more any kind of force stopping her from entering it. She was heartbroken when she saw the state of Mike.

*sobs*

" Wake up, Mike...WAKE UP..."

...

Mike didn't know what was happening as the only thing he could see was darkness, ' Did I survive? I have to survive...But where is this? Whatever this place is, It's far better than the nightmare which i....survive. I...survived that nightmare, right? '

He was confused and felt that he was being pulled by something, ' How am I being pulled? Wait...is this? My soul? '

" WAKE UP, MIKE. YOU CAN'T DIE "

' I am dead?...'

Chapter 178 - Challenge

" MIKE...WAKE UP. YOU CAN'T DIE!! "

Mike suddenly heard a faint and foggy but...loud voice.

' I am dead? No! I can't die...Qerin, Qerin...yes. Qerin, Athan, and others...They are waiting for me...I can't die yet. '

'I....don't want to be pulled. GET ME BACK THERE. I WILL SURVIVE. '

...

Qerin was hugging Mike's head with overflowing tears as she kept shouting for Mike to wake up.

" Mike, You can't die. Please wake up. Please..."

Suddenly, Mike's body started shining with the same color of the blood pool he was bathed in.

Mike inhaled deeply while his eyes were still closed.

" Th-this..." Qerin was surprised because he was experiencing the same thing as she experienced a while ago.

' Mike...' Qerin wiped her face as she left the blood pool so that his process could be finished.

The shining light slowly started to build his body, just like how her leg was regenerated.

She was finished in a minute, but Mike's state was way worse than her, so it took five minutes to regenerated his body.

Mike's slowly opened his eyes with a smile forming on his face and looked at Qerin, whose eyes were still filled with tears, " Sor--"

" YOU IDIOT!! Do you know how I felt when I saw your state in the pool? *sob* " Qerin appeared in front of Mike and directly hugged him.

Mike patted her head and caressed her back as he spoke gently, " I am really sorry for making you worry like this. Really sorry..."

[ It is time for you to take on the challenge, If you can complete the challenge, you will receive the grand reward and will be allowed to leave this place alive. ]

[ You can take on the challenge unlimited times within a two-hour time frame, but if you fail to complete the challenge after two hours, then your soul will be scattered, and your body will wither. ]

...

Avelia was fighting creatures of weird shapes in a mysterious place. The creatures were a mix of two or more types of beasts.

All of these creatures had the same color as they were glowing in red and grey mix color.

She could only use her genesis energy here and had to fight physically while creating weapons and armors on her body, but these creatures of varying shapes had deadly limbs and body parts that were tricky to deal with.

She tried throwing weapons created by her genesis energy. However, they would always disappear right after they left from her hand, so she could only fight by wielding weapons and creating armors on her body, but her body could barely defend against the mysterious attacks of these creatures.

These creatures would come randomly. Sometimes, two would appear, sometimes five, sometimes eight.

At first, she only saw one creature and barely defeated it after finding out that she could use her genesis power to create things. Right after killing the first creature, She seems to have gained some obscure knowledge.

But after the first creature died, Four creatures suddenly appeared, and the mysterious place also changed. The creatures also became powerful.

Sometimes, she would appear in a thick jungle, and creatures would attack her with various types of deadly physical traits, like scyth limbs, long limbs, big body size, sharp teeth, etc. Some creatures had wings and could fly, and they could shoot feathers which were the hardest.

Her armor could only withstand a single attack. After that, it would disintegrate as she had to create new armor to continue defending because if their attack hit any of her body parts, that part would disappear. She would feel immense pain that would make her mad, but she would be dead the next second by the creatures if she got a bit careless.

Hence, she had no choice but to endure the hellish pain and fight because the only way to regain the lost body part was to kill the creatures, as after killing them, they would release some kind of energy and recover her lost body parts and each creature she killed made her strong but the creatures were also getting strong, and her pain level was also increasing.

Right now, Her left leg was no more, and she had trouble standing, so she created a supporting leg while feeling hellish pain and continue fighting in this nightmarish place that constantly changed.

Her body in the blood pool also had some parts gone, Like there was a hole in her left side of the abdomen and her left leg was no more, but as she fought and defeated the creatures while experience the painful nightmare, her body parts were recovering.

The luck mentioned by the voice was related to the number of creatures they had to fight randomly inside their dream while staying in the blood pool.

...

Mike and Qerin both heard the voice inside their head as it told them about the challenge, and right after that, A square platform rose from Mike's blood pool.

The same thing happened at the blood pool where Qerin stayed.

[ You can either sit or stand on the platform, which will send you into another dreamland. In that dreamland, You have to fight a single being with the power you received after surviving inside the blood pool and kill that being. ]

[ If you are killed instead, then you can try again, but if you fail to kill that being in two hours...Then your soul will scatter, and your body will wither. ]

" Damn this voice. What ' Soul will scatter, and body will wither '? can't it just say that we will die? " Mike snorted after listening to the voice.

Qerin was happy to see the same Mike and said, " I am sure we are far better of our past self prior thirty minutes and since we don't have any choice but to accept the challenge..." pausing here, Qerin pulled Mike's cheeks and said, " You better complete the challenge because if you can't then I will kill you and kill myself. "

" You..." Mike was speechless and also very happy hearing her, but then he said seriously, " I will complete the challange...no matter what it is or what it takes, and you also do the same because if you failed to complete the challenge...Then I will do the same thing that you just said. "

Qerin nodded while smiling widely, and both of them promised to each other.

After that, Qerin went to her blood pool and sat in the lotus position on the platform, while Mike also did the same.

Both of their platforms were the same, with two square meters in size, so they could easily sit on them.

After they sat on their respective platforms, Their consciousness was pulled into another dreamland and when they saw the being they had to kill, They were shocked.

Because in front of Mike was...another Mike and in front of Qerin was another Qerin.

They could feel a new kind of power that they could control when they appeared here, but...

" Framework Art: Blood Sun Blooming "

" Framework Art: Venomous Tether Blood "

Before Mike and Qerin could use their new power; Their enemy clones attacked them, and...they instantly died.

But they were revived in three-second, and they got five seconds of prep time after they revived.

" What the fuck? 5 second prep time against that powerful shit? " Mike cursed, but he focused and controlled the new power that was inside his energy realm.

Inside his Energy realm, An orb was floating right beside his Primal core, and the orb was slowly gathering energy from the primal core while Mike focused on the power he got.

That orb had a shade of orange color mixed with red as it first gathered primal energy before it released a new kind of energy that spread throughout his whole body.

...

Mike used his new power as several patterns appeared on his body, which looked similar to the attack thrown at him by his clone and he clearly felt that this power gave off a vibe similar to the creatures he fought while staying in the blood pool.

But the five-second prep time was over, and he instantly died again before he could try to attack his clone.