At this moment, Carlotta walked alone into the structure atop the Sky God Mountain.

It was a narrow, elongated corridor. As she walked down it, everything around remained eerily quiet, without the slightest stir, as if she were walking through a corridor of time itself journeying from the present age back into ancient times.

After walking for a while, she finally passed through the corridor. What appeared before her now was a spacious area, vast and empty, resembling an arena with nothing extra in sight.

Suddenly, a luminous screen appeared before Carlotta's eyes. On it floated a message, asking her which tier she wished to use to challenge a god, and which god she wished to challenge.

"Can I actually choose for myself?"

Carlotta found this rather interesting.

After some thought, she decided to pick the Tier One Apprentice level.

In the next moment, an indescribable force spread from around her, instantly taking effect. Her tier was immediately sealed, fixed firmly at the level of a Tier One Apprentice.

Then came the choice of opponent.

The names of eight gods appear on the screen, freely available for Carlotta to choose.

She studied them carefully, yet still felt uncertain.

Although she had heard many stories of different gods during this period, she didn't actually understand them well enough so she had no idea who was stronger or weaker, nor did she have a clear grasp of each one's specialties. Under such circumstances, she wasn't sure which one would be the most suitable choice.

But no matter who she picked, it should be fine, right?

"At the same tier as an apprentice, who should I fear?"

Without hesitation, she made her choice Gaia, the Earth Goddess. Back at the Central Ruins, she had seen remnants of this goddess before.

In the next instant, a bright yellow light figure materialized before Carlotta.

The god didn't appear in her true form, but as a mere silhouette. Yet even so, this figure exuded an unfathomable presence.

As soon as the yellow divine silhouette appeared, it charged straight towards Carlotta. With its movement, the ground trembled violently beneath.

When the distance closed, the Earth Goddess raised her hand. The ground before her flipped upward like a lid, mercilessly slamming toward Carlotta.

"You call this a Tier One Apprentice?"

Carlotta couldn't take it. She quickly activated Elven Butterfly Dance, swaying sideways just in time to narrowly evade the attack.

Then, gripping the Rose cross now reduced to the power level of an ordinary alchemical artifact she charged toward the Earth Goddess. As she rushed forward, she held nothing back, deploying every technique she had.

Magic Path, Faith Path, Creation Path even at the Tier One Apprentice stage, although the available techniques were extremely limited, they were not entirely unusable.

As Carlotta unleashed abilities from multiple paths, the Earth Goddess seemed to stiffen slightly, as if she hadn't expected such a development. However, the hesitation was fleeting, almost imperceptible if one wasn't paying close attention.

Thus, the two clashed back and forth across the empty arena.

Carlotta had to admit, at the same tier, she had truly met her match. Never before had anyone fought her on equal footing to this extent.

The opponent's techniques weren't particularly complex, mostly manipulating the power of earth in combat. Yet, while seemingly simple, the Earth Goddess wielded them with extraordinary versatility. The ground can morph into any shape for attack. This was clearly far beyond what any normal Tier One Apprentice could achieve.

But as the battle dragged on, Carlotta suddenly let out a sharp cry, cleaving through every obstacle before her, reaching the Earth Goddess's side and slashing through, splitting the god's silhouette apart.

"In the end, the usable techniques were still too few. No matter how creative, it wasn't enough."

Carlotta murmured softly.

She could feel she had the advantage. Being able to advance on multiple paths simultaneously gave her an edge, especially at lower tiers.

But regardless she had won.

She looked toward the luminous screen and said, "You should hand over control of the Sky Island to me now, right?"

Within the screen, a nearly instinctive consciousness surged, transmitting an emotion that left Carlotta utterly speechless.

There was a strong sense of resentment.

It seemed to be the will of the Sky Island itself, feeling that Carlotta, while restricted to the Tier One Apprentice level, could simultaneously wield techniques from four different supernatural paths; this was simply too unfair. It was about God's defeat.

"Not satisfied yet? What more do you want me to say?"

Carlotta shrugged her shoulders, shook her head. "Don't question how I won. Just tell me did I win or not? Are you still determined to admit defeat?"

The Sky Island, of course, refused to concede, demanding another match and this time, the tier could not be lowered below that of a peak tier Listener.

This kind of near-communication, conveyed through intent, made Carlotta's expression shift strangely. Could it be that the Sky Island truly possessed its own will?

She cautiously asked, "Do you know me? I've participated in Sky Island before and performed magnificently. What impression do you have of me?"

The Sky Island gave no answer, merely urging Carlotta to make her choice quickly.

In that case, Carlotta simply selected the peak tier Listener stage. This phase was, after all, a transformative one for her one that had greatly enhanced her combat power in the past.

Then, Carlotta chose a different god to challenge. This time, she picked the God of Berserk.

In the next moment, a blood-red figure, radiating a sky-piercing aura of battle, materialized ahead. Again, it appeared as a light projection, not revealing its true form.

The moment it appeared, the divine figure charged forward. Instantly, Carlotta perceived hundreds of battle cries flooding into her ears. A maddening mix of killing intent and battle fervor crashed into her soul, making her feel intensely uncomfortable.

"Elven Symphony!"

Slash

Carlotta swung her sword fiercely. In that instant, insights from numerous Elven Knight paths merged into a single strike, unleashing an astonishingly brilliant and dazzling attack that collided violently with the God of Berserk's assault.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The vast arena shook violently. Carlotta felt a tremendous force surge toward her, violently knocking her backward.

Of course, the God of Berserk was also sent reeling backward the number of steps each retreated perfectly equal.

