Chapter 357: Heavenly Kings ( Bonus Chapater )
"Well, you know that every climber actually has to go through five dimensional evolutions, right? The first one happens when you reach the Advanced Climber stage — if I’m not mistaken, in your world ranking that should be Rank B," Andreas explained, then continued.
"After that, when we reach the Divine Climber stage, we undergo the second dimensional evolution. When we reach the Heavenly Climber rank, that’s the third evolution. The fourth happens at the Demi-God rank, and the last one comes when we ascend to Godhood."
"With each dimensional evolution, naturally, the scope of our existence expands, and the difference in power compared to the previous rank is simply like the difference between heaven and earth."
"However, reaching the Demi-God rank is not easy. To become a Demi-God, you need to forge a divinity and merge it with both your body and your soul. It sounds easy when said, but in reality, it’s almost impossible."
"There are people who manage to create their divinity but fail to merge it with both body and soul. These people are infinitely stronger than a Heavenly Climber but still weaker than a Demi-God."
"These people are called Heavenly Kings. The ancient wills that appeared here are at such a level. Of course, some of them have managed to merge their divinity with their body, but failed to merge it with their soul."
"I see, so until a Demi-God appears, these people are basically the strongest in the world," Daniel nodded.
If a Heavenly King is that powerful... how strong would a Demi-God be? Even thinking about it was terrifying.
"That’s right. But, well, Demi-Gods don’t appear in the world easily. It’s been a long time since one was last seen, and there aren’t that many of them. You also have to keep in mind that even among Demi-Gods, there’s a ranking," Andreas nodded.
"The world is actually far more terrifying than I thought. Each one of these Heavenly Kings could destroy cities just by breathing... how could there be such a huge power gap between ranks?" Ilaris shivered slightly.
The more she learned about the world, the more she realized how little she knew — and how terrifying the world truly was.
Why should beings this powerful even exist?
"Each dimensional evolution is different. The first one only causes a slight change. The second causes a noticeable and visible transformation. But the last three... they’re on a completely different level — it’s not just a simple change anymore," Andreas replied.
"Let’s just hope these Heavenly Kings don’t start a fight, because I doubt that we or this city could survive," Daniel looked at them seriously.
He doubted that even his Escape Talisman could be used in the presence of such people. The vibrations of their power would surely render the talisman useless.
"Hmph, this auction is dragging on too much. None of us have any intention of backing down, and clearly none of us are short on funds," the ancient will from the Valenberg family growled.
More than half an hour had passed since they arrived, and the bid had already reached ten thousand Chaos Crystals.
This was an enormous amount, even for superpowers, and all these Heavenly Kings were now starting to dip into their personal funds — they doubted their families’ treasuries could even pay such a sum.
"My dear friends, how about we all withdraw? I promise that if I succeed, I’ll give you a gift of equal value," the ancient will from the Destiny Church said politely.
However, the only response he received was a cold snort. Every one of them needed this dragon egg for their own goals.
Besides, even if they couldn’t buy it, there was no way they would let anyone else have it. Any force that obtained this egg today would surely gain a new Demi-God.
There was no way they would allow that to happen. In fact, ever since they appeared, the auction had lost its meaning.
It didn’t matter who won — the others would never allow that person to take the egg. Why were they even bothering to bid and waste time?
The only way to get this thing was by force — as long as they could seize it and bring it back to their family estates. With all the defensive arrays there and even other Heavenly Kings of their own side, they would be safe.
Thinking of this, a cold, dark light flickered in all their eyes, and the auras they had been suppressing began to rise again.
Space-time trembled as if it were about to collapse. Cracks began to appear in the layers of reality, and at any moment it seemed the world might fall apart.
All those weaker than them suddenly felt like they were about to be torn apart, their bodies turned to ash and their souls scattered to nothing.
Even Daniel could barely keep breathing, as if all the oxygen had vanished.
"My old friends, this is my estate. You’d better watch your behavior," that ancient voice once again rang from the depths of the palace.
"Old man, this auction is a joke. It doesn’t matter who wins — the rest won’t accept it," the ancient will from the Celestial Phoenix tribe, a woman, spoke.
Everyone here more or less knew each other, enough to be called old acquaintances. Normally, if they met, they would sit down and have tea together.
But now? They would kill each other if it meant getting that dragon egg. That egg was their last hope for advancement.
"You’re right. I was wrong to think these bastards had matured after all these years. They’re still just a bunch of greedy bullies," a sigh echoed.
"If you want to fight, go ahead. But I warn you — don’t even think about destroying this city. At least fight ten thousand kilometers away."
"Old man, you really think you’re in a position to tell us where we can or can’t fight?" the ancient wills mocked.
"As you wish, but don’t say I didn’t warn you," the presence of that ancient being deep in the palace slowly faded away.
Once he was gone, the ancient wills turned their eyes toward each other. A series of spiritual bodies began to form. Even though these were only spiritual bodies that allowed them to use ten percent of their real power, it was still enough.
Kyros frowned for the first time upon seeing the situation turn bad. Still, he wasn’t worried — this was only his spiritual body as well.
From the beginning, the House of Ten Thousand Treasures had been aware there might be a major battle, so they didn’t allow him to come in person.
’I can’t wait for these bastards to realize this was all just a plan,’ he muttered to himself, then stood in place.
The death of a spiritual body wouldn’t harm his real self. So why not at least watch a battle of this level? Even if it was only for a few minutes?
And then, the sky and earth began to tremble. The battle had begun, and the Azure Phoenix City now was facing its biggest catastrophe