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The path to the fourth tier was a long one. Those who hadn't begun the journey of themselves would never attain that level.

But even with that, there was still a factor that was outside the full control of cultivators.

Cregar.

The world played a powerful and important role in the lives of humans ascending the various tiers of power.

Attaining the fourth tier meant breaking off of the world's control and starting on a path that wouldn't be controlled by the world. It was the next best thing to godhood but were simply termed demi-gods.

But just like all students of a school must succeed in an exam and be given a certificate, all cultivators must succeed in a trial to move on to the next realm.

A large crack opened on the featureless head of the giant, and a roar so powerful it resembled an explosion erupted forth pushing Elder Sarah's approaching figure.

A snort exited her mouth as cracks opened on her armor. Her sword had disappeared, but a new one appeared in her grip, but it made her armor reduce in power and density.

Tens of slashes manifested as she swung frantically, and even more chaos unfolded.

The ground shook, cracked, shattered. It turned charred, crumbled. The power within her attacks rose as her confidence skyrocketed.

The heat she remained capable of emitting made the ground burn and boil.

The results of her attacks eventually died down and the giant's even more pitiful state was made known to the world.

The runic symbols that existed on its surface not began to release a swirling sound.

The wind stopped blowing. Damage stopped being dealt to the environment, and an incredibly large magical circle expanded below the giant's upper body.

"This is a crucial stage, we should create distance," Elder Von announced shooting backward with Noah being carried by his consciousness.

The event surprised Noah who thought they were quite far already. After all, even the Giant looked small from that distance.

His belief crumbled, however, when immense blue pillars emerged out of the magical circle to ascend into the clouds with frightening speed.

A great rumbling unfolded at that point and Noah felt shocked to find that the giant crumbled and the energy within it exploded but never left the range of the pillars.

Elder Sarah sprinted forward, crossing the thin barrier of light created by the circle and standing within the raging energies.

Mana of incredible quality was generated at that point, but then the sky turned deadly dark.

A cracking cloud that spread cold winds over the wasteland materialized at that point, and even from their distance, Noah's instincts spiked in terror.

The scent he associated with rain, existed strongly in the environment.

Elder Sarah sat cross-legged within the chaos and began cultivating.

The cloud crackled with intense energy and before they knew it a blue light flashed, overshadowing every other light for miles in all directions.

The roaring of a single bolt of lightning made the sky shake.

Fear for the life of his master appeared momentarily in Noah's mind. But his worries crumbled when an orange slash pierced the blue light to crash into the crackling cloud.

The sharp sound of metal striking metal barreled forth in the world at that event, but nothing significant happened.

The attack made no dent on the cloud, as it began to rumble signifying the arrival of another bolt.

It arrived quickly, bathing the environment in a blinding blue light, but again a slash pierced its light to crash on the cloud, generating the same high-pitched bang.

This time its color had turned green and its power felt astonishing.

Still, it resulted in only a small mark at the center of the spiral cloud.

The winds blew fiercely and the cloud rumbled even louder, a third blue light flashed again, and a lightning bolt crashed on Elder Sarah's body.

Nevertheless, seven blue slashes appeared out of thin air l to immediately arrive on the cloud and this time they directly cut it from side to side.

Still, the cloud wasn't done.

It began to shrink while continuing to rumble.

Its power spiked and even Elder Sarah opened her eyes in shock.

It would kill her if she was unable to properly manage it.

The rumbling continued and she straightened her position.

Her level had long since entered the fourth tier, but it seemed the world wanted more from her.

Tens of blue slashes made from both her flames and lightning bolts appeared around her. But she made them accumulate around her.

At this point, the energy that had been swirling around her had disappeared.

The rumbling grew louder and louder, and Noah started to believe it would never discharge its energy.

But it did

A bolt far bigger and louder than the others had been, flew out of the cloud to Instantly arrive in front of elder Sarah, but she had acted quick enough to allow her slashes to connect with the bolt first.

Even at that, when it eventually arrived on her figure, her armor and clothes disappeared.

A cry of agony filled the world as the Intense energy within that bolt caused her skin, muscles, and even chunks of her bones to burn and disappear multiple times.

But the excruciating process of refinement didn't last too long.

New skin, muscle fiber, and bones replaced her old ones and they had a sturdiness far above the bottom of the fourth tier. And a quality that shocked the tier 4 elders.

Blue sparks started to accumulate around her as the sky cleared.

Elder Sarah had lost consciousness. Her very mind underwent the same excruciating process her body did, but her breakthrough continued.

The sparks began to accumulate around her, expanding to areas far from her figure, however, they detonated, completely destroying themselves. And shocking the resultant energy converged on Elder Sarah, and soon they disappeared.

A few moments of silence unfolded in the world at that point, as a singular figure floated, suspended by a blue halo that slowly changed color.

A purple light began to slowly reveal itself around Elder Sarah's body and soon it became blinding, so much so that her figure became unnoticeable.

The event brought about a crackling sound and with astonished gazes the elders watched a small purple bolt of lightning leave her figure to crash on the ground.

The resultant explosion was so spectacular that a crater capable of swallowing more than half the floating island, opened on the surface of the wasteland.

Purple flames also erupted from it and intense heat, nothing like her blue flames were capable of, expanded.

Noah couldn't feel it thanks to the protection of Elder Von, but the rate at which the ground disappeared made shivers run down his spine.

In less than a minute the purple flames had burnt as deep and as 1000m below the general surface of the wasteland. The crater had now become a huge dark hole.