Strength

Ever since it became known that Linley had advanced to a seventh-rank magus, the King of Fenlai and the Light Church had both scrambled to recruit him. Furthermore, the four great empires and the three major merchant guilds had also sent people to make contact.

However, Linley did not even show his face. He was a member of the Holy Union and his roots were here; if he were to join a faction, the best choice would be the Light Church.

Previously, the Light Church had even dispatched a cardinal to recruit him, showing great sincerity.

If he were to meet with people from other factions at this moment, it would only cause the Church dissatisfaction.

During these days, he had been focusing on his cultivation, only leaving to visit Proks Hall with Yale to handle the stone sculpture Dream Awakening.

As a result, he encountered people from the Dark Church on the way, and Linley was forced to go with them.

However, the Light Church had been keeping a close eye on Linley, and people were dispatched to pursue them immediately.

In the end, the people from the Dark Church had no choice but to give up and return to the Dark Alliance.

Black Phoenix City, church.

"Failed?"

"We had them, but then the deputy chief inquisitor of the Light Church's Inquisition appeared along with a hermit, plus seven or eight deacons from the Inquisition. I had no choice but to give up."

Vikas said, "You've worked hard, Vikas. It was within our expectations that the Light Church would value Linley so highly; we were only testing the waters anyway."

"In any case, our Dark Alliance also has a genius who is no less talented than Linley, and he is a dual practitioner of magic and martial arts."

Vikas said, "Jonathan's progress in magic is indeed incredibly fast, but he is slightly weaker in terms of his warrior path. Two years have passed, and I wonder what his strength is now?"

"He should have reached the seventh rank, right? But it's hard to say for sure."

"Then, before I return to the Judgment Court, should I make a trip and test him?"

Vikas looked at Vikas and said, "That works. I'll leave it to you."

"A small matter."

That night, Vikas snuck into the Bred estate, pretending to assassinate Jonathan.

With his ninth-rank warrior skills, ordinary guards naturally could not detect him.

Jonathan was extremely sharp. Upon discovering the intruder, he was startled, but realizing the other party held no killing intent, he calmed down and waited for the attack.

Before he could identify the intruder, he dared not expose his true strength.

Vikas watched for a while before suddenly emerging from the shadows to attack Jonathan.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The two exchanged blows empty-handed. Every collision produced a loud sound, and no matter how Vikas attacked, Jonathan was able to block it.

This showed that the opponent's physical techniques were extremely solid, and his combat experience was not weak either.

Vikas was slightly surprised inwardly, He really is at the seventh rank. But this physical strength is not much weaker than mine. Could it be...

He is only how old!

Vikas was a ninth-rank warrior, and with the resources of the Dark Church and various methods to stimulate his body, he had only just broken through the limits of a sixth-rank warrior to reach the seventh rank.

He has actually touched the limits of his physical body too?!

At this moment, a trace of envy rose in Vikas's heart, but he dared not do anything to harm Jonathan. Given how much the Dark Church valued him, if he did, he feared there would be no place for him in the Church anymore.

If any faction were asked to choose, they would certainly pick Jonathan, a genius magus with the potential to reach the Saint realm, rather than himself, a ninth-rank warrior who had little chance of further breakthroughs.

Vikas retreated violently, moving backward at high speed. He took one last look at Jonathan, leaped off a rockery, vaulted over dozens of meters, and after sprinting across the rooftops for a distance, he vanished into the night.

A ninth-rank warrior? It shouldn't be someone sent by Prell; he doesn't have the influence to casually command a ninth-rank warrior to test me.

The Dark Church, wanting to test my current strength?

Jonathan gave a cold smile, turned around, and returned to his cultivation room.

After more than a year of secluded training, Jonathan had reached the mid-eighth rank as a warrior and the peak of the eighth rank as a magus. As for his physical body, it was at the peak of the seventh rank.

His body reaching this point was thanks to the tempering under the twenty-fold gravity of the stone ball.

When his spiritual energy reached the peak of the eighth rank, he could trigger the stone ball's gravity field to twenty times its normal strength. This was his current limit; to go further, he would need another breakthrough.

After his physical body reached the seventh rank, Jonathan felt he had truly reached his limit. Even training under a stronger gravity field might not necessarily lead to another breakthrough.

His battle qi had just broken through to the mid-eighth rank, which was about what he expected, but his spiritual energy cultivation had been unexpectedly good.

He had originally thought reaching the late eighth rank would be good enough, but who would have thought that during his cultivation, he had briefly entered a special state once or twice, causing his spiritual energy to grow significantly.

It just wasn't as exaggerated as Linley's, which had surged tenfold from the early sixth rank to the seventh.

Such a state was rare and hard to come by. Since then, Jonathan had not had another epiphany; otherwise, he might have already broken through to the ninth rank.

For a normal magus, the gap between the peak of the eighth rank and the ninth rank could take many years to bridge, but Jonathan had a premonition that he would definitely break through in a year, or two at most.

If he succeeded, a twenty-year-old ninth-rank grand magus would truly be unprecedented.

Magical Beast Mountain Range, Dylin should have come out by now. Going there at this time wouldn't be wise. I'll wait a little longer; it won't be long before I no longer need to hide my strength.

After his strength hit a bottleneck, Jonathan spent most of his time researching various magic arrays.

To this end, he spent a large sum of money collecting them from everywhere, and some people even brought them to his doorstep upon hearing of his interest.

Furthermore, he had not forgotten his comprehension of "intent." He was already extremely proficient in Heavy as Light, and by combining it with his battle qi, he had created his own techniques, even beginning to use this foundation to contemplate Light as Heavy.

"Light as Heavy, how exactly does one comprehend it?"

Jonathan held a tree branch flat across his palms, eyes closed, yet it was of no use.

A moment later, he began to wield the branch, performing basic movements like chopping, hacking, lifting, and thrusting, constantly refining them based on his own insights.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the backyard, Jonathan trained with extreme diligence, brandishing the branch and practicing his techniques, hoping to achieve the effect of a heavy sword strike, though it was clearly not something easily accomplished.

He had lost count of how many branches had snapped on the ground.

However, he had no better method for this; he could only continue day after day, contemplating and feeling his way forward.

He alternated between practicing his moves and sitting in silent meditation, training with an almost obsessive fervor; during this period, he turned away anyone who came to visit.

Not long after, Wesport heard the news and specifically came to pay him a visit.

Jonathan did not dare to be negligent toward him.

"Jonathan, I finally understand why you have achieved so much at such a young age: exceptional talent, combined with diligence that far exceeds the average person."

"If I had been born in the same era as you, I fear I would have been incredibly depressed; back in my day, I was also one of the top geniuses at the Ulada Magic Academy."

"I always considered myself quite hardworking, but compared to you, it pales in comparison."

"Effort is a good thing, but sometimes relaxation is also necessary."

"There is a stone sculpture auction in Fenlai City recently, carved by a young man named Linley; he is truly remarkable."

"You might not know this, but his cultivation speed is even a notch faster than yours. He just turned seventeen this year and has already broken through to a seventh-rank magus. He is also a dual-element seventh-rank, specializing in earth and wind magic."

"I heard the standard of those stone sculptures is extremely high, reaching a master level. Are you interested in going with me to take a look?"

"Fenlai City, stone sculpture auction? Has it already reached this point in time?"

Jonathan thought for a moment and replied, "Alright!"

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