CHAPTER 753: SPIRE ASCENSION (END)

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"No fucking way!"

"Holy shit! Holy fucking shit!"

"For real? No kidding!?"

"It can’t be, right?"

"That’s...that’s just incredible!!"

Everybody in the audience was in an uproar after hearing what Dawnbringer’s clone said.

It couldn’t be helped; it’s just too shocking. Nobody was expecting this at all.

Upgrading from the Immortal Warrior Realm all the way to the Universe Master Realm was a huge jump.

One must know that, typically, this process will take at least thousands of years of periodical seclusions and a constant search for opportunities. To some, this might even take more than tens of thousands of years to happen. The road is filled with dangers and threats, definitely not an easy path to take. Many lives were lost in this pursuit, yet everybody still chases after it.

What was presented before Cedric was a shortcut that’s simply too good to be true. A direct and flawless upgrade with the bonus of concept laws, too? How can such a thing be possible?

And that’s why many people couldn’t believe it. Even the councillors and the other races who were watching this were stunned by the reveal.

"That’s awesome."

"Can he do it?"

"Wait! You guys actually believe this?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, what will the spire get from lying to us?"

"Right? Also, you should at least recall how difficult it was for Dawnbringer to get there. He made it look easy, but we all know that it isn’t. Had he forfeited earlier, this offer wouldn’t have even landed on his lap. Had he failed, he’d be dead."

"If you really think about it, a reward like this makes sense. He had come so far, after all. The spire doesn’t care about anybody’s opinions, even less so about losers."

"Oh, I guess that’s true."

The climb hasn’t been easy. From the 1st floor up to the 100th floor, every single one posed a great risk to someone’s life.

What that one guy said was true; Cedric made it look easy. If their eyes looked at the other participants, they would realize this too. This makes this outrageous reward less surprising given how difficult it was for anybody to reach this stage.

"It is a gamble, though."

"True."

"His choices are to walk away or take the gamble by doing his best. Oof, that’s a tough choice."

"If you were him, what would you do?"

"I won’t take the risk. I’d walk away with the prize safely and just move on."

"Valid."

"I’d risk it, I think. I mean, this is under the assumption that I’m as strong and as talented as Dawnbringer, okay? I got this far through my abilities, performing miracles left and right. It wouldn’t be wrong to rely on that for one last time, would it? If I lose, no big deal. I’ve got enough talent to make up for the losses, but if I win..."

"Jackpot."

"Exactly. I’d be saving up thousands of years of constant struggle. More importantly, I’ll get a Heavenly Law...man, just the idea sends shivers down my spine."

"I get you, I really do. That’s a Heavenly Law. If you have one, your future as a Heavenly Venerate is basically guaranteed. You’d have a great shot at becoming an Empyrean, and the possibility of becoming an Origin Lifeform."

The promise of obtaining a single Heavenly Law is what really drove people mad and in disbelief.

Fundamental Law, Great Law, Heavenly Law, and Primal Chaos Law—these are the order of concept laws from weakest to strongest.

Primary/Planetary Warrior, Grand Solar, Cosmic, Immortal, Universe Master, Heavenly Venerate, Empyrean, and finally, Origin Lifeform—these are the life evolution stages on the other hand.

The closer one is to the peak, the more difficult it becomes. This was the ultimate pursuit of perfection, the real idea behind life evolution.

A Universe Master wielding the power of Heavenly Laws? That’s practically unheard of! An individual like that would be valued wherever they go; at the same time, they will also be the target of other races’ killing intent.

It’s not strange for Universe Masters to wield the power of multiple concept laws at the Great Law stage, but it’s simply unheard of for them to wield the power of Heavenly Laws because it’s commonly known that only Heavenly Venerates and above could do so.

That’s why it’s difficult for most people to accept that the spire’s reward was true.

Well, that’s under the assumption that Dawnbringer wins, of course.

But they’re getting ahead of themselves. Dawnbringer hasn’t even made a decision yet, and that’s what’s causing them to feel impatient.

**

"I know this doesn’t help your suspicions at all, but I’m not lying. The stipulations as I said them were true," the clone told him after a period of silence.

Cedric stayed silent.

If he were being completely honest, he truly didn’t doubt his clone. He knows himself more than anybody else, and if those clones were truly anything like him, then he’s just unruly and resistant to being enslaved.

What he’s wary of is what’s about to happen next.

Cedric doesn’t know just how deep the spire’s scan went. Did it know that he didn’t just have both the Sword and Fire Laws at the Great Law level? Did it know that he hasn’t been going all out all this time?

If the spire knew these things, if he fought this clone of his, wouldn’t he be exposing himself? There was no lack of smart people outside. Some might catch on and expose him.

But at the same time, this was his clone. Even though it’s not under his control, it should be his ally, not an enemy. It shouldn’t cause him any troubles unless it’s unable to help it.

"How troublesome are you going to be?" Cedric asked after a while.

His clone smiled wryly at him and said, "Not as much as you think if I could help it."

Cedric sighed. Those words basically confirmed his guesses. He straightened up his body and released every doubt he still had.

"Let’s fight then," he declared.

"Cool, sounds fun." The clone similarly drew his sword, and just like Cedric, its eyes shone.

BOOOM!!!!

The audience was caught off guard by the loud explosion. The situation instantly went from 0 to 100 in a blink of an eye.

Silhouettes of the same person blurred before their eyes. They sent burning trails and sharp lights at each other without holding back. At least, not in a way that’s obvious to others.

They were evenly matched, to nobody’s surprise. Dawnbringer’s clone wasn’t actually stronger than him. He’s copied at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that this clone was just an Immortal Warrior too.

It knows everything that Cedric knows: his technique, sword art, his personality, and even his thought process and all; everything was accounted for. And yes, even the other concept laws that Cedric didn’t dare to showcase just yet, the clone knew it too; there’s no doubt about that at this point.

And because the clone was truly Cedric in all aspects, of course it showed bias. It’s resisting the spire’s control. This was obvious by the fact that he hasn’t used any of the other laws he knew yet, insisting on fighting with just his sword and fire.

This is what the clone meant when it said that it will try to not be as troublesome if it can help it.

They knew each other, they both knew why some secrets must be kept, and because the clone was biased to the real clone, of course it would try to not cause any unnecessary problems.

Cedric was having fun, but not as much as he thought. He could simply let loose and truly enjoy this fight, but he wants to end it right away to free his clone from the spire’s control.

He truly didn’t appreciate the idea of being used by others for their plans, and that makes this fight less fun than it should be.

The problem is, they’re evenly matched. What Cedric could do, the clone could as well. They were mirroring each other, and with how fast they moved, even the audience couldn’t tell who the real Dawnbringer was between the two of them.

As such, the intense fight continued for days.

Days then turned into weeks. The two identical people essentially never stopped fighting each other.

At the briefest moments where they became visible to the audience, they could see that both of them were injured. Their clothes were drenched in blood and sweat.

The battlefield had been turned into a burial of swords of all shapes and sizes; fire burned fiercely, too, making it a hellscape of their own doing.

This was really fun. Cedric found this more enjoyable than all the fights he previously had. He felt completely satiated even though he’s close to being completely exhausted.

He and the clone looked at each other’s eyes. And with a gleam of understanding, they both knew what they needed to do next.

Shing!!

"Man, even as a clone, I don’t like the idea of losing. Fortunately, it’s you instead of someone else."

"Mn." Cedric nodded in understanding.

"Thanks for freeing me. Enjoy your rewards and good luck."

This was the last thing the audience heard before the live broadcast was cut off.