Chapter 113: Epic - Rank Heaven Gate
Floor 18.
In the middle of the Sea of Sand, so vast that no end could be seen, a white parasol was planted at an angle on top of a sand dune.
Beneath the parasol was Ethan.
He sat on a folding chair, one leg stretched straight while the other was slightly bent. Beside him were a bottle of cold water and a few pieces of sliced fruit. The Primordial Armor still covered his left arm, but aside from that, his current appearance did not resemble someone on the eighteenth floor of the Abyss Tower at all.
Ethan yawned and raised a hand to cover his mouth.
In the distance, a loud explosion rang out.
Boom!
A scorpion-shaped monster nearly ten meters long was sent flying off the sand by something. Its massive body spun several times in midair, and just as it was about to fall, a tall figure appeared above it.
Laira.
One dragon wing appeared behind her, the part reconstructed by the Thunder Wings covered in red-purple electric lines. She spun in midair, then brought her right foot down onto the monster’s head.
Rumble!
Its head was forced straight into the sand.
A ring of Thunderfire erupted from the impact, running along the scorpion’s armor. A series of explosions rang out, and then its entire body went still.
Several hundred meters away, the scene on Ruo Yan’s side was not any quieter.
The Necromancer was holding the legs of a desert lizard more than six meters long, swinging it through the air like a mace. Ruo Yan stood on a nearby boulder, both hands controlling the Soul Threads. When the third monster charged up from beneath the sand, she only shifted her wrist slightly.
The Necromancer immediately released the thing in its hand and threw a punch.
Smack!
The lizard that had just emerged flew backward.
Ethan looked at the scene through his sunglasses, stayed silent for a moment, then picked up the bottle of water and drank.
"A little boring."
He said it very quietly.
If this were one month ago, Ethan probably would never have believed he could say such a sentence in the Abyss Tower.
The first time he was pulled into this place, he had not even opened the Heaven Gate. Every floor could kill him. As long as he used the Eye of Truth for too long, his eyes would hurt until they bled, and Laira had still been sealed at that time, unable to fully display her strength.
Floor four.
Floor five.
Orc King.
Blind Box.
Every step had to be calculated.
One mistake could mean death.
Ethan leaned back in his chair and watched as a monster had just crawled up from beneath the sand, only to be pierced straight through by a Thunderfire arrow.
And now...
He had a parasol.
Cold water.
A folding chair.
And two Partners running all over the desert, dealing with monsters as if they were playing some kind of entertainment game.
The corner of Ethan’s mouth curved slightly.
’A desert vacation ticket?’
The thought had only just appeared when a louder explosion rang out in the distance. Sand was blasted nearly twenty meters high before falling like rain.
Ethan looked at the scene for a few seconds.
’...Maybe a little noisy.’
But it was precisely this difference that made him realize an important issue.
Floors ten to eighteen were not weak at all.
The higher they went, the stronger the monsters became, and their numbers also increased. If one only used Ethan’s level as the standard, the later floors were still enough to pose danger to an ordinary Silver Rank Awakened.
But Ethan had never only had his level.
He lowered his gaze to the Primordial Armor.
This thing was not power that came from his level.
The Thunder Wings were the same.
Laira’s Sunfire Divine Seal, Thunderfire, the Necromancer, Owin’s inheritance, and even the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate sleeping inside his body were all things that existed outside the number of his current Silver Rank.
The trial space could adjust the difficulty based on the participant’s level.
But it could not make the Primordial Armor disappear.
Nor could it strip away the Thunder Wings or the Sunfire Divine Seal.
Ethan propped his elbow on his knee, his gaze gradually turning serious.
’I was still too focused on level.’
Energy Crystals made him stronger.
Expanding the Heaven Gate made him stronger.
But a good Blind Box, a powerful enough skill, or a piece of equipment far beyond his current level could also change his combat power completely.
The effect could even be greater than advancing by a few minor stages.
Ethan thought of the one thousand C-rank Energy Crystals still in Silver Moon City.
After returning, he would naturally absorb them.
But from now on, he would not treat crystals as the only path.
Blind Boxes were still the most important thing in this world.
A person could level up more slowly than their opponent, but if they possessed something powerful enough to make up for that gap, the outcome of the battle might not match the numbers on paper.
A strong gust of wind pulled Ethan out of his thoughts.
The shade in front of him suddenly grew larger.
He raised his head.
Laira had landed in front of the parasol.
