Chapter 501: Chapter 501: Level 100 Me (2-in-1 Chapter)(Bonus Chapter)
Spiral Abyss, Floor 10.
The red moon still hung high in the sky. The ruined remains of the structure had fallen silent, and the ape-like monsters lay sprawled across the ground one after another.
[Defeated Powerful Enemies ×15. Obtained 162,135 Adventure EXP.]
Bathed in crimson moonlight, Nolan looked somewhat eerie—like a menacing villain out of a film.
Glancing at the 840,000 EXP points on his character panel, he nodded in satisfaction. Under the red moon, he extended his spiritual sense outward, scanning the ruins for any remaining monsters.
Crumbling buildings, cracked stone slabs, moss and weeds growing from the crevices...
"Looks like there aren't any more monsters."
Nolan gave a slight nod, then proceeded just as before, walking while using "Moonveil Tianquan" to sense nearby treasures.
After walking several hundred meters, he hadn't found any treasure chests in these ruins.
Maybe the ape-like monsters had tossed them somewhere out of sight. Nolan passed through the ruins and arrived at a plaza-like area.
What stood out here was the ground—white as if paved with plaster—and several large round pillars in the center.
The surface of the pillars was carved with various decorative patterns. Since Nolan hadn't studied Teyvat's history, he naturally couldn't understand them.
There were no ceilings resting on top of the pillars, so they were likely symbolic decorations rather than structural.
Between the columns stretched a road leading to a palace ahead, and on either side of the path stood rows of armored knights holding long swords—stone statues.
At first, Nolan didn't think much of it, but with his constantly active golden Eye of Judgment, he noticed level indicators above each white statue's head!
> [Level: 86]
> [Level: 86]
> [Level: 86]
Every single one was level 86. Neat and uniform. Clearly, they were some kind of artificial constructs, probably like Ruin Guards.
When Nolan got within a certain range, the two rows of stone statues along the road suddenly began to shake.
With the grinding sound of stone wheels turning, they slowly rotated toward him, their raised stone swords clicking into position with a "ka-da," all pointing at him.
Under the red moonlight, they looked like knights soaked in blood!
"Heh." Nolan smiled.
If they were like the previous ape monsters—natural beasts—he might have had to exert some effort to defeat them.
But when it came to artificial constructs powered by energy cores, Nolan barely needed to lift a finger.
"Moonveil Tianquan" had already locked onto their energy cores—he could extract them from afar anytime he wished!
Thump, thump, thump!
Watching the statues approach with heavy steps, Nolan's heart was suddenly filled with sympathy—he couldn't bear to see them struggle so hard.
He raised his right hand, thumb pressing against middle finger, then flicked against the index finger—
"Snap!" The sound echoed across the plaza ruins. In the next instant, several brilliant blue crystals appeared in front of him.
And at that very same moment, all the advancing stone knights froze in place, stuck mid-stride, completely immobile!
> [Defeated Powerful Enemies ×8. Obtained 96,000 Adventure EXP.]
A new EXP notification popped up on his character panel—96,000 Adventure EXP, just as neat and uniform as their levels.
Adding that to the 840,000 EXP he'd already saved up, he now had over 936,000 EXP in total.
"Whew… Just a bit over 50,000 more and I'll level up!"
Nolan was still curious about what kind of "Racial Talent" he would receive upon reaching level 100.
The "Sword God of Lumine" continued flying ahead under his control to scout. Nolan casually tossed the eight blue crystals into the storage space of his Wonderland and followed along toward the palace.
"Hm?"
Sensing a change in the Wonderland, Nolan paused briefly—those eight brilliant blue energy crystals…
They had expanded the Wonderland by eight square meters! Each one was nearly as effective as a 5-star golden artifact. Could it be that the energy they contained was exceptionally potent?
The crystals didn't seem especially remarkable, so the fact that they could expand the space this much genuinely surprised him.
Unfortunately, they didn't provide any new space traits. It seemed that, as treasures, their overall value was still slightly below that of a 5-star golden artifact.
While thinking this over, Nolan continued observing the approaching palace.
He hoped that the next monsters he encountered would also be those stone knights. Just one blue crystal—barely the size of a fist—could increase his space by a full square meter.
That was far better than Mora, low-tier artifacts, or common weapons. After all, those items didn't necessarily contribute as much relative to the space they took up.
And since the storage expansion was three-dimensional, it wouldn't be a "loss" unless he was storing only single-denomination Mora coins.
