Lord of Prayer

Multi-colored liquids rose from the ground, merging mid-air into a ball of pure golden light. It blazed like the Sun before sinking into Zhou Chen’s chest and fusing with him.

BOOM!

It was as if a small cosmos had exploded inside him. Torrential waves of pale fire erupted from his body but were held firmly within the confines of the Advanced Secret Ceremony, unable to leak out in the slightest.

The Fiery Fire burned his skin, seared his flesh, and even incinerated his Soul. It worked from the inside out and the outside in, as if his entire being had been thrown into an Alchemy Melting Furnace, forced to endure extreme heat at every moment.

Under the influence of the Star Mango, his fragmented Soul gradually mended, allowing Zhou Chen to feel a rare sense of completeness amidst the intense pain and convulsions. But soon, his consciousness was overwhelmed by the immense pain, and he fell into Darkness.

In his Spiritual World, the light from the vast expanse of stars grew ever more brilliant. The dim regions were lit up one by one until the entire starry sky was filled with exquisite galaxies.

The light expanded dramatically, transforming into silver torrents that gathered and converged like the Milky Way itself.

At first, it was just a trickle, then it grew into a brook, then a stream…

As time went on, the starlight grew increasingly brilliant. The pure silver river gradually converged into a mighty, unending river, its surging waves slowly filling the arid land of his Spiritual World and coalescing into a silvery-white ocean.

At that moment, a flicker of fire pierced the Darkness. Zhou Chen plunged into an endless sea of Fiery Fire. A rhythmic, powerful sound echoed in his ears, like the beating of a heart.

The sound grew clearer and more immense until it filled his entire consciousness, his entire Soul. It wasn’t the beating of a heart, but the clang of a hammer striking metal—the sound of forging.

Back when he’d mastered the Hammer of Forging, Zhou Chen’s body had already been “refined and reforged.” Now, he was undergoing the “refining and reforging” of his Soul.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

An invisible hammer descended from the heavens, striking every inch of his body with the force of a Thunderbolt. Zhou Chen felt as if he had become burning steel. Annealed in the flames and forged by a thousand strikes, he shed his impurities and grew ever purer.

The searing flames and the hammering blows brought an indescribable agony—the pain of his Soul being tempered.

Fortunately, the torture didn’t last long. As the final hammer fell, an immense, deafening sound rang out. The roiling sea of fire surged and erupted, swallowing Zhou Chen’s consciousness.

His body suddenly erupted with dazzling light and intense heat. Then, the dispersing waves of pale fire retracted, flowing back into him.

The chamber was silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Zhou Chen’s eyes opened. He stared blankly at the ceiling as his consciousness gradually returned.

The first thing he felt was the immense Life Force welling up within him. His heart pounded like a blazing furnace, continuously pumping magma-hot blood throughout his body and infusing him with a surging, volcanic vitality.

Next came a feeling of wholeness from his Soul; there was no longer the slightest trace of discomfort.

He instinctively raised his arm to look at it and saw that his veins were no longer bluish. Instead, they glowed with a brilliant, magma-like color, flowing slowly beneath his skin.

Zhou Chen got up from the floor. The materials for the Advanced Secret Ceremony had vanished without a trace, and the entire ritual formation had completely lost its power.

He looked down at his body. His skin had a healthy, rosy glow, and his chiseled muscles were as defined as a fitness model’s. He possessed the aesthetic of an Ancient Greek sculpture, and every muscle in his body coursed with unprecedented Power.

“It worked…”

Zhou Chen let out a long sigh of relief and couldn’t help but smile.

His fragmented Soul was completely repaired, and the feeling of emptiness deep inside him had vanished. More importantly, he was now a Tier Two Ascender!

In his Spiritual World, beneath the brilliant canopy of stars, was a surging ocean of pure silver. It was formed from an Ascender’s own Soul, spirit, and Essence, and was the symbol of a Tier Two Ascender, as well as the wellspring of their Power.

