Chapter 201: A Giant Dragon Hidden in His Heart

Lance looked at the small pinch of black ash in his hand and casually brushed it away.

He picked up the pot in front of him, tilted back his head, and gulped down the remaining meat soup in large mouthfuls.

After eating and drinking his fill, he found a rag and cleaned the table.

A brand-new chapter of his Adventurer career had finally been opened.

After stepping through the gate of the Professional Rank, he only needed to continuously gain Class Experience in order to steadily level up.

And the methods of obtaining experience were closely tied to the class one chose.

For the 【Pale Sentinel】, the most important source of experience was killing magical beasts.

Nearly all combat classes belonging to lawful factions regarded this as their primary leveling method.

However, because classes differed, the bonuses received during experience calculation also varied greatly.

For example, the more desperate the situation the 【Pale Sentinel】 fought in, or the more it faced multiple enemies alone, the higher the experience bonus granted during settlement.

In addition, the 【Pale Sentinel】 could also gain experience through special guarding evaluations.

For instance, successfully protecting civilians or a town would cause the panel to grant a large amount of experience based on the damage he endured and the condition of the protected targets.

Naturally, the daily refinement of skills and techniques—something indispensable to every class—could also accumulate experience little by little over time.

However, these were not the only ways to gain experience.

Just as the methods used by Bards to gain experience were certainly completely different from those of the 【Pale Sentinel】, they still enthusiastically formed parties and ventured into Underground Dungeons.

The reason was very simple. As long as exploration was completed inside an Underground Dungeon, valuable Universal Experience could be obtained.

This type of experience was applicable to all classes.

Because of this, professionals from different fields grouped together, forming Adventurer Parties with complementary abilities and continuously setting out toward those Underground Dungeons.

Lance planned to visit the nearby Underground Dungeons soon to test the waters.

In particular, he wanted to experience them thoroughly before the arrival of the Summer Crown and accumulate experience in advance.

At the same time, he needed to adapt to his newly strengthened body and become completely familiar with the specialty ability he had just solidified.

After tidying up the kitchen, Lance could hear the noise from the street outside.

He guessed that Uncle Ryan still had not returned because he had probably gone to the Veterans’ Guild to gather information. After all, news there was generally the most comprehensive.

Lance turned and returned to his room on the second floor.

There were only two things left that he had not examined yet.

He raised a hand and touched the left side of his chest through his shirt.

In that wager within the Astral Realm, the only reason he had managed to defeat Gods twice in a row as a mortal was because of the trump-card power granted by those two Source Essences.

Since Source Essence could be used as a weapon capable of stabbing at Gods, and even Gods themselves could only possess Twin Source Essences after ascending to godhood—

All of these details already fully demonstrated just how precious this power was.

Its purpose was likely not limited to simply granting bonus traits. During the process of climbing the Stairway to Godhood, there would certainly be other transformations. He simply did not understand them yet.

He closed his eyes and once again opened the System Panel with his mind.

However, when his gaze focused on the panel—

Lance's first reaction was a soft exclamation filled with confusion.

【Fundamental Source Essence: Outsider】

【Note: Only when you no longer remain an observer will this trump card from another world reveal its reality-defying true form to you.】

【Current Status: Unlock Conditions Not Met / Locked】

Locked?

It had not activated directly?

Lance frowned and continued reading the panel's prompts.

【Unlock Condition One: Although you reside in this world, your soul remains a rootless piece of drifting duckweed. You must leave behind a truly indelible “mark” upon this world.】

【Method of Fulfillment: Influence the future course of this world's history, or engrave a completely unique class that belongs solely to yourself.】

【Unlock Condition Two: Only Gods can fully contain the conflict of Twin Source Essences. A mortal body at ordinary ranks cannot display its complete effects. As your rank continuously rises, this Source Essence will gradually unlock. Please complete Condition One first.】

【Effect: ???】

After reading the lengthy explanation—

Lance let out a slow breath.

He truly had not expected that fully unlocking the Fundamental Source Essence brought by his soul would require such complicated conditions.

Looking at that heavily suggestive note on the panel, his thoughts could not help but drift.

To influence the course of this world's history.

To completely integrate himself into the magnificent river of destiny that would shape this world's future.

That was the sole prerequisite for the power of the “Outsider” to manifest.

Harsh, yet strangely reasonable.

It was almost as if it were explicitly telling him—

Since he was a transmigrator who had crossed over from another world, he was not permitted to fade into mediocrity during this grand and turbulent age.

If he only wanted to be an ordinary bystander hiding in a safe corner and watching the show, then he was unworthy of possessing a power capable of breaking common sense.

Leaning back in his chair, Lance began examining his own heart.

If the 【Outsider】 Source Essence truly represented the sum of all the deepest traits within his soul—

Then did these seemingly harsh unlock conditions also reveal a certain desire buried deep inside him?

So beneath the seemingly obedient shell he wore, there had always been a giant dragon hidden in his heart—one unwilling to accept mediocrity.

Did he wish to accomplish a great legacy capable of guiding the direction of the world?

Or did he believe that, as a transmigrator, he was naturally destined to be different from everyone else?

At this moment, Lance finally began facing himself honestly.

He felt no fear toward such ambition.

Instead, his blood boiled with excitement.

He had only stepped onto the threshold of the Professional Rank today.

Thinking about influencing the direction of the entire world right now was indeed far too premature.

But the road ahead was still long, and nothing had been decided yet.

One day, he would make this Source Essence belonging to the Outsider erupt with a brilliance so dazzling that even Gods would tremble before it.

Since the 【Outsider】, which represented the essence of his past soul, was temporarily sealed by the rules—

Then for a considerable period of time, both his Underground Dungeon exploration plans and his combat strategies would need to revolve around the existing 【Red Dragon】 Source Essence.

He focused his mind and opened the crimson-red entry glowing with a dark scarlet radiance.

【Source Essence: Red Dragon (Dragon Form, Molten Armor Shatter)】

【Dragon Form】: Your base Charisma permanently increases by +2. Your daily negotiation and persuasion evaluations receive a 30% absolute Charisma bonus, causing others to unconsciously trust you. (Note: Ah~ The King of Guanzhong has arrived.)

Whenever you actively display hostility, you automatically release “Dragon Might,” forcing enemies to undergo an intimidation evaluation. Enemies who fail their mental resistance check will be forcibly inflicted with the 【Trembling】 state (all base attributes reduced by 15%, movement speed reduced by 20%, and every spell cast or attack launched has a 10% chance of being forcibly interrupted due to fear originating from the soul). This effect can stack with the “Dragon Form” effect.

【Molten Armor Shatter】: All your attacks gain the “Spellbreaking” effect, forcibly ignoring 30% of magical shield defenses.

Whenever you strike an enemy with either melee or ranged attacks, hitting the target's weapon, equipment, or outer shell will trigger “Armor Melting,” permanently melting away 1% of the target's base defense value.