66: The flame is passed on! A thousand-year-old torch has been passed down to a second city.

On the edge of the War Zone, at the site of a completely razed monastery.

Charred stones and twisted steel bars were mixed into the soil, and the air still held the rusty scent of smoke mixed with blood.

Su Chen stood in the center of the ruins, the hem of his black trench coat brushing against a Latin stone tablet that had been burned down to half its size.

Liu Yuyan stood three steps behind him.

Su Chen did not turn back, his gaze falling on the scorched earth beneath his feet.

His voice was scattered by the wind.

"The White Radiance Sanctuary; it was once a Kindling base. It was just that human warfare interfered with the spatial nodes, nearly causing the base coordinates, sealed for a millennium, to be completely exiled into the void."

Liu Yuyan's breathing paused for a beat.

Humanity's own wars had nearly destroyed the legacy left by their ancestors.

"A Kindling base cannot be built upon human stupidity."

Su Chen turned around, looking at this barren ruin that had been baptized by artillery fire.

"Here, it is forgotten, abandoned. No country will ever cast its gaze here again."

"Right here, let's set the base coordinates."

He raised his hand, palm facing down.

"System, establish the European Branch anchor point, synchronize the expansion of the Jingzhou base, budget 1,000 points. Materialize part of the virtual imaging area. Establish a two-way teleportation array, using the ancient trees in both locations as the base points."

"Command confirmed. European Branch anchor point establishing... Jingzhou base expanding... Two-way teleportation array constructing..."

"Points deducted: 7,000. Balance: 11,000."

The space beneath Su Chen's feet began to tremble.

Invisible ripples spread out from beneath his feet; the ground did not crack, and the ruins did not move.

But Liu Yuyan could feel that something, magnificent beyond description in language, was slowly taking shape in the cracks of the sub-dimension, using this scorched earth as its coordinates.

"Follow me."

Su Chen turned and walked toward a broken wall deep in the ruins, the only one still standing.

He reached out and pushed against the wall.

The wall rippled like water, swallowing his figure.

Liu Yuyan followed.

The moment she passed through the "wall," the world was cut again.

It was still a stone corridor.

But it was older and more dilapidated than the one in China.

Most of the murals on both sides had peeled off, and one could only barely discern the outlines of ancient warriors wielding lightning and storms from the remaining lines.

Their armor style was a pattern Liu Yuyan had never seen in any historical document.

Passing through the stone corridor, there was an altar.

A Roman-style arch structure; over seventy percent of the stone pillars supporting the altar were broken, slanted, and toppled, like a row of toothpicks stepped on by a giant.

The ancient tree in the center of the altar had completely withered.

There were no leaves, no branches, only a charred trunk left. The patterns on the bark were as deep as if carved by knives and axes, dense and numerous, recording rings of more than one epoch.

In the entire space, the golden light in the cracks of the stone bricks was so faint it was nearly extinguished, like the last pulse of a dying giant.

"This..."

Liu Yuyan's voice was tight.

"It's even older than the base at the old Jingzhou residence."

"It's a base from at least two apocalypses ago."

Su Chen's voice echoed across the empty altar.

Liu Yuyan's heart skipped a beat.

Two apocalypses ago.

The history of Kindling was even deeper than she had imagined.

Su Chen's gaze fell on the center of the altar.

"The teleportation array has been activated."

As soon as he finished speaking, the root systems of the ancient trees in both locations crossed space and connected together.

A teleportation portal made of pure golden light slowly took shape at the edge of the altar.

Inside the gate was the lush ancient tree of the Jingzhou base, as well as the brand-new training ground that had been completed after the expansion.

Two bases spanning eons were, at this moment, completely connected.

Su Chen turned around and looked at Liu Yuyan.

"Your performance this time is enough to earn you the qualifications for advancement."

Liu Yuyan was stunned at first, and then, a scalding wave of ecstasy rushed from her chest to her head.

A Tier 1 Paladin could already independently slay an E-Rank Exotic Beast.

What kind of realm would Tier 2 be?

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, a fire burning in the depths of her eyes.

"Hold your breath and focus."

Su Chen pointed to the withered ancient tree of the European Branch.

"Although it is withered, the imprint of inheritance remains. Go and awaken it, and awaken yourself as well."

Liu Yuyan stepped onto the altar and stood still in front of the withered tree.

She closed her eyes and pressed her palms against the charred trunk.

Golden light poured from her palms into the trunk.

The patterns on the entire withered tree lit up, and a power, older and more magnificent than that of the Jingzhou base, enveloped her.

Liu Yuyan's body slowly floated into the air, her consciousness falling into endless darkness.

