After receiving a new piece of information, Sterl''s expression remained unchanged. His only thought was to help Linna, Rayna, and the others elevate their soul levels. That way, even if they identally perished in the game world, they could return to reality with their skills intact, and their lives wouldn''t suffer as a result.


    Sterl sensed two pieces of information from the soul panel.


    First, the Zero Phase represented the process of soul powering into existence from nothing, allowing only for self-defense. Upon reaching the First Phase—level 100 andpleting the transformation—thebat capability of soul power would be on par with any conventional means.


    Second, Soul Treasures were independent of the soul power system and could additionally bestow soul abilities and various special enhancements.


    "So..."


    Sterl recalled the Key of the Realms lying in the small world. If he were to venture into the upper realms, his tasks would increase by two: find a way to rapidly elevate his soul level toplete the transformation, and gather Soul Treasures.


    After organizing his thoughts, Sterl vanished from the cave.


    At that moment, data was flickering on his task bar.


    [Coordinate Broadcast Countdown: 9:44:51]


    Sterl checked and indeed found he could not log off or use his teleportation ability.


    He attempted to switch ounts using his disk but discovered that would be considered a bug exploit. However, the cost was rtively low, requiring only 50 blood-colored documents. Unfortunately, Sterl''s documents were nearly depleted...


    He couldn''t afford to waste them like that.


    Deciding against it, he swiftly shed away to Heavenly Curtain Canyon, waiting for his pursuers to arrive.


    Calcting the time, he realized that if hepleted the escape task, he could switch back to his main ount and participate in the first round of the Valor Combatants tournament.


    "After all, I''m not the first one scheduled topete."


    "I just need to make it back before it''s my turn."


    Before long, a small team of figures slowly appeared outside Heavenly Curtain Canyon.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Do these Swallowing Heaven yers dare toe to the main world? That''s just asking for death!"


    "If we take them down, we''ll get... seven hundred merits?"


    "This is a gold mine!"


    The group of yers looked quite excited. They were special ss practitioners known as bounty hunters.


    The uniqueness of this ssy in their ability to ept missions issued by the Transcendence system and open special merit shops to exchange for many precious resources.


    Bounty hunters sacrificed part of their professional strength in exchange for the authority to take on tasks, which caused their ss rank to be artificially inted. Under the same conditions, they couldn''t defeat opponents of the same level.


    However, bounty hunters could rapidly develop by utilizing resources from the merit shop! Their growth speed far surpassed that of ordinary sses.


    This squad was the first to arrive after discovering the [Transcendence] mission! At this moment, they looked at the generous rewards of the task, rubbing their hands in anticipation.


    "Heavenly Curtain Canyon is known for its peculiarities in the Hall of Valor; we should be cautious."


    "Let''s use formation C and be ready with teleportation items at all times."


    After resting for a while, the squad decisively stepped into the spatial tunnel.


    Meanwhile, yers from all directions were pouring into Heavenly Curtain Canyon. They all came to hunt down that unknown Swallowing Heaven yer!


    …


    In this instance, Sterl couldn''t be bothered to make a move. Most of thoseing to hunt him were merely legendary-level characters. After all, Mephistopheles was only third ss.


    He directed a host of newly spawned demigod-level bosses to confront them. Sterl remained as steady as a mountain, sitting and cultivating in Heavenly Curtain Canyon.


    Outside, a chorus of screams echoed, as countless yers faced their demise!


    At this moment, the bounty squad that had arrived earliest turned pale.


    "How is this possible? We encountered the top boss of Heavenly Curtain Canyon right away!"


    "This phoenix isn''t even supposed to be here!"


    Bounty hunters possessed a unique skill system that allowed them to detect the status, environment, and enemies near their mission target. However, this phoenix boss appeared out of nowhere!


    Its strength exceeded the information they had received, reaching demigod level. The bounty hunters stared at the phoenix before them, which was spewing mes, quaking in fear!


    "Retreat! Retreat!"


    Just as they shouted these words and attempted to activate their teleportation scrolls, they found that, for some unknown reason, Heavenly Curtain Canyon had transformed into a special zone where teleportation items were unusable.


    Then, the phoenix soared into the sky.


    Below, the bounty hunters activated their legendary abilities, but facing the enormous ming form of the phoenix, they were utterly defenseless.


    With a piercing screech, their legendary abilities were burned away, and the ming bird crashed to the ground.


    A dull thud echoed! Amidst the blinding light of the mes, everything fell silent.


    Not far away, simr scenes yed out repeatedly. Some legendary-level yers were frantically pursued by demigod-level enemies.


    This was mainly because Sterl had only spawned demigod units in Heavenly Curtain Canyon, having amassed his legendary gear!


