Chapter 52: Transcendent Eighth Rank

In the midst of seclusion at Saint Haigar.

Unknowingly, more than a month had already passed.

Inside a small room.

Dolanse and Gune sat drinking wine and chatting.

"That last battle, your opponent was not weak, with strength close to four-star level," Gune said.

"Mm, he did have strength close to four-star, but obviously I was stronger, and he still lost."

Over the past month or so, Dolanse had been constantly fighting and training at the Transcendent Eighth Rank, advancing rapidly in star rank. That last battle was the one where Dolanse became a three-star gladiator.

At first, Dolanse was at a disadvantage, but after a fierce fight, the opponent erupted with power close to four-star level.

Dolanse no longer held back. The powerful, unique weapon nurtured in flames within the furnace weapon case on his back burst forth, granting Dolanse five-star combat power, and he forcibly slew that formidable enemy, achieving final victory.

"Though I won this time, no one knows if I'll encounter an even stronger opponent. After advancing to three-star, I need to go into seclusion and improve my strength. I won't fight for a while," Dolanse said.

"That's the right approach," Gune nodded slightly.

Having five-star strength while fighting at three-star was the safest and most secure method.

"What about you?" Dolanse looked at Gune.

"Your realm has been skyrocketing lately, from late Transcendent Seventh Rank straight to the current peak of Eighth Rank. Looks like you're planning to go straight to Ninth Rank?"

During this time, unlike Dolanse's battles, Gune had made no moves to fight in the arena.

These days, Gune did only one thing: consume precious fruits and continuously cultivate to improve his strength.

After over a month of cultivation, Gune had now reached the peak of Transcendent Eighth Rank and was about to advance to Transcendent Ninth Rank.

"Mm, I plan to advance directly to Transcendent Ninth Rank," Gune said.

Dolanse frowned upon hearing this.

"Advancing so fast—could there be drawbacks? After all, using precious fruits for cultivation isn't beneficial."

Gune smiled.

"Normally, there would be major drawbacks; that's common knowledge."

"But..." Gune lowered his voice.

"My transcendent profession has a special trait that allows me to gradually smooth out those drawbacks over time."

"Oh?" Dolanse raised an eyebrow.

"That special trait is indeed impressive. But the transcendent world has many wondrous professions, so such peculiarities aren't strange. For you, though, it's very useful. First, quickly advance to the peak of Transcendent Ninth Rank, then use that unique ability to slowly repair the drawbacks."

"Overall, it's much faster than cultivating slowly."

"That's why I've been using a lot of those treasures to advance and improve my strength first."

"You're improving so fast without comprehending mysteries. Is there something important?" Dolanse seemed to guess the meaning behind Gune's words.

"Mm." Gune didn't hide it.

"Something has happened in our world, and I need to improve my strength quickly to deal with it."

"Oh, need help?" Dolanse asked.

"Help will be needed after advancing to Saint rank." After a moment's thought, Gune said.

The distance from Saint Haigar to the Oya Continent was undoubtedly very far.

But once Gune advanced to Saint rank, his ability to utilize the Guying Gate would reach a higher level.

At that time, using the Guying Gate's teleportation ability, he could bring experts from Saint Haigar to the Oya Continent, even if it cost a bit more.

At the same time, many experts from the Holy Feather Dark Source could also be brought along.

More importantly,

Medium-sized transcendent worlds are very exclusive, which makes crossing world barriers extremely energy-consuming.

But now, Gune could communicate with the original will of the Oya Continent.

Borrowing the power of the Oya Continent's world would be different.

The energy required at that time would be drastically reduced.

Previously, Gune couldn't borrow external power.

But once Gune advanced to Saint rank, borrowing external power would be entirely feasible.

Therefore, when Dolanse offered to help, Gune didn't refuse outright.

"Advancing to Saint rank isn't hard for me. I've just reached three-star and shown five-star strength. Though I've held back a bit, close to six-star is my limit at Eighth Rank."

Gune raised an eyebrow slightly.

Six-star—that was already very formidable strength.

Currently, among all Eighth Rank transcendent gladiators in the Divine Kingdom Arena, fewer than a hundred had such power.

After all, in the entire Divine Kingdom Arena, there were millions upon millions of Eighth Rank transcendents.

That Dolanse could possess strength close to six-star already placed him among the top transcendent geniuses in Saint Haigar.

"I don't need to fight anymore for a while. Using those precious fruits, I can advance to Saint rank in about a year or two."

"Then thank you very much," Gune said gratefully.

Dolanse smiled lightly.

Dolanse was well aware that a top-tier transcendent prodigy like Gune was rare in Saint Haigar. Helping him was something he wouldn't refuse.

"The divine envoys and ancestral spirits of the Oya Continent aren't strong. If both Dolanse and I advance to Saint rank, we won't be at a disadvantage against divine envoys and ancestral spirits using divine power. Adding a batch of top-tier divine envoys and ancestral spirits from the Dark Source Holy Domain, wiping out the south and even slaying those evil gods should be no problem."

"In at most a year or two, I can completely eliminate the threat of those evil gods," Gune thought to himself.

For ordinary transcendents, such as the many on the Oya Continent,

about ninety percent followed the divine envoy path.

Gune roughly knew how they advanced.

The areas controlled by the Transcendent Association had several spaces similar to the [Ancestral Spirit Space] Gune had visited before.

Within the Ancestral Spirit Space, there were continuously converging strange creatures that generated faith power.

Those divine envoys used that faith power to advance to the divine envoy realm.

But using others' faith to improve oneself—

merely advancing to divine envoy was already extremely difficult.

Advancing further was basically impossible.

Cultivation for ancestral spirit experts was even harder, requiring the creation of an ancestral spirit space, which was ten times more difficult than divine envoy cultivation.

Thus, most divine envoys on the Oya Continent had low ancestral spirit realms and overall strength.

That was why Gune had such confidence.

"When I advance to Ninth Rank, I have a very good plan. It'll let us make a huge profit," Gune said to Dolanse.

"Oh? What plan?" Dolanse's brow twitched.

"Can't say yet. I'll discuss it with you when the time comes," Gune wasn't in a hurry to reveal it.

"So you mean I should start saving money now?" Dolanse caught on quickly.

"Yes!" Gune nodded seriously.

"Then I'm really looking forward to it." Dolanse laughed.

Last time, he had made over a million following Gune, and he was still enjoying the benefits of that profit.

"I plan to go into seclusion and cultivate to the peak of Transcendent Ninth Rank."

"Mm, I also plan to go into seclusion and advance to the peak of Transcendent Ninth Rank."

Just as Gune was speaking, his mind suddenly stirred.

"What's going on? Senior Muland is looking for me. Has something happened at the watchtower?"

Gune had previously told Muland not to disturb his 'cultivation' unless enemies attacked the Starry Watchtower.

And now, Gune's soul in the secret chamber sensed that Muland had activated the transcendent door of Gune's secluded chamber.