The afternoon of the next day.
Upon the suggestion of a maid, Lynn, who had nothing better to do, made his way to the training ground at Augusta Manor.
He planned to stretch his muscles for the first ti in a while and contemplate the direction of his future upgrades.
Though it was called a training ground, it was really just a vast expanse of sandy soil constructed at a corner of the manor's side.
The ground was dotted with nurous straw dummies for training purposes, and shelves nearby were filled with various types of wooden weapons.
There were single-handed swords like the Scottish Broadswords from his past life, sabers used specifically for horseback riding and slashing, maces and war hamrs with extrely realistic counterweights, and even long-handled axes painted in dark gray.
At this very mont, a group of brawny n with bare chests were sweating profusely in the training ground, happily frolicking.
These n were all trusted aides of the Augusta Family, and so were even Transcendents.
They were training their bodies here because they were not on duty rotation.
Lynn did not greet them, but instead found a quiet corner to attend to his own matters.
First, he opened the system.
At this mont, he had only one Divine-given factor.
Generally speaking, a regular First Rank Transcendent could accommodate up to four Divine-given factors in their body.
It wasn't that having too many would be unbearable for the body.
In fact, almost all Transcendents didn't feel like they had reached the limit of Divine-given factors they could accommodate when advancing to the next Rank.
It was simply because they were too precious.
The only way to obtain a Divine-given factor was by completing a trial from the gods.
The problem was, even Transcendents of the sa faith and sa Rank might not receive the sa trials each ti.
So people might have three or four, like Lynn's predecessor.
Others might be less fortunate, or perhaps their faith wasn't pure enough, ending up with only one trial, just igniting one Divine-given factor before having to advance to the next Rank.
This led to a wide disparity in the levels of Transcendents.
Within the sa Rank, those with a higher number could be more than ten tis stronger than those with less.
Despite this, looking back on the history of the Saint Laurent Empire spanning over a thousand years, even including those rare chosen by the gods forever, there had never been anyone who reached the limit of Divine-given factors at any Rank.
But today, Lynn might just beco such an exception.
Looking at his impressive 283 system points, Lynn took a deep breath.
"System... upgrade !"
[Would you like to spend 80 system points to ignite eight Divine-given factors?]
"Yes."
The next second, accompanied by eight intense red lights bursting forth like the sun, Lynn's originally barren and desolate inner world was once again enhanced with a dazzling brightness.
But he was not satisfied yet and furiously clicked on the plus sign.
[The current Rank's maximum capacity for Divine-given factors has been reached.]
Well, okay then.
Lynn let out a sigh.
His predecessor had accommodated four Divine-given factors when at the First Rank.
He had spent a whole half a year completing trials such as "preaching doctrines to a thousand people," "hunting down twenty cultists," and "collecting ten pieces of rare teorite fragnts" before barely managing to do so.
But at this mont, Lynn had far outstripped the previous half year's effort in just three seconds.
It looked like nine Divine-given factors were the limit that a First Rank Transcendent could withstand.
Lynn tried to control the imnse extraordinary power within his body, focusing it at his fingertips.
With a faint red glow, he lightly pressed his index finger against one of the nearby training posts.
Monts later, the rough tree bark surface was clearly imprinted with a deep indentation.
Just as expected.
Lynn was delighted.
This was exactly why he insisted on choosing the faith of the Doomsday Witch.
Abilities like corrosion and strength could easily cause such an effect as well, but in essence, they were worlds apart.
The latter, no matter what, was rely a violent change constrained by the laws of physics.
The forr was more like a concept that forcibly "erased" a part of the wooden post.
The Annihilation attribute, one of Ivyst's innate powerful talents.
This attribute, both in terms of destructive power and stamina, was top-notch in the early stages.
And in the High Rank stages, it was terrifying to the extre.
According to the descriptions in the original text, even so things governed by rules or concepts could be forcibly eradicated.
Such as, temperature.
Ivyst had previously demonstrated her ability to lower temperatures many tis, which was not any kind of ice-based ability.
It was rely her erasing the notion of "heat" from her surroundings.
Although Lynn was currently far from being as skilled as she was, for other First Rank Transcendents, it was still a dinsionally reductional strike.
If he could also draw upon another strength-based Extraordinary Ability, it would be a complete breakthrough.
Lynn thought silently.
But speaking of Extraordinary Abilities, he suddenly rembered sothing else.
It seed those two skills could also be upgraded.
[Would you like to spend 10 system points to Upgrade Lie Swallowing to Second Rank?]
"Yes."
[Upgrade successful!]
[Due to unknown factors, your original ability has undergone a new change.]
Oh?
Lynn beca curious and opened to check.
