Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 881 Bell's Path

World Fortress, Training Area.

clang--! !

The dull clang of metal clashing echoed across the spacious training ground. On the spatial battlefield, a pure white afterimage flew backward from the dust and haze, plowing across a long distance on the ground before finally coming to a stop.

"That's it."

The next second, a dignified voice, tinged with a hint of satisfaction, fell, and Xin Lailai emerged from the dust and haze, looking at Bell with exceptional satisfaction, and said:

“Very good. With your current speed, Bell, even if the Death Keeper were here, she would probably have a hard time doing anything to you.”

"Hey, really?"

Upon hearing this, Bell, who was in a ready-to-fight stance, was startled and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You underestimate yourself, Bell. You are now undoubtedly a true outsider to the elite tier." Xin Lailai smiled, glancing at the long, thin slash marks scattered across the battlefield behind her, her eyes narrowing slightly as she affirmed:
"Perhaps you can't compare to us who have taken the lead in other aspects yet, but in terms of speed alone, you've already surpassed any other group outside of our usual level."

By using the extreme speed of a master of short blades to avoid the problem of insufficient defense, and then using the skill of a master of combat to alleviate the burden of high-speed movement while maximizing the attack power of one's own weapon, although it is a bit extreme in terms of direction, in terms of result, the opponent did indeed achieve the same result as Sanshui Renyun, by using extreme specialization to make up for his own shortcomings with his strengths.

Putting aside other factors, taking themselves as an example, without unleashing their own domain of universal convergence, they don't have any particularly good ways to deal with a specialized opponent like Bell, who can even break through to ten times the speed of sound in extreme situations.

Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that his technique system follows a powerful and heavy approach. If it were a fighting master who has developed speed-specialized skills or a Deathbringer or Yamu who can use the Lightning Transformation to briefly accelerate, even if they could not keep up with Bell's movement speed, they could at least ensure that the opponent would not have any chance to make a move.

"However, extreme paths have their downsides. If you encounter a situation where you can't take advantage of your speed, your current development path will become a fatal flaw."

"Yes, Brother Black Sword, I understand."

Bell nodded slightly, a serious look in his eyes. Although he had already stepped into the realm of the extra-elite group, the white-haired boy had never been complacent. Or rather, it was precisely because he had entered this realm that he was even more aware of how far he was from the black-haired youth.

Including the sparring just now, although the other party said that there was nothing he could do, Bell knew very well that for someone with a perpetual motion machine-like release ability and the True Eye that could foresee the future, if he wanted to, he could completely leave the other party with no room to dodge.

"By the way, Brother Black Sword."

"Well, what's wrong?"

"Um... about my mastery of magic, after careful consideration, I feel that it's better to choose the technique route."

The white-haired boy looked at the black-haired youth, took a deep breath, and spoke to him with a hint of guilt.

Choosing to develop in the direction of technique means, in a sense, that all the guidance the other party had given him in the field of magic has been wasted. Although this is a matter of personal choice, the white-haired youth still felt somewhat sorry for the other party.

"I see, yes, indeed..."

Upon hearing these words, Xin Lailai, who was standing in front of Bell, showed no displeasure. Instead, she stroked her chin, a thoughtful look in her eyes, and said seriously:
"Given your situation, instead of developing your magic mastery towards spellcasting, it would be better to build it around your professional characteristics and develop it into an energy manipulation ability with technical characteristics."

Unlike their situation, the white-haired boy's mastery of magic did not come from any career path planning, but was an ability that was automatically certified when he was certified as the Paradise Arbiter from the derivative world.

This is why the opponent usually only uses one spell, 'Flame Volt', because from the moment the opponent's spell master was certified, their core enhancement ability revolved entirely around the spell 'Flame Volt'.

While this situation would only be seen as going astray in 83203's case, from the white-haired boy's perspective, it might be Paradise reminding him that he is not suited for the path of a magic master.

