But while he was suffering, the memory suddenly resurfaced! The dreadful and lethal feeling washed over him tyrannically, while all the negative emotions that had been torturing him disappeared completely, as if Hades himself had descended, so all the evil spirits could only run away in fear.

Humans had the ability to resist anything, especially when it was just a piece of memory. From the very beginning, the subconscious would keep telling the body: you are safe now, what you are experiencing is just a memory. Therefore, even though the memory cut like a sharp razor, through repeated cutting, it would become blunt, until it was no longer able to cut anything.

After being forced to recall the memory countless times, the fear finally dropped to a level that Sheyan could endure. His brain was finally functioning again. By the time Sheyan could completely control the fear, he found that he actually enjoyed the feeling of having every cell in his body being torn apart. He felt like he had become a million ent.i.ties, a.s.similating into the universe. He felt as if he had become nature itself! It was a strange kind of happiness.

After the extreme fear had been slowly stripped away, what was left was happiness? Wasn't that bizarre?

Actually, that is the way things are in this world. If you add too much sugar into a drink, it will taste bitter instead. Pain is scary and brings suffering, but the pain created by a ma.s.seuse is enjoyable and even worth paying for. Extreme darkness will ultimately give birth to a ray of light. The world is full of contradictions, but behind the contradictions, it is full of vitality and prosperity!

The moment Sheyan experienced the happiness, he abruptly turned limp and feeble, like all the energy had been sucked out of his body. But thanks to that, he no longer felt like he was going to burst apart due to the non-stop injection of power into him.

He soon received some notifications:

[ You have successfully promoted your combat order. ]

[ As the fights get more and more intense, being a soldier that merely execute orders can no longer satisfy the need of war. The enemy must be eliminated faster! At such times, you need the power to settle the conflict with a single strike! ]

[ You need the power of an Arbiter! ]

[ Your Survival Awakening Skill: 'Survival Mark' has been upgraded! ]

[ You have obtained the Survival Arbitration Skill: 'Arbitration Mark' -- At the cost of losing the ability to move or attack, you can mark a target within 300 metres to greatly enhance the target's survivability and combat ability. In the next ten seconds, 75% of the damage done to the target will be transferred to you, as will all negative conditions which restrict movement. At the same time, the target's movement speed, attack speed, casting speed and attack power will all be increased by 50% of your attributes. ]

[ Your Offensive Awakening Skill: 'Hunter's Eyes' has been upgraded! ]

[ You have obtained the Offensive Arbitration Skill: 'Hunter's Eyes (Real)' – The prey you have your eyes on will have a hard time escaping. Your eyes will unleash a power which will continuously act upon the target's body. During this period, the target will not be able to use their Awakening Skill or Arbitration Skill. ]

[ When you gaze at the target for one second, one of their three attributes between hit rate, explosive strike rate and dodge rate will be randomly selected. The selected attribute will drop by 1%, which will be added to your own attributes. The effect lasts for 300 seconds. ]

[ The initial cooldown time of 'Hunter's Eyes (Real)' is 10 seconds. The cooldown time will increase by 30 seconds with every use, up to a maximum of 300 seconds. This will reset every 24 hours. ]

[ This ability will be interrupted when the target moves more than 100 metres away from you. ]

　　***

"So powerful. So this is the power of an Arbiter?" Feeling the surging power in his body, Sheyan could not help but itch for a fight. Not only that, he also realised that his sensory threads could now reach a range of over three kilometres. Although his base attributes had not changed much compared to when he was an Awakener, he knew very well that 5 Awakener Sheyans had no chance of beating the current him in a fight. With the help of the precise calculation ability of the Executor that could only be performed with the help of the sensory threads and the domineering power of the Arbiter, the increase in his endurance in combat was staggering.

Sheyan's promotion had taken seven hours to complete. If it was not for the protection of Noah Realm C's flesh armour, he would have long been reduced to ashes in s.p.a.ce. However, he was not actually the one who took the longest to promote. Most of those promoting to a higher order this time were forcefully promoted, like shoots that were pulled higher to help them grow. Sheyan had a good, solid foundation, so his process was relatively smooth. Some who were more unlucky found themselves trapped in the illusion!

It was truly not an easy process. Take Aziz, for example. In order to successfully promote to a higher order, he had temporarily released himself from the shackles of the flesh armour while still in s.p.a.ce, using the threat of death to force himself to promote. Only after that did he succeed.

But most of the contestants succeeded in promoting in the end. Even if there were the occasional failures, there were no deaths.

Sheyan was not interested in waiting in s.p.a.ce. He waved at an imperial s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p that was patrolling not far away. The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p immediately flew over and took him on board respectfully before transporting him to the giant wars.h.i.+p in the distance. Sheyan was now an official Imperial Lieutenant General, a high-ranking officer! His status as a contestant was awe-inspiring, while his military rank demanded respect. Even the captain of the giant s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p was only a Brigadier General. The Empire had a strict social cla.s.s structure, so the captain naturally did not dare to disrespect Sheyan. He was waiting for Sheyan's arrival at the docking connection.

Sheyan nodded slightly. He declined the proposal for a banquet and all kinds of complicated reception ceremonies, much to the relief of the others there. These ceremonies were very important to the n.o.bles of the Empire, so the Brigadier General dared not ignore the formality. If Sheyan actually cared about them, it would be enough to end his career.

Under Sheyan's order, the whole Party Ace soon a.s.sembled inside the wars.h.i.+p. They were naturally given the treatment of officers, unlike the other contestants who were treated coldly and with indifferent courtesy.

Shortly after they settled down, the Brigadier General, who was supposed to be on duty in the control cabin, came to find Sheyan with a very serious look on his face.

He told Sheyan, "Lieutenant General, Prince Pombaru has heard about the shocking events that have taken place here. It's the first time we've ever heard of two Realms trying to consume each other. His Highness has expressed a great interest in this matter…."

"So?" asked Sheyan.

"The prince wants to know all the details. You will be rewarded with his friends.h.i.+p," said the Brigadier General respectfully. "But more importantly, His Highness stressed that this is not just his wish, but the wish of the whole Big Ben Research Inst.i.tute."