Chapter 421: Ashina’s Advancement to Third Tier
Divine power from every corner of the territory began converging toward her.
Ashina had already accumulated an immense amount of divine essence. Now it swelled to an unprecedented level and began undergoing a qualitative transformation. Streams of icy currents spiraled around her body, each one taking the form of a tiny frost dragon.
As countless frost dragon currents poured into her body, Ashina’s divine power continued to surge, relentlessly devouring even more energy.
The absorption process lasted a full twenty minutes.
Only after the Goddess’s Mark withdrew did Ashina exhale a breath of icy air. Her entire demeanor became distant and regal.
"I’ve reached Third Tier Divine Chosen several months ahead of schedule."
Phield was overjoyed. It seemed all the hardships endured during the ruins expedition had not been in vain.
"Fantastic. Our territory desperately needs to build up its strength."
Phield’s spirits soared. He had no idea that the Queen of The Ancient Moon Empire had already been locked inside a cage by the Underworld Divine Chosen, so he still felt as though a great crisis was hanging over him.
"I’m going to send every enemy of Nightfall Domain flying!"
"Of course. I am your sword."
Ashina smiled faintly.
"My lord, Third Tier allows a class advancement. Please make the choice."
"Let’s return to my room before advancing. There are too many people here."
Phield suddenly remembered that class advancement would destroy the user’s clothes, so it was best to handle it somewhere private.
The Third Tier was the stage where Divine Chosen underwent a true qualitative evolution. Their divine power and physical abilities increased dramatically, and they also gained access to unique advancement paths. That decision was absolutely crucial.
After returning to the room, Ashina closed her eyes as an invisible strand of divine power extended outward.
A sharp pain surged through Phield’s head as an overwhelming flood of information poured into his mind, revealing Ashina’s class advancement panel. There were over a thousand possible classes, many of them downright ridiculous.
There were professions such as Shepherd, Gourmet Critic, and even Circus Clown.
It could even transform the mighty Drakewolf into an adorable mascot capable of performing tricks such as balancing a ball or jumping through flaming hoops to entertain the people of the territory. Needless to say, that was completely useless to Phield.
Even worse, there was an absurd class called Lord’s Pet, complete with a little heart symbol beside it. It was obviously one of this world’s bizarre specialty classes. If this were just a game, it would be an instant pick, but this was reality, so there was no way he would ever choose it.
"Does anyone actually let their Divine Chosen pick something this ridiculous?"
Phield sighed.
"Then again, other lords can’t see their Divine Chosen’s advancement panel, so they probably end up randomly getting strange classes."
For some reason, Phield had a feeling that Baron Simon of Maple Leaf Domain had probably rolled one of those bizarre professions.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Phield carefully examined the available classes. After only a single glance, his heart skipped a beat as he realized Ashina possessed terrifying potential.
"Ordinary Divine Chosen aren’t necessarily inferior to Calamities. They simply require a much longer cultivation period and far stricter conditions."
After filtering the class information several times with his soul power, Phield narrowed it down to the most outstanding choices.
Name: Ashina
Current Class: Wolf Cavalry
Basic class. Slightly increases movement speed.
Based on the lord, the territory, and the Divine Chosen herself, Ashina possesses the following advancement potential.
1. Hunting Light Cavalry
Awakens a second natal artifact, the mounted bow Great Snow Agave. Greatly increases speed and technique, slightly reduces attack power, and grants hunting related talents and divine skills.
2. Formation Breaking Heavy Cavalry
Awakens a second natal artifact, the heavy cavalry lance Avalanche Spiral. Greatly increases strength and defense, moderately reduces speed, and grants formation breaking talents and divine skills.
3. Blizzard Saint Wolf Cavalry
Enhanced by Frost Ancestor Dragon’s Tears. This is Ashina’s exclusive class. Awakens a second natal artifact, the cavalry lance Frost Nirvana. Her first and second divine skills evolve into new forms, all attributes are greatly enhanced, and she gains peerless talents and divine power while earning the qualification of Saintess of the Wolf Demi Humans.
4. Wolf Tamer
Awakens a second natal artifact, the support type Drakewolf Frost, and a third natal artifact, the pet type Drakewolf Snowball. Additional Drakewolves awaken at the Sixth and Ninth Tiers. All divine skills become unusable, no new divine skills can ever be learned, and the user’s personal combat ability drops to zero.
"Holy crap. This is such a painful decision!"
Choosing a class was even more agonizing than allocating stat points. It was both exciting and torturous.
What was he supposed to do when every option looked amazing? His perfectionism was driving him insane.
"Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of any Divine Chosen possessing two natal artifacts. That’s completely overpowered."
Aside from the equipment awakened at the very beginning, ordinary artifacts were only temporary for Divine Chosen. Once they advanced, those artifacts could no longer be used.
Natal artifacts were entirely different. They were part of the Divine Chosen’s own power, and every time they advanced, their natal artifacts evolved alongside them.
Whether in terms of value or attribute bonuses, they completely surpassed temporary artifacts.
Ashina actually possessed two natal artifacts. Such a thing had never existed anywhere within the Empire. As for her Wolf Tamer class, it practically mass produced living artifacts.
"Which one should I choose?"
Phield hesitated for a while.
"Wolf Tamer is the only class capable of obtaining multiple living artifacts. The rarity of living artifacts speaks for itself, and their economic value is simply immeasurable. But sacrificing all of her combat ability is far too costly."
Ashina specialized entirely in combat. She was one of the few people capable of fighting Rosalia head on.
Choosing Wolf Tamer would effectively cripple her.
"In theory, there are no useless classes. The key is matching them to future development and the current situation. Ashina’s combat talent is extraordinary, so wasting it would be a terrible mistake. We’ll find another Divine Chosen to take the Wolf Tamer path in the future."
More importantly, if Ashina became a Wolf Tamer, then Rosalia would be the only frontline fighter left in the territory, which would severely hinder future expansion.
What Nightfall Domain lacked most was powerful individuals who could both command armies and fight personally.
After wrestling with the decision for quite some time, Phield finally chose Blizzard Saint Wolf Cavalry.
Heavy Cavalry was undeniably powerful, but breaking enemy formations wasn’t an immediate priority. What the territory desperately needed right now was speed. Rosalia and Firomina were both painfully slow, and their pursuit ability was practically nonexistent.
Hunting Light Cavalry was also an excellent option, but the loss of attack power was simply too painful.
"No more overthinking. I’ll choose the exclusive class. No matter what, it’s been enhanced."
The instant he confirmed the selection, the Goddess’s Mark enveloped Ashina once again.
A series of low cracking sounds echoed from her bones as a tremendous aura burst outward. At the same time, her clothes exploded into pieces, leaving Phield unable to look away. Fortunately, he had been prepared and had already changed her into a nightgown beforehand.
When Ashina slowly opened her mesmerizing eyes, she resembled a pristine white lotus blooming atop a snowy mountain, radiating an untouchable aura.
"Hehe."
The very next second, however, she returned to her usual cheerful self, scratching the back of her head with a goofy grin.
"My lord, Third Tier and Second Tier are on completely different levels. I feel so much stronger now."
"So this is the power that comes with a true qualitative evolution..."
Ashina casually waved her hand, and the moisture in the air instantly condensed into clusters of snowflakes. A confident smile spread across her lips.
"I really want to spar with Rosalia."
"Ahem. Put some clothes on first."