Before long, both Nolan and the "Sword God of Lumine" stepped inside the palace.
The palace was built from white stone blocks, but it was in the same state as the outside—ruins. The dome was full of holes.
The red moonlight easily pierced through the walls, flooding into the grand hall.
Using the red moonlight, he could see the teleportation gate at the far end of the hall—and on either side of the gate stood a stone statue.
They were also white, but unlike the stone knight statues outside, these weren't holding swords. Instead, they held scepters.
They wore crowns on their heads, and their levels were marked as Level 90. They looked like royal figures—kings or queens, perhaps.
Nolan rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Upon detecting the presence of Nolan and the "Sword God of Lumine," the two statues started to move, producing a grinding sound like stone gears turning.
"Well, I can feel your warm welcome—no need to stand, just sit down!"
Nolan grinned.
Through "Moonveil Tianquan," he had already locked onto the energy cores within them. Without hesitation, he directly activated his ability and pulled them out.
Two bright blue crystals silently appeared in his slightly raised palm—the same kind as the ones from the knight statues outside.
However, these were noticeably larger. After placing them into the Wonderland, he found they expanded the space by four square meters—twice the usual increase.
The total size of the Wonderland now reached 462 square meters, and to his delight, defeating those two statues had also netted him over 80,000 EXP.
[Adventure EXP: 1,015,762]
One million and fifteen thousand!
Nolan had finally gathered enough EXP to level up!
"Phew… Stay calm."
Suppressing his excitement, he knew that with enough EXP, he absolutely had to level up immediately.
That meant putting the eleventh floor of the Abyss Spiral on hold for now—he needed to handle this first!
Nolan opened his character panel, glanced at the level section, and decisively poured in a huge amount of EXP.
> Adventure EXP -990,000
> Lv.99 (0/990,000) → Lv.100 (0/10,000,000)
That familiar warm current flowed through his body, strengthening every cell and every corner of his soul. Before long, the enhancement process ended.
Nolan now felt as if he could crush ten versions of his old self with ease. Even if he faced someone like Azhdaha, he could probably take a few hits head-on.
As for actually defeating him? That was still unlikely. After all, Azhdaha was level 118, with a major leap at level 110—a huge power threshold he hadn't yet crossed.
Still, based on what he had seen of other Archons and gods, he felt that below Level 110, he was practically invincible.
Level 110 would likely come with a major evolution, just like now. Until then, he could still hold his own in a frontal clash.
But defeating someone at that level… well, that was another matter entirely. He'd have to test it to find out.
While pondering this, Nolan glanced back at his character panel:
[Adventure EXP: 25,762]
Unsurprisingly, he was almost out of EXP again. And now, leveling up required ten times more EXP—a staggering ten million!
"Even if I beat ten Azhdahas, it still wouldn't be enough…" he muttered helplessly.
[You have reached Lv.100. Your evolution has entered a new phase. You may now select a "Racial Specialty." Please choose one.]
Fortunately, the prompt that appeared next drew his attention right away—it was finally time to choose a Racial Specialty!
He first looked at the first option:
> [Archon (Humanoid)]: Evolve into an Archon. Your physical body gains eternal lifespan. You obtain a divine core and gain control over divine power. You may choose a "Power Seed" to nurture into a complete divine Authority of your own.
Archon, huh?
This must be the standard evolution path for beings in Teyvat upon reaching Level 100.
The parenthetical "Humanoid" likely meant that his external appearance wouldn't change.
This option looked pretty good. Control over divine power and a full Authority? If he chose this, his strength would definitely rise to a whole new level.
Even though he was now Level 100 and had reached the Archon tier in raw power, he was still just a regular human.
Aside from his body, soul, and the powers he controlled being on par with an Archon in terms of strength, his essence was still human—no different from the average person.
Although becoming an Archon would allow him to retain a humanoid form, Nolan still didn't want to recklessly change his race.
After all, different races had different ways of thinking. He didn't want his own thoughts and values to be gradually altered without realizing it.
Take Barbatos, for example—he barely did anything properly. Just a nap, and a thousand years would pass. Though he had a human appearance and human emotions, his sense of time and other perceptions were very different from actual humans.
Or consider the Geo Archon, Morax. In the game, it was said that he had thousands of incarnations—some male, some female, some half-Qilin, half-dragon.
Zhongli was just the current human form he had chosen. While his emotions seemed human-like, his thinking and worldview were definitely different.
