"Enter the Border City Battle on Hard Mode."
Xu Yuan spoke softly.
The Border City World appeared once more.
He was still at the building that housed the Grand Array's control center.
But Xu Yuan was in no hurry to enter.
He found a secluded corner and willed it to appear.
The phantom Divine Temple materialized before him.
Come to think of it, this effect looks a lot like the Shop appearing.
"Need something?"
The Paper Strip hovered in midair, sounding surprised.
"I won't feel safe learning skills out there. Better to do it in the Competition," Xu Yuan said.
He looked toward the offering altar.
Three sticks of incense burned slowly in the censer, sending up curls of blue smoke.
Xu Yuan's gaze settled on the third stick—the Dimension System—and he said:
"I have 180,000 followers now. I want to learn Deep Dive."
"In our terms, it isn't 'learning.' It's 'awakening.' You are a true god, and a true god possesses every ability. Most of yours are merely dormant," the Paper Strip said.
It added, "The powers of the other two systems are strong too. Why not awaken them first?"
"Because—"
Xu Yuan walked up to the offering altar and looked at the censer. "The owner of that Hook never needed to appear. I could have lived perfectly well without it." "Yes. You gained the Three-System Ability. You don't need it at all," the Paper Strip said.
Xu Yuan raised a hand.
At a flicker of his will, a faint Rune appeared on the back of it.
"But it turned me straight into a Longevity Immortal Species and left this mark behind."
"I asked whether you trusted it," the Paper Strip said with the air of an old schemer.
"Now let's see the answer. Awaken, power of Dimension."
Xu