Chapter 187: The Fall of a God, All Things Wail!
"What\'s happening over there?"
"What\'s going on?"
"What are we doing here?"
...
Many vigilant players looked around, feeling a sense of panic.
Only Sterl remained relatively calm; he had a rough idea of what was happening.
Earlier, his avatar was almost crushed by the Divine Power collisions of six gods!
Even now, his forehead throbbed faintly.
Moreover, based on the information transmitted by his avatar before its demise, Sterl realized that Gloria and the others... the gods, were hunting other gods!
They seemed to be targeting the divine authorities of [Trade] and [Conspiracy] from the summoned god.
At this moment, Sterl had already drawn several conclusions. It\'s known that demigods can kill other demigods with the same Law Power to quickly strengthen their own Law Power. Based on Gloria and her group\'s actions, it\'s evident that gods can also hunt each other and absorb the same divine authority to rapidly increase their strength.
What made Sterl frown even more was what the elder named Faustus had said.
The Hall of Valor itself has no protective measures, but the gods who joined the Hall of Valor had a private pact promising not to harm each other.
This pact must have existed for a long time; otherwise, the god of Trade and Conspiracy wouldn\'t have been so unguarded when summoned.
Now, Gloria and her companions, in their urgent quest to increase their power to face a future great calamity, chose to break the pact and attack other gods.
Clearly, this calamity is no small matter!
The pact of non-aggression protected not just the weaker gods but all gods. Gloria\'s small group was obviously not the most powerful within the Hall of Valor. With the pact broken, they too could be hunted by stronger entities.
"What exactly is this great calamity?" Sterl frowned. If even gods were worried about it, facing such a calamity with his current power might turn him to dust in an instant.
"I need to accelerate my power growth," he pondered.
Sterl could only comfort himself, thinking that in the gods\' perception of time, the impending calamity might still be decades or centuries away, giving him a chance to develop...
As for the drastic changes in the direction where the [Novice]s had come from, Sterl had already made a guess—
It was likely that the struggle among the gods had already reached a conclusion!!
Most probably, the fall of the god of Trade and Conspiracy!
Sure enough, about ten seconds later, an extremely mournful wail suddenly echoed through the heavens and earth.
The wail didn\'t sound like it came from any person or creature; it was as if the world itself was crying out.
Everyone who heard this wail couldn\'t help but shed two lines of tears in empathy.
Only Sterl, who had once ascended to godhood, had some resistance to it, but he also pretended to squeeze out a few tears.
Then the entire world plunged into darkness, and a rumbling sound came from the ground, as if something had fallen to earth.
Then, all players felt a wave of air sweeping over them, causing their various belongings and coins to jingle crisply. Sterl noticed that Osmond, who was also crying along with the other players, suddenly realized something and frantically pulled out various gold coins and purple gold coins from his inventory.
Hesitating for a moment, Sterl decided to mimic Osmond\'s actions, taking out all his remaining purple gold coins from completing the second class ceremony.
In that strange shockwave, all the purple gold coins generated a new attribute.
[Essence of Trade (Divine Relic)]
[Description: Equivalent to a purple gold coin.]
[Effect: You can use this coin to forcibly purchase anything, including but not limited to enemy or ally skills, life force, stamina, endurance, equipment...]
At first, Sterl didn\'t understand what Essence of Trade meant.
It took him a moment to react.
"Forcibly purchase??"
"So, during combat, I can use this thing to trade for my opponent\'s life force and directly kill them??"
Sterl sensed the purple gold coins in his hand, his face filled with shock!
What a terrifying ability!
He could already imagine the absurd scenarios of using these Essences of Trade in battle, purchasing the opponent\'s skill usage rights and rendering their ultimate moves useless.
Buying the opponent\'s equipment, forcing their combat power to plummet!
"Indeed, it seems the gods of Trade and Conspiracy have fallen."
"The concept of Trade is spreading everywhere."
Sterl half-guessing, half-sensing through Moon Law and his previous ascension to godhood, learned the truth.
"Then what about the divine authority of Conspiracy after the god\'s fall?" But he quickly had a new question.
