The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Oscar was dead.

The Alien Odachi wielder, the Demon Swordsman, the Troll, the Orc Shaman, the Succubus, the Shadow Assassin, and the Dark Elf—all gone.

It was anticlimactic, to say the least. The seven deadly summons, never meant to exist in the mortal realm, perished along with their summoner. The one who had sacrificed his soul for power ended up with nothing.

Ultimately, it amounted to little, and Klaus managed to kill him — kill them, completing the 4th Trial.

A faint, triumphant smile tugged at Klaus’s lips as his 9th core shifted, glowing brightly before condensing into a Sage Core… But he must first pass out.

The heavens above roared to life, splitting open once more. Tribulation runes cascaded down like a celestial waterfall, etching their divine energy into his battered body.

Klaus had finally ascended to the rank of a Sage. Soon, he would step onto the path of a Great Sage.

Unknowingly, he had already begun walking the path of transformation, though he had no idea…He has long passed out smiling.

The first thing that changed right after the tribulation started was the injuries on his body. Klaus began to heal, with all visible and internal wounds mending almost immediately.

He was still unconscious, but the changes didn’t stop. It took just five minutes for even the most severe injuries to heal completely, leaving his body as good as new.

Then, the next phase of his transformation began.

Klaus wasn’t born with white hair.

No, this change occurred when he first went through his tribulation and became an Ascended. That was when these transformations began.

Of course, he had no idea why these changes were happening, but now, he could tell it had something to do with his [Nine Reincarnation Divine Body].

The changes were a result of his physique adapting to the [Paragon Star Diagrams] so his body wouldn’t break when channeling energy into his attacks.

He had already witnessed how harrowing that could be.

A less durable body filled with such powerful energies could kill him without a doubt. In fact, when he used the [Shared] technique along with the [Sky Dominion], had he been a normal cultivator, he would have died.

In truth, even with just his body, he would have perished.

Luckily, the alien-like armor forming within him was able to hold back the energy from overflowing. This saved him, somehow. And fortunately, after 30 minutes, he managed to bring the fight to an end.

Now, his body seemed to be undergoing new changes.

He had finally become a Sage, but just like what happened when he became a Saint, the tribulation runes didn’t stop flowing into his body.

His first Great Core was forming.

In core formation, which occurs from the Saint stage to the Great Sage stage, the cores are given different names.

At the Saint stage, it’s called the Star Core. Of course, in the vast universe, some call it the Saint Core or First Formation.

It’s known as the Sage Core or the Second Formation at the Sage stage. Naturally, there are other names depending on the region of the universe, but these two are the most recognized.

At the Great Sage stage, it’s commonly referred to as the Great Core. While all races don’t universally acknowledge this, it is the term most humans and similar races use.

However, in the realm of beasts, the Great Sage stage is given a different name—it’s called the “Devil Core.” The naming continues differently from there, but since those are specific to beasts, the emphasis here remains on humans.

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Klaus had formed his first Great Core without even realizing it. His consciousness was currently drifting elsewhere. Fortunately for him, he wasn’t conversing with any past incarnation this time, so he finally had a moment of peace to relax.

The recently concluded battle was one he wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

Fifty minutes later, Klaus formed the first Great Core, and the second began to take shape. His body underwent immense changes. Of course, he had already used almost 60% of the cores he brought from the outside during the Saint Stage.

Now, he could only rely on the tribulation runes—but that was enough for him.

Many hours later, the sixth Great Core formed, and not long after, the seventh followed until the tribulation finally came to an end.

One could say Klaus had stumbled upon a cheat that made things astonishingly easy for him.

Under normal circumstances, Klaus would need an entire year just to break through to the next stages due to the sheer number of cores he had to form.

But ever since he created his Qi Seas, events that seemed like coincidences began to unfold.

First, just when he thought he would need to absorb thousands of cores to become a Saint, fate intervened through an unfortunate event in Queenie’s life.

Her tribulation benefited him immensely. Although it was a tragedy for her, Klaus gained more from it than he could have ever anticipated. It seemed as though the heavens—or perhaps his rivals—had blessed him.

Then, when he was preparing to face the heavens in his next tribulation, they resorted to underhanded tactics, nearly using his enemy against him.

Thankfully, he survived, which led him to leave the academy and focus on strengthening himself. This, in turn, brought him to the dungeon, where, instead of battling the heavens, he simply had to sit idly and let the tribulation empower him.

He became a Saint, and after a few harrowing battles, he had now ascended to a Sage.

He still had five battles ahead of him, but as a Sage, who knew how strong he would become? Then again, his enemies were not growing weaker either.

In many ways, he had finally reached the level where he could challenge Level 1 Ascendants. But with his buffs, even fighting Levels 2 and 3 wouldn’t pose too much of a challenge.

But as we all know, battles are rarely predictable. Many factors come into play. Just as Klaus had fought enemies far above his level before, he could very well encounter a Sovereign tomorrow who would give him a real fight.

Surviving dangerous encounters often determines battle experience, and Klaus has had more than his fair share of those.

But there are many fighters out there with years of battle experience.

Take Nari, for example—the current Klaus wouldn’t be able to defeat her easily. Her battle experience has been forged through years of perilous encounters. Beyond that, she possesses a powerful and unshakable foundation.

In this regard, she was somewhat similar to Klaus. However, Klaus’s advantage lay in his nine cores and his superior energy source.

This gave him an edge. But even without that, compared to the average cultivator, Klaus was still leagues above them.

Why? He also wielded Spiritual Qi just like everyone when he awakened. However, even back then, he could fight across realms—something his peers couldn’t even dream of.

He was a monster from the very beginning.

But the question still remains: now that he had found a way to cheat the heavens, what would happen after the trial ended and he could no longer use the dungeon? How dangerous would things become for him? Would the heavens finally exact their revenge?

As the cores stabilized, a dark gold cocoon formed around him. His second transformation was now underway.