And then, there were the Derivative Abilities he had been dreaming of.

He had successfully learned Flame Jump!

On top of that, he had also gained another Derivative Ability: “Burst,” which came from the Magma Giant.

Simply put, his Soul-Burning Flame could now create an explosive effect. He no longer needed to rely on Alchemy Bombs for detonation, could now deal large-scale damage, and he could control the timing of the explosion himself.

A burst of white flame suddenly ignited on one side of the chamber. Zhou Chen vanished, reappearing an instant later where the pale flame burned. He had teleported. Immediately after, flashes of fire appeared in rapid succession, with more flames igniting out of thin air as he continuously jumped and warped around the narrow chamber.

‘I still need to run detailed tests on the ability’s maximum range, but each jump doesn’t consume much Essence. With my current Essence Capacity, I can use it almost fifty times in a row, and it’s very easy to control. I don’t feel like I’m going to lose control of it at all…

After being tempered by the Hammer of Forging, my Essence Capacity seems to be much larger than a normal Tier Two Ascender’s. Finally, I don’t have to worry about running out of Essence…’

After some brief testing, Zhou Chen, in high spirits, got dressed and opened the chamber door.

Outside, Jiang Che saw the broad smile on his face and knew his Advancement had been a success.

And so, a large piece of Star Dust suddenly materialized inside the Wish Bottle.

“Not bad. You only took half an hour, faster than I expected.” Jiang Che nodded calmly and asked, “How do you feel?”

“I’m filled with Power, my Soul is repaired, and I successfully awakened Derivative Abilities.” Zhou Chen smiled mysteriously. “Guess how many?”

He had no intention of hiding his Derivative Abilities. There was simply no way to conceal them; both Burst and Flame Jump were bound to be frequently used Skills in combat.

Jiang Che raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. ‘How many?’

‘It sounds like this guy’s luck was off the charts, awakening multiple Derivative Abilities.’

Before she could answer, Zhou Chen held up two fingers. “Two.”

“Your luck is quite good,” Jiang Che said with admiration.

Gaining a single Derivative Ability during Advancement was a blessing many Ascenders could only dream of, something akin to their ancestors smiling down on them. Gaining two was undoubtedly hitting the jackpot. Any more than that… and you’d have to constantly watch your back for fear of keeling over dead on the street.

“Come on, let’s go eat first. I’m starving. We can test my Abilities after we’ve eaten.” An intense pang of hunger shot through Zhou Chen’s stomach, as if every last nutrient in his body had been consumed.

·

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Chen went to the research department, ready for some practical tests of his Abilities.

Ascending to Tier Two didn’t just grant him Derivative Abilities; it also came with a much stronger physique and enhancements to his original Extraordinary Abilities. All of these needed to be tested for him to understand just how much he had improved and what his current level was.

First up was the Power test. For a peculiar Fire Type and Spiritual Element Ascender, Zhou Chen’s Power was ridiculously high, surpassing the normal level for a Tier Two Ascender and placing him in the upper-middle echelon.

Then came tests for speed, Endurance, explosive power, reaction time, and durability. The final conclusion was that based on his physical attributes alone, Zhou Chen was already above the baseline for a Tier Two Ascender, surpassing the vast majority of them.

“This is a little ridiculous. Theoretically, he’s a dual-type Fire Type and Spiritual Element Ascender. With no physical enhancement Abilities, he shouldn’t have this kind of physique…” a researcher said, showing Jiang Che the data calculated by the machines.

“Machines are just machines. They can only give an approximate value, and when their input parameters are incomplete, the results are bound to be flawed.” Jiang Che spared the data a single glance before looking away, completely unsurprised.

“It’s possible Hermes or the King of Music strengthened his body. I’m leaning toward the King of Music. She’s known for generously bestowing her blessings upon those she admires.”

“That makes sense.”