If one ignored the outrageously expensive fee…
Rei Kanzaki actually quite enjoyed working with Pali. At the very least, she was reliable.
In his previous life, Rei had encountered plenty of people who took money yet failed to deliver results. They accepted payment, then botched the job anyway. Nothing was more disgusting than that.
When Pali handled something, there was a strange sense of reassurance.
…No. "Reassurance" and "black-hearted fortune teller" were not exactly concepts that should go together. Yet somehow, within Pali, those two feelings reached a bizarre balance.
Pali placed one hand on the book.
Her other hand touched Rei's forehead.
"Feel it."
Shing!
Almost instantly, the scenery before Rei's eyes changed.
Rei discovered that he now stood upon a vast battlefield.
In one hand, he held a gigantic battle-axe.
He spread his arms wide in savage abandon and roared toward the endless army charging from afar in clouds of dust.
"HA—!!!"
"COME!!!!!!"
"FIGHT ME—TO THE VERY END—IN BLOOD AND WAR!!!!"
Run, damn legs, run!
Why fight?!
There are way too many enemies!
At the very least, create some distance and maneuver first.
Such thoughts instinctively appeared in Rei's mind. His first reaction was to avoid a head-on clash.
However—
His body refused to obey.
Only then did Rei suddenly realize.
He had been placed inside the War God's perspective.
"Kill—!!!!"
BOOM!
So fast!
Rei felt his body surge forward like a thunderbolt, instantly plunging into the enemy formation!
The massive axe swept horizontally, dragging countless bodies and splintered flesh into the air!
"WAR!!!"
Enemies charged from every direction!
Falling arrows.
Thrown daggers.
Exploding fireballs.
Charging iron cavalry—
BOOM!
A shockwave burst outward, blasting away all killing intent!
Then a boundless fighting spirit surged forth, washing away the murderous aura surrounding the battlefield!
The battle intent soared to the heavens, causing countless enemies to panic and flee, discarding armor and weapons!
Even those who still dared attack found their movements distorted and sluggish.
My body was like the hardest metal.
My movements like galloping thunder.
My strength capable of splitting mountains and severing rivers!
Rei felt the overwhelming power in his hands!
A sword swung toward him—
He cleaved the blade's radiance apart, shattered the weapon itself, crushed the enemy's armor, and split the man's body in half before flinging the ruined corpse aside with the battle-axe.
Still I charged!
No one could stop me!
Wherever the battle-axe swept, the earth cracked, stones exploded, blood and flesh scattered, and corpses spiraled into the sky.
No one could even approach.
Lightning struck.
Flames scorched.
Yet my body was like golden crystal steel—nothing could harm me!
I am invincible!
Gradually, Rei forgot his cautious nature.
His thoughts fused with this body as it rampaged across the battlefield!
Enemies? Kill!
Monsters? Fight!
After slaughtering wave after wave of soldiers, powerful warriors of countless races appeared to challenge him!
Some seemed vaguely familiar…
But none were worth remembering.
Compared to me—
They were all nameless nobodies.
He split apart spells.
Broke thousands of arrows.
Shattered defenders' shields.
Pinned healers to the ground.
He severed the iron arms of colossal statues.
He chopped off the head of a giant dragon.
The enemies did not diminish.
Instead, they grew more numerous.
Yet his body felt no fatigue.
Instead, his blood boiled hotter and hotter with battle intent.
His body grew ever more exhilarated!
Fight!
I want more fighting!
But these opponents are too weak…
Too weak!
None can survive even a single exchange!
What I desire—
Is a true opponent.
An opponent worthy of me!
Battle…
Battle…
BATTLE!!!
One day and one night.
Ten days and ten nights.
The moon changed.
Seasons shifted.
From the wastelands outside kingdoms…
To lush forests…
To snow-covered mountains beneath falling blizzards…
The battle never stopped—not even for a moment.
More and more people came to kill me.
More and more came to fight me.
Never once was there a moment of rest.
The entire world had become my enemy!
I grow through battle.
I strengthen through battle.
I break through and ascend through battle!
Only battle allows me to survive!
Standing atop mountains of corpses, I looked down upon every challenger.
Ten thousand battles endured.
No matter the form—
Not a single one could defeat me.
Never once had I lost.
Seeking defeat…
Yet never obtaining it.
This body stood alone.
My battle intent reached its peak.
Rei gazed across the distant horizon.
After years of war, he stood upon endless wasteland. Carrion vultures circled overhead. Corpses piled to the limits of sight.
Yet not a single enemy remained who could match him.
This body is undefeated.
My heart is undefeated.
…
A buzzing filled Rei's mind.
That loneliness resonated deep within his heart.
The battle experienced by the War God felt as though Rei himself had truly lived it.
Rei slowly opened his eyes.
The scenery before him returned to reality.
Looking down at his hands again, he almost felt as though they were stained with endless blood—hands that had presided over a grand feast of slaughter.
Everything he had just experienced felt like another lifetime.
