CHAPTER 364: CHAPTER364-DEFEATING AURELIA

In the trial space, Daniel’s domain unfolded, enveloping Aurelia within it.At the same time, Aurelia’s domain wrapped around Daniel as well.

Contrary to expectation, when the two domains overlapped, they did not violently clash.Instead, they merged into a strange superimposed state.

To put it precisely: Aurelia’s domain could affect Daniel, and Daniel’s domain could affect Aurelia.

However, Daniel had not unleashed just one domain—he had also released the Dark Domain.

This meant Aurelia’s domain could only impose some mental-type influence on him.

But the problem was, that little bit of mind power was nowhere near enough to counteract the might of Shifting World.

And the effect of Shifting World—being a God Rank Skill—was far stronger than Aurelia’s domain.

Almost instantly, Aurelia was caught in the illusions created by Shifting World.

If she had truly been at god-tier, Shifting World might have struggled to restrain her.But the Aurelia before him only had demigod-level strength.

The gap between demigod-level and true demigod-rank was vast.

Thus, Aurelia’s domain was far weaker and could not compare to Shifting World at all.

This was why she was instantly ensnared, dragged into illusion after illusion.

Though Aurelia’s might was undeniable—breaking through more than a dozen illusions in mere breaths—such resistance was insignificant to Shifting World.

After all, Shifting World could generate infinite illusions.As long as Daniel supplied energy, it would create them endlessly.

The only ways to shatter Shifting World were either to possess overwhelming power capable of tearing through every illusion in an instant, or to wait until Daniel ceased fueling it.

But in either case, the Aurelia before him—this demigod-level projection—was powerless to achieve it.

And so, before Daniel’s eyes, Aurelia flailed like a blind woman, striking at empty air.

Yet barely half a minute later, she stopped moving altogether.

Her eyes grew calm as she gazed forward.

Daniel knew well—she could not actually see him.

And yet, her gaze landed squarely on him.

At that moment, Aurelia’s tranquil voice sounded in his mind:

"Daniel, you are stronger than I expected."

"I look forward to the day when we can become true opponents."

Daniel’s lips twitched slightly at her words.

Want to be my opponent? You’ll have to wait until I reach god-tier myself! Until then, I’ll be sure to avoid you.

Of course, these were only his private thoughts. Outwardly, his face remained calm, even bearing an unfathomable expression.

"Aurelia, there’s no point resisting any longer. Why not end it yourself?"

Aurelia nodded. Without hesitation, her body transformed into countless streams of light.

After a few flickers, the radiance gradually dimmed.

Daniel felt her projection dissipate completely.

At the same time, a notification appeared before his eyes:

[You have successfully passed the Eighth Stage of the trial.][All rewards will be tallied and distributed once the trial concludes.]

Seeing this, Daniel let out a quiet breath of relief.

No matter what, the Eighth Stage was cleared.

Having unleashed so many God Rank Skills in quick succession, he needed to pause and realign himself.

It wasn’t that he was exhausted—rather, he needed to carefully adjust his mindset for what lay ahead.

Clearly, the coming stages would only grow more difficult.

Just as he began preparing, another message appeared:

[Congratulations. You have passed the Eighth Stage of the Emperor’s Trial.][You are the second to achieve this. Rewards amplified accordingly.]

"...Hm?"

Daniel frowned, surprise flashing across his face.

Back in the Royal Museum, there had still been three emperors recorded—the God of Elements, Aurelia, and himself.

But now, with the Eighth Stage cleared, only two had passed.

That meant between the God of Elements and Aurelia, one had been eliminated.

But which one?

Daniel’s brows furrowed as he pondered.

If it was the God of Elements who had failed, then Daniel would likely face him only in later stages.

Although the Eighth Stage was already quite deep, logic dictated that weaker opponents came first, and stronger ones later.

The difficulty should rise gradually.

Therefore, Daniel guessed that it must have been Aurelia who failed the Eighth Stage.

And if so, then the opponent she faced was likely none other than the God of Elements.

The thought made Daniel’s eyes narrow slightly.

So this supposedly wayward God of Elements... was far more terrifyingly powerful than he let on.

Would there be a chance to face him later?

Shaking his head, Daniel cast aside the distracting thought.

He stood up and immediately invoked the God Rank Skill – Time Stream, rewinding himself fifteen minutes.

After a full quarter-hour of rest, he was back to peak condition.

Ahead lay the next trial.

Even Daniel had little idea what awaited him.

According to the records in the Royal Museum, the Ninth Stage of the Human Emperor Trial varied from challenger to challenger.

That meant it was highly unpredictable—adding yet another layer of difficulty.

Even Daniel himself was curious to see what form his test would take.

At the entrance, he noticed a dark crimson plaque.

The words inscribed on it were simple—yet when Daniel read them, he could not help but draw a sharp breath.

For according to this plaque...

Even the mighty God of Elements had failed the Ninth Stage!

And what did that mean?

It meant that not a single emperor in all of history had managed to advance beyond it.

If Daniel succeeded, he would become the first ever to do so.

But his Star Upgrade Quest required him to clear the Ninth Stage.

So this was it—the true, heaven-defying difficulty of his quest revealed itself!

[Would you like to begin the ninth stage of the trial?]

Such a prompt suddenly appeared before Daniel’s eyes.At that moment, however, a trace of hesitation crossed his face.

What exactly would the content of the ninth stage trial be?Would his Time Stream still be effective inside it?

But very quickly, Daniel’s expression grew firm.This trial space at most could only be considered a demi-plane.And a demi-plane was unable to interfere with Daniel’s Time Stream, so theoretically speaking, Daniel was still very safe.As long as he could use the Time Stream, the danger to him would be greatly reduced.