Chapter 529: Key of Doors – Seven Rings

This is the biggest amount of stored energy since the Ascension Legend gave the phone a soul‑power pool—over seven hundred units, enough to boost a great many elements!

Lei En's heart surged.

But before that, he first needs to raise his Wizard level.

The last time he lifted the Blood Soul Curse from his son Lei Kesi, he used Wish Spell and paid the price of dropping three levels, falling back to a twelfth‑level Wizard with less than half of his soul power remaining.

Lei En manipulates the phone's interface, releasing the energy from the soul‑power pool.

In an instant, the outermost third ring of energy fills green cell by cell, soaring like a rocket; in under ten seconds the meter hits full.

At the moment it reaches full, Lei En enters a soul‑ascension state.

The World Tree within his soul sways gently, its branches rising, emitting waves of pleasant exhilaration that intoxicate him. After a few minutes the ascension ends; normally one would inject a soul‑eating elixir and perform a Soul Transformation ceremony to reach the mid‑stage of the Ascension Legend.

But Lei En has already lifted the Blood Soul Curse, so he can trigger Soul Transformation by another method.

This is a mage's ascension method.

Non‑human casters, especially elf mages, when they hit a rank ceiling—say, moving from Mid‑stage to High‑stage—will try to master four‑ring spells to break their limits and cause a soul metamorphosis.

Reslin broke through to a legendary Mid‑stage mage two years ago by constructing a seven‑ring spell model within his soul, thereby succeeding.

The last time Lei En ascended to legendary Mid‑stage, his soul‑power pool was empty, so he could only use a soul‑eating elixir for the ceremony.

This time it isn't necessary.

Lei En's gaze scans the rows of element icons on the phone; so far he has exactly twenty secret‑type elements—i. e., spells—mostly at five‑ring or six‑ring level, some already at their ring cap and unable to advance.

Choosing a spell to rise from six‑ring to seven‑ring naturally means picking the strongest one.

He immediately looks at "Key of Doors" and "Wish Spell".

Wish Spell is a legendary element, its ceiling unbelievably high, almost omnipotent.

Normally Lei En only uses it to simulate other spells; the simulated spell is one ring lower than Wish Spell itself. Currently Wish Spell is six‑ring, so it can only simulate five‑ring spells—higher than that demands a huge price and unknown risk.

If Wish Spell were seven‑ring, its safe simulation cap would reach six‑ring, effectively granting mastery of every six‑ring spell!

Lei En is very tempted, so he tries to pour energy into Wish Spell.

A few seconds later he decisively stops.

"Whoa!"

Lei En is speechless inside; the soul‑power pool loses seven units, and the progress bar under the Wish Spell icon advances only one step.

That means raising a six‑ring Wish Spell to seven‑ring requires seven hundred units of energy!

He just reached full at twelfth‑level Wizard, having spent over fifty units, and even pouring all remaining energy into Wish Spell wouldn't be enough to raise a ring.

"Better consider the 'Key of Doors' first."

Lei En can only give up, redirecting the energy into "Key of Doors". As the energy drains, he finds the upgrade far easier, needing roughly two hundred units—more than double the cost of raising a five‑ring to six‑ring before.

Two hundred units he can still bear.

Watching the Key of Doors' progress bar advance step by step, after half a minute it reaches the end; the element icon flashes, the corresponding leaf on the World Tree trembles, and its rune emits an eerie, cold glow.

Lei En again sees that indescribable sight—a great being deep within the endless void.

A garbled, obscure babble rings in his mind; listening closely, the voice seems to contain profoundly deep knowledge that can pierce the ultimate truth of space‑time.

His soul trembles, not from fear but from excitement.

His body is a little stiff, his complexion odd, yet the surrounding Extreme Warriors and Minotaurs do not notice his abnormality.

The illusion lasts about thirty seconds before ending.

Lei En exhales lightly, discovering new knowledge of space‑time in his mind—a tiny fragment of the vast truths, yet with astonishingly wondrous effect; everything he sees undergoes a dramatic transformation.

On the soul World Tree, the Key of Doors' leaf rune stabilizes.

It has risen to seven‑ring, becoming a legendary element!

This is the fifth legendary element after "Truth Will", "Rainbow Light Law", "Mysterious Touch", and "Wish Spell".

