Your body has been damaged by raw life energy.

You will suffer delayed wound healing for 30 minutes.

When you reached Deva, all the life energy you have accumulated during your previous Awakenings would be combined together at the centre of your heart into something called Deva Core. Its mere presence in your body protected you from any attack with no raw life energy. You could also channel raw life energy from this Core into your attacks, making it impossible to defend against for any below-Deva cultivator. This was exactly what injured Edard.

He gasped in pain, holding his bleeding shoulder with both hands.

A few meters away from him, the unstoppable energy of the Perpetual Damage cut through anything like butter. The only option was to avoid it; run as far away from it as possible. It consumed more than a hundred soldiers who were too slow to avoid it. Edard was amazed by the sheer power displayed by it. Before he left, there was no Déniz empire. No any emperor Bihanzin. The only emperors were three: emperor Daljári, emperor Fáyra and emperor Micronomad. But right now, this new emperor Bihanzin had made a strong impression on him.

The Perpetual Damage was simply unstoppable, at least until it met emperor Daljári Báyir, the leader of Báyir empire who controlled earth element, lava and gravity. Edard knew what this emperor was capable of.

"Iron Man!" Emperor Daljári said. And he turned into a dust, the dust turned into a sand and the sand turned into an iron sand. The iron sand then transformed into the emperor again, which was the same person, only made of iron not flesh and blood.

Everything happened before Bihanzin's Perpetual Damage arrived.

When the Perpetual Damage came, it hit the iron body of the emperor. The world shook violently and the sky darkened.

It was obvious the slash wasn't going to cut through the iron man, but it wasn't giving up just yet. The iron man exerted his willpower, trying to push it back, while the Perpetual Damage tried to cut through.

Ten seconds in that deadlock before emperor Daljári called upon his gravity to redirect the slash upward to the sky. The tremors continued for the next several seconds before it calmed down.

The first person to speak was prince Rafiyan Nazára, the crown prince of Báyir. "You see, you just have to avoid being cut. That's all."

The fifteen thousand soldiers roared excitedly. "We have three emperors and the Salvation Army behind us, a single sword means nothing."

Fifteen thousand soldiers lunged forward and attacked the five thousand Déniz soldiers in front of the dungeon.

Emperor Daljári and emperor Bihanzin flew into the sky and faced off.

Edard didn't know how powerful Bihanzin was, but he guessed their fight wouldn't be easy. Whoever won would have nasty wounds for the rest of their life.

In contrast, the battle on the ground actually had a clear winner. What could five thousand soldiers and five Renaissance Lords did against fifteen thousand soldiers and nine Renaissance Lords? A single Renaissance Lord could kill five thousand soldiers in an hour, if there was nobody to defend against him. If the five Renaissance Lords from Déniz faced off against five renaissance lords from the opposition, four renaissance lords would be left unchecked. This wasn't to mention that there were fifteen vice admirals and thirty captains from the Salvation Army. Each vice admiral was at least a Renaissance lord, and each captain was at least a Sage.

Edard sighed. In his estimation, it would take fifty to fifty-five minutes to clear Déniz troops, including the arrogant prince Kyru. He didn't know how he felt about it, after all, none of the sides cared for his survival.

The rebel leader Keleyenkove, who refused his Contract, was just standing by the side and observing the battles. The same as emperor Djinn who actually showed very little interest in the war.

Crack!

Edard's ribs gave a loud crack as he received an elbow from emperor Fáyra.

"You don't have time to dally, little Wilberforce. You may have protected your mind with a Loop but your body is still vulnerable." The emperor said viciously. He would soon avenge his late son, prince Reids.

"You are a class 3 Deva, aren't you?" Edard asked. The emperor had achieved Deva with three classes, and that made him a class 3 Deva. Edard could gauge Devas using different tricks.

Emperor Fáyra laughed. "You are stupid and inexperienced, so allow me to educate you." He created another wind blade, mixed it with raw life energy and attacked.

It was true: only a Deva could fight a Deva, but Edard had a trick from his previous life. To used it, he needed to level up first.

Your clone has Cursed 1022 cultivators in the last one hour.

+497,888,822 hours

Bihanzin wasn't lying when he said the longevity needed to reach Deva was unimaginable. Even with all the hunting, Edard still didn't have enough hours to reach peak Renatissance with a single class. And he'd five classes.

Curse has reached level 10 which is the maximum proficiency for a Tier 4 skill.

