From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

Over the course of five years, Christine finally reached the fourth rank of the Path of Authority, becoming a "Glorious Knight."

As the new head of the Fischer family and one of the actual rulers of the Cyart Kingdom, her progress on the Path of Authority had been remarkably swift.

Christine's talent alone would have made it difficult for her to reach the 5th Rank, but for the Path of Authority, becoming "a powerful upper-level individual" was likely the best way to advance.

Additionally, the divine words Karl inscribed on the black monolith greatly accelerated her promotion.

Ray and Marzo successively reached the fourth rank of the Path of Nature, known as "Shepherd of Trees."

In fact, the advancement ceremony for a "Shepherd of Trees" was quite simple—simply involving firsthand planting of a large number of plants. Those with the "Growth Promotion" ability from the Path of Nature, given time, could create a forest by hand.

The Fischer family's sacrifice was a Class 4 Extraordinary Material known as the "Ramon Drum."

The name sounded like some kind of object, but in truth, it was a drum-shaped mysterious creature about a dozen meters tall, with red and purple skin, densely packed eyes, and a gaping maw all on the surface of the drum, particularly fond of consuming humans and elves.

For those advancing to the "Shepherd of Trees" Consecution, their physical fitness would increase by 80, and Spiritual Power by 120.

In the Spirit Realm, its image was that of an old man with skin like the bark of a tree, and an ambiguous gender.

"Shepherd of Trees" offered two significant Extraordinary powers: "Natural Absorption" and "Plant Manipulation."

The power of "Natural Absorption" allowed them to use their Spiritual Power to absorb various negative forces from the outside world, including sustained injuries.

Defensive and life-saving capabilities were undoubtedly very important, and the presence of "Natural Absorption" significantly strengthened those on the Path of Nature.

However, it did have some drawbacks, such as "Natural Absorption" being an active ability that required a large expenditure of Extraordinary Power to activate, and it only worked on oneself.

The Extraordinary ability "Plant Manipulation," as the name implied, was straightforward: "Shepherd of Trees" could make various plants act on their commands, fighting as if they were their own fingers. The more plants manipulated at the same time, the more Spiritual Power would be continuously consumed.

Clearly, if someone on the Path of Nature reached higher levels, they could fully control an entire forest to attack their enemies.
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Marzo, for her part in secretly executing many people during Cyart's great purge, had finally accumulated enough merits to temporarily leave the Dawn Church. However, Darren only granted her ten years of freedom, after which Marzo must return to the Church and follow the orders of the Fischer family.

Marzo did not object, understanding that Darren had to keep up appearances and could not give the impression that the Dawn Church was a place one could leave and enter as one pleased.

Colin, the dedicated merchant of the Fischer family, had reached the fourth rank of the Path of Contract through years of relentless effort.

"Arms Dealer."

The image of an "Arms Dealer" in the Spirit Realm was that of a shrewd, middle-aged man who seemed to be laughing heartily, holding many weapons stained with blood.

For the advancement ceremony, the Exponent had to sell a sufficient number of weapons, which couldn't just be discarded carelessly but had to have been used effectively in battle.

With the support of the war-faring Fischer family behind him, Colin found it quite easy to complete the ceremony.

Ultimately, the Fourth Level Extraordinary Material sacrificed by the Fischer family was the "Monolith of Horon."

It was the horn of a mysterious creature "Horon" that looked like a monolith; its real body underground resembled a black mushroom. Horon's overall appearance was like a colossal black mushroom with a monolith atop, and it possessed considerable power.

For those who stepped onto the "Arms Dealer" Consecution, their physical fitness would increase by 70, and Spiritual Power by 130.

This consecution offered only one Extraordinary power: "Weapons Trade," a conceptual Extraordinary ability.

An "Arms Dealer" could expend some Spiritual Power to swap the "weapons" held by two individuals within sight. This didn't necessarily mean actual weapons; anything considered a weapon by the "Arms Dealer" would suffice.

For instance, theoretically, Colin could trade a mere stone for a forbidden rare artifact with a four-digit code.

However, "Weapons Trade" had a significant flaw: the larger the value difference between the weapons exchanged, the greater the Spiritual Power consumed.

Colin tried it and found that if he truly tried to swap a stone found on the roadside for such a forbidden rare artifact, he wouldn't have enough Spiritual Power.

It was theoretically possible, but in reality, even several times the Spiritual Power wouldn't suffice.

Perhaps once he ascended to a higher rank and possessed more Spiritual Power, he could perform this astonishing feat.

Karl believed that under certain circumstances, it would be enough to change the entire tide of battle.

Helen successfully completed the advancement ritual and reached the 4th Rank of the Path of Wholeheartedness, "Treasure Appraiser."