"Speaking of which, have you decided which direction you want to develop in?"

"Well... I asked some senior World Guardians, and based on their advice, I personally plan to change my 'Spell Master' class to 'Flame Master' with technical characteristics, and then choose the 'Torchbearer' route among the World Guardians, abandoning abilities in other directions and focusing on developing the power of the world and the blood of destiny. What do you think, Brother Black Sword?"

"Flame Master and Firestarter... Indeed, upon closer examination, this is the most suitable path for you, Bell. It not only maximizes the use of the 'Flame Volt' spell you currently possess, but also perfectly unleashes the potential of your 'Heroic Vision' and 'Judgment Flame' talents."

Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement, affirming her statement.

Like the Agents and Destroyers systems, the World Guardians system, as a top-tier lineage in the Astral Plane, is also divided into several paths.

Among them are the 'World Guardian' route, which is somewhat similar to the Executor but tends to use the overall elemental power rather than a single World Lightning, and the 'Abyss Hunter' route, which utilizes abyssal energy to create abyssal weapons like the Demon Spirits of the Destroyer, with the responsibility of hunting abyssal creatures.

As for the "Torchbearer" path mentioned by Bell, it refers to abandoning elemental and abyssal power, using one's own blood of destiny and the power of the world as fuel to ignite the "Flame of Destiny," thereby extremely enhancing one's physical strength and various abilities. Compared to "World Guardians" and "Abyssal Hunters," "Torchbearers," due to abandoning elemental and abyssal power, are slightly weaker in overall combat ability, and their sustained combat ability is also greatly reduced. They need to carry a large amount of World Seeds as "mana potions" to fight for a long time.

However, as a benefit of specializing in their own attributes, the 'Torchbearer' route is basically at the top level in terms of resistance and environmental adaptability in all aspects. Whether in the extreme elemental scorching land or the deep abyss erosion land, they can persist for a very long time without much impact on their combat power.

Moreover, although the 'Torchbearer' has neither the wide-range AOE ability released by the elemental power like the 'Boundary Guardian', nor the low-health kill mechanism achieved by the 'Abyss Hunter' with the weapons of the abyss.

However, in terms of burst damage alone, its single-target burst damage is definitely the highest among the three routes. It can be said that it is naturally a perfect match for Bell, who has mastered the ultimate numerical stacking method of 'Heroic Vision', especially given that it already has extreme speed and single-point burst advantages.

Imagine facing an enemy whose speed is so terrifying that you can't even see them. You're already frustrated because you can't keep up with their speed, but then you discover that they can charge up an incredibly powerful attack while running, and because of the speed difference, you can't dodge it at all. What a desperate experience that would be!

"I'm suddenly looking forward to seeing what your system will look like once it's fully developed, Bell?"

Xin Lailai said with a smile, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

For contractors like Bell who have inherited a strong foundation, their inheritance often contains a large number of advanced abilities that are linked to strength. After reaching the extra-level tier, they often experience a surge in strength.

Taking the white-haired youth as an example, the change in strength brought about by reaching the Extraordinary Tier allows him to pass the trials that should have been completed at the fourth tier ahead of time, and switch to the 'Torchbearer' route ahead of time. He receives more resources from the inheritance, and thus achieves better performance in the next world's progress. This results in a virtuous cycle of growth, allowing him to quickly go from just reaching the threshold of the Extraordinary Tier with a 5-point expedition recruitment quota to reaching the level of the standard Extraordinary Tier with a 6-point quota.

However, considering that they are ultimately lagging behind them in progress and have missed the important step of the 'Trial of Transcendence', even with the help of inheritance, their final limit is estimated to be around 7 points, which is about the same as their strength when they entered Dark Glow Star.

Of course, this is not to say that the other party is not good or anything. In fact, even with a recruitment quota of 7 points, it is already enough to make them stand out from the crowd in the park.

