As the time limit approached one full year, Ignis finally completed the second trial.
When he fully integrated the God Spark Essence into his divine power, the color of his energy grew even deeper—a dark crimson hue, radiating pure destruction.
Ignis sensed the change and estimated that the strength of his divine power had increased a hundredfold.
To begin with, his tri-element fused divine power already rivaled the force of a Highgod using mismatched attributes.
Now, with this massive amplification, it has even surpassed divine power drawn from matching attributes.
Naturally, Ignis was delighted.
Disregarding the advantage conferred by Power of Will and the accompanying Laws of the World, his current strength was already far beyond that of an ordinary Paragon.
And what's more— Ignis still hadn't reached Paragon-level mastery of the profound mysteries.
Just as he was overcome with excitement, Eunice flew over.
"Ignis, congratulations on passing the second trial. Proceed to the region where the third trial takes place. Everyone else is already waiting for you."
Within the Amethyst Mountains were a total of 108 Amethyst Fiend Caverns.
Logically speaking, the nine participants before him should have each entered a random cavern.
Yet they were all gathered together, waiting at the cavern closest to the second trial's end.
As Ignis arrived and looked around at the group, he asked,
"Why are all of you gathered here instead of advancing through the trial?"
Lyle stepped forward.
"Senior Ignis, this third trial is simply too difficult. All of us have failed."
"What?"
Ignis was shocked. Not a single one has succeeded?
Of course, Ignis knew well the dangers of the Amethyst Fiend Caverns.
These caverns would periodically eject a massive volume of amethysts.
The speed of these crystals was so high, they could pierce through the bodies of Highgods and kill them instantly.
However, no matter how fast those amethysts were, they shouldn't be able to kill Highgods protected by Sovereign artifacts.
Several of them gave bitter laughs.
"The amethysts erupting from the caverns can now pierce through even material-defense Sovereign artifacts. Our protective gear has been riddled with holes."
One person exposed his material-defense divine artifact—it was full of holes, large and small.
"If I hadn't escaped the moment, I sensed something was wrong, I would've been turned into a sieve."
The man gave a pained smile.
Ignis was shocked—if even Sovereign artifacts could be shattered, then the destructive power of these amethysts must have reached Sovereign-level might!
"There's no other method?"
"None," someone replied. "The guardian of the third trial said that only by passing through the cavern can one reach the fourth trial. And that fourth trial is the final one."
At that moment, someone flew over from the distance.
"Greetings, Guardian Lord."
Everyone bowed respectfully.
"The second trial has now fully concluded. The third trial has a time limit of one hundred years. If any of you can pass within this timeframe, you may proceed to the final trial."
It was Luoshen, eldest son of Sadius, who spoke—he was the guardian of the fourth trial.
Only ten people had made it past the second trial and arrived here.
They were given one hundred years.
If no one succeeded within that time, then the trial would be over—no one would become the Sovereign of Destruction.
"Senior Ignis, your strength is the greatest among us, and you possess a full set of Sovereign artifacts. Why don't you give it a try?"
Among those present, the one most likely to break through was indeed Ignis, whose power rivaled that of a Paragon.
Though he had heard of the danger from the others, Ignis still chose to make the attempt.
He turned his gaze to the Amethyst Fiend Cavern ahead, still spewing Amethysts.
Activating all of his defensive measures, Ignis flew toward the cavern.
The moment he approached its entrance—he was struck head-on by a barrage of amethyst crystals.
In the blink of an eye, his defensive barrier shattered.
One crystal, piercing through the remains of his barrier, smashed directly into his chest.
Ignis was sent flying backwards.
He crashed heavily into the ground, then looked down at his material-defense Sovereign artifact—a clear breach had appeared at the chest. It had been penetrated.
One strike.
One strike had been enough to break through a Sovereign artifact.
Ignis was stunned.
He also felt great regret over the loss of such a precious treasure.
However, he now had a rough understanding of the cavern.
Passing through the Amethyst Fiend Cavern was not impossible.
In fact, the answer was simple, yet difficult.
Become a Paragon.
With the power of Will, one could cleave open space within the Amethyst Mountains, and passing the trial would be easy.
But none of the ten were Paragons.
Alternatively, if someone possessed a space-type innate divine ability, they might replicate the same effect.
The requirement was only to pass through the cavern—no specific method was stipulated.
If a unique Divine Beast had the innate ability to teleport, it too might cross safely.
But none of the ten possessed such abilities.
That left only one solution: becoming a Paragon. Ignis considered going into seclusion to cultivate.
But he had already trained for countless eras without reaching that level.
Now, with only one hundred years left, he could not believe he'd reach Paragon-level in time.
"There must be another way…"
Ignis fell deep into thought. But simply pondering was pointless.
He made a decision—gather the remaining nine participants.
Perhaps, working together, they might find a solution.
"You two are emissaries of the Redbud Sovereign. You likely know more about the Amethyst Fiend Cavern than most. Let's call everyone together and stop competing for now. Only through unity do we stand a chance of passing this trial. If we can't even make it past the third trial, how can we ever hope to reach the fourth?"
Ignis approached Lyle and Diana.
They nodded, then called everyone together.
The ten soul-mutated cultivators gathered.
Ignis took the lead and shared his thoughts:
According to current knowledge, only Paragons could make it through.
But surely, the Sovereigns wouldn't set a trial with only one solution.
Ignis asked each person to state their specialties.
Some were skilled at stone sculpting.
Others at magic formations.
Some only knew how to cultivate.
"Right! Magic formations! Perhaps formations can help us pass the trial."
Ignis himself was highly skilled in formations. Born from the very birth of the universe, he had lived through countless trillions of years.
Beyond cultivation, he had explored many disciplines—thus, his attainments in all fields were deep.
His mastery over magic formations was especially profound.
Immediately, Ignis began discussing with two others skilled in the same art.
The rest watched as time passed. Twenty years went by. Finally, the three seemed to have reached a conclusion.
"Everyone, among the ten of us:
– Four are dual-attribute soul mutates of Destruction and Earth
– One is Destruction and Wind
– One is Destruction and Water
– One is Destruction and Fire
– One is Destruction and Lightning
– One is Destruction and Light
I myself possess the soul mutations of Destruction, Darkness, and Fire. We ten collectively cover all the elemental laws. So, the three of us have designed a formation—one that integrates seven elemental Laws. Using divine clones from seven elemental Laws as formation nodes, we may be able to complete this third trial."
Everyone was instantly thrilled.
"Senior! Let's try it together right away!"
All nodded in agreement.
Seeing their enthusiasm, Ignis and the other two formation masters began organizing the trial run.