The advancement ritual for the "Treasure Appraiser" requires an Extraordinary Exponent to obtain at least ten Mysterious rare artifacts within a month, a task that might be very difficult for individuals but effortless for those backed by powerful factions.

The Class 4 Extraordinary Material sacrificed by the Fischer family was named "Wolf's Mist," which is actually a kind of colorful water mist that randomly appears after each occurrence of a maritime rainbow, a very special but not so rare Extraordinary Material.

In the Spirit Realm, the "Treasure Appraiser" is envisioned as a woman surrounded by many treasures, with a mysterious smile, wearing a golden veil and light blue clothing.

An Extraordinary Exponent who reaches this Consecution would boost their Spiritual Power by 170 and their physical attributes by 30, making it a series heavily oriented toward Spirituality.

Extraordinary Exponents will receive a trait known as "Treasure Calling" as well as an Extraordinary power called "True Identification."

The Extraordinary trait of "Treasure Calling" is a passive effect; "Treasure Appraisers" can automatically sense the approximate location of various treasures nearby, including but not limited to Extraordinary materials and Mysterious rare artifacts.

"True Identification" is an active Extraordinary power that enables "Treasure Appraisers" to see through the true nature of any existence that contains Extraordinary power and to analyze various related information.

Although the "Treasure Appraiser" does not directly enhance combat capabilities, it is an Extraordinary power very suitable for development and growth.

Besides, the Dawn Church also saw many members successively advancing to the 2nd and 3rd Ranks, and several new members joined the Dawn Church to become Extraordinary Exponents with Power of Consecution.

Compared to them, the most significant advancement for the Dawn Church and the Fischer family over the past five years was the promotion of the old butler, Theo.

Theo finally completed the advancemplishment of the 5th Rank, "Deadly Baron!"

The advancement ritual for "Deadly Baron" required an Extraordinary Exponent to "kill enough obstructers to consolidate one's position."

Hence, during the five-year purge, Theo temporarily abandoned his duties as butler and joined "Black Tide" as a subordinate of Darren.

He secretly dealt with a large number of dissenters and ultimately completed his advancement ritual.

The Extraordinary Material sacrificed by the Fischer family was a Level Five Extraordinary Material, named "Lin-Dragon Horn," which comes from a dragon tribe living in the Spirit Realm, covered in thick scales, with their single horn being extremely hard and emitting a tremendous roar when angered.

The image of the "Deadly Baron" in the Spirit Realm is that of a solemn male noble, full of blood, holding a pitch-black blade in hand.

An Extraordinary Exponent who arrives at the Consecution of "Deadly Baron" will gain 700 physical attributes and 300 Spiritual Power, as well as various fundamental abilities associated with the 5th Rank.

Such as touching the soul and an exceptionally large range of perception.

The Consecution of "Deadly Baron" provided Theo with three powerful Extraordinary powers, named "Lethal Mark," "Rebuke," and "Upper level Suppression."

"Lethal Mark" allowed Theo to place an invisible Spiritual mark on a single enemy, and an enemy afflicted with "Lethal Mark" would temporarily lose the ability to recover from injuries.

Of course, if the power gap was too great, "Lethal Mark" would be ineffective.

The "Rebuke" ability, on the other hand, was for use on allies. The "Deadly Baron" could activate "Rebuke" to cause Extraordinary Exponents within sight to lose part of their life force and recover part of their Spiritual Power.

It essentially worked on a double proportion recovery scale; if someone lost half of their life due to "Rebuke," their Spiritual Power would be fully restored.

However, "Rebuke" could only be used once a day per individual, and Theo's "Rebuke" could not be used on those more powerful than himself, nor could it affect those with hostility towards him.

The last Extraordinary power was "Upper level Suppression," a passive Extraordinary trait whose effect was very straightforward.

When attacking enemies weaker than themselves, the damage dealt by "Deadly Barons" would be greatly increased, even doubling in extreme cases!

After successfully advancing to the 5th Rank, Theo completely regained the youth he had lost early on.

His strength was the weakest among the Fischer family's several 5th Rank Extraordinary Exponents. However, his Extraordinary abilities were all very useful, especially when faced with enemies slightly weaker than him, which, combined with "Courtly Majesty" and "Upper level Suppression," provided a nearly absolute advantage.

Having mastered the information of the first seven Ranks, Karl even felt that if Theo could successfully advance to the 6th Rank, he would be able to effortlessly defeat seven or eight low-level monarch Extraordinary Exponents on his own.

On the other hand, Moore's advancement ritual to the 5th Rank "Spirit of Sanctuary" was declared a failure.