It should be noted that even among the first batch of those outside the established order, only he, the Deathbringer, the White Demon, the Daoist, and the Moon Demon whom they had never met before have reached a level of 8 points or higher.

As for Randy, Yamu, and Dong, whom they had met once before, they are currently working hard within the range of 7.0 to 7.9. And it seems that, apart from Yamu and Dong, it will be difficult for the others to break through to the 8-point expedition quota before reaching the fourth tier.

Although this is also related to the fact that the quality of their class's extra-level gradient is somewhat outrageous.

Normally speaking, based on the development of past contractors, it is already a rare thing for a batch of contractors to produce two or three extra-level teams. If they can produce an extra-level team with an 8-point quota, it is a spectacular event that will attract the attention of powerful figures from all sides.

For example, the class of 04296 was hailed as the most prosperous generation at the end of the golden age because it produced three exceptional individuals with scores of 8 or higher: Bai Zhenren, Lena, and Mutou.

As for their generation... it's no longer a question of whether they're at their peak or not, but rather that they've reached a point where one might suspect this is a final burst of energy from the astral plane.

Not only is there the Abyss Shadow, who reached the 8-point judgment limit upon reaching the third rank—a case unparalleled in the entire Astral Realm—possessing the strongest inherited legacy recognized by the Astral Realm; there's also a sword monster whose talent broke records, achieving master level at 16 in a place like the mortal world where there are no extraordinary powers, and comprehending the meaning of grandmaster at 18, single-handedly carving out ten years of swordsmanship; there's even that ancient figure whose origins no one can explain, almost leading people to believe he's merely a legendary successor to the Lord of the Underworld…

If the simultaneous appearance of three students in the "Outside the Class" tier who can reach 8 points in the first tier is an exciting and inspiring event, then the simultaneous appearance of three, four, or even five students in the "Outside the Class" tier who are expected to reach 9 points in a single session is a phenomenon that completely exceeds the comprehension of the world.

At least, based on the information they obtained through their own channels, almost all the top experts in the entire star realm are now aware of the situation of their generation. However, because each of them has a very deep background, they cannot make any statement for the time being.

Putting aside other things, take them and Daoji as examples. They seem to be the two with the weakest backgrounds, but in reality, they have at least one peak expert standing on their side. On the other hand, Daoji has the most promising peak expert, the White-Clad Immortal, the Three Thousand Gods Sect, the third largest sect in the Holy Domain with influence throughout the Star Realm, and Haoyue, who is also a master of technique and is now regarded as the number one person under Baiye in the Golden Age.

As for Yamu, White Demon, Randy, and Moon Demon, there's not much to say.

The Agent, the Destroyer of Laws, the Wanderer, the Silver Moon Wolf... it's fair to say that none of them are simple. In fact, if you really count them, the Wanderer, who was known as one of the three great abyss killers of the old era, is already the weakest background among them.

Of course, if you really don't have some background, it's impossible to reach the realm of the extraordinary level at the third stage. After all, apart from geniuses like Dao Ji who are exceptionally talented, no matter how hard a normal person tries, they can't compare to the heritage accumulated over hundreds or even tens of millions of years.

"Let's go, it's almost time for the welcome banquet. We can go and get together with the others. Besides, if we don't return Bell soon, Star Girl and the others will probably come and snatch him away!"

"Speaking of which, I really didn't expect that you, Belle, would actually take the initiative to tell them about your past. Tsk tsk, if I were one of them, I probably would never forget you for the rest of my life, right?"

"How's it going, Bell? Tell me honestly, have you been practically drained dry these past few days? I heard you've already moved in together?"

"Um, no, Miss Xing and the others just moved in..."

On the spatial battlefield, Xin Lailai looked at Bell beside her and teased him, making Bell blush and show a little embarrassment. He stammered, which made Xin Lailai chuckle, making the atmosphere of the entire spatial battlefield more cheerful.

……

(End of this chapter)