Chapter 610: Peak Ascension Stage
The fusion between the Dragon of Time and the Cosmic Sea, and Liora’s subsequent awakening of the strange time manipulation ability, seemed to have resonated with the state of her Throne within the River of Time.
Its speed, already shocking for other Archdevils, had bee even faster, rapidly weaving through the illusory waters and speeding toward the river’s surface.
In the past, it would have taken thousands of years to plete this process.
Yet in just the span of a few minutes, Liora’s Throne had already traversed half of the distance and showed no signs of slowing just yet.
With every inch of the Throne moving, Liora’s strength improved, while her aura underwent further changes.
By the time the Throne had reached the river’s middle section, the aura of antiquity around her body had bee extremely intense.
A few minutes later, when the Throne actually reached the very surface of the River of Time, and part of it emerged from inside, that impression had turned even stronger.
For a moment, Liora exuded a similar aura to the one “Elaouthr” had shown before, as though she had lived for several Eras and was not a person of the present.
Had he been here to see her, his suspicion that she was an ancient being would have basically been confirmed, and he would no longer have any doubts.
Sensing her state at the moment, Liora subtly nodded her head.
Raising her head, she looked at her Throne, her eyes narrowing.
With its ascension, the concepts integrated with it had grown even stronger, as if enhanced by the power of the River of Time.
As long as it took another step, leaving the waters and settling on the nearby banks, these concepts would truly transcend the Archdevil stage and jump onto the next level.
Unfortunately…
“It’s stuck…”, Liora realized.
The Throne’s upward momentum had fully disappeared.
No matter how much her consciousness stirred, trying to force it upward, it didn’t even budge at all, much less cause any large changes.
The waters around it seemed to have transformed into invisible shackles that bound it tightly, holding it in place and refusing to let it move.
Liora understood this was perfectly normal.
Had her Throne been able to escape the waters, she would have advanced to the Ancient Devil stage at once.
Clearly, although she had reached the peak of the Ascension stage, reaching the end of the path for Archdevils, she still lacked the necessary ability to take that step.
Or rather, she needed an opportunity to do so.
This realization made Liora inevitably disappointed.
Advancing to an Ancient Devil would have solved most problems she was facing at the moment.
The increase in strength would very well negate all issues, while the defining abilities of Ancient Devils would make her even more powerful.
Fortunately, she quickly regained her posure.
She had already managed to go from the Anchoring Stage to the peak of the Ascension Stage, nearly skipping two substages at once.
Her strength had improved massively as a result.
Wanting to advance any further would be straight up greed.
Thinking of this, Liora shook her head.
As that idea took root in her mind, the torn space in the sky above her began to mend itself.
The River of Time turned even more illusory before eventually disappearing, as though blending with the world itself.
Soon, the power of time permeating throughout this space also vanished with it as everything turned back to normal.
Silence still shrouded the trial hall.
Throughout the entire process, Elaouthr had not woken up, and he was still lying on the ground.
Liora was still the only conscious person in the entire room.
At least, on the surface.
As she raised her head and examined her surroundings, her eyes narrowed.
Then, turning toward a certain corner, she suddenly stretched her hand and reached out.
Whenever her hand passed, space itself cracked.
Liora seemed to be digging deep into the very essence of the trial hall, as though looking for something.
Several moments passed.
It seemed that her search had resulted in a failure.
But just then, her eyes lit up.
In a sudden motion, the hand digging deep into the space clenched abruptly.
Then, Liora hurriedly withdrew her hand.
The space shattered once more along its way. However, she didn’t mind and ignored the impact.
Moments later, her entire focus was on the illusory figure floating within her palm.
It was a familiar figure.
The one that had appeared when they first entered the trial hall, and the one who seemed responsible for the city fragment’s emergence.
At the same time, it was the being who everyone had guarded against. After all, although the figure had disappeared, no one believed it was really gone.
Indeed.
Liora had now confirmed that the other party was simply hiding in the deepest space layer of the trial hall, most likely waiting for the trial to conclude.
Unfortunately for it, the trial that had been so carefully crafted seemed unable to be pleted.
Liora’s gaze swept over the other party.
In the past, their appearance had been a mystery to her, with every distinguishing feature having been erased by the Will of the World.
However, perhaps because the Cosmic Sea had grown stronger and could now overrule it, or perhaps because of the Cultivation Star’s creation, Liora was now able to see those features clearly.
It was as though the veil in front of her had been removed, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the true nature of this world.
As soon as her gaze fell onto the figure, her expression turned strange.
All this while, she had believed that the mastermind behind everything was either a powerful hermit like the remnant soul in the Heavenly Armor Pavilion, or some kind of other creation like the Mechanical Race.
Yet neither of the two was correct.
What Liora faced was neither an elderly man nor a puppet-like being.
Instead, it was a young girl.
With her hair tied into double ponytails and her frame standing just less than 1.60 meters tall, she looked very much like a kid.
Her state, with the back of her neck being held by Liora’s hand and the aggrieved tears welling up in her eyes, only made this notion even stronger.
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