Chapter 482

Chapter 482: A Huge Leap Forward

The path of power and path of wisdom appeared to test whether participants excelled in "power" or "wisdom."

But this wasn’t the truth.

What fighter entering the underground Dragon Tower lacked "power"?

The harsh entry rules—"only those under thirty qualify, with one attempt allowed"—already proved power was the basic requirement.

When all possessed sufficient power, the so-called choice became mere illusion.

Midi believed the Dragon Head actually offered options between "caution" and "challenge."

Choosing power meant playing safe, avoiding risks—a sign of self-doubt.

Picking wisdom meant embracing complete uncertainty.

Facing the unknown required extreme self-confidence, courage, and mental resilience.

Simply deciding to take the wisdom path counted as overcoming a major obstacle.

Choosing its Tenth Level meant conquering the hardest barrier—the choice itself defeated fear.

Though the wisdom trial involved alchemy, Midi reasoned it wouldn’t be overly difficult.

The Dark Dragon God sought an heir for the True Dragon Heritage, not an alchemy master.

When Midi found the mechanism room flawless, he stayed calm, sensing this hinted not to overcomplicate things.

Shattering the hourglass in a marked zone to activate the teleportation magic array confirmed his theory—

The alchemy trial was nothing but a facade.

Even adventurers ignorant of alchemy could pass through wit and experience alone.

The real test lay in character evaluation through path selection.

Yet most fell for this deception.

No wonder the thousand-year wisdom of Mososbury City’s major families failed here.

Midi held another advantage—his alchemy skills ensured readiness even if wrong.

Should challenges exceed his field, Eighth Apostle Rot stood ready to assist.

Thus Midi acted decisively.

His reward? Immediate access to the underground Dragon Tower’s Tenth Level—a massive head start.

Crucially, floors First Layer through Tenth Level interconnected. If rivals reached fifth level first, Midi’s team arriving later would find it stripped bare. Worse, teleporting into occupied floors risked instant clashes.

To avoid trailing scavenged floors or fighting premature battles, securing untouched territory became vital.

In other words, the lowest floor.

But while easy to say, accomplishing this proved far more difficult.

Before Midi’s arrival, teams from Death Scorpion, Death Scorpion family, and Two-Headed Warwolf had already entered the underground Dragon Tower.

This meant even if reaching the same floor, the latecomer Midi’s group would only trail behind others without opportunities for direct confrontation, forced to follow in others’ wake.

Moreover, attempting to reach the deepest floors via the "path of power" seemed nearly impossible.

Though empowered by the "True Dragon Heritage" and Rebirth Through Fire, Midi knew he couldn’t dominate Crystal Dragon Fortress yet.

He still couldn’t gauge the true capabilities of Alexis and Thor.

Particularly the "Warrior" Thor.

This level 67 expert clearly surpassed Midi in raw strength.

Choosing the power path would mean forever chasing Thor’s shadow without gaining advantage.

Yet by selecting the "path of wisdom" and passing its trial to reach Tenth Level directly, Midi bypassed all these obstacles.

No longer lagging in exploration nor risking third-party interference, Midi now led the race.

Others could only follow his trail, scavenging leftovers from his wake.

"Let’s see what secrets this tower holds," Midi murmured, activating Half-Sight Perception as he strode into the shadows.

Meanwhile, the three advance teams pushed forward:

In the fourth layer, Two-Headed Warwolf’s team neared the fifth level’s entrance under Cort’s leadership. The level 65 master lacked bloodline powers but compensated with meticulous caution, achieving zero casualties through methodical progress.

Their efforts proved futile – Death Scorpion family had already stripped the fifth level bare.

Guided by Alexis’ high-level psychic abilities and Half-Sight Perception, they’d navigated traps and manipulated teammates’ thinking to reach sixth layer swiftly.

Death Scorpion’s main team outshone all others.

"Warrior" Thor deliberately chose power path not from ignorance, but to plunder spoils from sixth layer downward. Though teleported unexpectedly to seventh layer, his brute-force approach crushed alchemical mechanisms and magic arrays alike.

While rivals cleared single layers, Death Scorpion blazed through seventh and eighth layers simultaneously.

At eighth layer’s end, an intact Alchemical Gate blocked progress to ninth layer. Thor’s spear thrusts proved ineffective against enhanced defenses.

"Finally something interesting," Thor remarked, signaling Akdina and Loki to weaken the gate’s protections temporarily.

The ideal solution – a Master of Mechanics – remained unavailable. Thor scoffed at the thought of waiting: "Pity. Had you joined me, Midi, you might’ve prospered. Now, with your ragtag band, how far can you truly go?" His lips curled in mocking smile as demolition commenced.