    There was no helping it; these yers who came to take on the hunting mission had to bear the brunt of the situation. Readtest stories on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin


    Ten hours quickly passed in the blink of an eye.


    Sterl casually stood up and switched back to his main ount.


    Hepleted the escape task without receiving any rewards. However, since Mephistopheles was a Swallowing Heaven yer and Heavenly Curtain Canyon was under his control, the unfortunate yers who were killed outside were deemed to have been in by Sterl, resulting in several blood-colored loot spheres dropping.


    Although Sterl wasn''t particrly interested in the drops from legendary units, he still picked them up one by one, driven by his frugal nature.


    After that, he left Heavenly Curtain Canyon, found a teleportation array, and arrived near the arena, waiting for the finals to begin.


    Sterl spent some contribution points to open a private box for himself to watch the match. Thepetition hadn''t started yet; since it was the finals, only one match was held at a time in the arena to facilitate viewing.


    Sterl reclined on the soft sofa, realizing that the first round of the match should be starting soon, but the arena was still empty.


    He didn''t mind; instead, he took some time to organize a few minor gains.


    First, there was the tinum Skill—[Mark of the Heavens].


    Using it required the Law of Stars.


    It could be leveled up three times, evolved once, and promoted once, making it a fairly promising tinum ability. However, it couldn''tpare to Shattered Void and likely wouldn''t reach Iridescent Level.


    When used, [Mark of the Heavens] could create meteors in the sky that would strike the ground, simr to a fully upgraded version of Celestial Stars.


    Sterl sensed that this ability could take on three forms based on the different phases of the Law of Stars. The strongest version could carve a scar in the sky, causing a meteor shower to rapidly bombard the target! This skill was indeed rted to the abilities of the Starry n.


    "What a pity; I killed that old man too quickly earlier and couldn''t gather any information from him."


    Just as Sterl felt a twinge of regret, he noticed that within [Mark of the Heavens], there seemed to be a hidden star map, containing extremelyplex information. However, with his shared origin profession, Sterl could easily decipher the information.


    With his powerful soul strength and mental attributes, he quickly deduced a coordinate.


    "This is another continent—the domain of Ashen??"


    Sterl paused for a moment before making a decision... Afterward, he would head to the continent ruled by Ashen and work on his legendary ascension.


    The reason Sterl hadn''t initiated the legendary promotion task until now was primarily due to the conditions that varied ording to different professions.


    In addition to some specific requirements, legendary tasks also had fixed conditions.


    He needed to master an arcane skill, which Sterl had alreadypleted.


    He required several high proficiency skills that could correspond to the legendary abilities he would form in the future; in this area, Sterl already possessed legendary skills, which he had cleared directly.


    He also needed a significant number of legend points, but Sterl couldn''t be bothered to check how many he had at the moment; he had umted nearly a thousand points by now.


    When he had in the Will of Hell, he had gained 500 points in one go.


    What was most unique about the legendary ascension was that it would generate a special task based on the yer''s current coordinates.


    The task required yers to exert a significant influence on a certain faction, empire, or race, creating a regional legendary story. Moreover, this "story" couldn''t be developed in advance; it could only be initiated after triggering the promotion task.


    Sterl had been taking his time to start the ritual becausepleting a legendary story would require a considerable amount of time and might necessitate some strategic nning. This wasn''t just about defeating monsters or killing enemies; it also involved waiting for circumstances to evolve.


    Thus, creating a legendary story was best done in conjunction with other objectives—like collecting traces of the Starry n—so as not to waste time.


    Nearby the Hall of Valor, there weren''t any resources for Sterl to develop, and initiating the promotion ritual would simply waste time.


    If he were to go to another continent…


    Sterl pondered for a moment and decided to spend 10,000 Valor Contribution Points to purchase an item.


    [One-Time Teleport Beacon]


    [Description: It is said to harbor a fragment of the source of the world. This special teleportation item allows for free teleportation within the Crystal Barrier Gxy. ]


    [Effect: You can activate the teleport beacon to move to a location you have previously visited, limited to Alpha 8 and its adjacent areas within the Crystal Barrier Gxy.]


    "This is the kind of thing that costs 10,000..."


    Sterl tossed the teleport item in his hand like a chess piece, feeling frustrated.


    At this point, Valor Contribution Points were practically useless to him, but 10,000 points… that was no small sum!


    If it weren''t for his concern that Twilight might trigger a quest to contest the authority of the Hall of Valor after he left, making it impossible for him to return quickly from another continent, he would never have considered redeeming it.


    "I''d prefer not to use this thing if I can avoid it."


    Sterl muttered as he stored the teleport item in his small world.


    Then he continued with his tasks.


    The second minor gain came from the blood-colored spheres he had previously collected.


    Sterl quickly opened them up.


    A series of notifications began to refresh before his eyes.