With her height of nearly two meters and twenty centimeters, just standing beside him blocked out a large patch of sunlight. Her crimson hair was a little messy from the wind, and there was some sand on her shoulder, but her breathing was still steady, completely unlike someone who had just fought continuously for more than an hour.
Laira withdrew the wing behind her and bent down to look at Ethan.
"Done."
Ethan handed her the water bottle.
Laira accepted it, took a large gulp, then sat down beside him. The folding chair beside him made a creaking sound that caused Ethan to turn and look.
Laira also looked at the chair.
"It probably will not break."
"That sentence makes me even more worried."
"I am lighter than an ordinary adult dragon."
"That is not the standard meant for chairs."
Laira laughed, then took another sip of water.
Ethan looked into the distance. "Where is Ruo Yan?"
"Digging up a corpse."
"Digging up a corpse?"
Laira nodded very naturally. "A worm hid under the sand after dying. She said its outer armor could still be used, so she made the Necromancer dig it up."
Ethan was silent for two seconds.
"That is very much like her."
At that moment, a familiar sound rang out.
[All targets on Floor 18 have been eliminated.]
[Trial completed.]
Ethan immediately stood up.
A white light appeared beneath his feet, then spread across the surrounding sand.
Ruo Yan had also just returned. Behind her, the Necromancer was dragging a section of sand worm body more than ten meters long.
The moment she saw the light, she stopped.
"What is happening?"
Before Ethan could answer, new notification lines appeared.
[Floor 18 has been cleared.]
[Conditions met to establish a new anchor point.]
[Floor 18 anchor point is forming.]
[Detected that the Heaven Gate has completed the conditions for evolution.]
[S-rank Heaven Gate begins evolution.]
Ethan’s gaze changed.
Behind him, the space suddenly trembled.
A massive gate slowly appeared.
Heaven Gate.
Compared to when it had first opened on the ninth floor, the patterns on its surface had become much more complex. Silver light ran along the frame, and then each line began to change, automatically separating and reconnecting into a completely new structure.
Ethan was still observing when a massive surge of energy flooded into his body.
Boom!
He clenched his fist.
The muscles throughout his body tensed.
The Heaven Gate behind him widened, and the energy accumulated through the nine floors he had just cleared began pouring down like a river breaking through a dam.
Silver Rank stage 2.
Ethan’s aura rose rapidly.
Stage 3.
Stage 4.
Laira immediately sensed the change through their link. A similar flow of energy also entered her body, causing red-purple Thunderfire lines to appear on her arm before quickly vanishing.
Ruo Yan also froze.
The Soul Thread between her and Ethan trembled, delivering a portion of the new power into her body.
Only when Ethan’s aura touched Silver Rank stage 5 did the growth finally stop.
Laira immediately smiled.
"Stage five."
Ethan did not answer yet.
He was looking at the Heaven Gate.
The gate behind him had completely changed. Pale golden lines had begun to appear within the original silver light, and the energy it radiated had clearly become much denser than before.
A new notification appeared.
[Evolution completed.]
[Heaven Gate: Rank S → Epic.]
[Detected that the current foundation is incompatible with the new Heaven Gate structure.]
[Beginning reconstruction.]
Ethan frowned.
Immediately after, the aura that had just reached Silver Rank stage 5 began to fall.
Stage 4.
Ruo Yan immediately stepped forward. "Ethan?"
Stage 3.
Laira also stood up.
The smile on her face had already disappeared.
Stage 2.
When Ethan’s aura returned to Silver Rank stage 1, Laira immediately bent down and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
Ethan closed his eyes.
He sensed his body.
His level had indeed returned to Silver Rank stage 1.
But the energy inside him was completely different from before.
If the energy inside his body when he had just entered the tenth floor was like a river, then now that river had been compressed into a current several times denser. His energy channels were wider. His body could withstand greater pressure. Even the Primordial Armor on his left arm reacted faster to his thoughts.
Ethan clenched his right fist.
The air around his fist made a small explosive sound.
Pop!
Laira looked at him.
"Did you become weaker?"
"The opposite."
Ethan opened his eyes.
The corner of his mouth curved slightly.
"I am stronger than I was just now at Silver stage 5."
Ruo Yan frowned. "Then what was the point of dropping your level?"
Ethan thought for a few seconds, then lowered his gaze to his hand.
"Perhaps it was rebuilding the foundation."
He pointed toward a stone pillar in the distance.
"Like a building. Previously, the foundation was only enough to build a few floors. The Heaven Gate just now forcibly raised me to a higher floor, then tore it down again to rebuild the foundation."