Carlotta charged again. The God of Berserk rushed forward with a wild, fierce will, wielding a brilliantly red blade, and the two clashed once more.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The Rose cross clashed repeatedly against the opponent's crimson blade, sparks flying with each impact. Every strike was extremely refined, each slash and cut executed with perfect precision. Within these seemingly ordinary attacks lay overwhelming power.

In truth, each blow was Carlotta's Elven Symphony.

Back during this stage of her cultivation, she had already achieved this. At that time, Elven Symphony was considered her ultimate technique, yet she could weave it into basic attacks. Even as a Peak tier Listener, she can slay peak tier Resonators with her sword.

Integrating ultimate techniques into basic attacks such a method of combat was undoubtedly terrifying.

When she unleashed such attacks back then, no one could withstand her. Whoever faced Carlotta would be cut down like vegetables.

But now it is different.

The God of Berserk lived up to His divine title. Every move he made was ferocious beyond measure, blocking Carlotta's attacks head-on. It seemed He too could weave ultimate techniques into basic strikes; each basic attack was itself an ultimate move.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Carlotta swung her sword relentlessly. Brilliant sword light erupted, engulfing the God of Berserk. The silver-white radiation spread like a river of stars. Yet within this silver galaxy, crimson blades of energy pierced through repeatedly.

Still, the silver-white sword aura managed to forcefully suppress the crimson blade energy.

Carlotta grew stronger with each passing moment, her sword light vast and boundless. After clashing for dozens more exchanges, she suddenly brought down a single decisive strike, ruthlessly shattering the divine form of the God of Berserk.

She exhaled deeply, then spoke toward the distant light screen, "I've won again. Do you still have anything to say?"

From within the screen emerged a will, instructing her to continue fighting this time as a Resonator.

Carlotta couldn't help but laugh. "You still don't seem convinced, do you? Think the Listener stage still doesn't prove anything? Refusing to admit defeat wouldn't that be rather embarrassing? The rules set by the Gods you keep breaking them. That's rather inappropriate, don't you think?"

While speaking, Carlotta also employed Thought Transmission, directly sending her meaning outward, ensuring the other couldn't pretend not to understand.

From within the light screen, the Will of Sky Island transmitted its intention, stating it wasn't violating the rules set by the Gods, nor was it being stubborn. It was merely testing the limits of her abilities, seeking to understand her further.

"Is that so? Then I'll choose to believe you for now."

Carlotta smiled.

Fighting against younger incarnations of the Gods was an extremely rare opportunity. She didn't want to miss it and wished to further hone her skills.

Thus, she asked the Will of Sky Island to suppress her rank down to the initial stage of Resonator, then selected the God of Creation to battle.

This was undoubtedly another intense and exhilarating conflict. The two exchange blows for quite some time before Carlotta finally found an opening and splitting the God of Creation apart with a single sword strike.

She remembered the God of Creation was the god of the second world and High Priestess God.

Then, Carlotta began sparring against different Gods. Sometimes she suppressed her lower rank, other times she fought at full strength. She engaged all eight Gods in battle, even facing the same God repeatedly across different stages, all to verify her abilities.

From Apprentice to Exalted, Carlotta is never lost at any stage. Every single battle ended in astonishing victory.

Such results were truly unbelievable. After all, her opponents weren't ordinary foes; they were the youthful forms of Gods themselves. Yet these young gods couldn't defeat her. If such news spread, it would surely cause a massive upheaval across any continent.

In truth, Carlotta was creating miracles!

The Will of Sky Island witnessed everything.

It transmits its intention: "Enough. That will suffice. Now, claim what belongs to you."

Carlotta turned toward the screen and used Thought Transmission to send her message: "Are you the Will of Sky Island?"

"You could say that. I was created by the Gods to oversee Sky Island. However, from now on, Sky Island will be under your management."

The Will of Sky Island seemed to carry a complex emotion understandable, considering it had just witnessed several impossibilities unfold.

A person from a later era had just defeated the youthful illusions of eight Gods. The strength she displayed was nothing short of terrifying.

It couldn't understand how she achieved such a feat. But regardless of how she did it, she had already become their hope.

"Your name is Carlotta. I remember you. In the past, you performed exceptionally well."

The Will of Sky Island began speaking. "From now on, you shall inherit Sky Island. With inheritance comes responsibility. I will now explain the duties you must undertake. Do not fear upon hearing them."

Carlotta said, "You're referring to those Outer Gods sealed within the moon and upon the sun, aren't you?"

The Will of Sky Island was greatly started: "You already know?"

Carlotta smiled slightly. "The Gods left behind many preparations against the Outer Gods. Besides Sky Island, there were other arrangements. I've learned about some of them."

"I see."

Hearing Carlotta's words, the Will of Sky Island understood.

For those great Gods, leaving behind additional measures wasn't strange at all.

"I don't know exactly how much you already know. Let me explain in greater detail."

The Will of Sky Island speaks slowly once more.

Although Carlotta had learned a great deal from the Divine Child, Sky Island held many pieces of information crucial to her.

For instance, she now learned exactly how many sealed Outer Gods there were, their names, and roughly what abilities they possessed.

She also learned about Sky Island's true purpose.

"The Gods created me specifically to suppress the Outer Gods. Although a slight accident occurred during my creation, through long-term adjustments, my sealing power has been enhanced. I can now seal or restrict the Outer Gods, extremely useful in battle."

Although sealing wasn't a direct attack and lacked lethality, one must remember the surviving Outer Gods weren't just a single entity. Being able to seal even one would greatly alleviate their side's pressure.

"Three Outer Gods?"

Carlotta murmured to herself, truly feeling the immense pressure.