And this question was soon answered.
He suddenly sensed a surge of malice within himself, making him feel an urge to harm everything around him and a desire to scheme against others...
Sterl could feel that if he successfully used Conspiracy to harm others, he would receive considerable power in return, gaining attribute points and a large amount of experience.
At the same time, Sterl noticed that the entire surrounding area, though unchanged in scenery, felt a shade darker, extremely oppressive, like a precursor to something terrifying...
He heard the sound of grass being trampled and the heavy breathing of living creatures.
He realized that everyone around had strange expressions, clearly affected by this peculiar power...
When the god of Trade\'s divine authority fell, it brought a large blessing.
But when the god of Conspiracy\'s divine authority fell, it brought a curse, as it was inherently a negative divine authority.
Sterl keenly observed that it wasn\'t just this generation of [Novice]s being affected but countless lives over a vast area.
This included some wild monsters and bosses. Although he didn\'t know what these creatures influenced by [Conspiracy] would do, Sterl instinctively felt his scalp tingle.
Because in the world of the Hall of Valor, there theoretically existed legendary and demigod-level bosses, monsters of such strength with life force and attributes enhanced by the boss panel, making them very difficult for Sterl to deal with.
He knew he couldn\'t stay nearby any longer and had to escape quickly.
Sterl looked into the distance.
He wasn\'t sure if the phenomenon of divine authority energy spreading was a natural occurrence after a god\'s death or if it happened because Gloria\'s team didn\'t completely absorb the Divine Power after killing the gods of Trade and Conspiracy, causing it to disperse.
Sterl leaned towards the former; the earlier wail that seemed to come from the entire [Transcendence] world couldn\'t be faked.
"So, every god\'s fall means the heavens change color, and the whole world mourns," Sterl concluded, which wasn\'t very useful.
Then, he glanced at Faye, who had a twisted expression beside him...
Sterl resisted the urge to cast Purification Ripple.
That move could likely counteract the influence of Conspiracy\'s divine authority, but the problem was that Gloria was still nearby, and Sterl didn\'t want to risk it.
He just grabbed Faye and quickly activated teleportation and Bloody Rush, sprinting for several minutes before throwing the girl into a tree hollow in a dense forest.
"Now it\'s up to your own willpower."
Sterl left without looking back. Theoretically, Conspiracy\'s divine authority had both advantages and disadvantages. Those with weak wills would be consumed and lose themselves, but those who could resist its temptation might find an opportunity to use the lingering power to scheme against their enemies for rewards.
The previous location had too many affected creatures and monsters, so he couldn\'t stay there long.
Sterl left Faye in a secluded spot, knowing she would eventually recover.
Afterward, Sterl himself hid near a small hut by an unknown lake in the Hall of Valor.
"Never mind all that, time to train!"
He knew the official [Trial] would begin in less than a day, so Sterl unhesitatingly started a closed-door training session to continue refining his experience.
Soon, as he meditated, more stars were created within him and cast into the starry sea.
Sterl\'s level soared rapidly!
At this moment, he realized the benefits of the Hall of Valor. The world\'s vital energy here was over a hundred times richer than the outside, allowing Sterl to refine his experience more efficiently through arcane skill boosts.
Additionally, the abundant vital energy provided an extra experience bonus during training, so Sterl\'s leveling speed far outpaced the outside world.
In just one day, Sterl jumped to level 73!
And he still had two levels\' worth of experience in his experience bar, which, given the training efficiency in the Hall of Valor, was enough to nearly reach level 77.
"Not bad, soon I\'ll reach third class," Sterl nodded in satisfaction.
The third class stage was a transitional phase to legendary status, offering only an increase in level cap. But after reaching third class, Sterl could draw rewards from the dimensional visitor and unlock new deputy star positions, providing much higher benefits than most.
Moreover, he wielded Law Power, but his attributes were still below those of true demigods, so his offensive and defensive capabilities weren\'t very strong.
For Sterl, quickly leveling up was the most cost-effective and convenient way to boost his power.
After a day\'s training, he also completed an attribute allocation—