Before Lei En can fully sense the benefits of the seven‑ring Key of Doors, a muffled hum erupts; the entire soul space quakes violently, the World Tree sways dramatically, growing faster, expanding the space, and massive soul power surges rapidly.

"Soul Metamorphosis!"

Lei En does not panic; instead he feels delighted.

Because the Soul Transformation is not performed with a soul‑eating elixir, this one brings no pain, nor does it require music in his mind; he sits there with a relaxed expression. Perhaps having undergone Soul Transformation before, this is merely a re‑metamorphosis, lasting under three minutes.

As always, the phone powers off at the end of the transformation, then restarts.

Lei En waits patiently a moment; the phone interface reappears in view, having not unlocked new functions but having enhanced several existing ones.

During the last Soul Transformation, after reaching legendary Mid‑stage, he explored that the phone's soul‑devouring range expanded again, now able to absorb souls within a kilometer; moreover, he can freely select which souls to absorb or designate a few to ignore with a mere thought—very convenient.

The ranges of Soul Eye and Voice of All Things have both increased greatly.

Additionally, the soul‑power pool's cap has expanded to two thousand units.

Lei En knows there's nothing left to explore, focuses his attention on "Key of Doors", concentrates, and instantly senses its difference.

Through his eyes, the entire world becomes transparent!

"Sss—"

Lei En draws a cool breath, carefully observes his surroundings, and the word "X‑ray Vision!" flashes in his mind, then he shakes his head silently, "It's more than X‑ray Vision; it sees the interior of things!"

Everything within sight spreads out like a flat diagram; both exterior form and interior structure, every detail and feature, appear plainly before him, leaving no secrets.

It reminds Lei En of the dimensional theory from a past life—observing a lower‑level world from a higher‑dimensional perspective feels just like this.

He calmly looks toward the minotaur ahead to his left.

The minotaur's tall, muscular frame becomes transparent, its armor spreading like paper, revealing its body.

Every hair on its surface and every inch of skin are crystal clear.

Each muscle and organ inside is laid bare in fine detail.

Even the flow of its blood vessels, skeletal structure, and the details of the food just swallowed are displayed; the minotaur appears to Lei En like an ant on paper, with no concealment. Even its soul is seen through completely by the Soul Eye.

At that moment, the minotaur knows less about itself than Lei En knows about it.

Lei En noticed that after he saw through the opponent, the Minotaur's weak points were laid bare, several spots where he had previously been wounded were thinner than other areas; the Holy Light Armor he wore also had a few spots of metal fatigue, the most easily pierced.

These weak points were marked clearly and unmistakably with something like "lines" and "dots," like cracks on porcelain or black specks on white paper, impossible to ignore.

They seemed to be guiding him to attack those weak points.

It was foreseeable that striking those weak points would cause greater damage, perhaps even a killing blow!

Lei En discovered that not only Minotaurs or living creatures, but even inanimate objects had weak points. The surface of the stone slab on the ground bore crack‑like "lines" and two or three "dots"; striking those spots could shatter the entire massive stone.

He kept scanning his surroundings.

The armor's enchantments, magical shields, weapons and shields, the rune array on the massive stone gate—everything he could see through was also marked with its respective weak points.

Even space itself had some fragile spots, more prone to being broken or used to forge a teleportation conduit.

The boundaries between different planes within the same dimension became clearer.

The Ether Plane, Shadow Plane, Fairy Plane, Star Realm—each plane's boundaries were distinct, like an infinitely vast layered cake, layer upon layer. He could even glimpse the farther outer layers: the heavens and the Abyss as phantoms, faintly shimmering in the deep void, as if within reach.

All Arcane concerning spacetime sped up in casting, its potency rose, while his own resistance to Arcane surged, and binding‑type Arcane effects on him dropped dramatically, even to null.

"This..."

"Goddess above!"

Lei En was profoundly shaken; only now did he realize he had vastly underestimated the Key of Doors, which only revealed its true power after being upgraded to a Legendary Element.

Possessing the Key of Doors felt like holding a key that could open a spacetime gate to an entirely new world!

He steadied his fluctuating emotions, then at once looked toward the interior of the pyramid.

