69: Chapter 69 Observing the God of Mist and the Hierarchy of Contempt within the Demigod Circle

Data stream reassembled, consciousness returned.

Su Chen's "vision" pulled away from the endless star map coordinates and coalesced once more.

Beneath his feet was a hard, cold substance.

A scent mixed with rust, sulfur, and endless fighting intent rushed towards him, so intense it almost became tangible, rudely flooding his senses.

This was the God Ascension Tower.

Or rather, the plaza in front of the tower.

The space was incredibly vast. The ground was paved with some unknown dark golden metal, engraved with billions of deep patterns, each seeming to recount an ancient war.

On the plaza, divine shadows flickered.

Tens of thousands of figures gathered here, each emitting distinct fluctuations of divine power.

Some demigods had bodies burning with inextinguishable holy flames, shining with brilliant light.

Others were shrouded in shadows, accompanied by bizarre void constructs.

More were gathered in groups of three or five, their divine senses intertwining as they discussed something intensely.

The focus of all gazes converged on the center of the plaza.

It was a colossal tower whose height could not be measured by sight.

It did not merely extend upwards; it seemed to pierce through the entire plane. Its spire vanished into chaotic void, while its base was deeply rooted in the depths of an unknown dimension. The tower body displayed an archaic bronze color, covered in scars from blades and axes, each mark retaining lingering, heart-stopping ripples of divine power.

On one side of the giant tower, a screen of light reaching the sky floated.

[God Ascension Tower · Pantheon Stele]

On the light screen, countless golden names flowed and flickered like stars.

The few names at the very top shone with dazzling brilliance, almost suppressing all the light beneath them. The pressure they emitted made Su Chen's mental core tremble slightly.

"Hey! That newcomer!"

A gentle divine sense fluctuation rang out in his consciousness.

Su Chen moved his gaze away from the Pantheon Stele and turned towards the source of the voice.

A peculiar demigod.

His entire body was shrouded in dense white mist. Specific features could not be seen, only a vague humanoid silhouette.

The mist was not dead; it flowed slowly, emitting a damp and serene aura.

"I am Temple, the God of Mist."

The humanoid figure in the white mist nodded slightly at him, their divine sense carrying a familiar, friendly warmth.

"I'm also with the Alliance. You are 'Dominator', right? Big Sister Mela gave me a heads-up."

Temple seemed to be the role within the Alliance specifically responsible for welcoming newcomers; his attitude was very friendly.

He pointed at the giant tower, and the "arm" made of mist swayed with the gesture.

"I happen to be going to challenge the third floor. Any interest in coming to the spectator seats to take a look?"

"It's very necessary for newcomers to understand the strength and patterns of the floor guardians in advance. Know yourself and know your enemy, after all."

Within Su Chen's mental core, countless data streams flowed by.

He did not refuse.

Intelligence is always the first element of victory.

He nodded slightly, indicating agreement.

Temple seemed very happy, leading Su Chen towards a small teleportation array on the side of the plaza.

As divine power was injected, the runes beneath their feet lit up, and the surrounding scenery instantly distorted and folded.

The next moment, they appeared in a spectator plane suspended in the void.

This place was like a massive circular theater. The center was a void of chaos, which could project the challenger's battlefield.

Surrounding it were rows of seats constructed from light.

Many demigods had already taken their seats, their divine senses intertwining into a humming background noise.

Su Chen's mental power swept across, and he immediately identified several figures with divine power fluctuations similar to Temple's; they were clearly members of the Alliance.

They occupied a decent section of the theater.

And in the most core, most prominent area, one figure attracted all of Su Chen's attention.

It was a female demigod.

She wore a set of golden battle armor carved with intricate holy runes; every part of the armor flowed with blinding divine light.

She sat casually on a throne condensed from radiance, her expression aloof and cold.

Her presence was a powerful aura in itself, causing nearby demigods to unconsciously slow their breathing when approaching, their expressions carrying obvious fawning and awe.

Temple's divine sense revealed a trace of envy and awe.

"That is the 'anchor' of our Alliance in the God Ascension Tower, Lady Maggie."

"An Eighth-Rank Golden Demigod, one of the top combatants below the Main Gods. It is said she has already cleared over three hundred floors."

