Chapter 540 – Ascension Altar, Everyone's Great Breakthrough!

Among miracle buildings capable of rapidly increasing levels from First to Fourth Order, the Pure Soul Source Pool stands out as a top-tier example.

When it comes to opportunities that can enhance Legendary Realm domain cultivation without side effects, the vast Eternal World offers quite a few. The effectiveness of these opportunities varies, and the ‘Four Extremes Ascension Altar’ ranks among the very best for boosting domain realms.

“Just as the Lord predicted, this secret realm indeed contains the Four Extremes Ascension Altar!”

One of Sophia’s Black Crows spotted this miracle building. She immediately spread a pair of black wings from her back and flapped them, soaring swiftly toward the target location.

Soon after,

Sophia arrived before this unique structure.

Before her, shrouded in a hazy white mist, stood a massive square altar over a hundred meters long and wide, towering upon the land. The altar rose about three meters above the ground, with ten steps leading upward in sequence.

By the time Sophia arrived, four Legendary figures had already gathered around. One of them was climbing the steps, attempting to ascend the altar.

“The Four Extremes Ascension Altar can greatly enhance the domain realm of those who obtain its opportunity. Historically, this miracle building has appeared four times within the Taixuan Territory, vanishing after a period, with some Taixuan Legends benefiting from it. The Legend who gained the most saw their domain realm instantly soar by 6,000 meters and immediately condense a Divine Soul.”

“Indeed, there’s a saying about the Four Extremes Ascension Altar allowing one to reach the heavens in a single step. However, seizing this opportunity isn’t simple; not every Legend can ascend the altar and benefit.”

Yes, only those who climb the ten steps and reach the altar can receive the opportunity’s reward.

Sophia murmured softly.

In the distance,

the Legend climbing the steps had just reached the sixth step when his expression abruptly changed. With a bang, he was repelled by the altar’s power and crashed heavily onto the ground.

He had failed.

At that moment, the power of the world’s rules enveloping the Four Extremes Ascension Altar slowly dissipated.

Other Legends could now attempt to ascend the altar.

The three Legend explorers cast solemn glances around, filled with wariness, tension, and desire.

They wanted to be the first to climb the altar, yet feared they might not succeed.

Climbing these ten steps was more difficult than scaling a towering mountain ten thousand meters high!

Just then, they sensed something and turned their gazes to the side, spotting another competitor emerging from the white mist.

The newcomer wore a black robe with a hood, only vaguely discernible as a female Legend.

“This place, I claim it.”

“Arrogant!”

The three Legends’ eyes narrowed.

One of them growled lowly, feigning anger but not immediately attacking.

Daring to speak such words indicated either arrogance or confidence. In a World Secret Realm, the latter was more likely.

Even so, with an opportunity before them…

The three exchanged glances.

“Thud—”

Three domains expanded as three figures shot forward.

But the next moment, domains shattered and figures froze.

A terrifying domain with a diameter exceeding ten thousand meters enveloped and suppressed the entire area.

Over ten seconds later,

three differently styled but equally charred and ruined life-saving talismans dropped to the ground with a splat.

Sophia paid no mind to the Legends who had escaped. She walked closer to the altar, circling it for observation.

“This Ascension Altar has been used twice. Fortunately, it seems there are quite a few uses remaining.”

After all, energy is conserved.

If such opportunity treasure lands or miracle buildings are used excessively, their mystical power will be rapidly depleted, requiring a long time to recover.

Many in their territory needed to use this altar; the remaining mystical power might not even be sufficient. How could she allow others to set foot on it?

From this moment on, their Tianyuan City had reserved this Ascension Altar exclusively.

Sophia still did not step onto the altar. Instead, she took out the Epic Treasure ‘Great Dark Sky Curtain.’

Black branches inserted into the ground, slowly growing outward. In the blink of an eye, a dark illusory sky curtain enveloped the entire Ascension Altar.

This sky curtain could trap enemies within and, naturally, block outsiders from entering.

This way, she could prevent certain swift Legend Realm figures from slipping onto the altar unnoticed.

When a Legendary expert began attempting the altar, the world’s rules would block access from both inside and out.

Sophia sat beside the altar, silently waiting.

…

“Screech—”

The first Tianyuan General to arrive at the Ascension Altar was, naturally, inevitably, and unsurprisingly, Falcon Lord itself.

Asun landed on the ground, waving a wing in greeting to Sophia. “Caw—”

Sophia: “…”

Why was it speaking bird language?

Their territory had many strong experts, but also quite a few problem children.

“Go attempt the Ascension Altar. See how effective it is.”