In an instant, the massive pyramid built of countless boulders became transparent to his eyes; inside the tower was a vast chamber, like a grand radiant palace, supported by four rows of square pillars each over ten meters wide that upheld the dome. Every pillar, like the obelisks outside the pyramid, was covered with patterns and runes, and streams of Faith Power coursed within.

Amid hundreds of pillars, a trapezoidal altar rose from the ground, situated at the palace's center—the convergence point of all Faith Power.

Atop the altar loomed a colossal being.

"What is this thing?"

Lei En's heart skipped at the first glance. At first look, the massive object was a living creature; its body was covered with huge grey scales, each as large as a shield, and faint light leaked from the gaps between the scales, as if suppressing internal energy from spilling out.

He observed it covertly for a few seconds, then exclaimed inwardly:

"What a huge snake!"

It was indeed a snake, coiled several times atop the altar as if hibernating. The altar beneath it was cracked and collapsed in several places, seemingly unable to bear the weight.

"Why is it a snake?" Lei En wondered, "Where has the Sun God gone?"

The Sun God Anse was deified in the Prehistoric Era; no one knows what race or form his original being had before ascension, not even the Minotaur can say.

The tomb's reliefs and murals everywhere bore the Sun God's divine traces; before mortals he mainly appeared in two forms: a sun radiating scorching light, or a tall human silhouette shrouded in brilliance, facial features indistinct.

He also had several other appearances—giant, Minotaur, elf, and so on—adjusted to the believers' races to bridge the gap.

However, Anse had never manifested as a giant snake.

At least not in believers' depictions or murals.

"Could this snake be the Sun God's true form?" Lei En wondered, continuing to observe calmly, his pupils flashing with an inexplicable eerie light.

Seeing through the pyramid, the terrifying giant snake's interior structure was laid bare.

It measured over thirty meters in length, its head triangular with a pair of massive fangs; the scales and muscles along its sides to the mid‑body were extremely flexible, allowing it to spread when it rose upright to a width of over ten meters. Its scales were chiefly grey, with golden patterns along the back.

The giant snake's overall shape resembled a cobra, but with a larger head and a broader, thicker body, seemingly the result of a mutation.

"Looks somewhat familiar."

Lei En recalled for a few seconds, then a flash of insight: wasn't this the Sunspot Viper!

It is a common venomous snake in the Desert of the Dying Sun Plane, favoring hot regions, able to absorb sunlight to grow, often lurking beneath the sand to ambush passing creatures.

However, the Sunspot Viper's ceiling is low, far below that of the Sand Worm.

The few nests of snakes Lei En encountered, the strongest only reached Mid-stage; their venom was potent but posed little threat to Minotaurs and Extreme Warriors, and he cut them down with ease.

The Sun God Anse's true form could never be a Sunspot Viper!

Lei En was absolutely certain.

He first averted his gaze, activated his Soul Eye, then slowly turned back to face the giant snake. Sure enough, the Soul Eye was not backfired; it saw the snake's soul clearly, even clearer than the hazy view when observing a Holy Soul Wizard.

That shows it hasn't even reached Saint Rank, let alone half‑god status, much less deity!

"It is not the Sun God."

Lei En exhaled in relief, and his sight‑through eye made another discovery.

Within the giant snake's abdomen lay something he could not see through.

It was tiny, about half a fist in size, easily overlooked inside the snake, shaped like an ancient‑looking stone, becoming a blind spot in his view.

He could not pierce its interior, nor describe its color.

The stone's form seemed to be constantly shifting, its color changing, shape indeterminate, continuously emitting strange energy outward; the Sunspot Viper's power appeared to stem from it, causing the snake's body to deform.

A normal Sunspot Viper measures about three to four meters, with Mid-stage individuals only around five meters.

This snake, however, had grown to thirty meters, clearly beyond its growth limits.

Lei En vaguely guessed the truth: the source of all problems was that odd stone inside it. Fixing his gaze on it for a few seconds, he finally sensed the nature of the energy it emitted—a divinity transformed from Faith Power!

Boom!

It was as if a thunderclap exploded in Lei En's mind, turning his complexion pale, shattering his calm, and he sprang to his feet.

He now knew what that stone was!

(End of Chapter)