Curse has reached Tier 5: besides your ability to drain people's longevity by touching them or cutting them with your weapon and your ability to sense longevity, you can now drain longevity through a Longevity String.

Baseline rate: 60 minutes/second.

+1 String per level

NB: Longevity String has removed the one minute limitations.

Curse has reached level 1 Tier 5

Edard smiled. In his previous life, he was at Tier 8, but even a Tier 5 Curse could do what needed to be done.

You have attached a Longevity String to a Deva, eight meters away from you.

+60 min/sec until you remove the String.

Emperor Fáyra visibly fumed. "You dare put that retched String on me?"

"I did. You are a Deva, shake it off."

Before he closed his mouth, a sudden windstorm, carrying countless wind blades, erupted behind the emperor. It was time to show the world what it meant to be a Wind Deva.

Edard knew exactly what he must do.

You have gained 10,040 experience from using lightning.

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 2 Sage (2,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 3 Sage (3,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 4 (4,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 5 (5,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 6 (6,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 7 (7,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 8 (8,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 9 (9,000,000 hours + 1000 experience)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 10 (10,000,000 hours)

Upgrade: +100 seconds for Lightning Ancestor, +1000 units nature energy for Thunderbird, +2000 Contract seals.

+ 63 vitality

+ 171 willpower

+ 189 resistance

Lightning Elementalist has Awakened to Renaissance Awakening

Choose an Awakening skill

1) Nature Body: this combines Thunderbird lightning with Lightning Ancestor. Your body will be immune to both physical, elemental and raw life energy attacks. You can exercise full physical mobility while in lightning form.

Usage time : 20 seconds (+2/level)

Interval : 2 hours

+31 resistance per level

2) Nature skills: this combines Thunderbird lightning with other skills. It enables your attacks to penetrate life energy shields.

You can add one skill to this skill: +1 skill every five levels.

+14 vitality per level

+11 agility per level

There was no deliberating. Nature Body was the only skill that had survival benefit in his current situation.

You have activated Nature Body.

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 1 Renaissance (20,000,000 hours)

+31 resistance

He still had a surplus longevity, so he went on.

Lightning elementalist has reached level 2 Renaissance (30,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 3 Renaissance (40,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 4 Renaissance (50,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 5 Renaissance (60,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 6 Renaissance (70,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 7 Renaissance (80,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 8 Renaissance (90,000,000)

Lightning elementalist has reached level 9 Renaissance (100,000,000)

Upgrade: usage time increased to 36 seconds.

+248 resistance

Warning: you do not have enough longevity to progress!!

"Nature Body!"

You have activated Nature Body: all physical injuries are negated while in Nature form. But major injuries will reduce usage time. Each Violet Push will give an extra 1 second. Skin Tempering will give an extra 12 seconds.

Total estimated time: 39 seconds

The Nature Body looked similar to Lightning Ancestor, except the color which was deep green in the former and light blue in the latter.

Instead of using his solid blade, Edard created a flame sword with Dragon-essense and blocked the emperor's next slash.

The emperor's wind blade cut through the Dragon-essense blade and Edard's lightning form, unhindered. The violent windstorm behind the emperor bombed Edard - Edard's lightning form - to pieces.

Estimated time for Nature Body reduced by 6 seconds.

"You see, I told you... "

His words stuck in his throat as he saw the lightning molded back into Edard.

"You see, Deva, my Nature Body is different from the previous Lightning Ancestor. It's created from nature energy, not life energy. In simple terms, your raw life energy has little effect on me."

Edard activated his speed clone and formed ten afterimages.

Emperor Fáyra created a three-meter long wind blade in both hands and imbued them with raw life energy.

And the dance began.

The emperor couldn't teleport, but he could match Edard's speed with his Deva cultivation and wind element. They ran around like cat and dog, with Edard barely dodging the emperor's slashes.

"I'm surprised you can match my speed, little Wilberforce."

Edard chuckled. In his previous life, he could kill the emperor in a heartbeat. He'd been out of commission for so long, but he was still the same person.

"Are you going to continue running around like the little, miserable mouse you are, Wilberforce?"

"Running around is an acceptable strategy." Edard countered. He needed to stall, so his clone could meet Dylas and Ikenga. Hopefully, they would have his longevity reserve from his previous life.

