Chapter 612: Unbelievable Increase In Strength

Max then sat cross-legged without a word.

The moment he began absorbing it, a brilliant red aura exploded around him. His body trembled slightly as the energy surged into him like a tidal wave. It didn’t just flow into his body—it crashed, tore, rebuilt. Every cell screamed, expanded, evolved.

His Seeker Rank foundation rapidly climbed.

8th level… 9th level…10th level.

Then came the barrier between Seeker and Expert Rank.

And Max shattered it.

In one smooth, blazing breakthrough, Max’s strength surged to the 1st level of Expert Rank—but it didn’t stop.

His body, having been refined through countless battles and his Three Dimensional Body’s unique structure, continued to absorb more energy.

2nd level.

3rd level.

4th level.

5th level.

Only after reaching the 6th level of Expert Rank did the crimson-gold orb finally dissolve completely.

The entire process left the hall silent. Aria’s eyes had narrowed dangerously, and Elias looked like he was chewing gravel.

Nobody spoke.

But everyone understood—

This boy was no ordinary Lower Domain genius.

He had just jumped six entire levels and one major rank. They couldn’t imagine how much energy Max had absorbed just now.

Max opened his eyes slowly. His aura now felt vastly different—stable, oppressive, refined. No longer just a talented Seeker, but a fully awakened Expert.

He calmly stood up and dusted off his robe.

“6th level of Expert Rank from 8th level of Seeker Rank…” Max muttered under his breath, his voice low, almost disbelieving. He clenched his fists, feeling the immense strength coursing through his body—solid, real, powerful. It was almost an entire rank leap.

Normally, for someone like him, even with talent, resources, and nonstop effort, it would take at least a year—maybe longer—to climb that kind of gap. From the later stages of the Seeker Rank into the mid-stages of Expert Rank wasn’t a jump people made overnight.

And yet here he was, standing strong, exhaling quietly as the newfound energy within him settled like a storm that had just passed. The air around him still vibrated faintly from the aftershocks of his breakthrough.

His body felt lighter, sharper, tougher—as if every cell inside him had been reforged.

And this… this was what excited him. Not just the increase in strength, but the path that opened before him. If he could rise this fast now, how far could he go later? How strong could he become? The limits he once imagined for himself now seemed laughably small.

The citadel, the inheritance, the danger—it was all worth it. Every single second.

‘This is good,’ Max thought to himself, a faint smile curling on his lips as he stood calmly beside the black cube. The aura of power still lingered faintly around him, like invisible flames licking through the air. His heartbeat was steady now, the thrill of leveling up still fresh in his veins, but his mind had already moved to the next step.

That was when Elias’s voice broke the silence. “Did you kill Silus?” he asked, his tone sharp and cold. It wasn’t like before—this time, there was real weight behind his words.

Before, Max had been ignored, brushed off as another weakling from the Lower Domain, but now… Now suspicion filled the air like smoke after a wildfire. After all, who else in the citadel could possibly possess the strength to kill Silus—someone who had comprehended not one but four concepts?

Max turned slightly, facing him with a casual shrug. “Why would I kill him? My target is someone else… and I will kill him for sure.” His words, though calmly spoken, carried an eerie chill, one that made Elias pause.

Aria, standing beside Elias, narrowed her eyes, examining Max with renewed suspicion. “Are you truly from the Lower Domain?” she asked, her voice laced with doubt.

The notion that someone from the Lower Domain—where the most of the so-called geniuses never even stepped into the Master Rank—could display not one but four different concepts and break the cube’s limit, was something she found incredibly difficult to believe.

But Max just chuckled. “Of course I’m from the Lower Domain. You can ask the others here—they’ll tell you. I’m quite famous back there,” he said with a relaxed grin, his tone so light it only made the others more unsettled.

Elias opened his mouth, ready to question further, but before he could speak, the young boy in the mechanical hat—still standing where he had been all along—suddenly clapped his hands once. “Time for the second test,” he announced.

Everyone immediately turned toward him, their eyes gleaming with excitement and hunger. The rewards of the first test had been unimaginable—boosting them to levels they had only dreamed of. Now, the anticipation of what the second test could offer filled the hall with a feverish energy.

“Second test is a test of physical strength,” the young boy with the mechanical hat announced calmly, his voice echoing through the vast hall. “You can only use your strongest physical strength to hit the cube. The score you will get will decide your rewards.”

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone’s expression turned serious. Elias and Aria exchanged glances, their eyes growing solemn.

Unlike energy-based strength or conceptual attacks, physical strength was often a neglected field.

As one advanced through the ranks, the body naturally became stronger, yes, but that passive enhancement was minimal when compared to the raw power cultivated by those who specialized in physical-based techniques, bloodline inheritances, or strength-oriented classes.

Most geniuses, especially those from large factions, focused on energy baseed methods and concepts, not brutalizing their muscles. But not everyone.

“Hahaha, physical strength is my expertise,” Commander Shen suddenly laughed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. His broad frame stepped forward confidently. As a Berserker class expert, his entire foundation had always been about the body—about unleashing fury through sheer muscle and brute force.

For years, he had pushed his limits through intense physical training, forcing his bones to toughen and muscles to ripen with raw strength. He had sacrificed speed and finesse for raw impact. He truly believed this test was tailor-made for him.

With a deep breath, Commander Shen clenched his fists, veins bulging as a red aura flared around him. Then, concentrating every last ounce of his physical might into a single punch, he hurled it at the cube.

Bang!

As expected, the cube absorbed the blow without so much as a ripple. Then, numbers appeared in shimmering golden light.

2675.

The atmosphere shifted immediately. Everyone stared at the score, their brows furrowed. It was significantly lower than what they had seen in the first trial.

Even Commander Shen frowned, clearly not satisfied. It wasn’t a poor result by ordinary standards—but compared to the high scores of the energy test, it felt lacking.

Just then, with a sharp swish, the cube opened a small compartment in its center and spat out a pill that floated into Commander Shen’s hands.

Everyone turned their attention to the pill, curiosity gleaming in their eyes. The shape was round and golden, its surface glowing with faint inscriptions, as though holding the essence of condensed vitality within it.

“What is this?” Commander Shen muttered with a slight frown as he caught the pill that had just floated out from the cube. His first reaction was disappointment—unlike the previous trial, it wasn’t a red orb of condensed energy, and at first glance, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary pill.

But the moment he read the description engraved of the pill, his hands began to tremble, and his eyes widened with disbelief.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!