Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 929: Fruit Of Dawn

Anya climbed the elevated platform. Although she didn’t know what she was meant to do, she simply greeted the Overlord and stood silently on the stage with calm ease as everyone stared at her.

‘So that’s the winner of the previous tournament,’ Asher thought to himself as he too stared at Anya.

Although he didn’t know the cultivation ranks of students from the past, Asher couldn’t help but think that Anya’s cultivation speed was a bit slow. After all, Wuthenya, who was already thirty-one years old, was at the Radiant Voidstar Life Rank, and that was the last he knew. It had already been months, so surely she would have stepped into the Dust Soulstar Life Rank by now.

As Asher had that thought, he shook his head. The Wargrave Bloodline was abnormal. Just because most of them usually reached the Crownstar Life Rank at around the age of fifty or thereabouts didn’t mean it should be the same for others.

It wasn’t a fair comparison.

“You think her cultivation speed is too slow?” Arianna, who had been seated beside him, spoke as though she had read his mind, but she hadn’t.

Asher stared at her for a moment before speaking. “I did, but it seems I was simply being too arrogant. I was using the standards of a Wargrave,” he said, shaking his head.

Arianna simply nodded and said nothing else, their eyes returning to Anya Romanoff, who stood upon the stage.

If life were all about cultivation, then surely Anya would probably be at the Radiant Soulstar Life Rank by now, if not at the Crownstar Life Rank. After all, one had to spend years training in every aspect. Their weapons, bodies, hand-to-hand combat, techniques, Astra energy control, skills, abilities, and even diving headfirst into battles and missions that sometimes lasted for months. Each of these aspects required years of dedication in its own field.

Even at this moment, Azaron, Malrik, and all the Crownstar Life Rankers were still training. They, who had already reached the Crownstar Life Rank, still trained. The path they walked was simply endless, as though it had no true peak. While the Life Rank itself might have a limit for now, the other aspects mentioned earlier did not.

Life Ranks were never about simply sitting down and drawing in Astra energy and refining and strengthening the Astra veins. It required far more than that.

But… of course, someone could simply sit down and cultivate to the peak of their talent without training the other aspects, but at the end of the day, they would become the weakest person of power in existence. It would be no different from handing a child the remote control to a nuclear weapon.

Even people weaker in terms of Life Rank could defeat such individuals with ease because they had developed every aspect of their power and existence without neglecting anything.

At the end of the day, they would become the empty vessels making the loudest noise.

Besides, being talented didn’t mean one was blessed with equal talent across every field. One might possess outrageous natural talent for combat, but that same talent wasn’t replicated in their cultivation speed or their talent for Astra energy control.

It was just like how Ryaen Silvershade was simply a monstrous talent when it came to hand-to-hand combat, yet that talent wasn’t matched by the amount of talent she possessed for Astra energy control, as her aptitude in that area was slightly lower. So, some people were gifted in certain aspects while being less talented in others. They simply needed to spend more time developing those areas, and that was all.

Not everyone was Asher, Arianna, or the Wargraves, who were blessed across the board.

As Anya stepped onto the elevated platform, a sealed box appeared in the Overlord’s hand, and she immediately passed it to Anya. The two of them seemed to communicate telepathically as anyone with perception sharp enough to match a Soulstar could see the expression of shock that briefly crossed Anya’s face before it vanished in less than an instant as the Overlord explained the gift to her, since she was meant to present it.

With that, the Overlord stepped to the side and allowed Anya to take over from there. After all, she had been called onto the stage and couldn’t simply be left standing there like a mannequin. Although Anya didn’t have a script or know exactly what to do, she simply improvised on the spot, doing what had been done the last time when she had previously presented the reward.

“May the winner of the four hundred and fifth Inter-Empire Tournament, Asher Wargrave, come to the stage,” she stated, her tone calm.

Asher, seeing the spotlight fall upon him, immediately sighed as everyone’s attention shifted towards him. With an expressionless face, he rose to his feet and walked towards the elevated platform.

Asher climbed the small flight of stairs as the spotlight refused to leave him until he had completely ascended the platform. He came to a stop before Anya and simply stared into her pink eyes.

“On behalf of the Thalvorn Empire, the Zarethorne Empire, the Velkarin Empire, and the Vandross Empire, we present the Tenth Sun, Asher Wargrave, with the reward, the Fruit of Dawn,” Anya stated as she unsealed the box the Overlord had given her earlier.

The moment the upper lid opened, a dazzling burst of golden light erupted outward as what appeared to be a golden apple came into view, brimming with intense Astra energy.

Everyone’s eyes immediately widened as they stared at the fruit within the box. Their bodies and minds instantly burned with longing. Everyone present felt their souls whispering for them to step forward and seize it. Their minds and bodies reacted as some sort of primal instinct seemed to awaken within everyone present. Both Crownstar Life Rankers and Unawakeners alike, nobody was spared.

They all knew that if they ate that fruit, something significant would happen to them.

Many swallowed hard, their legs instinctively moving to take a step forward, but before anyone could truly do so, numerous overwhelming presences descended upon the entire Awakener Association skyscraper as the Wargraves appeared beside the platform.

Azaron, Morthern, Morgana, Damian, Malrik, Wuthenya, Castle, every single one of them, as though they were ready to turn this gala event into a literal bloodbath. They stood ready to take on the entire world if provoked. They were simply that mad.

Azaron’s Ender was already floating beside him with a low hum, while Morthern’s soul-bound book was already fluttering open as he prepared to use a skill. Every Wargrave wore a smile of challenge.

They too felt the temptation, but they overcame it through sheer love and protectiveness for one another. Nothing more, nothing less.

Asher felt the same primal instinct and overwhelming desire that everyone else experienced. But his eyes narrowed in a different kind of shock as he sensed something else within the Fruit of Dawn. It was faint, almost impossible to detect. If he hadn’t possessed the same energy, he wouldn’t have been able to sense it even with Perfect Astra Energy Control and perception.

It was Star Energy.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Another two chapters coming later today, around the same time as the last release.

Thanks for reading. Also, we need golden tickets so we can climb to third rank on the Golden Tickets ranking.