The emperor wasn't an idiot; he had seen through what Edard was doing. But, did he had any counter strategy? He was definitely stronger, but Edard wouldn't give him a fair fight. His only option was to surpass Edard's speed and pin him down. Was that even possible?

Well, for a Deva, anything was possible. They could even sacrifice their longevity for speed.

Edard just saw a blur and his body exploded three times in a row.

Estimated time for Nature Body is reduced by 11 seconds.

Any skill that didn't have raw life energy was useless against a Deva, so Edard had no skill to counter the emperor's slashes. He could only dodge and use his lightning body for defense. But that was enough. The fact he'd been fighting a Deva for several minutes and was still standing was an unreproducible feat. It simply meant when he ultimately became a Deva, he would be a Deva like no other.

The only issue was... his Nature Body would likely run out before his clone meet up with Dylas. When that happened...

Sigh.

His thoughts were cut off by the child admiral's sigh. He was apparently fed up with their dilly-dallying.

The child teleported next to the emperor.

"You don't have a Bloodline Limit: you are a trash." He told the emperor just before he elbowed him out of the way.

There were four Bloodline Limits: Dragonelf Curse, Black Eyes of the Urúrú and two others. Each Bloodline Limit had its unique power and skills. For example, Dragonelf Curse gave the ability to absorb longevity from others.

"Bloodline Limit, huh?" The child admiral said.

And then two seconds later, Edard repeated the same thing. "Bloodline Limit, huh?"

Dammit, those retched eyes! Edard cursed internally. The Black Eyes could actually see both the future and the past, and they gave an extra element called Negrinki.

Edard changed to battle stance. The emperor was stronger than he was, but still containable. On the other hand, an admiral who could actually see both the past and the future was an entirely different story.

Having just seen the future, the child teleported near Edard and released a black laser beam from his eyes - the dreaded Negrinki.

Edard blocked it with his sword - or at least he tried to block it - but he missed and it pierced his chest and passed through his scapula, effortlessly.

You have been burned and Curse by Negrinki.

Estimated time for Nature Body reduced by 20 seconds. Nature Body is out in 5 seconds.

Your soul has been permanently damaged.

Percentage damage: 0.3%

One skill (Dragon Pupil) has been permanently deleted from your genome.

Dammit! Edard cursed. Negrinki was the only known element capable of injuring the soul. Since all skills were written in the soul, Negrinki had the ability to delete them. In fact, the only reason Edard had survived this much was because of his soul protection from Violet Push.

The pain was overwhelming. It ignored his Pain Resistance completely.

Edard jumped back, gasping and holding his bleeding chest. He most certainly couldn't fight the child admiral with his Sage-level cultivation, which left him with only one option.

Clone A

With all the chaos on the battlefield, it was easier for him to enter Tyrant and reached Dragonshell. He followed the already cleared passage to meet Dylas and Ikenga.

"Hey, cousin, you look pale." Ikenga said, jokingly pointing at Edard's jaw.

"He's always been pale." Dylas cut in with a friendly smile.

"It's all good to see you, guys, but right now, I need my longevity pots. That bastard child admiral is about to put a mark on my original." The clone said hurriedly.

The two looked at him with narrowed expressions.

"What the hell are you looking at? I vividly told my sister to preserve my longevity pots, I'm sure she would give it to you. And don't fucking tell me it was stolen."

"Er.... your pots... are safe, but first, hear me out."

"Dammit, Ikenga, I'm about to be barbecued outside, what could possibly be more important? Just give me the damn pots."

"W..wait." Ikenga started but was cut off by Edard.

"GIVE ME THE DAMN POTS."

"Okay, okay. There are no pots but all your longevity is with Dylas."

"I'll just transfer it through the Contract seal. It will be easier." Dylas said.

"Why the hell didn't you give it to me earlier? And what the fuck did that old Triple-factor meant by 'you weren't the target of my summoning'? Wouldn't it be much easier for everyone if you all have told me everything from the very start, you knuckleheads?!"

"Well, the Mind Compulsion didn't work as intended; it delayed our memory return by several hours." Dylas answered, shrugging.

"And you, Ikenga, why the hell are you here? Is it part of my sister's plan as well? I remember you were like a king north of the Black Sea." Edard asked, piecing together the parts.

"I actually forfeited that position for the plan."

"The plan? The plan? Why don't you tell me about this plan of yours, because nothing seems to be working well right now. And where the hell is my sister?" Edard said through his teeth.

