Shadows covered the land as Rhett led two hundred heavily armored knights across the vast plains, passing through the valley where they had previously annihilated two high-ranking orcs and then skirting around Mount Poz.
As the new morning arrived, they reached a hillside. The slope, covered in grayish-brown weeds, rose to form a barren ridge that stretched northward in a straight line. The ground beneath their feet was dry, and there were faint disturbances in the earth elents.
Rhett's expression remained calm as he stared at the ridge ahead, his gaze seemingly penetrating the mountain to see the orc force hidden within. There were roughly two hundred of them, mainly nightcat orcs and minotaurs, with a few shadow tigers and half-dragons mixed in. None of them were high-ranking orcs, so Rhett didn’t consider them a serious threat.
Without even using a wand to amplify his power, Rhett directly mobilized his ntal energy and cast his spells before the orcs could react.
Earthquake Technique!
Earth Spike Technique!
As the spells were cast in quick succession, the mountain began to tremble, as if an earthquake was taking place. Rocks and dry branches shook and began to tumble down, and the roars of orcs echoed from the cracks forming in the mountain, filled with fear and rage.
Amidst the chaos, the sound of flesh being pierced could be faintly heard. In the confined space of the mountain, for an earth-elent Grand Magister, it was like catching turtles in a jar—an ideal scenario for a massacre.
The orcs' screams grew weaker and weaker under the effects of the Earthquake Technique, and none could escape through the distorted space. After a mont, Rhett stopped casting his spells and, in a calm voice, called out to his troops behind him: "Tucker, step forward!"
Tucker, a burly man, quickly moved from the rear to the front, saluting as he said, "Commander, awaiting orders!"
Rhett glanced at his eldest son. Through the combination of battlefield experience and natural talent, Tucker had reached the peak of the third-level knight. At this pace, it wouldn’t be long before he advanced to the fourth-level Earth Knight—it was practically a certainty.
"Take care of the orcs ahead," Rhett said evenly.
"Understood, Commander!"
Tucker responded in a booming voice. He drew the longbow from his back, nocked an arrow, and pulled the string taut. One by one, flaming arrows shot through the cracks in the rocks, piercing into the hollow area ahead.
Amid the orcs’ dying wails, Rhett's system interface displayed a series of notifications.
[Family mber kills an enemy one level higher: 1 Destiny Points]
[Family mber kills an enemy two levels higher: 2 Destiny Points]
As he watched his Destiny Points steadily increase, Rhett felt a surge of satisfaction. anwhile, Lawrence, standing beside him, turned to Rhett after hearing the orcs’ cries grow weaker.
"Commander, what should our next move be?" Lawrence asked.
Rhett pondered for a mont and then replied, "We’ll wait here. We’ll move out again in one day."
With that, the soldiers behind him stood as still as statues, while Rhett moved forward into the mountain. The reason he had his troops wait was that he suspected the orcs might send reinforcents to this location. If nothing changed within the day, it wouldn’t be too late to move on and support the main battlefield.
But now, he had sothing more important to do—breaking through to the eighth-level Grand Magister. He wanted to see how many Destiny Points it would take to cross this threshold and estimate how much more he would need for future advancents.
It had been over a year since his last breakthrough. While advancing again so soon might seem improbable for others, for Rhett, it was just one more step. After all, even King Milan believed him to be the "Child of the World." Advancing quickly was perfectly reasonable…
Additionally, increasing his power had another benefit—it would allow him to help Tucker accumulate Destiny Points faster. With the world's crisis looming, he needed to accelerate the process as much as possible…
Rhett entered the collapsed mountain, where the air was thick with the sll of blood. He wrinkled his brow slightly and used his ntal energy to stir up the wind elents, pushing away all unpleasant odors. To prevent anyone from spying on what was happening inside, he used earth elents to seal the cracks and openings, blocking any external view.
After making sure everything was secure, Rhett sat on a clean rock and opened his system.
[Do you wish to initiate a True Simulation? Each day of simulation consus 1 Destiny Point.]
"Yes, simulate one day."
As the ripples began to spread before his eyes, Rhett allowed himself to relax, closing his eyes as he entered a ditative state.
Ti passed, and simulation after simulation continued, with Rhett’s Destiny Points slowly but steadily decreasing by over five thousand…
Rhett’s expression remained as calm as a blank sheet of paper, as still as the surface of a lake with no ripples. But within his mind, his crystalline sea of ntal energy was boiling, shimring with light, like water bubbling in a pot.
As half a day passed, Rhett remained seated, but the intensity of his ntal energy’s turmoil grew, like a dormant volcano showing signs of waking up, brewing terrifying power.
This state persisted for several minutes, until suddenly, a silent shockwave erupted from the deepest part of his ntal energy. His sea of ntal energy seed to reach a breaking point, unleashing a trendous surge that spread in all directions, crashing against the fragile barriers.
Outside, Rhett’s brow furrowed slightly, but he forced himself to remain calm. Breaking through at the level of a Grand Magister was different from past advancents—not only were the disturbances and pain more intense, but there was also a strange new awareness…
It felt as though, as his ntal energy condensed, expanded, and purified, his connection to the world itself deepened. Rhett wasn’t sure if this was a real change or just a psychological effect from hearing King Milan’s explanation of the "World Imprint."
Regardless, just as his thoughts began to wander, the boiling in his mind reached its peak, causing Rhett’s body to twitch suddenly—the climax had arrived unexpectedly…
His ntal energy expanded, and Rhett couldn’t help but think: I’ve done it—I’ve beco an eighth-level Grand Magister…
As he cald the tumultuous energy in his mind, he began to adjust to his newfound power. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, a fleeting trace of weariness in his gaze quickly replaced by clarity.