Only the lingering state of mind remained.
Pali spoke calmly.
"Looks like it worked."
Rei nodded, quietly sensing that state.
It truly was as mysterious as comprehending a Root.
Combat Ultimate: Heart Unyielding
The first sensation after comprehending the Combat Ultimate was the extraordinary clarity of his five senses.
This was not the same as perception or detection.
Rather—
The faintest rustle of wind.
A slight change in scent.
The disturbance of cloth.
Even the weight of drifting dust particles.
Everything was perceived with perfect clarity.
With just a bit of focus, every subtle movement appeared like slow motion.
Rei finally understood how Atrendo had found him before.
Against a Combat Ultimate, that level of concealment was utterly meaningless.
There was nowhere to hide.
Beyond enhanced senses, each Combat Ultimate produced a different conceptual effect depending on the insight gained.
The concept Rei had comprehended—Heart Unyielding—worked like this:
As long as he believed he could defeat his opponent, he could rapidly understand their combat style and adapt to their rhythm with incredible speed.
Even against enemies far stronger than himself, he could quickly learn their combat traits and incorporate those techniques into his own.
If he had already defeated the opponent—or enemies similar to them—then all combat techniques used against them would become vastly more effective.
There was also psychological pressure.
The longer an enemy fought him, the more strongly they would feel that defeating him was impossible.
Weak-willed opponents might even surrender without fighting.
The weaker their battle intent became, the weaker all their spells, combat techniques—even healing and defensive abilities—would grow.
Feeling that surge of battle intent within himself, Rei felt extremely satisfied.
"Thank you, Sister Pali."
The reward for clearing Floor 100 truly was incredible.
But if one failed to discover the trace of will hidden within that book…
Then it was honestly just a terribly written book.
Opening the pages, the contents were basically:
I charged into the enemy formation, smashed an armored guy, smashed a shield guy, killed a monster, slaughtered that race's prodigy. I'm freaking awesome.
Damn it—who the hell could resonate with that?!
Without a Scholar capable of helping someone immerse themselves in the experience, it was impossible to comprehend that state.
And after the insight was gained, Rei realized the hidden will inside the book had vanished.
It really was a single-use item…
Of course—if simply immersing oneself could grant Combat Ultimates, Rei estimated he could become "Brother Rei's AAA Combat Ultimate Wholesale Shop."
Still, anyone capable of reaching Floor 100 had probably already comprehended a Root or Ultimate anyway.
The War God's insight was probably just icing on the cake.
It seemed like he had inherited an Ultimate out of thin air.
But in reality, the conditions were quite strict.
One had to discover the hidden will first, and then figure out how to resonate with it.
He wondered what rewards others received after clearing Floor 100.
But they probably weren't bad either.
There was another book as well…
"The Beginning of Spirituality"
It probably contained some kind of special secret too.
However, Rei planned to study that one himself first. If there was anything he couldn't understand, he would ask Pali later.
Pali's fees were simply too black-hearted.
Besides, The Beginning of Spirituality didn't appear to hide anything. It probably contained all its knowledge plainly within the text.
After thanking Pali, Rei left and closed the door behind him.
Pali looked at the closed door, reopened the book she hadn't finished earlier, and murmured softly:
"A man without the Warrior class… yet possessing a Combat Ultimate."
"How interesting."
…
Rei returned to the War God Tower.
There were far fewer people here now.
The crowds who had come seeking him had failed to find even a trace of his presence.
Naturally.
He had masked his perception signature and altered both his face and height.
If they could find him after that, it would be a miracle.
He entered the tower again.
He still appeared on Floor 100.
Only now the floor was completely empty.
The only thing remaining was the exit portal.
"Good… it's still here."
After confirming this, Rei let out a sigh of relief.
Missing an opportunity like this would always leave some regret.
Of course, Rei would never regret his decision.
If the same situation occurred again, he still wouldn't rush in recklessly.
This time it had been the War God's inheritance challenge.
What if next time it were a Death Inheritance Trial?
Was he supposed to charge in blindly then?
Besides—
Who said inheritance trials couldn't kill people?
I don't even gamble with money.
And you expect me to gamble with my life?
Sitting before the portal, Rei still wasn't in a hurry.
Instead, he opened "The Beginning of Spirituality" and read the entire book carefully.
This book truly contained no hidden insight or secret mechanism.
It simply explained what Spirituality actually was.
But that knowledge was extremely important to Rei.
Spirituality existed even before life was born.
It was the condensation of wisdom, comprehension, inspiration, thought, and intuition.
Before a lifeform was born, spirituality would already gather within the void.
The moment that condensation completed, it would begin to dissipate.
The condensed spirituality would search for life.
When a lifeform was born, it merged with that life.
That…
Was the reason living beings possessed intelligence.
From the moment spirituality condensed from the void, it was already in the process of dispersing.
As life grew, spirituality continued to dissipate.
Only during the first class advancement would this dissipation temporarily stop.
During that process, spirituality would even gather again.