"Your sister never meant to go to the Spirit Realm when she took you to Earth. The plan was for her to break through Deva to the final Awakening. She was to summon you back immediately after." Dylas explained.

"What?! Stop kidding, there's no Awakening after Deva."

"Yes, yes, there is. And Hidaya sent you away to protect you. She created a backup plan in case she failed to break through." Dylas added.

"We are the back up plan." Ikenga cut in, "listen, Edard, the three of us have promised your sister to keep you safe for as long as we live."

Edard murmured something about not needing any protection.

Probably Ikenga didn't hear it, or maybe he pretended he didn't hear it, and just continued. "The old Triple-factor was the summoner, I was the banker and Dylas was the receptionist. The old man was to summon you at the right time and place, he was to hand you over directly to Dylas. The two of them are supposed to guard you as you regain your strength and then bring you to me. The slight delay in regaining our memories was the reason you have to go through all these. Your sister didn't expect her Mind Compulsion to go wrong, but she did expect you to have a problem with finding Dylas, and that was why she left the Immortal Dragon behind to lead you to him. As the receptionist, Dylas, was to make sure he gave you your longevity back, as soon as you arrived. I, as the banker, stores all your belongings from your previous life, and other family heirlooms. As we speak, everything is safely hidden in the Bank of Order."

"So why are you here?" Edard asked. If the old Triple-factor was to summon him and Dylas was to give him his longevity back, then Ikenga had no reason to be there.

"You see, your sister was a little paranoid. In case you couldn't find Dylas and you have to use the Immortal Dragon, she made sure I will be the closest dungeon you will find. Not only that, she made sure she gave me extra longevity crystals in case something happens to Dylas."

"So this Dragonshell was stolen by my sister?"

"No, I stole it. She just asked me to steal a favourable dungeon and sleep inside."

Edard blinked twice. He still felt there was something wrong.

"Why can't my sister have all the three of you working together in one place? If one summons me, the other will return my longevity and the other will return my belongings."

"It seems like a plan, but you forget the whole Outsider thing was a cover, and Urúrú are watching. By being separate, the risk has been reduced significantly. Even if one was caught, it wouldn't have jeopardized the whole plan."

You have received 8,020,000,200 hours from follower 1.

"Give me a minute."

He got to work.

Psychomancy has reached level 2/10 Sage (200,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 3/10 (300,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 4/10 (400,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 5/10 (500,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 5/10 (500,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 6/10 (600,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 7/10 (600,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 7/10 (700,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 8/10 (800,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 9/10 (900,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 10/10 (10,000,000)

+ 99 intelligence

+ 54 willpower

You have Awakened psychomancy to Renaissance Awakening for 10,000,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1]Thought Transfer: transfer your own thoughts to the mind of the target.

Duration: 5 minutes (+4min/level)

+8 intelligence per level

+5 vitality per level

2] Master Puppeteer: control and dominate the command center of the mind. You can control the body movement of any target at or below your cultivation level.

No. of targets at a time: 5 (+1 target/level)

Distance from targets: 1km

+14 intelligence per level

3] Mind Read Class: every time you read someone's mind they will be aware. Even if you read it when they are unconscious they will still be aware that someone has tempered with their minds. Mind Read Class eliminate that drawback, you can successfully Read any unprotected mind without the target knowing.

Cost: 180

+11 intelligence per level

+4 willpower per level

*

Alternatively, you can have a second upgrade for Intimidation.

*

Intimidation class (2nd upgrade): strength of telepathic probe raised by 260%. A direct hit to an unprotected mind will lead to an instant lost of consciousness.

A ten-layer Mind Shield will break after a single probe, Mind Trap will break after ten probes, Mind Loop will break after one hundred probes.

+8 intelligence per level

+9 willpower per level

He'd already tried all these skills in his previous life. The old him would chosen Master Puppeteer, but he knew better. For someone with only one or two classes, choosing different skills at every Awakening would probably pay off, but not him. He'd five classes. The best thing would be to specialize each class as much as he could.

He decided.

You have activated the 2nd upgrade for Intimidation.

Psychomancy has reached level 1/10 (Renaissance) 20,000,000 hours

+8 intelligence

+9 willpower

There was no palpable change, but he did feel his telepathic probe warming up.

