Within the Devourer World's elite training camp, Rowan was pushing himself to the limit inside the towering Ninefold Pagoda.
The virtual trial tower shimmered around him, its illusion as vivid as reality. Corpses of countless Iron-Spine Serpents littered the ground, their scales ripped apart, their massive bodies still twitching. Rowan, gripping his dragon-etched blade, exhaled slowly as he flicked the fresh blood from the edge.
"Beep. Congratulations, trainee Rowan. You have cleared Floor Five, Stage B of the Trial Tower."
The cold, mechanical voice echoed through the chamber.
Rowan smirked faintly. After more than two months of grinding practice, he had finally pushed both his blade techniques and his movement arts to the Intent Realm. His Ninefold Thunder Saber technique had also reached its seventh stage. Even so, advancing beyond this point was a brutal challenge.
The Stage B assessment demanded he slay two hundred advanced Beast-General-class serpents within ten minutes. He had attempted it dozens of times, failing again and again, before finally succeeding today. To even attempt Stage C, he would likely need the eighth level of Ninefold Thunder Saber. As for Floor Six? Only at ninth-level perfection would he even dare to try.
Leaving the tower, Rowan checked his personal data and found his points had skyrocketed, instantly catapulting him to the first place on the Black Dragon Leaderboard.
His combat amplification was the reason. With both his Trial Tower rating and exertion level at 5.6, his multiplier was a staggering 31.36.
That number alone was enough to make every other student's scalp tingle. Even the veteran instructors of the elite camp, battle-hardened War Gods, had never reached that ratio. Yang Hui, a proud talent, had only reached Floor Three. Jiang Fang had struggled her way to Floor Four, Stage C. Compared to Rowan, they weren't even on the same map.
And the truth was, Rowan hadn't even been hunting beasts seriously this past month. He killed just enough to turn in missions, and the terrifying amplification did the rest, stacking up his points until no one could keep up.
He stared at the leaderboard, sighing.
"Looks like I can't keep hiding anymore."
He had once promised Inspector Wang not to steal the number one spot. Yet here he was, sitting on top of the board. The truth was that the Trial Tower and Gravity Chambers of this ancient civilization training camp no longer provided him with much growth.
"Time to move on. I'll apply for early graduation."
The next day, Rowan sat across from Inspector Wang in the quiet tea room of the man's villa.
"I want to graduate early," Rowan said plainly.
Inspector Wang studied him for a long moment, then chuckled, shaking his head as he sipped his tea. "I saw the rankings. You're already first place."
He truly hadn't expected Rowan to stay in the camp this long. Most trainees left the moment they touched War God level. Rowan, however, had lingered nearly half a year, quietly stacking power until both his warrior and psychic strength had reached the very peak of Advanced War God.
"If the rankings hadn't forced you up, I suspect you'd still be hiding," Wang said dryly. "Do you have any idea how demoralized the other students feel? You're only eighteen, yet you've cleared Trial Tower 5.6. Some of these kids have been training since childhood, and you've just crushed all of them."
Rowan chuckled. He knew. He just didn't care.
"Rowan, you can head to City 001 tomorrow. Kill a Lord-class beast to prove you're a War God, and I'll process your graduation. You'll also be recorded officially and admitted into the Palace of War Gods."
Rowan's brow lifted. The Palace was his goal, but this procedure felt like a hassle. He had to prove himself once as a War God, then again as a Senator-class fighter.
"Inspector Wang, what if I go straight for a King-class beast? That would put me directly at Senator rank, wouldn't it?"
The tea cup froze halfway to Wang's lips. He blinked at Rowan, utterly stunned.
"You… already stepped across that line?"
The transition from War God to Senator was notoriously brutal. Many advanced War Gods were stuck for years, even decades. Wang himself had been trapped at the peak for seven years before finally breaking through in his forties. Rowan had only been at the threshold for half a year.
"Impossible," Wang muttered. "And yet…"
Rowan simply smiled and nodded. He hadn't expected his fortune either. The Flame Crystal he had seized from Surtr had propelled him forward, igniting his genetic energy until it erupted past the barrier.
