Chapter 462: Returning with a Full Harvest
Boom!!!
At that moment, Aiden’s body seemed to turn into a cosmic black hole that could devour everything.
The thirteen thousand law fragments and four thousand eight hundred Inner Spirit fragments rushed into him like rivers flowing into the sea.
A seven-colored energy tornado, stretching from the ground to the ceiling, formed inside the underground temple and wrapped tightly around Aiden.
Inside his body, his experience bar began to rise at a terrifying speed.
Level 95!
Level 96!
Every level-up came with the wild roar of the Force of Laws inside him.
Thunder exploded in his bones.
Space rebuilt itself within his meridians.
The aura of slaughter turned into a solid blood-red dragon.
Blazing fire tempered every inch of his skin.
Level 97!
Level 98!
In Aiden’s sea of soul consciousness, the once-empty Soul Strength began to gather wildly.
Golden light lit up the entire soul sea, as if an ancient god was slowly opening its eyes.
It was the terrifying early form of an Inner Spirit, created from four thousand eight hundred Inner Spirit fragments!
Rumble!
A huge sound that could only be heard on the soul level exploded inside Aiden’s mind.
Level 99!
The Great Venerable realm was complete!
At that moment, the Strength inside Aiden’s body went through a complete transformation.
A vast pressure swept out like a tidal wave.
The extremely hard ancient divine stones around him turned into dust the instant they touched this pressure.
Level 99, Great Venerable!
The absolute peak of the mortal realm.
He was now only one final step away from becoming a high and mighty god!
To cross this final step, three conditions had to be met:
First, his soul strength had to reach the threshold of a god.
Second, his understanding of the Force of Laws had to reach one hundred percent.
Third, he had to reach level 100 and trigger the Divine Ascension Tribulation!
Buzz-
Aiden slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within them, scenes of universes being born and destroyed seemed to flash one after another.
With a thought, he brought up his status panel.
[Total Law Comprehension Progress: 18%!]
In just a few breaths, it had risen straight from the original 10% to 18%!
A full increase of eight percent!
One had to know that for an ordinary Great Venerable, even raising law comprehension by 1% would require hundreds of years of bitter training and great fortune!
But Aiden had done it in only a few moments.
The storm slowly died down.
The entire underground temple had been reduced to ruins.
Only Aiden remained, floating quietly in midair.
The terrifying pressure coming from his body made the space around him twist in a strange way.
Bella stood not far away, staring blankly at this man who looked far too young.
Shock.
Unmatched shock.
She had witnessed the birth of a miracle with her own eyes.
No.
This could no longer be called a miracle.
It was an act of god.
Looking at that tall, spear-straight figure, Bella felt something stir in her heart, which had been cold for a thousand years.
A soft ripple quietly spread through it.
It was a gentle light even she herself did not notice.
But very soon, she forced that strange feeling down and returned to her usual cold and noble self.
Bella walked lightly to Aiden and spoke in her cool voice, with a faint tremble that was almost impossible to hear.
"You are only one step away from becoming a god."
Hearing Bella’s words, Aiden slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands, which were filled with terrifying Force of Laws.
"Yes. Only one step left."
Aiden murmured softly, his voice echoing through the dead ruins.
He gently closed his fingers.
The empty space between them was crushed and exploded, letting out a dull thunder-like sound.
Level 99. Great Venerable realm.
With a thought, a status panel that only he could see appeared in the air before him.
[Level: level 99 (Great Venerable)]
[Law Understanding: 18% (Thunder, Space, Slaughter, Fire)]
[Soul Strength: 92%]
He was only missing the final 8% of soul Strength, complete understanding of the laws, and the final lightning tribulation before becoming a god.
Aiden knew very well what he needed most right now.
A long, complete period of seclusion.
He had to break through to that supreme divine realm.
"Still, before I go into seclusion, I can’t let these things go to waste."
Aiden’s eyes swept across the collapsed underground temple.
Among the ruins, countless ancient treasures and pieces of ancient divine iron gave off a faint glow.
These were rare materials left behind from when the core area of the Golden Great Wall had been built.
Even after ten thousand years, they had not decayed.
"System, collect them."
Aiden waved his sleeve, and the 10,000x critical hit system instantly responded.
[Ding! Ancient materials detected. 10,000x critical hit activated!]
[Obtained: 10,000 units of Ancient Mystic Metal, 8,000 units of Divine Iron Essence, 5,000 units of Nine Heavens Meteoric Iron...]
In an instant, the entire temple ruin was cleared out.
Every rare treasure and precious material fell into Aiden’s possession.
This trip to the Ancient Battlefield had brought him more than just the core of the Golden Great Wall.
It had also brought him an unbelievable amount of priceless wealth.
He was truly returning with a full harvest.
Bella stood quietly to the side, watching him.
Waves of emotion moved through her cold eyes.
Over the past thousand years, she had seen countless brilliant geniuses.
But none of them could do what this young man had done.
None of them could turn the word "miracle" into something that seemed so easy.