“Screech—”

Leave it to Lord Falcon!

Asun waved its wing, brimming with confidence as it strode toward the altar.

The altar stood three meters high with ten steps. At first glance, the steps seemed much smaller than Asun’s bird claws.

However,

the moment Asun’s claw touched the first step, it was as if it had stepped onto a vast, boundless land, like a tiny ant landing on a spacious staircase.

Before it, at the far end of its vision, stood a city wall towering over ten thousand meters high.

That was the location of the second step.

“Screech—”

A mere ten thousand meters certainly couldn’t stop Tianyuan’s number one bird, Lord Falcon!

With a single flap of its wings, Asun soared onto the ten-thousand-meter-high wall. From the outside, in the views of Sophia and Mu Yuan’s Black Crows, Asun had stepped onto the second step.

Then came the third, fourth, and fifth steps.

The sixth step, which had caused the previous Legend challenger to lose composure, couldn’t hinder Asun for even a moment.

In just a few blinks, Asun crossed all ten steps and reached the top of the Ascension Altar.

It spread its wings, cawing triumphantly.

On the altar, vast cosmic power began to descend, nourishing Asun’s body.

Asun’s domain involuntarily spread out.

A domain of 3,990 meters broke through the 4,000-meter barrier without any obstacle and continued to expand at a visible rate.

The speed was no less than the rapid growth of a domain realm during a legendary evolution.

Of course, domain explosion was just one of the many enhancements accompanying legendary evolution.

“Six thousand meters now.”

Mu Yuan murmured.

By then, Sickle Moon, who was relatively closer, had also arrived outside the altar, crouching on a large rock and observing with her head raised.

Asun’s domain continued to improve, its speed showing no signs of slowing.

But by this point, Asun’s expression had grown much more serious, with sweat faintly beading on its forehead.

“The entry requirement for the Ascension Altar is climbing ten steps.”

“The strength of the Ascension Altar’s baptism effect does relate to one’s potential, but willpower carries greater weight.”

Standing on the Ascension Altar, bathed in the opportunity’s baptism, a Legend Realm figure would endure increasing pressure the longer they stayed.

When the pressure exceeded the threshold and became unbearable, the baptized individual would be expelled from the entire altar.

At that point, the opportunity would end.

“The longer one endures, the greater the domain realm’s enhancement.”

“Hang in there.”

Mu Yuan murmured.

Three minutes later, Asun’s domain realm had grown to over 8,000 meters.

But by now, the entire bird was sprawled on the altar, unable to get up.

After all, increasing by over 4,000 meters—Lord Falcon was already plenty strong!

But was being strong enough?

Asun recalled the past.

It was a veteran elder of Tianyuan City. In the early days of wilderness exploration, it had relied entirely on its own sharp eyes.

Back then, it flew deep into dense forests, past Harpy nests, surviving one dangerous situation after another.

Many of its fellow birds hadn’t held on, failing to survive until now, when the territory had grown powerful.

Now that the territory was strong, Asun no longer needed to shoulder heavy burdens.

But was it truly no longer needed, or was it because it had grown too weak?

No!

It wasn’t strong enough; it wasn’t capable of bearing significant responsibilities anymore.

Asun deeply desired strength.

Among the Tianyuan elders from the same period, Dead Bone Boss ranked first, Dolai consistently held second place, while Little Falcon’s ranking kept dropping.

Previously, it had no chance to overtake on a curve, so it let it be.

But now, with the opportunity right here, was Lord Falcon willing to give up so easily?

It was not willing!

“Screech—!!”

Asun’s eyes widened, pupils filled with unyielding belief and determination to advance.

Instead of fainting, it forced its body to slowly rise.

9,000 meters!

10,000 meters!

But Asun’s sturdy bird body began to crack, golden-red blood continuously seeping out.

Had it reached its limit?

Asun gritted its teeth, its gaze inadvertently sweeping past a nearby spot.

There, a Black Crow stood perched.

It faintly saw the figure of the Lord in the crow’s gaze.

The Lord was watching.

Asun could still endure!

12,000 meters!

13,000 meters!

Time passed. Asun seemed on the verge of collapse time and again, yet it persevered each time.

Finally, when its domain realm reached 14,600 meters, it could hold on no longer and fainted, teleported out of the Four Extremes Ascension Altar by the world’s rules.

Its near-death state rapidly recovered, returning to its condition before entering the altar.

Lord Falcon had revived!

Only then did Asun have the energy to check its own status.

Its physical body, spirit, and energy had all grown stronger along with the domain realm’s enhancement.

The core domain realm had increased by over 10,000 meters!

