Chapter 196: Replicating the Special Advancement Opportunity

Several minutes passed like this.

Then the violent lightning surrounding Ron suddenly contracted, everything rushed back toward his body at once.

The surrounding air became quiet.

Ron remained sitting with his eyes closed for another moment before slowly releasing a breath.

At the same time, a familiar notification echoed throughout the world.

[World Announcement]

[The third player to have successfully advanced to the 3rd Echelon.]

[The name "Heavenly Flash" shall be recorded in the history of this world.]

[Heavenly Flash has received a Cyan Scroll.]

Countless people across the Original World and everyone still inside the Invasion Corridor received the announcement.

Ron opened his eyes, Lightning flickered inside his pupils for an instant before disappearing.

A Cyan Scroll materialized in front of him.

Ron caught it with one hand and stared at the item before slowly turning toward Cain.

A grin immediately appeared on his face.

"Don’t even start it." Cain saw it and rolled his eyes.

Ron clicked his tongue in disappointment before standing up and stretching his body.

His entire body felt heavier in a strange way, yet moving had become easier.

More importantly, the Mana inside his newly formed Core was on a completely different level compared to before.

Ron clenched one hand, several thin arcs of Lightning crawled between his fingers.

His eyes brightened.

"This feels good."

Cain was about to respond when Evelyne returned to his side.

She had finished treating Dmitri and no longer had healing light gathered around her hands.

Cain glanced toward the large man lying farther away.

Dmitri was already sitting upright.

His breathing had returned to normal, and the terrible injuries caused by Ron’s final attack were no longer visible.

"How is he?"

"He’s fine."

Evelyne brushed a loose strand of white-red hair away from her face.

"His ribs are repaired and most of the internal damage is gone. He’ll still feel sore for a little while, but there’s nothing serious left."

Cain nodded.

"Good work."

He raised his hand and lightly patted her head.

Evelyne froze for a fraction of a second, then she looked up at him and pouted.

"Why are you patting me like a kid?"

Cain continued for another second before withdrawing his hand.

"Because you did well."

"..."

Evelyne opened her mouth.

Whatever complaint she had prepared never came out.

Instead, she turned her face slightly away.

"At least say thank you properly."

"I just did."

"That wasn’t a thank you."

"Thank you."

"Hmmph!" Evelyne looked back at him and snorted.

Cain chuckled before shifting his attention toward Mo Xuanye.

He tilted his head slightly.

"Prepare two more Mana Potions."

Mo Xuanye immediately understood.

He glanced toward Tang Ziyue.

Tang Ziyue did not need to be told as her hand moved toward the small pouch hanging from her waist, and two blue vials appeared between her fingers.

Cain looked around the ruined plaza.

Most of the people had recovered enough to fight again.

Ron had successfully proven that the strange temporary Advancement Mission was real.

Naturally, everyone who had the same Advancement Mission became interested.

Cain raised his voice.

"Who’s going second?"

There was barely any hesitation as Aurelia stepped forward.

"I will."

Cain looked toward her.

The blonde woman had remained calm while watching Ron and Dmitri fight, but even she could not completely hide the interest in her eyes now.

Ron had entered the 3rd Echelon without needing to fight one of the Youngest Prince’s subordinates.

If the same method worked again, there was no reason for Aurelia to wait.

Before Cain could ask who wanted to face her, another person stepped forward.

Tang Ziyue.

Cain raised an eyebrow.

This was actually an interesting matchup as Tang Ziyue fought differently than Aurelia.

Poison and hidden weapons formed the foundation of her combat style.

A poisoned wound did not need to be large and a dagger did not need to strike the heart if whatever coated its edge could spread through the target’s body afterward.

However, this was only a spar.

Tang Ziyue could not freely use techniques meant to kill Aurelia.

That limitation clearly favored the Radiant Sword Saint.

Cain’s gaze moved toward Mo Xuanye.

He was not particularly worried about Aurelia winning or losing.

His concern was whether Tang Ziyue’s idea of holding back matched everyone else’s.

Mo Xuanye noticed Cain looking at him.

A faint chuckle escaped him.

"Don’t worry. She knows what she’s doing."

Cain nodded with a smile as he knew what he meant by that.

He then looked at Tang Ziyue again.

The young woman had already begun walking toward the center of the plaza.

Several small daggers rested between her fingers.

Aurelia drew her sword.

"Alright." He smiled faintly as he moved aside.

The surrounding people also cleared the area again.

Ron walked over and stopped beside Cain, his expression was filled with interest.

"Who do you think wins?"

"Aurelia."

Ron looked surprised by how quickly Cain answered.

"Are you that certain?"

"If Tang Ziyue fights without restrictions, she will have a chance."

