Chapter 188: Hidden Benefits of Breaking Through Age Tiers

Primary material plane—Tianyu Realm Crystal Barrier System.

In the boundless starry sky, the supreme sun (sol) sits at the exact center of the Tianyu Realm, reigning over a vast domain with a diameter of 103 billion km like a king.

From the sun outward, the Tianyu Realm comprises eight planetary belts, each bearing a solitary planet.

At this moment, on the planet Toriel in the third planetary belt, beyond its atmosphere and within the unseen fissures, an extraordinarily splendid castle drifts silently. Its main structure is built of snow‑white marble, shimmering with a mysterious, gentle light under the starlight.

The castle's spire rises lofty, as if to pierce the heavens; its sharp tip is set with massive gems that radiate dazzling light like tiny stars, mingling with the genuine stars around it.

That is the Polaris Camp, the Tianyu Realm's Pantheon, the gods' council chamber.

Inside the castle, in the unfathomably deep lowest level where darkness dominates everything, countless beings imprisoned in the dark gasp softly, dreaming of the end of their punishment.

"No, no! Damn it!"

Suddenly, a flame ignited in the darkness, setting that spot alight; it revealed a robust man with blazing red hair like fire, shackled to the wall by iron chains.

The flame seemed to flare from the man's wildly unstable demeanor, but quickly extinguished as if deprived of oxygen; darkness returned, and the other beings bound to the wall grew restless.

"What happened, Taizka?" a commanding voice called from the darkness.

The robust man lowered his head and snarled, "The ritual failed."

The darkness fell silent; after a long while, the commanding voice sounded again: "Find a way to awaken Duzula II; the expansion of those Frelen deities must be curbed."

"Yes, respected master," Taizka said respectfully.

Everything fell silent again, returning to darkness.

——

The wind carried dust and the scent of gunpowder, while a strong Tie Xiu odor spread through the ruins.

On the street, the once bustling market lay in ruin. Vendors' abandoned goods littered the ground—scarlet fabrics, golden wheat stalks, shattered pottery, and assorted debris mingled like colorful shards, glaring amid the gray ruins.

The entire city of Naska had been destroyed, and only a few hundred Niksalan who fled to the city's edge survived by luck.

A silver giant dragon unleashed a wave of elements from the sky, destroying the pyramid, and the golden barrier sealing Naska fell with a resonant crash.

"Another one, but unfortunately I already temporarily don't need it."

Naimi Xisi's massive dragon claw grasped a transparent golden crystal sphere, a slight consolation. At his level, ordinary Magic Items no longer attract him; aside from piles of gold coins and crudely crafted Magic Items in the pyramid, only this "Sun God's Hymn" holds any interest.

After sweeping the pyramid clean of its items, Naimi Xisi finally had time to sort his loot.

The foremost benefit, undeniably, was the massive Mana infusion that drastically shortened his growth period.

His body now measures 100 meters, reaching the threshold of the mature dragon evolution stage.

Though still a bit short, it's not without gain.

Normally, a True Dragon's size does not change before crossing an age tier; only when entering the breakthrough‑age slumber does the body continuously enlarge.

In other words, even a True Dragon that will fall into evolutionary slumber the next day retains the attributes of its current age tier. However, due to the Mana infusion, Naimi Xisi, though not yet evolved to the mature dragon stage, already possesses some mature dragon abilities—a rare, special condition.

He senses that when he truly enters the mature dragon's slumber cycle and awakens, he will likely experience another leap beyond his current foundation.

That means he has one extra growth breakthrough compared to other dragons.

Now his stats are almost indistinguishable from those of a mature Juan Ce Long.

True name: Naimi Xisi

Race: Juan Ce Long (Psychic Dragon) variant

Growth stage: Adult Dragon

Body data—Length: 100 meters

Strength: 17

Agility: 19

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 38 (Ein Stone +6)

Perception: 38 (Ein Stone +6)

Charisma: 37 (Ein Stone +6)

Supernatural abilities (usable at will): Darkvision, Juan Ce Long elemental breath, Psychic gas breath, Mana shockwave, True Dragon shapeshift, Dispel/Command Undead

Traits: Immunity to psychic damage, immunity to psychic control, self‑adaptive evolution.

Profession: Spellscribe—Level 14, Psychic Sorcerer rank—Level 14,

Spell power rank—Level 20

!

Spell point resource: 604 points

Mana point resource: 256 points

Because his size increased, all of Naimi Xisi's attribute points were boosted again, and as a chain reaction, his two professions also achieved breakthrough advancement.

Unfortunately, since it isn't a true breakthrough to the mature dragon stage, aside from the attribute and profession gains, there's no other change.

But Naimi Xisi isn't in a hurry; after all, this is a free growth opportunity.

One should know that a True Dragon's slumber‑level boost is utterly illogical; their potent bloodlines let True Dragons rely solely on breakthrough age tiers.

Take Juan Ce Long as an example: as long as one can break through the current age tier, they can ignore obstacles and raise two Spellcaster levels plus fixed attribute points.

Normally, when a Juan Ce Long ascends to the Ancient Elder Dragon, it gains Legendary casting ability, meaning the Spellcaster rank jumps directly to level 22.

However, given Naimi Xisi's current Spellcaster rank, breaking through the Ancient Elder Dragon age tier would raise it directly to level 24!

That means if Naimi Xisi can raise his Spellcaster rank as much as possible with each age‑tier breakthrough, when he eventually reaches the Ancient Dragon Stage, his profession rank will naturally be extremely high, possibly even touching the Legendary pinnacle—just a push away from the deity's eaves.

This is the classic early‑bird‑gets‑the‑worm scenario.

As long as one is confident in balancing profession‑rank advancement with slumber duration, the more diligent and ambitious a True Dragon, the more terrifying the reward at the Ancient Dragon Stage.

In the past, Naimi Xisi's growth period was too short to ever raise his profession rank, but now, as his age tier rises, each breakthrough requires significantly more time, and having witnessed the benefits of early rank advancement, he has resolved to boost his profession rank as much as possible before each age‑tier breakthrough.

(End of Chapter)