It was like the first glimmer of dawn.
A flash of silver cut through the air, and a massive True Stinger Bug was cleaved cleanly in half.
For a moment its body seemed unaware of what had happened—no blood spilled at all.
Only after a pause did the crimson spray explode outward.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 93,572 Adventure EXP.]
Nolan glanced at the notification on his character panel—this marked the third wave of insects exterminated.
At the same time, his secret-art sword technique Bloodletting had successfully reached maximum level.
—Bloodletting Sword – Secret Art Lv.10 (Bleeding)
With about half an hour of Blessed by Fortune left, Nolan decided to try fusing this with his two other maxed-out secret sword techniques.
If successful, he could combine them into a single Arcane-tier sword art, saving himself the trouble of training the last two techniques.
If it failed, he'd just burn Adventure EXP to level the other two and attempt the fusion later—he had no chance of grinding them to full level before Blessed by Fortune ended.
His real plan was to push further: to use Blessed by Fortune to attempt a fusion of three Divine-tier skills and see if he could leap straight into something beyond Divine.
Normally, based on past fusions, the chance of success was only about one in three. Too low.
But with the fivefold boost from Blessed by Fortune, the odds looked promising. If it worked, it would at least save him the effort of grinding out another Divine-tier technique.
After all, even with a mountain of Adventure EXP, building a Divine-tier skill was no easy task.
With this in mind, Nolan didn't hesitate. He began the fusion.
Hidden Shadow Swordplay Lv.10 (No Shadow) + Soul-Chasing Swordplay Lv.10 (Spirit Mark) + Bloodletting Sword – Secret Art Lv.10 (Bleeding) → Soul-Chasing Shadow – Arcane Level Lv.1 (0/5000)
The power of Blessed by Fortune showed its worth—the fusion succeeded easily, granting him a brand-new Arcane-tier sword technique.
He then spent 225,000 Adventure EXP to max it out.
Adventure EXP -225,000
Soul-Chasing Shadow – Arcane Lv.1 (0/5000) → Soul-Chasing Shadow – Arcane Lv.10 (Blood Hunt Without Shadow)
Without pause, he merged it into a nearly-complete fusion that only lacked one more Arcane-tier skill to ascend to Divine:
Judgment Art · All Things to Nothingness Lv.10 (Descent of the Demon God, Three Lives, All Things, Judgment of Life and Death) + Soul-Chasing Shadow – Arcane Lv.10 (Blood Hunt Without Shadow) → Causality Art · Annihilation Lv.1 (0/10000)
Because the base skill was already at the threshold of Divine, even without Blessed by Fortune it was guaranteed to advance.
Sure enough, the fusion succeeded—Nolan now possessed a new Divine-tier sword art!
But now came the crucial step: could he fuse a skill beyond Divine?
Adventure EXP -450,000
He first leveled Causality Art – Annihilation to maximum, unlocking a Divine characteristic called Death Curse.
Its effect: any target struck would suffer an inevitable, causality-level death effect. The weaker the enemy, the less chance of resisting.
Stronger foes could resist for a time, but unless the Death Curse was cleansed at the causal level, even the mighty would wither away into slow death.
An excellent trait.
With that, Nolan eagerly began the next fusion:
Causality Art – Annihilation Lv.10 (Death Curse) + Lumine's Authority – Divine Lv.10 (Starsea Manifestation, Boundless) + Musou no Hitotachi – Divine Lv.10 (Musou State) → Lumine's Musou – World Lv.1 (0/100000)
The skills twisted together on his panel and finally merged into one.
A new technique appeared, with the suffix "World."
Without doubt—this was a World-tier sword art, a realm above Divine!
Blessed by Fortune had once again proven its power.
But leveling it was brutal. Raising it from level one to two alone cost 100,000 EXP.
To max it out required a staggering 4.5 million!
Even after clearing several waves of insects earlier, Nolan had only raised his points to about four million.
Now, after spending more, he had barely 3.3 million left. He'd need to wipe out one or two more large swarms to gather the full amount.
All the better—he wanted to test just how terrifying a World-tier sword art really was!
He invoked Eula's Affection skill, summoning the ice-white Frostlight Sword. But instead of manipulating meteors with gravity, this time he simply swung casually at the stomach wall of the cosmic behemoth.
There was no golden sword aura—or perhaps there was, but it was too fast to see.
The next instant, without warning, a thousand-meter-long cut split open across the stomach wall.
The beast's blood erupted like a bursting dam, flooding forth like a raging, endless torrent.
"ROOOAR!"
A pained bellow thundered as though from another world, and Nolan felt the entire stomach quake violently.
That seemingly simple strike carried multiple effects, including the Death Curse.
And it worked—the colossal monster was wounded.
But not slain. That alone proved its power was far above his own.
Controlling it with Command Seals was out of the question. For a foe stronger than oneself, subduing was far harder than killing.
Now that the Death Curse had taken hold, unless it was purged, every cell in the creature would continue dying—until none remained.
Nolan couldn't help but wonder with anticipation: how many Adventure EXP would defeating such a cosmic behemoth grant?
Still, with its sheer size, it might take ages to succumb. It would instinctively muster energy to resist the Death Curse, dragging the process out.
A long demise, no doubt.
But he wasn't too concerned. More than the behemoth, what interested him now were the swarms of insects rushing toward him.
This wave even carried three True Stinger Bugs, all level ninety-five and above. A stroke of luck.
Nolan summoned two Lumine Sword Gods to handle two of them, while he turned to face the last himself.
As he released just a trace of sword intent from his World-tier technique, the charging parasite froze mid-flight, its body shuddering as an overwhelming sense of doom clawed at it.