Psychomancy has reached level 2 Renaissance (30,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 3 (40,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 4 (50,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 5 (60,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 6 (70,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 7 (8,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 8 (90,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 9 (100,000,000)

Psychomancy has reached level 10 (1,000,000,000)

+ 72 intelligence

+ 81 willpower

All classes need to reach peak Renaissance to enter Deva.

He turned to Violet Rose.

Violet Rose has reached level 2/10 Sage (200,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 3/10 Sage (300,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 4/10 Sage (400,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 5/10 Sage (500,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 6/10 Sage (600,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 7/10 (700,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 8/10 (800,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 9/10 (900,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 10/10 (10,000,000)

+ 72 strength

+ 63 willpower

You have Awakened Violet Rose to Renaissance Awakening for 10,000,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Meteor: control the movement of celestial objects via their gravitational orbits.

Interval between usage: 5 minutes

+7 agility per level

+6 strength per level

2] Focus: ability to focus the power of gravity on a pinpoint (1 to 5mm), increasing both effectiveness and precision. User can affect the blood flow and internal bodily functions of a target.

+8 strength per level

+2 willpower per level

4] Crush (3rd upgrade): gravity effect for Crush will automatically rise to 50x; you can also transfer 30 units of gravity to any bladed weapon through your hands.

(1 unit equivalent to a Crush)

Cost: 40

+8 strength per level

+7 willpower per level

Alternatively, you can have a 2nd upgrade for Violet Push.

Violet Push (2nd upgrade): this will automatically reduced the interval between use to 1 sec.

+6 strength per level

+4 willpower per level

One '2nd upgrade', one '3rd upgrade' and two new skills. Meteor was similar to its previous version except the interval between usage had been significantly reduced to just five minutes. The old him would have dallied, but he knew the right skills. In fact, he knew each of the skills as he'd tried them in his previous life.

His swordmanship would benefit from another upgrade of Crush, but, what he needed the most was to perfect his Nature Body. The only way to do that is to reduce the interval for Violet Push. Every Push would give an extra one second to his Nature form. If he could use it after every second, then his Nature form would stay longer. In fact, if he could reduce that interval to zero, then he could extend his Nature form indefinitely.

You have activated Violet Push (2nd upgrade).

Violet Rose has reached level 1 (Renaissance).

+7 strength

+5 willpower

Violet Rose has reached level 2 Renaissance (30,000,000).

Violet Rose has reached level 3 (40,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 4 (50,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 5 (60,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 6 (70,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 7 (80,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 8 (90,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 9 (100,000,000)

Violet Rose has reached level 10 (1,000,000,000)

+ 63 strength

+ 45 willpower

All classes have to reach peak Renaissance to enter Deva.

He turned to lightning elementalist which was already at level 9/10 Renaissance.

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 10/10 (1,000,000,000)

+31 resistance

All classes have to reach peak Renaissance to enter Deva.

He turned to Cloning.

Cloning has reached level 2 Sage (200,000)

Cloning has reached level 3 (300,000)

Cloning has reached level 4 (400,000)

Cloning has reached level 5 (500,000)

Cloning has reached level 6 (600,000)

Cloning has reached level 7 (700,000)

Cloning has reached level 8 (800,000)

Cloning has reached level 9 (900,000)

Cloning has reached level 10 (10,000,000)

+ 72 vitality

+ 81 willpower

You have Awakened Cloning to Renaissance Awakening for 10,000,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Clone Laser: transform clone into a laser beam attack. Laser attacks can injure any soul.

+5 vitality per level

+6 intelligence per

2] Clone Acceleration (2nd upgrade): create an invisible clone that can't be detected by both mind sense and soul sense. You can transport to your clone's position instantaneously.

Distance: 100 km (+10/level)

Cost: 50

+7 intelligence per level

+7 vitality per level

+6 agility per level

Alternatively, you can have a 2nd upgrade for Clone Messenger.

Clone Messenger (2nd upgrade): create an upgraded messenger. You can merge with a clone to boost all skills, stamina and life energy by 35%.

All information learned by the clone can be transmitted telepathically.

Maximum distance of a clone from the original increased to: 100,000km (+5000/level)

Cost of a clone: 150

Cost of running a clone: 3.5/sec

Half life: 55 hours (+4/level)

Clone material: flesh and blood? Y/N? Metal? Y/N? Stone? Y/N?