Seeing Liu Yuyan enter the trial illusion, Su Chen's tightly tensed shoulders finally relaxed.

"Finally fooled her."

He walked to the other side of the altar, a corner shrouded in the shadow of a broken pillar, and sat down cross-legged.

"Play for a while in the illusion."

He took out the gold-red D-Rank Fire Seed from his pocket, which rotated like a star inside.

"To promote her, I must reach Tier 3 myself first."

Without hesitation.

He pressed the Fire Seed against his chest.

"Boom—!"

The real golden light exploded.

It was not the gentle special effect he had shown Liu Yuyan, but a violent, destructive torrent of energy, like a supernova detonating in his palm, surging out from every cell in his body.

The space of the entire European Branch was trembling.

Those dying golden lights in the cracks of the stone bricks were instantly activated, shining like daylight, full of oppression and holiness.

The golden light lasted for a full ten seconds.

When it converged, Su Chen opened his eyes.

The system panel unfolded in his field of vision.

"Breakthrough successful! Current Tier: Tier 3: Fire-Bearer!"

"Strength: 33 | Constitution: 36 | Speed: 33 | Mental Power: 20"

"Flame Control Limit: 5000℃"

"Space Movement Range: 5000 meters"

"Space Cut available uses: 8 times"

"New skill unlocked: Xinhuo Resonance — All Kindling members within a specified range gain a 20% increase in all attributes for one hour. Cooldown: 24 hours."

Su Chen clenched his fists.

His knuckles popped crisply.

The stone floor beneath him, with him as the center, silently cracked into three spiderweb-like fine lines.

"Is this the power of Tier 3..."

Su Chen felt terrifyingly strong.

With his current strength, the consumption of flame control and space movement was significantly reduced.

Originally, he could only use Space Cut three times at full status, but now he could use it at least eight times!

As for "Xinhuo Resonance," it was a god-tier skill tailor-made for the team.

If he returned to the battlefield with his current strength and activated "Xinhuo Resonance," Liu Yuyan might even have a chance to independently hold off that D-Rank Abyssal Eye.

The fault tolerance of the plan had increased by another level.

"Now, it's time to promote our Paladin."

"System, create an E-Rank Fire Seed, bestow it upon Liu Yuyan, and promote her to Tier 2!"

"Command confirmed. Creating E-Rank Fire Seed consumes 1,000 points, bestowing the Fire Seed consumes 2,000 points."

"Points deducted: 3,000. Balance: 8,000."

Trial space.

In the darkness, the figure of Elena von Brightshield condensed again.

Silver-white long hair, sapphire-like eyes, but this time, she had no armor on her body.

Only an ordinary iron sword.

"Your strength has become stronger."

Elena's voice echoed in the darkness.

"But is your heart strong enough?"

She raised the iron sword.

All the power belonging to a Tier 1 Paladin pressed toward Liu Yuyan without reservation.

"Are you ready?"

"Come on, Senior!"

Liu Yuyan did not summon her armor.

She closed her eyes, condensing all her faith, all her will, and all the images she had seen in the ruins of the War Zone into one point.

She opened her eyes.

A long sword made of pure holy light took shape in her hands.

"My sword exists to protect!"

Two figures crossed in the darkness.

Liu Yuyan was panting, her stamina exhausted, but with a firm will, she swung her sword to attack again and again.

Elena's phantom was finally pierced by the light sword and turned into dots of light filling the sky.

Before dissipating, she looked at Liu Yuyan and smiled with gratification.

"Protect, you say? Please continue to protect."

Power poured in like a torrent.

Liu Yuyan's body shook violently.

In reality, she opened her eyes.

The golden light of the withered tree had converged.

Su Chen was standing beside her, as if he had been guarding her the whole time.

She knelt on one knee, performing the most standard and ancient knight's salute.

"Yuyan has fulfilled the mission!"

Su Chen nodded, his voice as steady as before.

"Becoming Tier 2, you are now the shield standing before humanity, and the sword killing before evil."

"Truth +300"

Su Chen watched Liu Yuyan return to the Jingzhou base through the teleportation array, her back disappearing into the golden light.

He turned and looked toward the War Zone.

"Tomorrow, go pick up Lin Xiaoman and Henry."

He opened his notebook and wrote a line on a blank page.

"Henry Bernstein: Pending contact."

The pen tip moved down a line.

"Lin Xiaoman: Mechanical Ascension. ancient tree trial — Tomorrow."

Closing the notebook, behind Su Chen's mask, the corners of his mouth curled into an almost invisible arc.

On the chessboard, there were about to be two more heavy pieces.