At that moment, the way she looked at Aiden finally changed completely.
She no longer looked at him like a lofty god looking down at a younger junior.
Instead, she saw him as someone standing on the same level as her.
No, perhaps even someone worthy of her looking up to.
A feeling she herself did not notice quietly began to grow in her heart, which had been frozen for a thousand years.
But she quickly turned her head away and forced that strange feeling down.
Now was not the time for romance.
Becoming a god was the most important thing.
"My Radiant Blade clone is almost out of Strength."
Bella turned around. Her voice returned to its usual cold calm, but if one listened carefully, there was a faint tremble in it.
"My real body is still trying to break through to the Supreme God realm. I have to go back."
Aiden looked at her, a trace of warmth flashing in his eyes.
"Thank you for protecting me all this way, Senior."
Bella did not answer right away.
At the exit of the Ancient Battlefield, wild winds howled, lifting her plain white dress.
She looked like a fairy about to ride the wind back to the heavens.
Her body had already begun to turn into faint feathers of light.
It was a sign that her clone was about to disappear.
Suddenly, Bella stopped.
She turned around, her beautiful eyes fixed on Aiden.
Under Aiden’s surprised gaze, this cold and famous god of Earth slowly reached out her snow-white hand.
Their hands gently held each other.
Her hand was warm, yet it carried a faint tremble that was almost impossible to notice.
"When the day comes that you become a god... I will be there to watch."
Bella lightly bit her red lips. Her voice was very soft, but her words carried great weight.
Aiden froze for a moment.
Then he smiled freely and gently tightened his grip.
"It’s a promise."
Buzz!
The light faded.
The beautiful woman was gone.
Feathers of light drifted down from the sky and landed on Aiden’s shoulders, still carrying a faint warmth.
Aiden stood where he was for a long time.
Then he took a deep breath.
"It’s time to go back."
He stepped forward.
Boom!
The void split open like the surface of water.
He walked straight into the chaotic flow of space.
With the Strength of a level 99 Great Venerable, he no longer needed a teleportation array to cross the ocean.
Celestial Imperial City.
A mighty border city of the Great Shaw Empire.
At this moment, banners snapped loudly on top of the city walls.
James, Atlas, Luke...
Countless top warriors of the Great Shaw Empire stood there, all staring into the distance with heavy expressions.
The atmosphere was so tense it felt hard to breathe.
The roars of the Abyss Demons seemed to have already passed through the Golden Great Wall, echoing faintly at the edge of the sky.
Everyone was waiting for one person.
They were waiting for the empire’s hero.
The one who could create miracles.
Suddenly-
The sky above Celestial Imperial City split open without warning.
A black crack, thousands of meters long and wide, tore across the heavens.
Before the violent space storm could rush out, it was wiped away by a noble and terrifying pressure.
A tall figure slowly stepped out of the black hole.
Aiden had returned!
And inside his storage space, the core of the Golden Great Wall-the object that would decide the fate of the Great Shaw Empire, and even the entire Earth-was giving off a deep, mysterious light.
...
Above Celestial Imperial City, the void cracked piece by piece like a shattered mirror.
Dressed in black, Aiden stepped out from the dark chaos of space. With every step he took, visible ripples spread through the air.
It was the terrifying pressure that belonged only to a level 99 Great Venerable.
It felt like a divine mountain pressing down from above, making the entire great city fall into dead silence.
"Level 99... Great Venerable?!"
On the city wall, James, the War God of the Great Shaw Empire, saw his pupils shrink to the size of needles. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his voice trembled badly.
Atlas, Luke, and the other great figures of the Great Shaw Empire were all frozen in shock.
Their eyes were filled with disbelief and fear.
Aiden’s face remained calm.
He gave everyone a slight nod.
Then his figure blurred, and he disappeared from where he stood.
Deep inside the secret chamber of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Aiden turned his hand over.
A sphere slowly floated into the air, giving off an ancient, holy golden light.
The core of the Golden Great Wall!
The space around him rippled slightly.
A nearly transparent, stunningly beautiful figure quietly appeared.
It was Zoey, who had guarded this place for ten thousand years.
Looking at the core and feeling its familiar power, Zoey’s delicate body trembled violently.
Two lines of clear tears slid down her flawless cheeks.
"Ten thousand years..."
"I have finally... waited for it."
With trembling hands, Zoey reached out and held the core carefully, as if she were holding the most precious treasure in the world.
Buzz!
She formed a seal with both hands.
In an instant, the core turned into a golden beam of light that pierced heaven and earth, then sank into the ancient formation beneath Celestial Imperial City.
Rumble!
In the next moment, a golden barrier rose from the ground and stretched across endless miles.
It shot straight into the clouds and firmly covered the entire Earth.
Outside the Great Wall, the Abyss Demons that had been roaring wildly were instantly turned to ash under the vast holy golden light.
Deep within Earth’s core, the ancient evil power that had been quietly stirring was crushed by the mighty force of the Great Wall.
At last, it fell completely silent.