A ten-thousand-meter gain!

This was the power of Lord Falcon!

Who else! Who else could match it!

From today onward, Lord Falcon would once again stand high in the heavens, claiming a seat among Tianyuan City’s top ten, even top five!

Several minutes later,

“Awoo, can’t take it anymore, awoo”

Watching Sickle Moon, who lay sprawled on the ground after being teleported out, Asun’s eyes widened in shock.

How much had Sickle Moon’s domain grown? Twelve thousand meters.

What was Sickle Moon’s current domain? Sixteen thousand meters.

It seemed Lord Falcon had fallen from the high heavens once more.

Asun: (ノへ￣、)

This bird life… might as well keep lying down.

…

After observing Sickle Moon’s breakthrough, Asun spread its wings and flew away.

Not because it couldn’t handle the blow, but because it needed to seize the time to explore.

No matter what, Lord Falcon remained Tianyuan’s fastest expert.

After Sickle Moon, Sophia stepped onto the Four Extremes Ascension Altar, with Sickle Moon guarding the perimeter.

Naturally, explorers discovered this peculiar place shrouded in the Dark Sky Curtain and tried to break in, only to be scared off or killed outright by Sickle Moon in a few moves.

Sophia endured much longer than Sickle Moon or Asun—far longer!

This was partly due to her being a Legendary lifeform, but more importantly, Sophia had endured many hardships in her previous life. Her will had been tempered repeatedly, cold and hard as frost.

In the end, Sophia’s domain realm grew to 45,000 meters.

Unfortunately, it didn’t directly reach the Perfect Domain Realm.

But for Sophia, this wasn’t a big issue. Only those constantly hindered by bottlenecks needed opportunities to break through barriers.

As a Legendary lifeform, she could naturally cultivate to the Perfect Domain Realm with effort.

Seizing an opportunity merely shortened the required time.

Now, her goal was achieved; she had saved at least half a year to a year of arduous work.

After Sophia completed her enhancement, Sickle Moon left on her own, leaving Sophia alone to guard the area outside the altar.

She was the most suitable candidate.

Guarding and exploring could be done simultaneously.

Time continued to pass, and more monster figures appeared within the secret realm.

Sophia repeatedly repelled or killed invading monsters or other competing creatures.

Xiliu, Grass Branch, Uta, Rakshasa, Red Robe, Seventeen, Sario…

One after another, Tianyuan Generals arrived at the Ascension Altar, successively climbing up to receive the mystical power’s baptism.

Perhaps having heard that even Asun had gained a full ten thousand meters, everyone refused to admit defeat, gritting their teeth to endure even when they couldn’t hold on.

In the end, the worst performance among the Tianyuan Generals was a ten-thousand-meter gain.

Each had advanced to become ‘Heaven-Earth Realm Peak · Ten-Thousand-Meter-Level Experts’!

Well, except for one person.

It was Uta.

Uta endured for a considerable time, even longer than Sophia’s time on the altar, but…

his domain only grew from about 900 meters to about 1,900 meters.

Almost negligible.

“Never mind, Uta doesn’t rely on his domain for combat. He’ll forge his own path, even if that path has no clear direction.”

Mu Yuan pondered silently.

Buzz—

On the Four Extremes Ascension Altar, a vast domain spread out, resonating with and commanding the heavens and earth, symbolizing ultimate purity and perfection.

Perfect Domain Realm!

The domain, resembling an endless battlefield with countless soldiers charging, rapidly contracted until only a ten-meter-radius ring remained.

Tianyuan City’s Guard Corps Commander had refined a Perfect Domain!

Some time later.

Buzz—

A second Perfect Domain was born.

Ancient trees reached for the sky, as if stepping into an ancient giant forest.

Tree Spirit Grandma, leveraging her Ancient Tree Incarnation and the power of Ancient Tree Authority, received the treasure land’s energy without loss, perfecting her own domain to completion.

But at that moment,

Thud—

The precious Four Extremes Ascension Altar’s radiance rapidly dimmed.

The altar remained protected by rule power, indestructible and immovable. But when explorers stepped onto the steps or the altar, no mystical phenomena occurred anymore.

Soon after—

A figure of immense prestige, leading four six-winged angels, descended upon the location.

“Finally found you, Four Extremes Ascension Altar.”

He walked up.

Moments later, his expression slightly changed. After stepping up and down the climbing steps over a dozen times, his slightly altered face finally turned completely sour.

“The Legendary Gate of the secret realm opened less than half a day ago, and the Ascension Altar’s power is already depleted? Bullshit, this is utterly unreasonable!”

(End of chapter)