Cain watched the two women take their positions.

"But this is a spar."

"Oh." Ron raised an eyebrow.

Both women waited.

Several seconds passed, but nothing happened.

Aurelia looked ahead, while Tang Ziyue remained in position.

Another few seconds went by.

But still nothing happened.

The translucent System notification that had appeared before Ron and Dmitri never came.

Aurelia frowned slightly.

Tang Ziyue lowered one of her hands.

"Did they receive it before they started?"

"Right after they both agreed to the wager." Cain nodded.

Ron scratched his head.

"Maybe you two need to insult each other first."

Aurelia looked at him.

"Why?"

"That’s what Dmitri and I did."

"That was because you’re childish."

Ron pointed toward her.

"See? That’s already a good start."

Aurelia rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Cain folded his arms.

There were several possibilities.

The most obvious one was that the System had only offered the Special Advancement Opportunity once.

Another possibility was that the conditions were more complicated than merely having two fighters having a spar.

Ron and Dmitri had genuinely wanted to beat each other.

The wager had not been fake either.

Perhaps the System had recognized something inside their challenge that did not exist between Aurelia and Tang Ziyue.

Cain truly did not know what it was and there was no point pretending otherwise.

"Try exchanging a few moves."

Aurelia looked toward him.

"If nothing appears after that?"

"Just stop, since there’s no reason to waste Mana." Cain shrugged.

Aurelia nodded.

Tang Ziyue moved first as she flicked her wrist and two daggers left her hand.

Aurelia stepped sideways.

The first passed beside her shoulder.

Her sword moved afterward, knocking the dagger aside.

Clang!

By then, Tang Ziyue had already crossed part of the distance with another blade appearing in her hand.

She aimed toward Aurelia’s side, but golden Light suddenly gathered around the sword.

Aurelia turned and their weapons collided.

Clang!

Tang Ziyue immediately withdrew.

Aurelia followed for several steps before stopping.

Neither had used much Mana.

They exchanged several more attacks.

Tang Ziyue relied on speed and changing angles, occasionally releasing a dagger from positions that made the attack difficult to notice.

Aurelia responded with controlled sword movements and never allowed herself to be drawn too far away from the center.

Still, no notification appeared.

After another brief exchange, Aurelia lowered her sword.

"Still nothing."

Tang Ziyue returned the dagger to one of the small sheaths hidden around her clothes.

"It seems so."

Sigh!

Cain sighed once.

"Then stop."

The two women returned without argument.

Ethan had been watching the entire process.

He suddenly raised his hand.

"What if the problem is that they didn’t actually have any conflict?"

Cain looked toward him.

Ethan continued.

"Ron and Dmitri were genuinely arguing before their match. Maybe the System needs both sides to actually want to defeat each other."

Ethan looked toward another 2nd Echelon.

"We can try creating the same situation first."

Cain rubbed the side of his face as he already suspected the result.

If the System could be tricked simply by having two people exchange insults before fighting, then the condition would be almost meaningless.

Still, testing it once would remove the possibility.

"Go ahead."

Ethan looked surprised.

"Really?"

"Do whatever you want."

Cain waved his hand.

"If it works, good. If it doesn’t, then stop wasting time."

Ethan nodded and immediately began searching for someone willing to participate.

Cain had already lost interest as he turned toward Ron.

"Let’s go."

Ron followed him toward the area where Cain’s group had gathered.

Evelyne came with them.

Cain stopped in front of Ron, then opened his inventory.

Purified Blood Crystals began appearing on the ground.

Zombie Cores followed afterward.

Ron stared as the pile rapidly grew.

"What are you doing?"

"Raise your Core to the Perfected Stage."

Cain gestured toward the resources.

Ron then immediately sat down and picked up one of the purified Blood Crystals and began absorbing it.

Lightning Mana inside his new Core responded immediately.

The energy entered his body before being guided toward the Core.

Cain watched briefly to make sure there was no problem.

Then he turned toward Evelyne.

"Your turn."

Evelyne looked confused.

"My turn for what?"

Cain smiled as he waved his hand and dozens of Orbs appeared beside him.

Then more followed.

Gray.

Green.

Blue.

Within a short time, close to a hundred Orbs were lying on the broken ground.

Evelyne stared at them, her eyes slowly widened as he asked.

"You want me to open all of those?"

"Yes." Cain nodded as he continued, "Because I want to see how much your healing abilities actually influence the results."

Evelyne crouched near the pile, then picked up the first Gray Orb.

"So you’re using me as an experiment?"

"A very valuable one indeed."

She looked up at him.

"That doesn’t make it sound better."

Cain replied with a chuckle, "Just start opening them."

Evelyne rolled her eyes.

Then the first Orb cracked in her hands.