Moto

Everyone watched in eager anticipation.

As soon as the Third Stage began, a group of people were immediately sent out of the Volcanic Space. It had ended so quickly that even they felt a little ashamed.

They hadn't lasted even a second.

But when ten seconds had passed, three people still hadn't appeared. Even the Super Tier experts descended from the top of the volcano.

More than ten Super Tier experts had appeared all at once. The trial-takers didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

"Three people actually made it to the Fourth Stage. Those three..."

Excitement showed in the eyes of the Super Tier experts, too. The Fourth Stage was different from the others. Anyone who could reach that stage of the trial had a good chance of attaining Saint Tier.

If they could bring even one of them into their ranks, establishing a good relationship now would naturally bring many benefits in the future.

They'd thought Lianda was the only one. One of the Saint Tier experts had already taken an interest in her, so she was beyond their reach. They hadn't expected there to be two more trial-takers whose talent was no weaker than Lianda's.

More than ten seconds later, Setti finally emerged slowly from the depths of the cave. Seeing so many Super Tier experts, he couldn't help holding his breath.

"Come here. You must have received the Flame God Armor, right?" Tom asked with a kindly smile.

"The Flame God Armor?" Setti was taken aback.

Tom chuckled, held out his hand, and rolled up his sleeve, revealing his arm. A red, skin-tight layer of gel quickly appeared, covering his arm and forming a Battle Suit.

"This is the Flame God Armor. You bind it with your blood, and it adapts to changes in your body on its own. Compared with ordinary Battle Suits, the Flame God Armor can cover every part of your body, depending on your wishes. Of course, its most special feature is its defensive power. Ordinary Super Tier Warriors can't damage it at all, and it can reduce the force of attacks to almost nothing. Even a Tier 6 Warrior protected by the Flame God Armor could withstand a Super Tier Warrior's attacks for a long time," Tom explained. "And don't worry. This is a reward for trial-takers who did well in the First Stage. Many Super Tier Warriors have one. If anyone dares to steal your reward, the Land of Inheritance inside the volcano will unleash a terrifying attack and kill them, no matter how far away they are."

Setti finally understood. Then he asked, "You mean they'll be killed no matter how far away they are, regardless of their level?"

"That's right!" Tom warned him gravely. "There was once a Super Tier Warrior who tried to steal a trial-taker's reward. A beam of light killed him on the spot. Even the two Saint Tier experts wouldn't dare withstand the power of that beam. Your rewards are for your own use only. You can't give them to anyone else, even if you do so willingly. The Land of Inheritance won't care only after you die. As long as you're alive, no one can take your rewards."

Only then did Setti feel relieved.

If someone stole a treasure like this, he'd have no way to fight back.

"Actually, the two Saint Tier experts have speculated that the Land of Inheritance doesn't need the volcano as an energy source. To unleash an attack like that, it must have an extremely advanced power source inside. They probably use the volcano's energy to supplement the trials in order to preserve that power source. What's interesting is that no matter how talented the candidates are each year, in the end, only around twenty people can reach the Third Stage. So those of you who feel dissatisfied can give up now. From the moment you entered the volcano, it had already been decided which of you would reach the Third Stage. Only a small number of you need three to five evenly matched battles to determine the outcome. Think about it: weren't the weakest among you matched against the strongest trial-takers?" Tom challenged them.

The trial-takers around them were startled.

Some of them had indeed been dissatisfied, but after Tom said that, they gradually recalled their experiences. Some had faced opponents they couldn't resist, while others had been matched against evenly matched opponents time and again.

Five hundred people had entered the First Stage, and more than half had been eliminated right away. Those who remained for the Second Stage were all elites. Some had even felt that the Lava Stone Monsters seemed to go easy on them in the final round of the First Stage.

Tom's expression suddenly turned a little colder. "Don't refuse to accept this. Before the Land of Inheritance was discovered, the Aoyu Empire could go ten years without producing a single Super Tier Warrior. Since then, it's produced at least ten Super Tier Warriors every four years, and even two Saint Tier experts. If you're not convinced, you can try it yourselves and see whether you can surpass us, the people recognized by the Land of Inheritance."

The Super Tier experts either folded their arms or wore haughty expressions. They all clearly agreed with what he'd said.

Some of them had even been among the dozen or so people who had passed this trial in the past.

Three or five people stood up with angry expressions and left.

But the Super Tier experts floated in midair and didn't even look at them, letting them go.

Instead, they smiled kindly at Setti. "Setti, would you like to join the Forest Goddess Temple? The strongest person in the Aoyu Empire, Lord Mercedes, is the High Priest of our temple. He was the first Saint Tier expert in the Aoyu Empire, and he's still the strongest. Would you consider it?"

Everyone knew that the Aoyu Empire had two Saint Tier experts. But to ordinary people, it had always been a secret which factions they belonged to.

Chen, in the crowd, reacted slightly when he heard that name, but quickly concealed it.

