Soul of Searing Steel

The black wave dispersed. Only an explosive sound was heard. Brandon was blasted back like a cannonball. Meanwhile, Joshua was just standing on the spot, pressing on two huge wounds right by his waist with his hands as blood was spilling like a fountain.

Because both of them were heavily wounded, the battlefield instantly descended into silence.

"Cough."

Upon letting out a cough and spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, Brandon attempted to stand back up on his feet. Currently, he was in the middle of a puddle of icy water. Water mixed with dirt, mud, and blood were all over the body of the golden-haired swordsman. He looked like he was cornered tightly for good.

However, even though that was the case, he swung his hand and stood back up on his feet with the aid of the force from the swing of his hand. He struggled a little to stand back up though. After that, he looked at Joshua with a doubtful face. "Hey, what just happened? How is it possible that the crack on your body suddenly vanished?!"

A moment before that, Brandon was using his Nine Sword's [Soul of Steel], the Secret Technique [Instant Breath of God Speed]. With the dual blades slashed straight towards Joshua's body, Brandon was actually aiming for the weak spot, the crack on Joshua's body. In other words, he was aiming to strike his blades into the crack that was located right by Joshua's waist. However, that crack suddenly vanished without leaving any trace behind! However, the dual-bladed swordsman still managed to heavily wound the warrior, though it was not a fatal wound. Meanwhile, Joshua also took the opportunity to strike his [Shun-Goku Satsu] right on the chest of the swordsman.

"I've used some sort of stance to make my weak spots disappear temporarily… Furthermore, if you managed to land your strike on me, wouldn't I be dead for real? You're really cruel."

Replying Brandon in a low voice, Joshua flexed his muscles a little. The reinforced muscle fibers instantly stopped the bleeding on his large wound. "If you would have only raised your strike a little, I would have probably had two to three rib bones sliced opened. However, you've trusted your [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] too much. So I only suffered some injuries to my stomach and my intestines."

"That's really strange. Sometimes, your knowledge is so little to the point that it is terrifying, yet sometimes you seem to know everything. Like right now, you know the special effect of my [Mystic Eyes] and the true name of my 'Dual Blades of Order'. However, you do not seem to know the message of the Chaos Guardian from your own family…"

Upon sighing out loud, Brandon clutched his chest which had a deep dent in it. Brandon furrowed his brows in pain. He sensed that he had at least five broken rib bones. "Nevermind that. Anyway, thanks for holding back. Or else, I would have gotten a large hole in the middle of my chest…"

"My skills are no match for you. I admit my defeat to you. I've lost this time."

"Hahaha… regardless of anything, I've had a great time battling you."

After the fierce duel, the two of them started talking to each other again like nothing happened. Even though Brandon lost, he did not felt unhappy about it. After all, he had gone all out on that duel. It actually made sense if he lost to Joshua though. Even though it was not a fight to the death, it was already a good battle for the two of them could duel to such extent.

On the other hand, Joshua was satisfied with the battle, not because he had defeated Brandon who was not yet the complete version of the Holy Swordsman. Truth to be told, the power level of the golden-haired swordsman was far from enough to defeat the warrior right now. Well, the warrior had the advantages of many years of experience and skills. That was not something that a combatant with Gift or high capabilities could make up for. It was already a pleasantly big surprise that this swordsman could actually bring such pleasure and excitement to Joshua during the battle.

Now, the warrior was happy for that reason and also because he leveled up.

[In a one-on-one duel, you have defeated the Imperial Council's Second Sword, Brandon Kaos.]

[His level, Level 47. Hero Form]

[You've succeeded in the Level Gap Challenge!]

Followed by a large amount of data that stated his achievements and experience statuses, Joshua just looked pass all the data. Including the improvement in his attributes, Joshua was not interested in everything.

The only thing that he was interested in was his level and whether he could level up or not.

