Ascension

The "belligerence" side effect of the Crimson Scar E.G.O. should have prevented Shen Yu from thinking carefully. However, the side effect of the Frost Shard's [Frost] was mental suppression.

The two partially canceled each other out, allowing Shen Yu to quickly analyze the battle.

First, fighting both of them at once was the worst option. The best approach was to separate them and defeat them one at a time. Unfortunately, the E.G.O. that could do that also had the worst side effect.

Sigh. Here goes nothing. Shen Yu hunched forward and abruptly hurled an Ice Spear at Oro. He wrapped Silk Thread around the sword-shaped [Frost Shard] behind him and made it strike him repeatedly to restore his mental energy.

Then he Dashed forward, becoming a streak of blood-red light as he swept toward his opponent.

Seeing this, Mato immediately pulled a Nail from the ground and shattered the Ice Spear with a flying Nail, just as before. Then he leaped high into the air and landed in Shen Yu's path.

Just as planned. Shen Yu chuckled and immediately activated the preliminary release of [Lonesome]'s E.G.O.:

[Empty Nest Cabin]: The wielder consumes X% mental energy to summon [1-10-12-1] [Empty Nest Cabin], imprisoning the target for X/10 minutes. While imprisoned, the target takes 12-18 mental damage per second. Cost: psychologically endure X years of solitude.

Use 50%. Shen Yu immediately made his decision, planted a foot on the ground, and closed in on Mato ahead.

The flashlight-shaped [Lonesome] at Shen Yu's waist instantly transformed into a yellowed book.

Yellowed pages flew out of it, fluttering through the air. Obscure black writing writhed across them, crawling like living creatures.

The pages spun and assembled in midair, soon forming a rectangular paper framework around Mato.

The writing peeled away from the pages and adhered to the framework. The formerly soft paper hardened and expanded into bricks and stones, while the dustlike script bound them together like mortar.

Finally, a dilapidated cabin abruptly appeared in the Arena.

Its roof was covered in old, slanted tiles, and its walls were built from rough, blue-gray stones. Withered ivy hung down one side.

There was only a small wooden panel for a door, its edges already rotten. Blackened moss dangled from the edges of the roof.

A layer of dust coated the cabin, making its age obvious. Cobwebs and cracks marked its walls.

Inside were only a few rough stone walls and a floor of hard-packed earth. Firewood and straw lay piled in a corner.

The entire cabin exuded age and desolation, as though it had been forgotten for years.

Violent slicing noises erupted from within-Mato's Cyclone Slash. The walls shook and shed dust, but still held him firmly inside.

Meanwhile, Shen Yu continued controlling the ice sword with Silk Thread to slash himself, while forming another Ice Spear in his hand.

Oro hurriedly rolled backward to evade it, but Shen Yu immediately Dashed after him and slammed the Ice Spear directly into him.

Boom! The Ice Spear exploded, freezing the surrounding area. Shen Yu dared not waste a moment. While his opponent was frozen, he slashed at him with the Meat Cleaver at blinding speed, stacking bleed.

Suddenly, the ice shattered. Oro raised his Nail high and brought it down toward Shen Yu below.

Shen Yu did not dodge. Instead, he pressed closer and used the combat skill Thread Dance. With the Silk Thread wrapped around the ice sword, its attacks were slower, but each strike dealt more damage than the others and inflicted extreme cold.

When Oro's Nail descended, however, Shen Yu swung his Meat Cleaver to block. A crack rang out, and his right hand broke again, spinning once before hanging limp.

As Oro followed up with a decapitating strike, Shen Yu used the force to bend backward, barely avoiding it with a deep backbend. At the same time, he pulled the trigger with his left hand.

Bang! A blood-red bullet shot out and struck his opponent squarely in the heart. Every bleeding wound on Oro's body burst open at once, tearing apart the tissue beneath.

"Cough!" Oro grunted, used a Back Jump to retreat from Shen Yu, and rested his Nail on his shoulder, conceding defeat.

Only then did the stunned Fools recover, exclaiming in disbelief:

(Carlos) "What did I just see? That guy didn't just survive. He actually defeated that terrifying monster!"

(Sika) "How did he do it? How could he conjure a cabin out of thin air?" One Fool grabbed a companion and pointed at the Empty Nest Cabin below in astonishment.

(Rossi) "If there were only one enemy, he'd have won already. But there's still another."

At those words, the Fools' excitement dimmed, though it was still too soon to mourn Shen Yu.

(Kas) "What a shame. Such an unusual warrior is going to die here."

"Foolishness. This is a dream. How could anyone die?" Lasi looked scornfully at the Fools below and muttered.

(Bis) "No. He can die," Godseeker said calmly.

"Why? We do not understand."

Godseeker glanced at Little Knight, who sat in the center swinging his little feet, and explained quietly:

(Karas) "Because we used souls to form the Pantheon, a challenger's soul is inscribed within it the instant they enter. Otherwise, they could not ascend their life before attuning to the True Gods.

"If a challenger is defeated, their soul is devoured by the Pantheon and becomes a note of resonance. If they cannot accomplish even this, how could they deserve a covenant with the God of Gods?"

At that moment, Shen Yu was in terrible shape. Although the side effects manifested by [Frost Shard] and [Crimson Scar] could partially cancel each other out,

his mind was still being torn apart, as though he had a split personality. In addition, E.G.O. effects such as [Ice Spear] all consumed mental energy.

Slashing himself with the ice sword to recover caused no actual injury, but he could clearly feel his body being sliced open. At the same time, his heart grew ever colder.