Percentage skills of the original: 93%

Percentage intelligence of the original: 93%

Maximum number of clone(s): 4

+8 vitality per level

+9 willpower per level

Any soul? My ass. Edard harrumphed as he read the description of the Clone Laser. He was so happy when he first saw it in his previous life. Only the Negrinki could injure souls, having a similar skill would be record breaking. But his hopes were crushed when he realized the Clone Laser actually needed at least a hundred attempts to even hurt a fly. It was basically useless in battle, only useful in soul researches.

The old him would have chosen a 3rd upgrade for Clone Messenger but he knew better. If you increased both the lifespan and intelligence of the clones, they tended to take over your role as the original. There was a time when one of the clones actually tried to take over his entire life, resulting in a bloody battle.

Clone Acceleration (2nd upgrade) was the best option. Since the invisible clone was absolutely undetectable, it would appear like he was teleporting. It would even get better with another upgrade.

Definitely worth it.

You have upgraded to Clone Acceleration (2nd upgrade).

Cloning has reached level 1 Renaissance.

+7 intelligence

+7 vitality

+6 agility

Cloning has reached level 2 Renaissance (20,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 2 (30,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 3 (40,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 4 (50,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 5 (60,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 6 (70,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 7 (80,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 8 (90,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 9 (100,000,000)

Cloning has reached level 10 (1,000,000,000 hours)

+63 intelligence

+63 vitality

+ 54 agility

All classes have to reach peak Renaissance to enter Deva.

He finally turned to Dragonbreath.

Dragonbreath has reached level 2 Sage (300,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 3 (400,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 4 (500,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 5 (600,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 6 (700,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 7 (800,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 8 (900,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 9 (1,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 10 (10,000,000)

+ 180 willpower

You have Awakened Dragonbreath to Renaissance Awakening for 10,000,000 hours

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Dimension Body: transport a portion of your body into the dragon dimension to evade attacks and wards.

Interval between usage: 45 minutes

2] Open Annihilation (1st upgrade): absorb your opponent's life energy with Dragon-essense.

Percentage of life energy taken per exchange: up to 1% of their total reserve (+1%/level).

Life energy absorbed after killing a target: up to 6% of their total reserve (+5%/level).

Cost: up to 100

+7 intelligence per level

+8 willpower per level

Alternatively, you can have a second upgrade for Dimensional Annihilation.

Dimensional Annihilation (2nd upgrade): increase in the dimension cutting power of your sword. You can send a blast of Dragon-essense from your blade.

+8 intelligence per level

+10 vitality per level

Dimension Body was the most enticing. That was, of course, if you excluded the interval between usage. The problem was, even with the upgrade, the interval didn't change.

Both Open Annihilation and Dimensional Annihilation upgrades were directly connected to his swordmanship. He decided on the former.

You have activated Open Annihilation (1st upgrade)

Dragonbreath has reached level 1 (Renaissance)

+7 intelligence

+8 willpower

Dragonbreath has reached level 2 Renaissance (30,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 3 (40,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 4 (50,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 5 (60,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 6 (70,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 7 (80,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 8 (90,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 9 (100,000,000)

Dragonbreath has reached level 10 (1,000,000,000)

+63 intelligence

+72 willpower

All classes have to reach peak Renaissance to enter Deva.

He pumped more longevity into the classes.

Five classes have reached peak Renaissance and are now progressing into Deva.

Assessing longevity...

You have enough longevity.

Assessing life energy...

Life energy enough for a class 5 Deva Core.

Creating a Deva Core...

Deva Core created.

Deva Core skills: 2

Assessing Primary Deva Core skill....

Your Primary Deva Core skill is... The Sixth Element.

Sixth Element is the purest cosmic force created from the purest forms of the ten basic elements that made up the Primary Cycle of your Dragonbreath.

Assessing all previous skills for a Secondary Deva Core skill...

Skills are in order. Choose any skill.

He wasn't new to all these. When you stepped into Deva, you would have one chance to tie your life energy with one of your skills. That skill would be your Secondary Deva Core skill and it would be several times more powerful than before. A Deva could mix any of his skills with raw life energy, however, it was much easier to mix it with your Secondary Skill.

Edard knew the best skill to choose from.

You have chosen Intimidation (3rd upgrade) as your Secondary Deva Core skill.

"I'm almost back to my top form." He murmured.

Lightning Elementalist has Awakened to Deva.

Choose an Awakening skill

Nature Body (1st upgrade): this combines Thunderbird lightning with Lightning Ancestor. Your body will be immune to both physical, elemental and raw life energy attacks. You can exercise full physical mobility while in lightning form.