But insect swarms knew nothing of fear or survival instinct. For them, death was meaningless; only the survival of the hive mattered.
Individual lives were expendable.
And so, the True Stinger Bug still charged straight at him.
Nolan showed no restraint. Invisible sword intent continued to pierce into the creature's body, and when it was still a few dozen meters away—
"Boom!"
Without a sound, the True Stinger Bug disintegrated mid-flight into fine powder, scattering like mist.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Gained 98,125 Adventure EXP.]
The other two True Stinger Bugs had also already been slain by the two Lumine Sword Gods.
With his skill raised to World-tier, the sword gods' power had risen sharply, making it effortless to deal with such foes.
Though the swarm was large, between him and his avatars, they were wiped out in no time.
In total, he gained over 700,000 EXP:
[Adventure EXP: 4,083,607]
His points were back to roughly four million, only half a million short of what he needed to max out his World-tier skill.
So, Nolan casually carved another gash into the stomach wall, releasing another flood of blood.
The swarm awoke from the blood, buzzing toward him like bees.
Musou!
Raising the Frostlight Blade, he slashed once more—every insect vanished mid-flight, dissolving into mist.
[Adventure EXP +5,682]
[Adventure EXP +6,141]
[Adventure EXP +5,412]
Notifications popped up in quick succession.
[Adventure EXP: 4,636,207]
With over 4.6 million Experience, it was enough to max the World-tier sword art.
Without hesitation, Nolan poured the points into it.
Adventure EXP -4,500,000
Lumine's Musou · World Lv.1 (0/100000) → Lumine's Musou · World Lv.10 (Starsea)
A new trait was born, and at last the sword art was perfected. His panel now showed only a sliver of EXP remaining:
---
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: 105 (0/15,000,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island, Sumeru Sage
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Lumine's Musou · World Lv.10 (Starsea)
- Domain of Objective Illusory Shadows · Divine Level Lv.10 (Unobservable State)
- Flowing Sky Shot: Arcane Level Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
- Elemental Mastery Lv.10 (Max)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
Specialties:
- Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)
- Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)
- Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)
- Spiritual Core (Exclusive)
Adventure EXP: 136,207
---
Not nearly enough to level up, but good for emergencies.
With only a few minutes left of Blessed by Fortune, and having grievously wounded the cosmic behemoth, Nolan chose to retreat before the buff expired—better not risk the beast noticing him or anything unexpected.
Besides, it was late. Time to bathe and sleep.
---
Wonderland Space – Living Room
Keqing, who had long since finished dinner, sat on the sofa with a faint scowl.
That guy had brought her here, only to run off on his own—for hours. Now it was already late at night, and she still hadn't returned home.
Her mood was far from pleased.
Just then, a spatial rift opened, and Nolan stepped out. Seeing Keqing sulking on the sofa, his heart sank.
Damn it… I was too focused on farming EXP and practicing sword arts—I forgot Keqing was still here!
"Ahem, uh… already finished eating?" he asked awkwardly.
"What do you think?" Keqing glared. "Where did you disappear to?"
"Sorry, just practicing swordsmanship. If you don't believe me, ask Ningguang—I borrowed some manuals from her today."
He sat beside her, gently taking her hand in apology.
"Hmph. Sword practice at this hour?" Keqing trusted him, but she was still unhappy he'd left her alone.
Since he'd apologized, she didn't press further. Instead, she parted her lips and said:
"Enough. It's late, send me back."
The Lantern Rite was the day after tomorrow, and she had plenty of work tomorrow—she wanted rest.
"You're right, it's late… but why not stay here tonight? Take a bath. There's a hot spring on the second floor—it'll ease your whole body."
Nolan slipped an arm around her slender waist.
Her pale cheeks flushed red. She patted his hand, trying to push him away, but he wouldn't budge.
Helpless, Keqing muttered:
"I didn't bring any change of clothes. Forget it, I'll bathe at home."
"No clothes? Doesn't matter. No one else is here, and it's warm enough—clothes are optional."
He leaned in and kissed the corner of her lips.
Keqing's body jolted, trembling in his arms. Flustered, she stammered:
"S-stop talking nonsense! Send me back!"
But Nolan only smiled, sliding his left hand up her back, lifting her skirt to press against her stocking-clad hips.
"No."
"Ah!"
The touch made her shiver; she hurriedly pressed her skirt down, face burning crimson.
"You scoundrel, hands off!"
But Nolan ignored her, pulling her onto his lap, his right arm securing her waist, preventing escape.
His left hand slid from her hips to her thighs, stroking gently.
"Relax, I get it. Let me just take off your stockings so you can bathe more comfortably," he teased.
Saying so, he slipped his hand beneath her skirt, searching for the hem of her tights.
"Id-idiot!"
Unable to bear it, Keqing turned and bit his arm hard—lightning sparking around her teeth.
A punishment for shamelessness!
"Hiss—" Nolan sucked in a sharp breath, his arm tingling numb, but he still refused to let go.
Clamping her stocking-wrapped legs, he gripped the fabric and tugged downward.
The high-quality material held firm, sliding down to her knees without tearing.
Keqing felt a sudden chill beneath her skirt. She glanced down—and froze.
Her black tights had been pulled down together with… the pale-violet panties hidden beneath.
Her pupils contracted violently. She nearly fainted.
Forgetting even to punish him further, she quickly let go of his arm and scrambled to pull everything back up before it went any lower.
(End of Chapter)
RedX43's Note:
➤ Want More? Get up to +40 Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/RedX43
➤ +400 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter Drop!
➤ Thanks for reading! 🙌