"Hmph! A pitiful show of strength..."

The sword spirit let out a cold snort, a hint of disdain in her voice.

Although her memory was sealed, her instincts and intuition remained intact.

This so-called "power of heaven and earth" felt underwhelming to her.

But regardless of her thoughts, a fallen phoenix is still weaker than a chicken.

Without her peak strength, even a dull blade could still draw blood.

She looked toward Ethan and asked,

"Master, how's it going on your end?"

"Are you sure you're not scamming me? I've already destroyed over a dozen grimoires!" Ethan replied in exasperation.

Starting with the poison-attribute grimoire, he had since destroyed grimoires of sand, iron, paper… altogether fifteen in total.

Yet, he received nothing in return.

Not even the slightest reaction from heaven and earth.

Although these attributes weren't ones he used frequently, the sheer waste was still painful.

"Really? That shouldn't be possible..." The sword spirit frowned, clearly puzzled.

According to her knowledge, that was how one obtained the power of heaven and earth—by destroying grimoires.

Unless...

"Master... have you truly reached the Zero Domain?" she asked.

"Of course. Don't you have the ability to sense it yourself? Wait—are you saying..."

Ethan immediately caught her implication.

With a thought, he summoned the four-leaf clover fire-attribute grimoire.

"Break!"

After hesitating for a few seconds, Ethan finally made his decision.

As the clover disintegrated, the book turned into crimson light and scattered into the air.

"Hmph, all that effort for nothing..."

The Witch Queen sneered, controlling her Crimson Domain.

She had been watching Ethan's every move.

Truth be told, she had been shocked when he pulled out more than a dozen grimoires.

Had she not witnessed it herself, she wouldn't have believed it.

After all, everyone had only one grimoire—it was a universally accepted truth.

But this moment proved that the world was vast and full of anomalies.

Some indeed possessed multiple magic attributes.

"But so what? The power of heaven and earth isn't that easily obtained!"

She strengthened the Crimson Domain with full confidence.

Destroying fifteen grimoires and still no success could only mean Ethan wasn't ready yet.

Boom!

A sudden thunderclap echoed from the heavens.

The Witch Queen instinctively looked up.

The once-scarlet sky looked as if it had been torn open.

It transformed into a blazing red.

One by one, heavenly flames began to rain down from the tear—

like a celestial flood overwhelming the earth.

"This... This is impossible!"

Heavenly flames descended straight onto Ethan.

Yet, the scorching fire didn't burn him.

Instead, like a fish returning to water, he felt at ease within it—

free to swim in an endless ocean.

"This is... the Power of Heaven and Earth?"

Wrapped in heavenly fire, Ethan felt the overwhelming might.

This was a force entirely different from magic.

It could be called a force of nature—or the power of the universe itself.

And what he had just acquired was...

The Power of Heavenly Flame!

With the Power of Heavenly Flame, Ethan slowly stood up.

Though his movements were still sluggish, it was leagues better than being paralyzed before.

"Still, even if it's an upper-tier force, can it really counter her Crimson Domain?" he pondered, sensing something was off.

Now that he had the power, he also understood its workings:

The Power of Heaven and Earth was divided into nine levels across three tiers.

The higher the tier and level, the stronger the force.

Each tier—low, middle, and high—held three levels.

Although exceptions existed, tier usually trumped level.

He had just awakened his power, while the Witch Queen had spent years mastering hers.

She had already reached Tier Three, capable of deploying an Innate Domain.

Even if her force was of a lower tier, the sheer magnitude overwhelmed his lone upper-tier force.

"Heh, I really underestimated you. You actually awakened a high-tier Heaven and Earth force… But so what?"

Her voice was laced with jealousy—and fear.

She had taken years of preparation just to reach mid-tier,

and yet this guy awakened a high-tier power in mere moments?

A sentient magical weapon that could take human form,

Multiple elemental attributes,

Now this upper-tier heaven force...

Someone this monstrous couldn't be allowed to live.

"Collapse!"

The Witch Queen activated her Crimson Domain further.

She no longer intended to stall—

the domain began rapidly shrinking.

Its dense crimson aura exploded to its peak.

Within the sword formation, the sword spirit felt immense pressure.

The golden array showed signs of cracking.

"Master, I can't hold on much longer. That old witch is compressing her domain to cause a self-detonation!"

Ethan's brows furrowed. He didn't need her to say it—

the constantly shrinking domain was concentrating power like a fuse leading to an explosion.

Once ignited, the result would be catastrophic.

"Sword Spirit, can a person only obtain Heaven and Earth's power once in a lifetime?"

She nodded.

But Ethan simply smiled.

"I don't believe that!"

"Let's give it all!"

With a single thought, the green glow of the wind-attribute four-leaf grimoire floated before him.

Beside it hovered a radiant gold light grimoire, a deep blue thunder grimoire, and more...

Green, blue, purple, black...

A kaleidoscope of colors shone brightly in front of him.

"Break!"

Without hesitation, he shattered them one by one.

Each book burst into dazzling lights—

transforming into colorful specks drifting upward.

In this world dyed in blood red, a stunning rainbow emerged.

Seeing this, the Witch Queen smirked with scorn.

"Fool. Everyone only gets one shot at Heaven's power. Even if you sacrifice dozens more, it's pointless... Wha—?!"

Her eyes widened in shock.

Above the Crimson Domain...

Streams of heavenly force were pouring down from the heavens.

Golden.

Black.

Green.

Each one surged downward—

all toward Ethan, who stood there smiling, arms wide open.

-------------------------

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