Usage time : 36 seconds (+4/level)

+41 resistance per level

Interval between usage: 30 minutes

Dragonbreath has Awakened to Deva

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Open Annihilation (2nd upgrade): absorb your opponent's life energy with Dragon-essense.

Percentage of life energy taken per exchange: up to 11% of their total reserve (+2%/level).

Life energy absorbed after killing a target: up to 26% of their total reserve (+3%/level).

Cost: up to 100

+7 intelligence per level

+8 willpower per level

2] Dimensional Annihilation (2nd upgrade): increase in the dimension cutting power of your sword. You can send a blast of Dragon-essense from your blade.

+8 intelligence per level

+10 vitality per level

Cloning has Awakened to Deva

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Clone Acceleration (3rd upgrade): besides the elusiveness of your clone, it can now pass through objects, warded or not. You can transport to your clone's position instantaneously.

Distance: 200 km (+20/level)

Cost: 50

+7 intelligence per level

+7 vitality per level

+6 agility per level

2] Clone Messenger (2nd upgrade): create an upgraded messenger. You can merge with a clone to boost all skills, stamina and life energy by 35%.

All information learned by the clone can be transmitted telepathically.

Maximum distance of a clone from the original increased to: 100,000km (+5000/level)

Cost of a clone: 150

Cost of running a clone: 3.5/sec

Half life: 55 hours (+4/level)

Clone material: flesh and blood? Y/N? Metal? Y/N? Stone? Y/N?

Percentage skills of the original: 93%

Percentage intelligence of the original: 93%

Maximum number of clone(s): 4

+8 vitality per level

+9 willpower per level

Psychomancy has Awakened to Deva

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Mind Read (1st upgrade): every time you read someone's mind they will be aware. Even if you read it when they are unconscious they will still be aware that someone has tempered with their minds. Mind Read Class eliminate that drawback, you can successfully Read any unprotected mind without the target knowing.

Cost: 180

+11 intelligence per level

+4 willpower per level

2] Intimidation class (3rd upgrade): strength of telepathic probe raised by 350%. A direct hit to an unprotected mind will lead to an instant lost of consciousness.

A ten-layer Mind Shield will break effortlessly, Mind Trap will break after a single probe, Mind Loop will break after ten probes.

+10 intelligence per level

+8 willpower per level

Violet Rose has Awakened to Deva

Choose an Awakening skill

1] Crush (3rd upgrade): gravity effect for Crush will automatically rise to 50x; you can also transfer 30 units of gravity to any bladed weapon through your hands.

(1 unit equivalent to a Crush)

Cost: 40

+8 strength per level

+7 willpower per level

2] Violet Push (3rd upgrade): this will automatically reduced the interval between use to zero.

+8 strength per level

+5 willpower per level

All the skills were mainly upgrades. This was, in part, the reason why it was always better to keep on upgrading. Deva didn't offer any new skills, besides the Deva Core skills. If you hadn't been upgrading then it would just be a waste.

You have activated Nature Body (1st upgrade)

Lightning Elementalist has reached level 1 Deva

+41 resistance

You have activated Open Annihilation (2nd upgrade)

Dragonbreath has reached level 1 Deva

+7 intelligence

+8 willpower

You have activated Clone Acceleration (3rd upgrade)

Cloning has reached level 1 Deva

+7 intelligence

+7 vitality

+6 agility

You have activated Intimidation (3rd upgrade)

Psychomancy has reached level 1 Deva

+10 intelligence

+8 willpower

You have activated Violet Push (3rd upgrade)

Violet Rose has reached level 1 Deva

+8 strength

+5 willpower

"Very back together!" Edard murmured.

What really confused Edard was this so-called Awakening after Deva. There was no any requirements. Could it be passive? Definitely not. But how? There was no indication of the required longevity either. Well, a topic for another time.

"I want to thank you for your sacrifices, but the day isn't yet over. Ikenga, I want you to keep an eye on Bihanzin, I just have this... unsettled feeling about the guy.

"Dylas, do you remember how we plan to make an escape after attacking the immortal dais?"

Dylas nodded.

"I want you to enact a similar plan, in case we need to... you know, leave this place in a hurry. I will send a clone to check on our demon Dordor allies, some may still be alive."

Having done with this, it was time to face the devil outside.

"Wait, Edard, there is still something we didn't discuss." Ikenga cut in.

