179. Zeta (Ultraman Zeta Tier)
Lucite raised his hand.
Truthfully, he had no reason to refute Hobbs' words.
Those who followed the Dominator path were always graceful men and women, their powers derived from the universe's favoritism.
As for someone like Lucite, an armored type from a poor background, with no wealthy family or attractive appearance, the only way to change his fate and improve his status was through personal effort.
Knowledge could change fate—but if one's fate wasn't miserable to begin with, who would want to change it?
After a long silence, Lucite could only say:
"You're too extreme. Generalizing like this isn't good. The universe is vast; there are always normal people to be found."
"Well said, but why should I search for gold in a sea of dung?"
Hobbs rubbed his ring, his tone cold.
Lucite could tell that the ring definitely had some effect on Hobbs.
"Hobbs, you should talk to me about that ring," he asked. "I'm curious. You're always touching it."
"Not waiting for Leoz?"
"Still waiting?" Lucite said irritably. "I'm afraid by the time we meet Leoz, you'll have already exploded in anger."
Hobbs and Lucite sat down, using library chairs to make a fire and boil water. Thanks to the snacks they had bought earlier, they had enough food. The library was securely locked and reinforced, temporarily safe, allowing them to quietly wait for rescue.
To be honest, waiting for rescue was not much different from waiting for death. Surrounded by dimensional barriers, how long they could survive was unknown.
Neither of them panicked. They took the opportunity to rest while drinking water and reminiscing about the past.
"Lucite, before we talk about the ring, there's actually a secret I've been keeping."
"What is it?" Lucite asked, puzzled.
"You know the magical aptitude test determines whether someone qualifies as a caster, right? So, students admitted to a magic academy must have caster qualifications, right?"
Are you serious right now? Listening to this was like listening to nonsense.
Lucite was speechless:
"No kidding…"
"Yes, it's obvious to you. But to me, it's a joke."
Hobbs smiled faintly and said:
"Because I can't use magic at all."
————————
"Which one should I choose?"
Li Aozi wrote numerous equations on the ground, meticulously calculating his choices.
He was no longer the streamer he once was. As a university student, it was time to learn how to use professional knowledge to model problems, research, and verify conclusions.
Opinions and feelings can deceive, but mathematics never does.
If you can't handle advanced math, how can you call yourself a mage?
After detailed calculations, Li Aozi examined function graphs and repeatedly verified his work, carefully comparing the growth potential of three talents.
Finally, he reached an objective and rigorous conclusion:
Eliminating his personal plans and focusing solely on natural growth attributes, the ranking was: "Smiling Through Suffering" > "Death's Prison" > "Dance of Golden Spears".
However, when factoring in his future plans, "Dance of Golden Spears" and "Death's Prison" were equal.
This meant he could first choose "Smiling Through Suffering", which offered the greatest tolerance and overall growth potential.
Because it provided experience.
Li Aozi was deeply afraid of running out of experience points. Before advancing to the Zeta tier, he had no reliable way to repeatedly farm experience.
Players often stopped logging in due to version updates, server maintenance, or other reasons, leaving him offline for extended periods.
While "Smiling Through Suffering" couldn't completely solve this problem, it could alleviate it.
Next was choosing between "Dance of Golden Spears" and "Death's Prison".
Essentially, this was a choice between war and death.
"Dance of Golden Spears" was nicknamed "Wargod." The more wars you waged, the more adored and glorified you became. Deities with this divine persona could summon endless troops in the late game, tormenting enemies to death.
The benefits of "Dance of Golden Spears" were obvious: maximum expansion capability. While its attribute gains weren't the highest, as long as the territory was vast enough, it sufficed.
"Death's Prison" transformed you into a "Scourge of the Undead," allowing you to raise the dead to fight for you and grow from them.
This ability somewhat overlapped with one of the Redemption path's final destinies: [Lord of the Undead].
Players passionate about the Redemption path's [Lord of the Undead] might disdain choosing this—after all, they could already summon their own troops, so why not pick "Dance of Golden Spears" instead?
Both options provided identical attributes.
However, the Death/Revenge domain, or rather, its divine persona, had significant value.
"The domains of flesh and pain touched upon by "Smiling Through Suffering" perfectly align with the Dominator path. Plus, I already have the Flesh Affinity specialty, which makes mastering the flesh domain easier for me when I ascend as a deity."
Considering the future…
After some contemplation, Li Aozi chose "Death's Prison".
He remembered marking the Omega Energy [Sever Life] with a genetic tag, prioritizing its awakening in the future.
If [Flesh Reinforcement] was akin to Eevee from a certain monster-catching game, capable of evolving into various wondrous Omega Energies…
Then [Life Extraction] (the precursor to [Sever Life]) was like a powerful fusion material, essential for many sequence Omega Energies.
Li Aozi knew of three growth paths:
(1): Synthesizing the primal sequence Omega Energy—[Sequence 4: Destiny]
This required fifteen Omega-tier Omega Energies, an incredibly difficult task. However, once synthesized, Sequence 4 was immensely valuable.
He dared not dream of the top three sequences. Even Sequence 3: Paradox was considered a bug-level existence with almost no countermeasures unless one's raw power was overwhelming.
(2): Tracing origins—[Sequence 32: Wither]
This was less challenging but highly dangerous. [Wither] was a high-risk sequence Omega Energy, even more so than [Sequence 56: Remaining Moon].
While Remaining Moon was terrifying, it wasn't directly fatal.
[Wither], on the other hand, specialized in targeting all living beings—dragons, humans, machines—without distinction.
Piling up genetic fragments could still yield results.
(3): Evolutionary deviation—[Sequence 35: Dead Zone]
Another high-risk Omega Energy, though slightly less dangerous than [Wither] because it targeted only sentient beings. Moreover, [Dead Zone] was relatively manageable and had made many transcendents famous.
Its likelihood of going out of control was low, similar to Gravity, and it was user-friendly.
Additionally, this Omega Energy aligned well with death-related divine personas.
"I've already spent 200 tokens marking [Sever Life]… Why not just aim for [Destiny], [Wither], and [Dead Zone] as well?"
Comparing these options with the earlier data analysis, "Dance of Golden Spears" seemed less significant.
As for reputation… Li Aozi had Isaac as his alternate account. In the future, any blame could be shifted to Isaac.
Surely, the invincible true general wouldn't mind.
"Select D, E."
[Divine Persona Selection Complete]
[Congratulations on taking your first step toward godhood.]
No, this was only the beginning.
Upon ascending to the Epsilon tier, Li Aozi immediately used a tier advancement voucher.
[You have used a tier advancement voucher to forcibly ascend one path tier.]
[Note: Your primary class level is insufficient to gain Zeta-tier tier effects.]
[Advancement Complete]
[Child of the Abyss, you have finally arrived here.]
[Welcome to the arena where gods and their champions clash.]