NOVPUB"Insomniac Sphenard."
-----------------
"Zefina, I'm heading back first."
Oriel clasped her hands over her chest, watching Zefina in the vast indoor training arena, tirelessly practicing with her longsword, and sighed softly, "You're working so hard, it really breaks my heart."
Zefina's longsword thrust out in an instant, piercing through the multiple vital points of the dummy in front of her, "If you really felt heartbroken, you could practice with me."
"That's okay, I suddenly feel my heart isn't hurting that much." Oriel placed a hand over her heart, chuckling "hee hee" as her slender, onion-cutting white fingers sunk into the soft flesh, "After all, I can't touch it."
Zefina: "...Get out."
"Alright, alright." Oriel patted her bottom and turned to walk out of the training arena.
In the vast training arena, only Zefina was left.
This training arena was specially prepared for her, the strongest in The Sun Never Sets.
With focused concentration, Zefina once again raised her longsword, practicing a sophisticated sword technique alone in the training arena.
A moment later, Zefina slowly lowered her longsword.
"There's still a long way to go."
She spoke softly, her eyes filled with an indescribable frustration.
Although the problem with the S-rank dungeon's passage had been resolved,
she had not played a significant role in the process.
Neither the Lake Bottom Death Demon nor Luo were within her reach, the difference in strength vast as heaven and earth.
"Do you... desire power?"
A voice emerged in Zefina's mind, seemingly imbued with a magical force that instinctively inspired trust and affinity within her.
"I want to become stronger." She murmured subconsciously.
"Becoming stronger is the simplest thing," the voice said with a hint of amusement, "I can feel the target you want to surpass is that player called Luo."
"I can help you."
"Just give me a month, no, half a month's time, and you will possess power greater than his."
"How can I obtain such power?" Zefina asked instinctively.
If someone were in the training arena at that moment, they would have noticed the light in Zefina's eyes slowly fading.
However, she herself did not realize this.
"Child, it's simple," the voice said soothingly, "I assume you've heard of the Heavenly Dome Rank."
"Do you know what the relationship is between the Dream World and the Heavenly Dome Rank?"
"What is the relationship?" Zefina asked eagerly, her speed of speech slightly quicker, completely caught up in what the voice was revealing.
"Dream World is the lowest level of the Heavenly Dome Rank, as well as a part of it," the mysterious voice said with a hint of amusement, "The Heavenly Dome Rank is a more powerful version of the Dream World."
"How could this be…" Zefina couldn't help but widen her eyes.
"It's normal to have doubts, my child, but think about it carefully," the mysterious voice spoke more slowly, "After the dungeon's descent and the establishment of the dungeon passage, didn't your Dungeon Talent revert back to Player Talent?"
"The dungeon passage is a link connecting the real world with the Heavenly Dome Rank; it's a part of the Heavenly Dome Rank, while the Player Talent is a power that can only exist in the Dream World."
"Have you never considered the logic behind it?"
Zefina felt a jolt in her heart as if thunder had struck her mind.
"Child, think about it, where does your Extraordinary Power come from?" the mysterious voice coaxed gently.
"Dream World," Zefina replied instinctively.
"Yes, the source of transcendent power comes from the Dream World," the mysterious voice chuckled softly, "So then, why couldn't it directly come from the Heavenly Dome Rank?"
"If your power came from the Heavenly Dome Rank, how could others, with power derived from the Dream World, possibly compete with you?"
"Whether it's Luo or anyone else, they will become entities you can easily surpass."
"You will possess an immensely powerful strength."
"I..." Zefina's voice carried a touch of longing and anticipation, "What should I do?"
"You need to contact the Heavenly Dome Rank, draw power from the Heavenly Dome Rank." The mysterious voice spoke softly, "Right now, the only way for you to contact the Heavenly Dome Rank is through the dungeon passage."
"As long as you enter the dungeon passage, I will be able to help you absorb a brand-new power."
"Trust me, that great power is enough to let you understand the true essence of strength."
"I understand, do I just need to participate more in destroying the dungeon passages to become stronger?" Zefina's voice was full of excitement.
"Hmm..." The mysterious voice paused, "Sort of."
Meanwhile, within the borders of The Sun Never Sets, inside a peasant's home, a middle-aged farmer's eyes swirled with strange black flames as he muttered to himself, "Bewitching a native of a world to open a dungeon passage is not easy."
"But no matter, the quick rise in power is addictive." A playful smile appeared on the middle-aged farmer's face, "Just be patient."
"One is not secure enough, we need more."
"To fill a brand-new material world with an ominous aura is my, a devout follower of Sphenard, greatest homage to the omniscient, all-powerful grand omen."
The black flames extinguished, and the middle-aged farmer, as if awakening from a dream, looked around and couldn't help murmuring, "Strange, wasn't I plowing the field outside? When did I come inside?"
Thousands of meters away from the peasant, a boldly dressed woman on the street suddenly stopped her flirtatious gestures, stood straight, and the man who was teasing her casually grabbed onto her.
"Hey, it's not like I can't afford to pay, why are you leaving?"
The woman turned to look at the man, black flames surged in her eyes for a moment, and the man's eyes instantly lost their luster, following the woman with a wooden expression as they disappeared down the street.
-----------------
"The Astronomical Observation did not detect any abnormal energy fluctuations or incidents within the territory of The Sun Never Sets."
Over the phone, Feng Yin spoke calmly, "Regarding what you mentioned, the possibility that another being of Legend Rank, or perhaps even Mythical Rank, might have descended in the S-rank dungeon passage, we will take it seriously and strengthen the Astronomical Observation monitoring in the near future."
"Whatever their intentions may be, I believe that their ultimate goal of descending to Blue Star is to capture Blue Star's power, just like Dalaisai did before."
"The Array capable of capturing power has a great commotion, as long as there's a sign, Astronomical Observation would be able to detect it immediately, and we can respond timely."
"That's good." Qin Chuan let out a slight breath of relief, "If possible, I hope this is just my misperception."
"Whether it's a misperception or not, being cautious is always right." Feng Yin paused for a moment, "Moreover, we will definitely take your opinion into serious consideration."
"Thank you." Qin Chuan and Feng Yin exchanged a few more words before hanging up the phone.
"No anomalies found?" Lin Yue asked softly, holding Qin Chuan's hand.
"Yeah." Qin Chuan nodded.
Reminded by Lin Yue of Insomniac Sphenard, which he had almost forgotten, Qin Chuan did not hesitate to inform the Special Affairs Group, hoping to use the power of the Astronomical Observation to determine if there were any Descenders they had missed.
No discoveries from Astronomical Observation meant he could relax a little.
"Maybe we are just being overly suspicious." Qin Chuan smiled.
"Naturally, it would be best if everything were normal." Lin Yue spoke softly, glanced at the time, and then opened the dungeon list, "An SS-rank dungeon has refreshed."
"Hmm?" Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow, "Has it finally come?"
Without hesitation, he opened the dungeon list and quickly saw the dungeon at the top of the list.
[Dungeon: Karetli Temple (SS)][Explorable]
[Recommended Player Level: Epic Rank]
[Player Limit: 2]
[Horizontal Difficulty Rating: ★★]
[Dungeon Remaining Exploration Time: 71:59:42]
"The recommended player level is the same as an S-rank dungeon." Lin Yue commented softly, "Does this mean the dungeon boss's strength is still at the Legend Rank?"
"Possibly." Qin Chuan nodded, looking at the name of the dungeon with a somewhat solemn expression.
Divine Hall...
It doesn't sound simple.
"Let's go, let's see what an SS-rank dungeon is like."