The Black-Haired Elder looked at Setti solemnly as well. "Setti, your mother should be Catherine, right?"

Setti's expression changed.

The Black-Haired Elder continued, "If you're willing to return to the Royal Family, I can guarantee that Kan won't dare do anything to you. The Royal Family will also give you its full support, and your mother can be buried in the best spot in the imperial cemetery."

Chen suddenly understood. Everything had become clear.

Kan, the current king.

The king of the Aoyu Empire received extensive support and could almost always advance to Super Tier during his reign. Unless his descendants were exceptionally gifted, they had to fight among themselves to inherit the throne.

During the struggle for power, Kan had abandoned his former wife to secure greater political support.

Ordinary people didn't know about this, but Chen had heard a little about it. He immediately understood why people from the Imperial Council had come to hunt Setti down.

The Imperial Council belonged to the Royal Family.

If the trial hadn't been valued by all the factions, the threat would likely have been far worse than a few Tier 8 Warriors hunting him down. Even so, the whole affair had still been perilous.

Setti's expression darkened a little. "Sir, I'd like to watch the rest of the trial before deciding."

The Black-Haired Elder nodded and didn't press him.

A Super Tier expert sneered. "So that's who he is. Your Royal Family... is too cold-blooded! Setti, you can join the Council of Elders instead. It's much warmer than the Imperial Council, and it offers far better prospects."

The Black-Haired Elder shot the man a chilly, disdainful glance and spat.

The other Super Tier experts didn't intervene, simply watching the show.

Just then, a graceful figure slowly emerged from inside the volcano. Everyone's expressions instantly turned complicated.

"Lianda, are you the only one?"

The person who had emerged from inside the volcano was indeed Lianda, the one everyone had considered the top candidate. But they had all seen her score on the stone pillar stop changing, while another was still shown as fighting.

Lianda murmured a dazed, "Mm."

The flood of information had left her confused. Tucha Planet, Planetary Level, Star Level—everything had shaken her to the core.

But no one bothered to criticize her for being inattentive now. Everyone was staring at the only name left on the stone pillar.

Guen.

"Could it be..." Tom's heart began pounding.

He'd never imagined that someone from the Southeast Province could achieve this. Guen wasn't just in first place; judging by the time, he might even have completed the Fourth Stage.

Even Mercedes, the strongest person in the Aoyu Empire, had only performed a little better than Lianda had today.

The others hadn't done much better.

In the end, the words behind Guen's name changed from Fourth Stage to Fifth Stage.

But everyone froze. The Fifth Stage appeared, then quickly vanished from the stone pillar, indicating that Guen had completed the trial as well.

"Is it over?"

Guen knew nothing about the others' astonishment. He simply put away the rewards one by one. The Protective Suit awarded by the Volcanic Space was a little better than the one he was wearing, probably A7 Level.

Guen immediately changed into the new Protective Suit, then put on the Smart Computer. The binding process was simple; he only needed to lock onto his mental energy. Everyone's mental energy was completely different, and once it was bound to him, the information stored inside the Smart Computer became accessible to Guen.

Guen simply strapped the Smart Computer to his arm.

"Beep!"

"That was easy. I'll call you Moto." Guen casually named the Smart Computer. From now on, all he had to do was call for it, and it would carry out his commands automatically.

"Moto, send me the list of Secret Methods."

"Yes, Master," Moto replied mechanically, without emotion.

It also sent Guen a list of the various Secret Methods along with brief descriptions.

"So there's an intelligence inside the Volcanic Space, too, managing everything inside the volcano. My home has one as well." Guen smiled. His home had Kolong's intelligence, though he didn't know much about where it came from. When he was little, he'd always thought there was an invisible old man in the house who would appear whenever called.

Guen collected his thoughts and browsed through the Secret Methods.

There were all kinds of basic Secret Methods, including fist techniques, sword techniques, and Body Movement Techniques. Most important were the two Secret Methods that the stiff voice inside the Volcanic Space had specifically mentioned.

One was a combination of a Body Movement Technique and a combat technique called Flame Slash. It had only five moves. Anyone who mastered the first four at Planetary Level would be almost unbeatable at that level. If they mastered the fifth move, they could contend with some ordinary Star Level fighters despite being at Planetary Level.

The other was called Star Body Forging. It was a Secret Method for tempering the body with special materials, making it stronger while also training it to resist illusion attacks to some degree. The quality of the materials only determined how quickly one advanced; it didn't have much effect on the final result.

"Moto, assess my strength," Guen ordered.

"Yes."

A stream of information was quickly transmitted into Guen's mind.

His level, punching speed, physical reflexes, and other attributes were all displayed as data.

"What a strange feeling. It describes my condition with numbers, and so plainly, too. Too bad it can only test people below Planetary Level. I remember my father's intelligence testing his strength all the time. Looks like mine is a relatively low-end model." Guen understood now.

Then he turned his gaze toward a melon-sized little beast covered in armor-like scales, curled up into a ball, and a blade that looked dull and gray.