The amount of spirituality condensed at the beginning depended on many factors.
The level of spirituality possessed at the moment of class advancement also influenced the strength of the talent obtained.
"So higher spirituality means stronger talents."
"And spirituality itself represents wisdom, comprehension, inspiration…"
It represented quite a lot.
As for the later results, Rei already knew them.
The earlier someone completed their class advancement, the more powerful they generally became.
However, the book's focus was not on that.
It focused on the origin of spirituality itself.
…
"So in other words… spirituality actually starts leaking away before a person is even born."
"After birth, an infant's body cannot withstand the negative effects of a class advancement ritual. Neither the soul nor the body could endure it."
"And I…"
Rei recalled his own transmigration.
Mese had once said…
His soul resembled that of a newborn infant, closest to the state of initial creation.
Could it be—
His spirituality was actually the original, pristine spirituality?
Spirituality that had crossed worlds without undergoing any dissipation?
No wonder…
"No wonder I'm a genius."
Rei smacked his fist into his palm, arriving at this conclusion.
Now it made sense why he had awakened such powerful talents.
The book also stated—
The higher one's spirituality, the easier it became to perceive the true nature of the world.
One might even see things normally invisible.
For example:
[Goodwill][Malice][Monster Tides][Intuition]Even [Possibility]
Of course, seeing such things required training and comprehension.
Additionally, high spirituality made it easier to enter states of insight, flow states, and dramatically increased the speed at which one could learn anything.
So his rapid mastery of spells wasn't solely due to proficiency evolution.
He had possessed spirituality all along—he simply hadn't known how to use it.
After reading this book, many things suddenly made sense.
Shing—
A cup of clear liquid appeared in Rei's hand.
[Radiant Water of Spirit] — increases spirituality.
In his other hand appeared a swirling black liquid of shifting colors.
[Fountain of Origin] — assists in comprehending a Root.
Rei drank the Radiant Water first.
He immediately felt his mind grow clearer.
His inspiration became lively again.
Numerous thoughts about Roots resurfaced.
Void Reversion Devour was a Tier-3 Root Spell, which meant Root Magic could evolve as one's understanding deepened.
After reaching level three and experiencing many things since then, Rei felt his understanding had improved significantly.
As the enhancement of his spirituality stabilized, he opened his eyes again.
The world seemed slightly more vibrant.
Within the space around him, he could faintly see interwoven runes of light and darkness…
Something he hadn't been able to see before.
Then Rei drank the Fountain of Origin.
The moment the liquid entered his body—
His mind exploded with activity.
Countless pieces of knowledge about Roots erupted inside his head like detonations!
Secrets of Roots.Interpretations of Roots.Evolution of Roots.
A single drop of that spring contained an immense amount of information.
Rei memorized everything, slowly digesting it.
The War God Tower was actually the perfect place for this.
No one could disturb him here.
The structure of the wonder was incredibly sturdy.
Other than him, no one could enter.
Which essentially meant absolute safety.
Honestly, if he placed a bed here, it might become the perfect hidden residence.
Even a shelter.
Rei opened his eyes again.
From his storage space he took out the 200-Win Reward:
"Notes from an Ancient Root Mage"
The notes were written in Chino language, but Rei could now read it.
Carefully studying the notes brought him many insights.
When he finally snapped out of it and took out his pocket watch from storage—
It was already 8 PM.
"I actually spent that long thinking."
"But at least everything feels clearer now."
It felt like he was just a little bit away from another breakthrough.
After thinking it over, he realized there wasn't much he could improve for the moment.
He had already mastered Tier-3 Root Magic.
By reverse-engineering Roots through spells he already possessed, he had saved enormous effort.
However, the upgraded Root Magic ultimately wasn't the result of his own reasoning.
Some mysteries still remained, and Rei was trying to solve them with the mindset of a Decoding Scholar.
Furthermore, the Root Magic gained through upgrades might not even match the Root he would ultimately comprehend.
As his understanding evolved, the Root Magic itself could change.
And this round of insight also integrated his newly gained Combat Ultimate.
"There shouldn't be any problems now."
Rei stood up.
He had nearly finished digesting all the rewards from clearing the War God Tower.
His soul had recovered to 392,130,000.
This morning's weather report had mentioned an extremely dense Monster Tide arriving nearby, allowing the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain to feast.
Rei had also taken advantage of the tide to farm souls.
Pointing his staff toward the portal ahead—
He had already performed divination.
His preparations were sufficient.
"Let's begin."
Rei fired a Source Particle forward.
[Source · Piercing Body Thunderburst Rend (Tier-4)]
The tiny particle attached itself to the portal—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted!
Lightning roared!
Cracks spread across the portal!
Another strike!
The fractures expanded instantly until the portal shattered completely!
And behind the destroyed portal…
A dark, bottomless void appeared before Rei.
This—
Was the door leading to the hidden place.
If he hadn't used [Secret Revelation] to know what lay beyond…
Rei would never have stepped into such a terrifying unknown.