Su Chen's core of will remained calm, merely recording this information coldly.

Eighth-Rank Golden Demigod, Maggie.

He remembered this name.

Just then, the chaotic area in the center of the theater began to surge violently.

Temple's challenge began.

"Dominator, watch closely. This is the guardian of the third floor."

Temple transmitted to him, and then his consciousness projection descended into that chaos.

In an instant, the chaos was replaced by a boundless world of clouds and mist.

Temple's divine domain projection.

Thick clouds and mist rolled in the divine domain. Following his will, giants a hundred meters tall stood up from the sea of clouds.

They were composed entirely of high-density clouds and mist, with blurry forms and slow movements. They were pure water elemental lifeforms.

Cloud Giants.

This was Temple's follower race.

"Cloud Chains!"

Temple's command divine sense was clear and decisive.

Dozens of Cloud Giants simultaneously stretched out their arms, and thick chains condensed from white mist whistled out, winding from all directions towards the huge shadow in the center of the battlefield.

"Mist Storm!"

The tactical execution was very smooth. Just as the chains were released, another batch of Cloud Giants began channeling an area-of-effect divine spell. The thick mist turned into a storm, attempting to obscure the enemy's senses and continuously erode its body.

Temple's tactical proficiency was quite good.

But Su Chen only glanced at it, and his mental core gave the coldest judgment.

The problem was not the command.

It was that his followers were too weak.

Although those Cloud Giants were huge and their divine spells had structure, the essence of the attack was still water element.

And their enemy...

"Roar—!"

A roar that shook the divine domain.

The shadow in the center of the battlefield suddenly stood up. It stomped the ground, shattering it, and scorching magma gushed out from the cracks.

That was a monster several times larger than the Cloud Giants—a Legendary Rank Magma Behemoth.

It was composed entirely of flowing magma and cooled obsidian; with every breath, it exhaled scorching sulfurous air from its nostrils.

Temple's cloud chains wrapped around it, failing to last even a second before being evaporated into nothingness by that terrifying high temperature.

The so-called Mist Storm was more like a lukewarm sauna.

The water vapor hissed the moment it approached the Magma Behemoth's body, turning into white smoke. Instead of causing any damage, it made the beast roar comfortably.

Couldn't break the defense.

This was the most fatal problem.

"Boom!"

The Magma Behemoth had clearly lost patience.

Its giant palm, made of pure magma, slammed down with the momentum to incinerate everything!

The air was instantly evacuated and ignited.

Wherever the giant palm passed, Temple's meticulously arranged cloud formation was like paper, completely shattered and evaporated by a single slap.

Dozens of Cloud Giants, along with the divine spells they were channeling, vanished into dust under this single blow.

Challenge, failed.

The light and shadow dissipated, and the chaos in the center returned to calm.

Temple's figure retreated from the teleportation array, looking somewhat dim. The mist shrouding him was much thinner, and his divine sense was filled with bitter smiles and helplessness.

"Sigh, still no good. This guy's elemental resistance is too high."

On the spectator seats, there were sighs of regret.

Just then, a cold voice, carrying undisguised contempt, not loud but clearly spread throughout the entire spectator plane.

"What's the use of even the most exquisite tactics?"

It was Maggie.

She didn't even glance at Temple, merely inspecting the finger guards on her golden armor, her tone indifferent.

"A bunch of trash followers, mud that can't be helped up a wall."

"Not even a single follower with Legendary Rank—that is, Eighth-Rank—potential, yet you dare to challenge the third floor?"

"It's simply a waste of everyone's time."

Her words were like a basin of ice water, extinguishing all discussion in the arena.

Temple's mist body visibly stiffened, and the faces of other Alliance demigods nearby showed embarrassment and awkwardness.

But no one dared to speak up in rebuttal.

Su Chen narrowed his "eyes".

In that instant, he completely understood.

He understood Temple's helplessness, understood Maggie's arrogance, and even more so, understood the invisible rule that shrouded the top layer of this demigod circle.

The contempt chain.

A contempt chain based on the potential of follower races.

Demigods who possess followers capable of growing to Legendary Rank (Eighth-Rank) are the upper class of this circle, the masters.

And those who don't, no matter how hard you work or how exquisite your tactics are, are just trash in the eyes of others, the underlings.