To prove it, he drew on his core. A roar of fire burst from his body, hair whipping upward as crimson flames cloaked him head to toe.
The Fire God Form.
Wang's lips opened and closed, no sound escaping. Flames danced along Rowan's arms and shoulders, an unmistakable mark of Senator-class mastery. No War God, however powerful, could manifest elemental control like this.
Finally, Wang set down his teacup, eyes still wide. "You… monster."
Rowan dismissed the flames, scratching his head awkwardly. He could have demonstrated by flying, but as a psychic, he already had that ability. The fire was far more convincing.
After a long silence, Wang regained composure. "Rowan, to enter the Senate, you don't actually need to slay a King-class beast. Demonstrating your strength is enough. The Speaker himself Lord Hong is the one who approves such promotions."
Rowan inclined his head but said nothing. He had no intention of skipping the fight. He wanted to test his new power on something worthy.
That very evening, he flew toward the Alps, where satellites tracked the densest concentrations of land-based King-class monsters. Sea Kings were even more numerous, but the ocean was too vast to search.
One such beast, the infamous Four-Winged Black Dragon, laired in a cavern along the northern slopes.
Rowan arrived swiftly on his Soaring Shuttle. From the snow-capped ridge, he spotted a gaping cavern belching clouds of white mist the breath of a massive creature within. Without hesitation, he shot forward, vanishing into the darkness.
The cavern floor was a graveyard of shattered skeletons, both monstrous and human. In the center, coiled like a nightmare, slept a dragon a hundred meters long, scales gleaming obsidian, two pairs of leathery wings folded against its sides.
Rowan's entrance jolted it awake. Emerald eyes snapped open. With a snarl, its spined tail lashed out like a whip, the strike sharp enough to pulverize boulders.
Rowan grinned. "Fast reaction. As expected of a King-class beast."
Instead of evading, he drew his Twilight Blade in a single blinding motion.
"Clang!"
The cavern rang like thunder. A searing arc of red fire flashed and the dragon's tail was severed cleanly, cauterized by heat so intense the wound smoked.
The monster roared, wings snapping wide, stone raining down as it lunged with its fanged maw. Rowan calmly sheathed his blade, flames erupting once more around him. His hair lifted, eyes burning scarlet.
"Fire God Form."
He braced both arms inside the dragon's closing jaws. To the beast, Rowan was as small as a tooth, yet no matter how it strained, it could not bite down. Veins bulged at Rowan's temples as he laughed wildly.
"Open!"
Power surged. Flames exploded outward. With one hand, he forced the jaws wider, freeing the other. His fist blazed, then drove upward into the unarmored palate.
The punch detonated like a cannon blast. Flesh and bone shattered. Blood drenched the cavern.
The dragon screamed, reeling in agony, trying desperately to flee. It smashed through stone, tearing free into the snowy air, wings thrashing frantically. But Rowan was already in pursuit, streaking upward on his shuttle, faster than the eye could follow.
The Twilight Blade ignited, swelling into a colossal arc of flame thirty meters long.
"Slash."
The strike fell like a falling star. The blade carved through neck and scale alike, severing the dragon's head in a single stroke.
The massive corpse plummeted into the pines below, crushing the forest beneath it. Rowan hovered above, shaking his head.
"Too easy."
With his armor, shuttle, and blade all supreme treasures slaying even a King-class beast was effortless. Among planetary-rank fighters, only Hong himself might challenge him now.
Collecting the dragon's eyes as proof, Rowan returned to the Hong Ning Base City. Word had already spread: Rowan, eighteen years old, had broken into planetary rank. Now, with the eye of a King-class beast in hand, even Hong was left speechless.
The legendary Speaker himself could only mutter what Inspector Wang and the others had already said.
"Monster."
Soon after, Hong entered the War God Palace's virtual network, summoning the entire Senate. It was time to announce that a new Senator had risen one destined to shake the world.
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