Edard narrowed his eyes but he remained silent.

"Ed... there is something you need to know." Dylas went directly to the point. "It's about your family. They are... missing."

"....w... what? What did you just said?"

"Shortly after you left, your sister tried to break out of Deva to the Awakening beyond. The ten Divine Knights guarding the immortal dais came down to stop her, and... there was a bloody fight. Your family lost and went missing."

"Missing? What the hell are you talking about?" An invisible tremor passed through him, large veins appeared on his forehead and his eyes turned red and vicious.

"We are terribly sorry, Ed, we don't know what really happened. We read it in Màsar Times. We were under the Mind Compulsion, we couldn't even remember any connection to you."

Edard was silent for several seconds before he spoke.

"Missing? Did they escaped or they got captured?"

"Er... you can't say since nobody witnessed the fight. The Divine Knights... "

"Tell him the truth, Ikenga," Dylas billowed with teary eyes, "the general believe is your family was imprisoned in Siri Black."

"Siri Black?" Edard gasped. Siri Black was the most guarded prison Màsar. Whatever went in, never came out.

They nodded.

"How the hell did they lost? Even father?"

"Er... I think you have an inflated view of your skills... " Ikenga stuttered. "The most powerful person on the Lower Plane is the fleet admiral, but, each Divine knight is stronger than the fleet admiral. Your father is powerful but he's still just a Deva... Against the ten most powerful knights in the world he's... not a match."

"It's not an inflated view, you idiot, our power doesn't lie in our cultivation base. It's in our Deva Core and Curse."

"Bros, you aren't the only ones with a Bloodline Limit." Dylas cut in. "The Urúrú has it. All Ikenga is saying is we need to restrategize. Your sister was right when she said we would have died if we have attacked the immortal dais. The only way to success is to break out of Deva and reach the final Awakening."

Edard grimaced. How low the mighty have fallen? The great House Wilberforce that once ruled over the entire Màsar was now reduced to just him. He was still in denial, but deep down in his mind, he knew he needed more strength. Much more.

"Although my sister has failed to break through, although I don't know the requirements to break through, I will break through Deva. Let's survive this war together and break out of Deva together." The clone waited for a second to get all his new skills in order before he turned around to the exit. "Shall we?"

"I need to meditate first. I have forgotten what it's like to be a Deva." Dylas said hurriedly.

"Me too. In fact, I have forgotten what it's like to be outside." Ikenga said.

"Alright, be careful when you come out, especially, you ikenga. Don't get too close to that Bihanzin guy. My clone is in Déniz empire to interrogate his wife and personal staff." The clone walked to the exit. Just before he exited, Ikenga cleared his throat and asked him a question.

"Why? Why do you fight? You can live like emperors on the lower plane, why risk it?"

The clone hesitated. This wasn't a topic he liked discussing, mostly because people didn't share his sentiment. If it was any other person, he would have just ignored them, but Ikenga was different. He was a family.

"Ikenga, let's say you have a grandpa who is a farmer - a traditional farmer who uses his bare hands, not the modern farmers who use machines. And your grandpa laboured for years to build you a house. He married in it and gave birth to your father. Your father subsequently gave birth to you. All of you live in this house with your families. One day, a total stranger came and asked your grandpa to give him that house. Your grandpa refused, this stranger killed him and chased you out of the house. If you are the grandson, won't you fight back? Do you need any more reason to fight?"

The clone didn't wait for an answer.

"My grandpa built the sky city and the Divine Palace, Urúrú came and killed him, then they chased us out. That throne is my sister's birthright! I will make her the Divine Queen, even if it's the last thing I do."

"You don't want the throne?" Ikenga asked incredulously.

"It wasn't mine to begin with." The clone answered. He turned around and left.

Ikenga burst into a laughter.

"What's so funny?" Dylas asked.

"His sister mentioned the same thing. That she wants to make him The King." Ikenga answered.

"Well, you should understand their feelings more than anyone, seeing you are from the same family."

"The same family? Er... maybe you don't attend history classes but I am just their eleventh cousin."

"Hidaya took you in when you had nowhere to go, that makes you their family. A family is a group of people who live under the same roof and share the same interests."

Ikenga widened his eyes for a second before he narrowed them into a frown. "I have a different definition. I am sure the nobles have a different one as well."

Dylas shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We promised to help him and that's what we are doing. Period."