From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

The wind from the past blew quietly, and the spirits of the deceased seemed to dance in the faint light, accompanied by the breeze.

Inside the ruins of the ancient city.

Several members of the Fischer family prayed silently to the Lord of the Lost, with Lilian kneeling on the ground, offering up a new Level Five Extraordinary Material.

"Star Realm Salamander"

It was a peculiar creature that existed in the constellation realms, appearing as an almost entirely transparent salamander that only flickered with various starlights when in danger.

Occasionally, it would stray into the material world, and the Fischer family had obtained this "Star Realm Salamander" through a trade with the Frosac family.

In reality, the Fischer family was also reluctant to use such a rare Extraordinary Material as an offering for sacrifice.

It wasn't that they were too attached, but because it would be quite difficult for anyone who later set foot on the God Pantheon stairway to find the same Extraordinary Material.

However, the key issue was that Level Five Extraordinary Materials were all highly prized, and it was good enough to have any at all, even for the Fischer family of the present day, who simply couldn't afford to be choosy.

After receiving the civilization fragment filled with origin forces, Karl felt very satisfied and was more than willing to grant Byrne the 5th Rank of "Ancient Researcher" and its Extraordinary Power.

"Fischer, you have indeed done well over the years..."

He valued Byrne highly, even feeling that Byrne was actually the most important pillar of the Fischer family today, as opposed to Chris, the martial faction.

Returning to the Spirit Realm with familiar ease, Karl once again used the spirituality of the "Star Realm Salamander," lighting up the twinkling "constellation" in an instant.

The chain of "constellations," symbolizing the Path of Knowledge and the God Pantheon stairway, was finally linked to the fifth shimmering "constellation."

The 5th Rank of the Path of Knowledge.

Which is the Power of Consecution, "Ancient Researcher"!

In the constellation was the figure of a middle-aged scholar, who crouched under falling rocks, still focused on observing through his magnifying glass while radiating red light.

A sphere of Spiritual Radiance, emitting red light, came before Karl.

"The 5th Rank..."

He calmly guided the sphere of Spiritual Radiance, symbolic of the "Ancient Researcher," back into the material reality.

At the same time, Byrne stared calmly at the huge red radiance, slowly extending his aged and lifeless palm to touch it, feeling a surge of power flooding into his body.

The next moment, an intense red light began to spread all around, and the voice of the Time Stasis Stone rang out again, filled with astonishment, panic, incredulity, and disbelief.

"What exactly is this, a kind of blessing from that Evil... God?"

"I can feel a powerful force contained within the soul!"

"What on earth is it!"
Enjoy more content from empire

The Time Stasis Stone was so shocked it even began to fear.

The offering was still underway, and the other members of the Fischer family did not respond; Byrne kept his eyes closed, kneeling on the ground, while the other three turned their heads to look with hopeful anticipation at the old man with a full head of white hair.

For some reason, all three let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

Finally, Byrne had survived...

If Byrne Fischer were to pass away or disappear suddenly, everyone in the Dawn Church and the Fischer family would feel a deep sense of upheaval and confusion in their hearts.

Everyone had grown accustomed to Byrne's leadership.

His importance was self-evident!

Byrne could feel a very strong force had settled inside him.

"The 5th Rank..."

His originally aged visage visibly rejuvenated at a rapid pace, with wrinkles across his face and rough skin reversing in age, as the youth he had long lost gradually returned to his body.

He took a deep breath, looking at his hand now fair and elastic again, and suddenly felt that the so-called Extraordinary Power was indeed miraculous.

Mortals pursued Extraordinary Power by all means, priceless unless inherently blessed with lineage or spellcasting talent, leaving only certain Evil Gods to grant them fleeting Extraordinary Power.

And often, for that fleeting moment of extraordinariness, many mortals would not hesitate to cast aside their conscience, commit heinous acts, and even sacrifice their wives and children, ultimately losing their own lives in the process.

All because...

The temptation was so immense.

I once gazed at the extraordinary, how could I then give up on climbing?

But the Fischer family understood that the Lord of the Lost was different, as the power He bestowed was everlasting, precisely because He was the one true God in this world.

The "Ancient Researcher" at the 5th Rank provided Byrne with a massive increase of 800 in Spiritual Power and an additional 200 in physical prowess!

The improvement in physical prowess was substantial, to the point that now, even in pure hand-to-hand combat, he could easily defeat those melee-type extraordinaries of the 4th Rank!

But even greater was the increase in Spiritual Power; Byrne felt as if the small stream that once flowed through his mind had now become a vast lake.

It was an entirely different level of enhancement!

He murmured to himself:

"Now that I possess such immense Spiritual Power, the ability to use 'Instantaneous Transfer' is nearly at my whim, providing me with a tremendous advantage in mobility..."

Beyond the dual enhancement of his foundational abilities, the "Ancient Researcher" also granted Byrne two new kinds of extraordinary powers.

The first extraordinary power was "Summoning Ancient Projection." First, he needed to obtain the "remnants" or "relics" of something, then, after performing a not overly complicated Ritual Spell, he could summon a complete projection of the remnants or relics from the past.

The longer the existence of the projection from modern times, the longer it could be maintained after being summoned, and the more powerful the inherent force it possessed, the greater the amount of Spiritual Power Byrne would expend.

These "projections" had no will of their own; during the time they were summoned, they obeyed the commands of the Summoner completely.

Byrne immediately thought of how, before a battle, he could summon projections of some powerful beings, or even now, he could summon the... past of this ancient city.

"Summoning the projection of the ancient... Although it is said to be ancient, as long as it's something or someone that existed in the past, it should all be possible..."

Byrne couldn't help but remember his father and Irene.

He shook his head gently.

It was a pity.

After all, those were only projections, not true resurrection.

The second extraordinary power granted by the "Ancient Researcher" was the "Past-Peeking Eye," which Byron could activate by simply gazing at someone.

However, if the target's strength was greater than his own, additional Spiritual Power had to be consumed, and the stronger they were, the more would be expended.

In short, Byrne could understand a person's past through this extraordinary power.

And the weaker the person, the more of their past he could comprehend.

Byrne revealed a smile; doubtlessly, the "Past-Peeking Eye" was a powerful intelligence power, extremely important even if it didn't contribute to combat ability!

He knew all too well, the more information he had about enemies and allies, the more he could accomplish when clashing or negotiating with them!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The voice of the Time Stasis Stone within the Blood-Stained Gold Coin was filled with disbelief, incomprehension, and utter shock!

For thousands of years, the Time Stasis Stone had never encountered such an outrageous event!

That fellow who was near death seemed to have inexplicably broken through to the Monarch Level!

Why did this happen?

"There's nothing impossible about it, this is a divine miracle!"

The rejuvenated Byrne Fischer slowly rose to his feet, his words filled with resolve and his eyes shimmering with a profound wisdom that signified the birth of a truly powerful being!

"Thank you, great Lord of the Lost!"

"I have felt the mighty power you have bestowed upon me!"

"The Fischer family will surely march towards glory, ensuring Your complete revival, and building the Kingdom of God that belongs to You in this world full of darkness!"