He imdiately checked his system interface. The line showing [Destiny Points: 21,713] made him fall deep into thought.
"This breakthrough consud over five thousand Destiny Points—less than the six thousand I had anticipated. That’s definitely a good thing. It seems that breaking through to the ninth-level Grand Magister should require just over ten thousand points…"
[Family mber advances in power: 5 Destiny Points]
The notification ca a little late, catching Rhett off guard. He stared at the system interface, and then realized that the interface seed… brighter than usual?
Rhett narrowed his eyes slightly. He was now certain that this system held secrets yet to be revealed—secrets that might manifest fully when he reached the Saint level. This realization only strengthened his resolve to advance further.
After contemplating for a few minutes, Rhett shook his head to clear his thoughts and took out the shell, the remnant of an artifact. The battlefield provided him with plenty of mid- and low-level orc corpses, so he decided to take the opportunity to absorb as much as he could to push himself to the peak of the eighth level.
With his experience, Rhett quickly used the power of the Blood Source Bead and the shell to enhance himself. After spending only about a thousand Destiny Points, he successfully reached the peak of the eighth level, achieving his goal. Thanks to his elevated ntal energy, which was now stronger and more abundant, the effects of the Blood Source Bead and shell were slightly less overwhelming, but still difficult to endure.
Rhett gritted his teeth through the excruciating pain in his mind and the chaotic storm of thoughts, eventually ending his final simulation.
The ripples before his eyes faded, and Rhett returned to reality, where the system promptly displayed a ssage.
[True Simulation ended. Please choose one attribute to retain.]
[1. Constitution]
[2. Battle Qi]
[3. ntal Energy]
"I choose three—ntal Energy."
As he made his choice, Rhett felt a gentle rain fall upon his ntal sea, nourishing it and pushing him once again to the peak of the eighth-level Grand Magister.
Rhett exhaled deeply and looked at his remaining Destiny Points, now just over twenty thousand, his gaze growing distant.
With these remaining Destiny Points, advancing to the ninth-level Grand Magister and even reaching its peak would not be a problem. But crossing the threshold into the Saint level would undoubtedly be exponentially more difficult—a challenge beyond imagination.
"It’s close… this war will be my opportunity…"
Rhett murmured a few words to himself, his expression calming as his ntal energy spread out, causing the rocks blocking the entrance to crumble. He stepped out of the cave and moved to the front of his troops.
"Move out! Our target is to cross the battlefield's center and harass the orcs' rear!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Though the soldiers were puzzled—Rhett had only spent a short ti in the cave and seed to have forgotten his earlier order to wait for a day—they nonetheless followed the latest command without question, marching toward the northwest.
A day and a night later, Rhett’s small unit regrouped with Laedros. In a clearing in the forest, the two gathered around a windblown tree, discussing their recent experiences.
"Laedros, I found three orc ambush points along the route we planned earlier. I took them all out. Two of the camps had only mid- and low-level orc soldiers, but the third had two high-ranking orcs—a seventh-level half-dragon and an eighth-level minotaur. Neither could stand against ."
Standing beside an ancient gray tree, Rhett recounted his encounters, earning approving nods from Laedros.
"Well done! I figured the orcs would place their troops at those points. We’ve been advancing along the edge of the battlefield, and if they’re planning a final assault, they’ll definitely want to scout the flanks. Did you let any of them escape?" Laedros asked.
"No, I wiped them all out, including the half-dragon and minotaur I encountered when crossing the center of the battlefield. Although the fight was tough, I made sure there were no survivors," Rhett replied.
"Haha, excellent work! High-ranking minotaurs are rare, and each one is a treasure to their tribe, unlike those with royal bloodlines. Losing one so easily to you will hit them hard—if they lose enough, they might not even send them to the battlefield anymore!" Laedros laughed. "But seriously, those minotaurs’ sharp horns are said to be unstoppable, and even the scales of a half-dragon can’t withstand them. Are you sure you weren’t hurt?"
"Do I look hurt to you?" Rhett shrugged, joking. Then, he glanced around and asked, "How about you? Did you encounter any trouble on your way here?"
"My journey was smooth, but the scouts I sent ahead weren’t so lucky. The orcs knew our usual routes and conducted a sweep, likely killing all the hundred scouts I sent out…" Laedros said, his expression darkening. "Luckily, we made other plans and took a longer route, avoiding an early confrontation with the orcs."
"Sigh, may they rest in peace," Rhett said with a sigh. "So, what’s our next move?"
"Harassnt is the key—avoid getting surrounded," Laedros said decisively. "In other words, if they advance, we retreat; if they retreat, we strike!"
A familiar tactic. Rhett nodded in agreent. "Alright, let’s do it!"
The two continued to discuss and refine their plans, adding more details before leading their force of over two thousand soldiers across the battlefield’s center, closer to the orc stronghold. Along the way, the troops halted at the slightest sign of movent, taking care to avoid alerting the enemy and getting surrounded.
As the sun began to set, they had already marched for several hours. Now, their pace slowed as they ticulously searched the ground for signs.
Rhett’s ntal energy remained spread out, detecting the movents of the earth elents. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he made a hand signal. The two thousand troops ca to an imdiate stop, waiting quietly.
"Did you find traces of orcs?" Laedros asked, his tone urgent as he looked at Rhett.
"Yes, just ahead. In a range of several thousand ters, the earth elents are disturbed to varying degrees. As long as the orcs’ Saints don’t intervene, no one can hide such a large-scale disturbance from ," Rhett said, staring at the seemingly natural cracks in the ground. Although they appeared to be natural dry fractures, Rhett could sense that they had been tampered with—the surface may have been roughly faked, but the underlying disarray of the earth elents was unmistakable to his trained senses.
"Can you estimate the ti?" Laedros asked urgently.
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