Ever since he destroyed the time and space rift, the experience bar of the warrior had been stuck at the point where he only needed a little more to reach Level 44. The Dark Tide and the high-level Gold-tier daemons had disappeared completely for the moment. Meanwhile, because of the experience penalty that somehow existed in this world, it would be pointless for him to slay as many low-level daemons as he wanted to. Well, he confirmed that theory when he slew the Frost Dragon back then.

This time, Brandon took the initiative to challenge him. And that was really a pleasant surprise. And because of that small little chunk of experience points he acquired by defeating Brandon, Joshua was currently Level 45.

At this level, he had become completely different from before he reached this level. Upon reaching this level, Joshua had reached the realm of Upper Gold tier!

"Upon reaching the Upper Gold tier, many skills of my Mastery shall be unlocked. I'll attain many more styles and methods for my upcoming battles."

Because Gold-tier combatants had the ability to heal themselves, the two large wounds on Joshua's waist that were struck by Brandon's 'Dual Blades of Order' were almost close and stopped bleeding. Meanwhile, the intestines that were sliced open was beginning to reconnect with the warrior's control. The warrior could not help but nod his head. "My healing ability has gotten stronger too."

Of course, that was not the only benefit reaching the realm of Upper Gold. To be frank, although the warrior did not give much attention to that, there was a large difference between being an Intermediate Gold and Upper Gold. That would be the different status in the Imperial Council.

Before the arrival of the large-scale Dark Tide that could cause the average level across the entire Continental War to increase up to a whole new level, even though the status of Lower Gold was considered precious, however, they could only be normal commanders on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Intermediate Gold-tier beings would be able to become higher level commanders of course. As for the Upper Gold tier, the situation would be just like Otto the great general of the great 'Black Raven Army' when Joshua first arrived on this world back in the early stage. An Upper Gold would be capable enough to be the leader of an entire army… Meanwhile, the [Mastery Soul] would be the general, first class, of the Empire's Five Army.

Previously, regardless of how stronger Joshua turned out to be, he would still be merely an Intermediate Gold-tier warrior in the eyes of many. Although his status was enough to maintain his position as the count of his territory, however, the aristocrats from the Empire would still say that Joshua was not reliable enough. Even though he destroyed the dimensional rift, there would still be someone out there doubting his strength and power level. However, currently, regardless of who it was, including the general of the Five Armies, everyone would be bothered by the simplest word the warrior said.

First Class. Such a thing did not actually matter to Joshua who was in the system. However, for the others, the difference would be tremendous.

Meanwhile, Brandon who only managed to get his breathing pace right was staring at Joshua's self-recovery pace. He could not help but drop his jaw.

This man, was it 'Light of Radiance' or 'Light of Willpower' that awoke in him?! Is this man's body still human even?! Are you sure he is not some sort of dragon-blooded descendant or some sort of real dragon's incarnation?!

He lowered his head and looked at the dented part of his chest. That was the heavy punch that was infused with the warrior's murderous aura that the warrior struck him with. Even though only a small portion of the force from the punch had landed on him, however, the remained energy power had disrupted his healing capability. Because of that, the swordsman could feel the stinging pain in his chest while he was breathing.

"Joshua, how many percent is the Resonance Rate between you and the power of Order?"

After giving it some thought, Brandon asked Joshua cautiously.

"The Resonance Rate of the power of Order? What's that?"

Joshua frowned. Regardless of whether it was before or after the arrival to this world, he had not heard about this thing ever. "Speaking of which, the power of Order and the Purification Strength that you used just now, is there any difference between their nature? Although it felt holy, there's something different about it."

"The Resonance Rate is how far you and and the power of Order have resonated. Normally, the amount of Legacy Power you could get depends on your Resonance Rate. The higher your Resonance Rate is, the more Legacy Power you'll get. And the better effects you'll get. Normal people would get about 30 to 40. Those who can get 50 or more will be deemed as highly qualified."