During this interval, Shen Yu summoned the Spiderlings again, then used [Memory] to return his health to below 50%. He focused all his attention on the faintly trembling cabin in the center.

The entire Arena instantly grew so quiet that a pin dropping would have been audible. Only heavy breathing remained. Everyone fixed their eyes on the cabin as time crawled painfully onward.

Finally, when five minutes had passed, the cabin instantly decayed and collapsed, dissolving into black dust.

Almost simultaneously, the cold gleam of Shen Yu's Ice Spear erupted alongside the flash of Mato's Nail.

Although the Ice Spear was sliced apart by the sword technique, its exploding chill still hindered Mato. At the same time, four Spiderlings sprayed Spider Silk together, binding him.

Shen Yu shot his opponent in the forehead, then Dashed in to attack. He circled Mato, slashing repeatedly to build up bleed stacks before using the Flintlock to trigger a blood explosion.

But Mato abruptly unleashed Cyclone Slash, tearing through the Spider Silk before whirling toward Shen Yu.

Shen Yu immediately bound him with Lonesome Dust and unleashed Thread Dance. After several slashes, he used Backstep to evade and fired another shot into Mato's head.

A blood-red blur and a purple blur trailing gray streaks intertwined and collided throughout the Arena. The explosions of ice crystals alternated with the slicing of the whirlwind.

Mato moved using Cyclone Slash, sweeping up the Nails scattered across the arena and launching them at his opponent.

Shen Yu evaded with combat skills and rolls, firing at intervals.

As a Nail pierced Shen Yu's right leg, a spinning blade struck Mato. Mato leaped high into the air, then rested his Nail on his shoulder, his black eyes fixed on the blood-soaked Shen Yu ahead.

Then both Masters straightened their chests and bowed to Shen Yu.

(Kenbama, Feilaluo)

(Bama, Feiluo)

"The winner is..." Lasi rose, voice trembling, only to suddenly realize that the challenger's name was unknown.

(Kaviro... Shen... Yu) "Shen... Yu." Godseeker looked down and struggled to pronounce the name in human speech.

After a brief silence, everyone finally reacted. The entire Arena erupted, the Fools' cheers booming like cannon fire.

In the spectator stands below, the Fools stood on their chairs, clapping and cheering as they stammered Shen Yu's name, each school pronouncing it differently.

(Sikas) "Fantastic! Another mighty warrior has risen!"

(Harveylu) "An epic victory! Keep it up, Shen... Yu?" One Fool frantically slapped its insect legs.

(Rossi) "Shen Yu! Shen Yu!" At last, the Fools cheered that name in unison.

Above, the Godseeker tribe also rose excitedly, their voices overlapping:

(Kalon) "Simply unbelievable! What a brilliant ensemble!"

(Dosia) "Those were Masters! They were actually defeated by a Fool?"

Godseeker also rose instinctively and spoke:

(Karas) "Unbelievable. The sound of Masters who transcend mortality was surpassed by the sound of a Fool. No, that is not it. It was that challenger's sound-the music created by the symphony of those four 'instruments.'"

Meanwhile, the Fool King remained silent, looking down at Shen Yu. He rubbed the table and chair, murmuring to himself:

(Sidoyi) "When will I get to fight him?"

Ding!

Brilliant light burst forth, and Shen Yu entered a place like a divine realm. Countless intricate wheels turned in the golden sky, radiating light.

Then his very existence began to vibrate, resonating with another.

After an unknown length of time, information appeared in his mind:

Life Ascension

0 [Fool] → 1 [Master]

Next life tier: 2 [Artist]. Ascend through the Artist Pantheon.

Life Breakthrough: maximum health 96 → 500

Soul Breakthrough: maximum mental energy 99 → 600

Strength increased

Speed Boost: movement speed 10 → 20

[Master's Technique]: perfectly combine technique and weapon.

Oro & Mato attunement rate: 50%

[Linked Will]: connect your consciousness with your comrades to fight together.

Combat skills:

[Dash Slash] (beginner)

[Cyclone Slash] (beginner)

[Double Slash] (beginner)

[Jump Slash] (beginner)

[Quickstep]

[Backflip Roll] (beginner)

[Back Jump]

[Battle Cry]: Yasuo-! Assert your own existence and suppress other living beings.

Just as Shen Yu was marveling at this, another set of similar yet slightly different information suddenly surfaced in his mind:

EGO Resonance, personal E.G.O. awakening: 20%

Resistances:

Physical: 1.0 → 0.8

Mental: 0.8 → 0.6 (protective will)

Corrosion: 1.0 → 0.8

Soul: 2.0 → 1.8

Sephiah [Kingdom] (Malkuth) has been surpassed. Current Sephiah: [Radiance] (incomplete): dignity and glory.

Holy shit. That was all Shen Yu could think upon receiving this information. At this rate, once he finished all five Pantheons, he really could ascend to godhood!

Moreover, just like the dream and the Primordial Sea, the Hollow's life tiers and Lobotomy Corporation's Kabbalistic Tree of Life were similar systems that could merge with each other.

But what's with the "incomplete" after [Radiance]? What exactly am I missing?

Forget it. I'll think about it when I get back. Just as Shen Yu was about to leave this Eternal Realm, he felt an invisible gaze emerge from unfathomable depths and settle on him once again.

With an ancient, desolate heartbeat, the dream's light instantly froze. Then scarlet flames replaced the entire space.

Next, a husky voice sounded in Shen Yu's mind:

"Interesting. I never expected the dream to extend this far and intersect with this place. Little fellow, the things you carry are quite intriguing. Interested in linking the fire?"