After all, even human men and women can have drastically different mindsets—let alone a god with countless incarnations spanning multiple genders and races.
So if he could avoid changing his race, he would. What if his entire perspective shifted and he stopped liking girls? That would be a real problem.
That was something to take seriously!
Of course, he didn't need to worry too much—judging from their external behavior, both Venti and Zhongli, though not human in race and perhaps a bit different in mindset, still expressed emotions that were very close to humans.
The adeptis were the same—they felt friendship, love, and familial bonds just like humans.
If there really weren't any suitable options, then choosing "Archon" wouldn't be impossible.
Losing interest in girls? Unlikely. After all, he would still be evolving from a human into an Archon.
Even if he changed, he'd just become a long-lived species—his mentality and sense of time might shift, but that was it.
Nolan pondered seriously, then turned to the second option:
> [Primordial Elemental Dragon King (Humanoid)]: Evolve into an Elemental Dragon King. Gain the authority of ancient dragons, innate top-tier elemental affinity, mastery over all seven elements, and the ability to fuse elements into a unified force.
"…"
Changing race again?
Nolan sighed. He'd just been thinking he wanted to avoid that.
But what exactly was "Ancient Dragon Authority"? Could that be the source of the Elemental Dragon Kings' power?
He had transmigrated to Teyvat right near the end of Nahida's banner, and at that time, the game hadn't yet mentioned anything like this.
So for now, he was a bit confused.
"Forget it, let's look at the third option. If they all involve changing races, I'll keep this one as a backup."
Nolan shook his head and turned to the third option:
> [Human Ascension]: Evolve into a stronger human. Full-scale enhancement of your genes, cells, and soul. Unification and sublimation of all your powers.
"Oh? Human Ascension?"
Nolan's eyes lit up a little. Just from the name, this one didn't sound like it involved a race change.
All racial specialties offered at this stage were supposed to be equal in value, so he wasn't worried about this being weaker than the other two options.
And since this was the only one that let him remain human, it was clearly the most suitable!
Without hesitation, he immediately chose "Human Ascension" as his Racial Specialty.
Soon, a mysterious power surged into his body, just like when leveling up. It began to strengthen him, and the character panel began to flash new notifications:
[Your power has been sublimated. The specialties with high compatibility—"Descender," "Maiden Savior," "Abundant Life," "Harmony," "Millennium Body," "Battery Body," and "Elemental Immunity"—have fused into a new exclusive specialty: "Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)."]
[Your power has been sublimated. The specialties with high compatibility—"The Gospel of the Sky," "Blue Vortex," "Thoughtless Thunder," "Blessing of the World Tree"—have fused into a new exclusive specialty: "Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)."]
[Your power has been sublimated. The specialties with high compatibility—"Monster Slayer," "North Wind," "Spiritual Threads"—have fused into a new exclusive specialty: "Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)."]
[Your power has been sublimated. The specialties with high compatibility—"Command Seal," "Spiritual Core"—have fused into a new specialty: "Spiritual Core (Exclusive)."]
Nolan stared at the notifications on the character panel, shocked.
So "unification and sublimation" meant fusing all the highly compatible specialties into brand-new ones?
And not only were the original effects preserved—the fused abilities were apparently even stronger!
He began inspecting each one in detail, curious to see how they had evolved and whether they could rival the power of becoming an Archon or a Dragon King.
> [Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)]: You are unrecorded by the world. Massively increases your charm toward girls, making it easier for them to develop affection for you. Your body can absorb various energy types and convert them into "Universal Energy," which can replenish lifespan, vitality, mental power, stamina, elemental energy, etc. This energy can also be transmitted to others via physical contact. Grants immunity to elemental attacks weaker than your power level and percentage-based resistance to stronger elemental attacks depending on the level gap.
> [Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)]: Allows you to command all types of energy in existence. Currently mastered: Anemo, Hydro, Electro, Dendro, and Leyline energy. Can fuse these for further evolution.
> [Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)]: Summon semi-transparent spiritual Threads. Deals 50% bonus damage to demonic/abyssal enemies and bypasses energy shields.
> [Spiritual Core (Exclusive)]: Allows storage of spiritual essence. Can grant random ability attribute to yourself or others. You can also spend double spiritual essence to choose a specific type. Enables the setting of "Command Seals" to bind others.
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(End of Chapter)
(End of Volume 5: Sumeru City)
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