Ruo Yan gradually understood.
"The level is gone, but what was built inside the body is still there."
"Correct."
Ethan raised his head and looked at the Epic Heaven Gate.
"Now, even if I am only Silver Rank stage 1, my foundation is probably enough to build a much taller structure."
After hearing this, Laira immediately checked her own body.
A small flame of Thunderfire appeared on her fingertip.
The moment it appeared, the sand beneath her feet instantly turned black.
Her eyes lit up.
"I am stronger too."
Ruo Yan pulled a Soul Thread between her fingers. The thread, which had once been almost transparent, was now a little clearer, and its fluctuation was steadier than it had ever been before.
The corner of her mouth curved up as well.
Before the three of them could check any further, the entire world suddenly stopped.
The grains of sand flying in the air froze.
Laira’s hair stopped moving.
The smile on Ruo Yan’s face also froze in place.
Ethan immediately knew what was happening.
’Again.’
Darkness descended.
When Ethan opened his eyes again, the Sea of Sand had disappeared.
Around him, there was only endless black.
No Laira.
No Ruo Yan.
Only him.
And a gigantic eye opening in front of him.
Pressure instantly pressed down.
If this were the first time, that gaze alone would have been enough to make Ethan feel like an ant standing before something completely incomprehensible.
But this time, he only lowered his shoulders slightly.
His legs remained straight.
Ethan raised his head.
The Eye of the Void looked at him.
He looked back.
After a while, Ethan laughed.
"It is you again."
The eye did not react.
Ethan slowly raised his left arm.
"The first time I met you, I thought that as long as you wanted to, you could personally crush me to death at any moment."
He looked at the purple-black lines beginning to appear along the joints of the Primordial Armor.
"But after Ryan, I understood something."
The surrounding space trembled slightly.
Ethan continued, his voice still calm.
"Every time you truly want to touch me, you have to borrow something."
"Flames."
"Other people."
"Things beside me."
The gigantic eye contracted slightly.
Ethan saw it.
The curve of his lips became more obvious.
"Then let me guess."
"It is not that you do not want to come yourself."
"It is that you cannot come."
Boom!
The black space trembled violently.
A greater pressure poured down, but Ethan still did not retreat.
The Void Fire in his left arm immediately erupted.
The purple-black lines shone brightly, running from the armor all the way up near his shoulder. The burning sensation pierced into his missing arm, bringing a pain like a limb that no longer existed was being burned.
Ethan clenched his hand.
That was all.
He did not collapse.
Nor did he lose the ability to think like before.
The pain was still there.
But his body could endure it.
Ethan lowered his gaze to his left arm for a while.
’Am I getting used to it?’
Another thought immediately appeared.
’Or is this thing getting used to me?’
He had no answer yet.
Ethan raised his head again and looked at the Eye of the Void.
"Are you angry?"
The space continued to tremble.
This time, Ethan truly laughed.
"Or did I guess correctly?"
He raised his head even higher.
"You are afraid of something else, aren’t you?"
Boom!
The entire darkness cracked open.
Huge fissures appeared around the Eye of the Void.
Ethan did not know how much of his guess was correct.
But this reaction was enough for him to confirm one thing.
The thing before him was not omnipotent.
It had limits.
Something prevented it from directly stepping over.
In that case, the fear from before was no longer necessary.
If the Void could only use the dangers around him to kill him...
Then he only needed to become strong enough that those things could no longer kill him.
Ryan had failed.
The next one could fail as well.
One day, all the chess pieces thrown at him by the Eye of the Void would only become stones for him to step on as he climbed higher.
The black space shattered.
The Eye disappeared.
Ethan fell.
When his feet touched the ground, he was already standing in a completely different space.
Around him were seven stone platforms.
On each platform was a different type of Blind Box.
Weapon.
Equipment.
Skill.
Talent.
Partner.
Monster egg.
Special item.
A notification screen appeared.
[Floor 18 milestone reward.]
[You may choose one type of Blind Box.]
[Minimum rarity: S.]
Ethan looked around.
Then the Eye of Truth activated.
The fog covering the seven boxes immediately changed in his field of vision.
S.
Epic.
Legendary.
Some of them were enough to drive an ordinary Awakened mad with just one glance.
Ethan did not rush.
His gaze slowly moved across each box.
When he reached the last one, he stopped.
A few seconds later, the corner of Ethan’s mouth curved up.
He raised his hand.
"I choose this one."