[Na: Deception Ga]
[Rank: Second Rank]
[Effect: While retaining the abilities of Lie Swallowing, each ti the host lies, it will be considered the start of a ga; if the lie holds, the ga is won, and the host has a chance to temporarily Steal an Extraordinary Ability from the other party. The larger the Rank difference, the lower the success rate and duration of the theft.]
[Activation Condition: Possess more than eight Divine-given factors.]
```
[Points needed to upgrade: 90]
This skill... seems kind of aweso?
Lynn was lost in thought.
Not only that, he seed to have retained the original Lie Swallowing's ability.
That is to say, the two could be nested.
By using Lie Swallowing to make his own lies co true and then getting a successful ga judgnt, that was probably how it worked.
But upon closer consideration, it wasn't that outrageous.
After all, the success rate of Lie Swallowing decreased as the opponent's Rank increased.
Using Lie Swallowing on ordinary people, the success rate could be said to be one hundred percent, but against a First Rank Transcendent, the probability would drop to below one-third.
The higher the level, the harder it was for the lies to hold up.
Moreover, it wasn't guaranteed to steal the opponent's Extraordinary Ability even if the lie took hold.
So in a strict sense, this whole thing still depended on luck.
Thinking this, Lynn casually upgraded the Thorny Crown as well.
However, this ti the ability did not change, only its effects were sowhat enhanced.
[Na: Thorny Crown]
[Rank: Third Rank]
[Effect: Under this ability, you can accumulate the pain you feel and release it with double the amplification.]
[Activation Condition: Possess more than six Divine-given factors]
[Points needed to upgrade: 150]
Not only did he get double the amplification, but the previously required double pain had also disappeared.
Lynn was very satisfied with the current effect.
He had 143 system points left, enough for one more ability draw, but Lynn decided to save them for now.
After all, his luck was just too terrible.
What if he ended up drawing a support or sneaky ability again?
He decided to wait until the recent events concluded, find an opportunity to obtain an Ancient Curse that could increase his luck, and keep it on him before drawing a new ability.
In any case, Ivyst didn't need him to contribute any combat power at the mont; he could just lurk in the shadows and level up.
After all, he had just declared earlier today that he had successfully accommodated the Divine-given factor of "Holy Insight" faith that the Princess had furnished for him.
So no one had expectations for his combat power; they only regarded him as a strategist type of player.
Little did they know, this was exactly the effect Lynn wanted.
He aid to beco a master of holding out!
After sorting out the system's business for about ten minutes, Lynn then turned his attention to the training dummy in front of him.
Thorny Crown, activate!
He had expected to see a strange scene similar to the Prisoner of Destiny when he first activated Lie Swallowing.
Unexpectedly, nothing happened at all.
Although Lynn was sowhat puzzled, he didn't inquire too deeply.
"Bang!"
He punched the straw-wrapped part of the dummy.
A strong dull pain surged through him.
Subsequently, Lynn distinctly felt that the pain seed to transform into a kind of energy that flowed into his body, stored in a peculiar way, ready to be released at any mont.
For now, the Thorny Crown was the only attack ability he possessed.
Therefore, under the guise of exercising his body, Lynn began to store so pain energy secretly, just so he'd have so self-defense capability.
With that in mind, he started punching the dummy forcefully one punch after another.
The original body's physical condition wasn't weak; after all, he had once joined the military, and although his muscles were not explosive, they contained strength beyond that of an ordinary person.
"Bang!
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
...
Ti flew by swiftly.
Unknowingly, the sun on the horizon also began to set, casting a magnificent sunset across the sky.
And Lynn's forehead, as well as his body, were drenched in sweat.
He had been training here all afternoon.
At this mont, his fists were swollen and bleeding, with the slightest touch bringing a heart-piercing sting.
However, this was the result he wanted.
Feeling the increasingly imnse pain energy inside his body, Lynn was in a very good mood.
He took out a bottle of potion he had prepared in advance from his pocket, uncorked it, and gently applied it to the surface of his fists.
A cool sensation accompanied the wounds as they began to heal at a visible speed.
That would be enough for today.
He had to attend a banquet with that woman, Ivyst, later in the evening, hosted by Duke Tierus, so he needed to take a bath and clean up properly.
If he went looking as disheveled as he was now, she'd probably skin him alive.
Thinking this, Lynn wiped the sweat from his forehead and prepared to head back to the manor.
But as he turned around, he found himself surrounded by a group of people.
The manor's trusted aides who had been training in the sand just monts ago had sohow gathered behind him.
At a glance, although most were ordinary people, there were also a few First and Second Rank Transcendents among them.
"Is there sothing you need?"
Lynn glanced at them and asked.
"Are you the outsider who made young master Rhein hit the wall twice?" The bald-headed leader, clenching his fists eagerly, said, "You've been practicing all afternoon; do you need us to be your sparring partners?"
Sensing their ill intentions, Lynn smiled.
"Sure."
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