Brandon was explaining patiently to Joshua, "As for the difference between the two, it would be just like the difference between the [Seraph's Holy Light] and the [Judgement's Holy Light]. Although both of them could deal a tremendous amount of damage to the Chaos, however, my [Purification Strength] can also deal quite a considerable amount of damage to the other enemies too. Meanwhile, the power of Order will only target Chaos. Order energy will only deal normal amount of damage to the other enemies other than Chaos."

"I see. So that explains a lot."

Upon nodding his head after understanding something about, Joshua looked at the small cut wounds all over his body. The light-green [Purification Strength] was still lingering on the surface of his wounds. Meanwhile, the same phenomenon was seen happening on the two large wounds on his waist as well. Although he had clenched his muscles and stopped the wounds from bleeding on, he could not close the wounds instantly.

This [Purification Strength] actually had a putrefying effect that would greatly disrupt the healing ability. In terms of damage, it did not pale in comparison to Joshua's [Satsui Hadou].

"Oh, Joshua. This is a gift bearing our gratitude."

Without asking on for the Resonance Rate of Joshua and his Order energy, Brandon could also guess that the number would be terrifyingly high even though the warrior did not say anything about it yet. Joshua's Resonance Rate would definitely be more than 90%. Or else, it would not explain why Joshua's body could be so powerful and strong.

Well, Brandon did not guess it wrong though. Joshua brought up the system tab and look at his own Class list. After that, he looked at the sub-list of his Chaos Guardian tab and looked at the Resonance Rate between himself and the Order power.

[Resonance Rate: 72 + 20 (Additional enhancement by the Azurite)]

"I can see why they categorize the Azurite as one of the Origin Artifacts. It actually can have such a great effect."

Upon coughing for a few times, Brandon reached his hand down to his waist and took out a small silver box from the sack that was hanging on his waist. It was obvious that the sack was the shrinking sack that was used to keep all items. The swordsman then passed the box to Joshua. "This is a small gift that Vale Dani and I picked for you. It's a small token of our gratitude for coming over to provide support to Moldova at a crucial time… We hope you'll like it."

"Then I shall accept it."

Joshua took the box over from Brandon. After that, he opened up the box while Brandon was staring at him holding the box in his hands. Upon seeing what was in the box, he asked curiously, "A ring?"

"Yes, a magic ring."

Joshua was looking at the ring with two serpents entwining it. There was a ruby with twenty-four edges right before the mouths of the two serpents. It was glittering with mesmerizing radiances all around, its beauty breathtaking.

However, the warrior seemed troubled as he spoke, "I believe this must be an extremely powerful magic ring. However, don't you think that the design of this ring doesn't quite suit my appearance? Tsk, this ring is just too beautiful…"

The design of this ring is a little too girly, my friend… Please differentiate the gender of the person that you wanted to give him or her a gift.

Joshua was not wrong though. The craftsmanship of this Twin Serpents Ring was a little too precise and elegant. Even if it was not a magic ring, this ring could still be sold aesthetically at an extremely high price. Not to mention that Vale Dani was a Gold-tier mage. She would certainly pick a gift to express her gratitude based on practicality… However, because of that, the tall and sturdy warrior was not suited for the ring. If Joshua forcefully wore the ring, he would look very ridiculous.

For a body that's almost two meters tall, passively shrouded with terrifying aura to wear a woman's ring… Heh… That scene would look extremely 'gorgeous'.

"Its effect is extremely powerful and effective against a lot of things. As for styling, just ignore it…"

Brandon was feeling a little helpless as well. He was a little bit upset about overlooking that point. Well, the Twin Serpents Ring was not the only powerful magic item in Vale Dani's collection back in Moldova. He would have Vale Dani send a talisman instead if he had noticed this.

Resting his thoughts on that matter, Brandon recalled something. "Oh, right. About the raw materials from the Gold-tier daemons you killed earlier on, they are all on the caravan that is right behind me. Do remember to take them all later on."

"Alright."

Upon entertaining the person with simple words, Joshua then took out the Twin Serpents Ring and used the system to look at its attributes.

[Twin Infernal Serpents Ring: Gold-Tier Extraordinary Magic Item]