It seemed that Juhi would probably be dealing with William''s Curse Spell for a while. William wasn''t confident that his Curse would have a serious long-term effect, but he at least hoped that the man wasn''t friends with any Curse Mages that could undo William''s Spell.


    The Eternal Tribtion struck down lightning after lightning bolt on William''s body, but he continued to ignore it as he inspected Atticus'' body nearby. The Mythical Rat Snake had a serious wound at its neckline that even the Life Domain couldn''t fully heal, and the injury was corroded by a trace of poison.


    That damned Ascended Cultivator... Who does he think he is, attacking my Companion Beasts like this? I''ll never forgive him! William thought angrily as he switched to his Life Elemental Form and cast an iparably powerful healing Spell on Atticus.


    The lingering poison was detoxified in an instant, while the Light Mana that lined the injury was dispersed and returned into the environment. Afterwards, the flesh grew back and even Atticus'' lost blood was reced after only a few moments, restoring the snake to perfect condition.


    Compared to the group of healers that took almost an entire week to heal a few scratches and regrow some scales, William''s method was incredibly efficient. Atticus even found that his stamina had been restored somewhat, so he looked left and right in search of the cause of his injury.


    "Where iss he. I sshould eat him." Atticus hissed as he looked to the sky for any hints of the unknown golden aura.


    "You''re pretty eager to fight considering you almost died, little buddy." Williamughed as he watched Atticus soar into the sky.


    "Little buddy? Masster, I''m bigger than Big Brother Uri now, you can''t call me little." Atticus was slightly annoyed by William''sment.


    Little meant that Atticus was still much too weak, and it was true. Against William''s current level of enemies, Atticus didn''t stand a chance. A single attack from Juhi was enough to drive Atticus to the verge of death, and it made him feel useless.


    "Masster. I want to be stronger. Can you upgrade me soon?"


    William was surprised to see that Atticus was so proactive, but he didn''t decline. "I can upgrade you right now."


    System, can you do it?


    -You will be charged 250,000 Potential Points. Is that alright?


    Since when are you so formal? I have 324 thousand Points, which is barely enough. Let''s go for it!


    -250000 PP


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    Atticus felt a deep and profound fear within his body as a small number of clouds gathered in the sky. Instead of the red that resembled a Superior Tribtion, these clouds were rtively normal looking, which made Atticus wonder why he felt fear.


    Lightning Bolts formed like usual, but Atticus'' body didn''t increase in shape or size like it did with previous upgrades. Instead, he remained exactly the same, as if the System hadn''t performed an upgrade at all.


    Three Heavenly Lightning Boltsnded on Atticus, but their aura was so weak that he didn''t even feel the attack. It was as if he had just gone through a Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment Tribtion, and not one for a Tribtion Transcendence Beast.


    The clouds dispersed, the blue sky appearing once more while Atticus and William looked up in confusion. At the same time, a small wisp of something Heavenly in nature floated down and nourished Atticus'' body, but the effects hardly raised the Mythical Rat Snake''sbat power at all.


    "That''s it?" William couldn''t believe what he was seeing. A mere Qi Refinement Tribtion had formed and was dispersed in the blink of an eye, but Atticus was supposed to reach the Tribtion Transcendence Realm! How could this happen?


    William was about the ask the System if it had made a mistake when he saw clouds forming once more. This time, the strength of the Tribtion seemed to break into the Foundation Establishment Realm, but it was still nothingpared to a peak Soul Formation Magical Beast like Atticus.


    -Your Companion Beast must undergo all the previous Heavenly Tribtions before attempting the nine Tribtions.


    Ohhh, that''s right. Atticus hasn''t taken a Tribtion since the beginning. William realized.


    He watched as Atticus'' Tribtions rose from the Foundation Establishment Realm to Core Formation, then Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and finally the Soul Formation Realm. After passing each Tribtion, Atticus was nourished by slightly more of the Heavenly energy than before, hisbat strength increasing by around fifteen percent by the end of all the improvements.


    Only then did Atticus'' body begin to change and grow, his length extending to two kilometers while the scales became asrge as two-story buildings. He hissed at the sky as nine differently colored and dark Tribtion Clouds formed, the nine Tribtions beginning all at once.


    A massive bolt of red lightning fell from the sky, its strength already at the eighth stage of the Tribtion Transcendence Realm. Before it couldnd, an orange lightning bolt in the ninth stage followed suit, merging with the red lightning and bing slightly stronger.


    Atticus defended each strike with ease despite his Soul Formation Realm Cultivation, his hard scales making up for the difference in strength. Only when the third yellow and fourth blue boltnded did Atticus suffer some damage, but it was hardly anythingpared to Juhi''s attack.


    His scales were dislodged by the green lightning, then the purple lightning struck the same spot and drew massive amounts of blood. Atticus hissed in pain, but he continued to undergo the Tribtions, trusting that his Master would protect him.


    The next two lightning bolts were the seventh and eighth, ck and white in color. As they formed and merged, Atticus twisted his body to force the lightning to pierce through his tail, the scalespletely unable to defend against theirbined strength at all.


    The clouds condensed into a single massive form and changed to a pure golden color, attracting the attention of spectators from hundreds of kilometers away. This was the signature move of the nine Tribtions of the Tribtion Transcendence Realm, the Bolt of Golden Heavens.


    This was the killer of Tribtion Transcendence Cultivators, the ultimate and final obstacle that even Riyald didn''t dare to attempt. If Atticus could surpass this final Tribtion, he would be just a single step away from Ascension. If William proceeded with his next System upgrade, Atticus would go to the higher Realms right away.


    As the Bolt of Golden Heavens fell, the sense of dread that filled Atticus'' body was intensified, but he stood strong and opened his Illusion Territory, redirecting the lightning to a non-vital area near the base of his tail.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Despite this, the lightning split into tens of thousands of miniature lightning bolts, spreading through Atticus'' body like countless termites attacking a wooden shed. Atticus roared in pain as the Bolt of Golden Heavens even affected his soul slightly, but the System upgrade was true to its word.


    At the same rate that the Bolt of Golden Heavens destroyed Atticus'' body and soul, he felt himself strengthened by an unknown power that could only be described as the System''s interference. No matter how hard the Heavenly Lightning worked to destroy Atticus, William ordered for him to be upgraded, and so he would be.