The other option to become an Origin god is to undergo tribulation. The tribulation is divided into three trials, the body, soul, and will trial. The three trials will be carried out one after the other.
The only way to survive the trial is to be exceptional in body, soul, and mind or have exceptional healing treasures. Even treasures have limited use because while there might be treasures that can help you maintain the integrity of your body and soul, treasures that protect the mind are even rarer than Origin essence.
If you fail any one of the trials you will die. The chances of surviving all three are less than 10%, this is only because sovereigns without much confidence in themselves try this method the most. Even though the tribulation is unpredictable, especially the trial of the mind, unconfident sovereigns would rather have some power over their fate and go through with it.
Only the truly confident willingly participate in the trial of heaven knowing fully well that only 20% will survive. It is this self-confidence that makes a lot of sovereigns continue to participate in the trial of heaven.
Then there are grand gods. The option of breakthrough for a grand god is either becoming a celestial god which is considered almost a dead-end or switching to the path of perfection by becoming an origin god. So grand gods come to the tower of heaven in hopes of getting Origin essence to become origin gods.
There are exceptions to the rule of course. For example, Dragons don't need to participate in the trial because they can create origin essence on their own, even without becoming origin gods. They just have to become divine Dragons by reforming their already powerful bodies into an even more powerful ones using the power of laws. While others become Titans of law, Dragons become divine Dragons.
Gehald cursed them for their selfishness. He secretly hoped he doesn't meet a dragon, he could do nothing but surrender. There is no way he can damage the body of a divine dragon without some powerful weapons, but the trial of heaven doesn't allow external aid.
He didn't need to come for the trial to become an Origin god. He could get life essence from the Life trees of his home plane, the same life essence that was the cause of the demon invasion of his race.
The life essence can even help with maintaining the mind during tribulation. It's the major reason why sovereigns of the high elves of the high life Plane don't participate in the trial of heaven.
The life trees are truly unique and special in the void universe, their usefulness to an everyday mortal up to the level of a world God has made the high elves often fight to protect them in the past. He didn't come for a chance to advance, he came here for the origin essence, it is a very important part of his grand plan, so he couldn't afford to be cavalier about this section of the trial.
The barrier went down after a day of rest, Gerald took a deep breath and stretched himself. The following battles will be different from the mindless slaughter of the mad beasts during the battle trial. He would be fighting his fellow competitors to the death.
He has the full confidence of being able to keep himself alive longer than an opponent if they trade damage, plus he had 6 marks, that's 6 opportunities to surrender, but he is hoping he would only need to use a maximum of 5. He checked his status for his progress within the trial. He saw *Gehald Oakstein 0 points 6371th* then he started his hunt.
While he moved he checked his surroundings for any sign of danger, there shouldn't be but he did it anyway, the only ones in this world ought to be just the competitors. Since ambushes are possible, he should be safe until he met someone.
He did meet someone, and within 5 minutes of running forward, he saw a figure about 5km away. They saw each other and were soon teleported away. The teleportation works as soon as two people are aware of each other's existence.
In the sealed space of the arena about 100m by 100m. Gehald found himself bound at one end, opposite a similarly bound vampire lord. He reviewed the weakness and strengths of vampires in his mind.
"Nothing special. Just need to calm down and fight him with fire. Also, I must not let him draw too close or let him wound me."
Vampires are rare creatures that get to enjoy the combined benefit of a strong body, powerful recovery, and magic specialty. So they were good in melee combat, excellent even, depending on the age of the vampire.
People tend to become wiser by learning new things. Vampires have near-unlimited lifespans. They have a lot of time to learn different skills. They also have very powerful recovery based on the amount of vitality their body contains, it is not unlimited but it is as powerful as the recovery of a sovereign of life.
That means he will be able to outlast the vampire in healing but the ability of vampires to manipulate blood means he won't be able to take advantage of his recovery ability as a sovereign of life.
A sovereign of life can recover stamina and energy faster, even though vampires have a low energy recovery, they have almost unlimited stamina and can recover from having their heads cut off.
It might seem that the cards were stacked against Gehald, but it is true. The cards were truly stacked against him, but he can't give up, he still has the hope of killing the vampire with his fire. He will surrender only if that fails.
He dares not to use slaughter or death laws because a vampire lord is an embodiment of both. While he was assessing the vampire, the vampire had also been looking him over. They both hadn't rushed forward to fight as soon as they were unbound. Gehald because this was his first fight, the noble vampire was just not in a hurry to consume what he already considered his food.
"Hmm, a high elf. A high elf rarely attends these things." the vampire lord Tu Sil muttered as his eyes glowed blood red.
Then Tu Sil said aloud so Gehald could hear " High elf, you are truly lucky to meet me, or am I?"
He smacked his lips in anticipation before continuing "Never mind, we are both lucky to have met each other, within the hour, this lord will have feasted on your blood, you should feel honored. I am always picky with what I eat and you qualify. If you have a mark, then use it right now, no one likes a tease."
Gehald narrowed his eyes, he didn't talk back. He took a step forward calmly, they would soon figure out who is the hunter and who is the prey.