A bright light flashed and twenty lightning spears shot at the man from all directions.

They reached him at the same time, putting him in a difficult situation—he couldn't block them all at once.

This was usually a benefit elementalists had over others. In converse, in close body fights, they were worse off.

Whoosh!

But of course, victory won't be possible with that single edge.

The man's legs tensed and he was prepared to blast out of the siege.

"Futile." He spat out coldly, but he saw the candidate's lips curl up into a mocking smile.

"Kuh!" The man's eyes almost popped up as a terrifying pain assaulted his mind. He channeled his chi and reduced the pain.

Zap! Zap! Zap!

The lightning spears were approaching and the man leaned forward, about to bolt out.

But right then, the space around him was blocked out.

Kacha!

With a simple sword swipe, the man broke the space block. But then came another block. It was the telekinetic barrier.

Kaa!

That wasn't too hard either.

But the overall delay was significant enough.

As the lightning spears were about to engulf him, a green light flashed.

Varian watched with his mouth agape as the lightning spears slowed down. At this rate, the man seemed like could escape.

Except, another set of lightning spears arrived.

It was unexpected and quick. The man just stepped out of the lightning spears when he was forced to block a dozen more.

Clang!

As he sped up his time, the attack on his mind continued.

Pierce!

In the end, a single spear pierced through the right of his chest.

Looking at the blue blood gushed out of the man's chest cavity, Varian was once again reminded that this man wasn't really a human.

Whoosh!

As Varian prepared for his next attack, a green light flashed.

The wind seemed to slice into two parts as the man's sword, burning in flames reached Varian in an instant.

'Time skip?'

Varian teleported away and clenched his fists.

The space around the man twisted apart and a lightning sheet engulfed him.

With his injury yet to be healed, his performance declined and the lightning injured him.

Zap! Zap! Zap!

Varian didn't miss the chance and bombarded him with his coordinated attacks.

With each attack, the man's performance fell further and Varian's attacks started to inflict more damage.

But as he was about to finish off the man, a green light burst out of his body.

"Die!"

It was the final strike of his opponent. If he had 100% strength at his peak, this was something like 120%.

Varian put up all his defenses, yet it still crumbled.

It was a dangerous moment. Varian almost thought his neck was going to be cut.

In the final moment, he morphed into a plantae form. This increased his height to three meters and the sword pierced through his plant's stomach.

It was a narrow escape and Varian wanted to kill the man brutally.

But to his surprise, the man collapsed onto the ground and turned into specks of light.

"Haa!" Varian turned back to his human form and clutched his injury.

Thankfully, his aura mobilized itself to defend against the fire or he'd have been burnt from the inside.

"…What was that?" Varian didn't understand the final strike.

It wasn't a normal attack.

When he raised his sword for the final strike, the man looked perfectly fine. But when the sword pierced through Varian's stomach, the man was a skinny bag of bones.

"…is it something that increases power in exchange for life force?" Varian muttered in suspicion.

His stomach was covered by 'leaves' as his plantae form quickly healed his injuries.

As he downed a potion, Varian sat on the floor, lost in thought.

At some point, three red orbs shot into Varian's body.

Varian didn't even think much and simply processed them.

Boom! Boom!

It was as if volcanos erupted inside his body, the aura suddenly turned turbulent. The sudden spike in aura was so high that Varian was forced to calm it down.

And as he did, he didn't miss the obvious changes taking place in his body.

His healing speed increased considerably, his strength rose and every aspect of his divine paths reached a greater height.

'Status'

[Body Path Level 6: 6/6 (+2)

Space Path Level 6: 6/6 (+2)

Lightning Path Level 6: 6/6 (+2)

Morpher Path Level 6: 6/6 (+2)

Telepath Path Level 6: 6/6 (+2)

Telekinetic Path Level 6: 6/6 (+3)

Water Path Level 6: 0/6 (+3500)]

Varian checked his status once again, just to make sure. After confirming that he wasn't seeing things, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This was the single best boost he ever got.

'Once I reach level 7 in these six paths…' Varian couldn't imagine it. 'But the real fun starts when I hit level 9.'

According to the system, he already had all the paths needed for the celestial ranks.

'Except Time path…'

As he expected, the Time path was indeed formidable. But it didn't seem too powerful to break the balance.

'I only fought a single guy, I can't be sure.' Varian shook his head and stretched his arms.

It'd be great if he awakened in the time path, but since humans had no time awakeners, Varian didn't know how to improve that path through fighting.

Shaking his head, he focused his attention back on his divine paths.

He could feel it.

Level 7.

He was at the doorstep. All that was left was to break it open and storm in.

'On average, a genius would spend some six months for this step.' Varian clicked his tongue.

'Of course, I can do it way faster, but I've six fricking paths.'

While more paths provided Varian with a great edge, they came with a price.

Until now, he absorbed six red orbs.

If he was a single awakener, just one and a half orbs would've been enough for him to advance to level 7.

But even after taking six orbs, he still didn't reach level 7.

A few minutes passed and Varian's injuries healed. He also adjusted to the increase in his power.

Varian was at his strongest ever.

If he fought the same opponent, he could kill him with ease.

{Congraulations on clearing the ninth stage. You are now eligible to compete for the throne. Let the Deva Empire triumph in glory!}

As the ethereal voice sounded, the room shrank back to its original size.

Varian noticed two doors in the room. One red, one blue.

{You can exit through the blue door. Glory to you and devas!}

The ethereal voice cheered again.

Varian didn't move.

{Please exit. The trial is over.}

"It isn't." Varian shook his head. "The tenth stage, it's beyond that door, right?"

{…It is the door to definite death. No one has been able to clear it since its inception. Don't throw away your future! Even though we no longer are the same we once were, you could still be an emperor!}

Varian didn't respond and began walking towards the red door.

"Death you say, I've been chasing her all my life. If she's waiting behind this door, how can I walk away?" With a chuckle, Varian opened the red door and walked in.

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