"The limit of hard work and talent is Sanctuary. A sorcery's legendary realm has nothing to do with how much time you spend, how much talent you possess, or how much inspiration you have. There is only one reason you can step into the legendary realm—you are a legend."
In Rose Manor of the Country of All Stars, the sorcerers sat neatly in a row, listening to the demigod's lecture.
"If time and talent alone were enough to advance to Legend, then every angel and Divine Lord would surely have grinded all their sorceries to the legendary realm." Vichy, dressed in a short maid skirt, stood before a whiteboard, writing notes as she spoke. "In reality, delving into other schools of sorcery offers very poor value for the effort. Even in an optimal environment brimming with sorcery spirits, a demigod would still need twenty years of dedicated study to grind an unfamiliar sorcery up to Sanctuary."
"Yet that is impossible," the demon maid said earnestly. "No demigod would squander so much time on secondary sorceries. Unless they've completely given up and are waiting around to die, a demigod must spend at least thirty percent of their time researching their primary sorceries."
"Why?" the ever-curious Yaxiu asked. "Once you're a demigod, can't you finally kick back and enjoy life?"
"Because the fifth layer of the Void Realm is extremely, terribly dangerous." Vichy pulled out a smartphone. "I recently played a mobile game with a concept that fits the fifth layer of the Void Realm perfectly—'version updates.'
"Just as we sorcerers can only go upward and never step back, the Void Realm is the same: it constantly moves forward and never retreats. Overall, the Void Realm's tiers maintain an upward spiral. For example, ten thousand years ago, the Knowledge Sea was actually much weaker than it is today.
"However, the impact of these 'version updates' experiences a severe lag in the lower four layers. For instance, when a new sorcery faction emerges, it takes one or two centuries to spread across the lower four layers, becoming known to people through Void creatures, special mechanisms, or sorcerer projections.
"Yet in the fifth layer of the Void Realm, 'version updates' are compressed to—" Vichy held up three fingers, "three hundred days.
"Unlike Void creatures, with every 'version update,' all demigod sorcerers must face a challenge. If you cannot maintain a relatively leading position in your primary sorcery, severe injury or even demise will be your fate.
"However, as long as you can stay half a step ahead of the Void Realm in a single domain—even an extremely niche, obscure domain—within those three hundred days, you have a high probability of safely surviving the challenge."
Harvey asked, "Are Divine Lords kept that busy too?"
"It's different. A Divine Lord can hide inside their Kingdom of Heaven to evade the challenges, which is also why some demigods choose to pledge allegiance to a Divine Lord." Vichy smiled. "By the way, when I used to hide in the Dream Heaven, I could avoid the challenges as well.
"Moreover, Divine Lords can create Golden Apples that monopolize knowledge. Every Golden Apple represents the Divine Lord's lead over the Void Realm. Even without a Kingdom of Heaven, the challenges wouldn't pose a problem for a Divine Lord."
The maid pointed to herself. "Take me, for example. If I were to return to the fifth layer of the Void Realm right now, I'd practically be doomed. Forget staying ahead of the Void Realm—I haven't even caught up with the new patch's Soul and Prophecy Sorcery yet, let alone produced any innovations that surpass the Void Realm.
"Under such pressure to survive, demigods don't even have enough time to research their primary sorceries, let alone develop others."
Yaxiu raised an objection: "But you possess many sorceries at the legendary realm."
Vichy gave Yaxiu a deep, lingering look. "You know my body quite well, don't you, Master?"
"Of course," Rose said casually as she placed the afternoon tea on the coffee table. "I have already compiled her physical data and physiological habits into a report and placed it on your desk."
Yaxiu paused in surprise. "That blue folder? I haven't even..."
"So the photos you took while I was bathing a couple of days ago were for that report?" Vichy remarked. "Here I thought you were interested in me."
Yaxiu: "...I will never lay eyes on that folder for the rest of my life."
Vichy spread her hands toward Rose. "This master is so hard to please."
"You'll get used to it." Rose walked up behind Yaxiu, reaching out to press along the contour of his scapula and acromion. Yaxiu shivered all over and couldn't help looking over at the necromancer beside him. "Harvey, Rose's technique is just as good as your Necromancy Massage!!"
"Impossible."
"If you gave me a massage, I could re-evaluate..."
"I barely have time to give Alice a limbering massage, and you think I have time for you?" Harvey rolled his eyes at him. "Only when you become a corpse will you earn any say in my eyes."
"I can stay completely still!"
Vichy tilted her head. "I'm a necromancer too, and I'm also skilled at deconstructing the human body. Why doesn't Master ask me for a massage?"
Yaxiu glanced at the maid. "Rationally, I refuse to have any physical contact with you."
"And emotionally?"
"Emotionally, whenever you touch me, I feel like a Lalafell waiting for slaughter. Getting touched by Harvey might make me feel like a corpse, but that's still better than a Lalafell."
"Master, your prejudice against me really runs too deep." The pink-haired maid threw Yaxiu a coquettish wink. "Master clearly knows every sorcery I'm proficient in, yet you don't realize that from my soul to my flesh, I already belong to you..."
"All right, all right, say any more and everyone's going to throw up," Yaxiu said. "Why do you have so many legendary sorceries, then?"
"Because I am a legend across two lifetimes," Vichy gave the direct answer. "Achieving a legendary sorcery requires two hard conditions. First, you must construct a sorcery spirit system around that sorcery. For example, if you want to become a Legend in Swordsmanship, your sorcery spirit system must be centered on Swordsmanship.
"Second, you must undergo a legendary event of immense impact."
Noticing the confusion in her juniors' eyes, Vichy pondered for a moment and added, "It's actually just like taking an exam. The reason I have so many legendary sorceries is simply that I took many exams."
Igola asked, "Wouldn't a life-or-death battle work?"
"If its impact is immense, that works too."
"Why is an event's impact linked to advancing in sorcery?"
The maid sighed and looked at Yaxiu with a pitiful expression. "Master, can't we go play in the soundproof room? Lecturing is so exhausting, especially when all of this is self-evident common knowledge..."
"Hurry up. I didn't get it either," Yaxiu said mercilessly.
"Let me think... Since I became a demigod in my first life, which was thousands of years ago if you do the math, I've forgotten many of the misconceptions people run into while growing up..." Vichy reached out, snatched the cake Yaxiu had taken only one bite of, and mused as she ate under his disgusted glare. "...Mmm, yes, that should be it.
"Perhaps the first three realms gave you the wrong impression. A sorcery realm does not refer to 'how well you have mastered that sorcery,' but rather 'what level you have achieved through that sorcery.'"
The sorcerers were taken aback.
A sorcery realm didn't mean one's mastery of knowledge, but rather the caliber of the sorcerer themselves?
"For example, if you are exceptionally proficient in a Silver miracle—to the point where not even a Legendary Sorcerer could wield it better than you—then in the execution of this miracle, are you Silver or Legend?"
Seeing the dawn of comprehension on their faces, Vichy continued, "You stepped into the Silver realm through knowledge resonating with the Void Realm, thereby opening a Void Realm passage to the Knowledge Sea. In that case, what was acknowledged by the Void Realm: the knowledge you mastered, or you yourself?"
Igola answered, "The combination of myself and the knowledge."
"Exactly. For you to become a Legend, the essence is to have the Void Realm acknowledge that 'the combination of you and your knowledge' has reached the legendary tier," Vichy said. "Do you understand now? You must let the Void Realm see your grades and recognize your rank! But to display your grades, you have to take the exam and earn a score that satisfies the Void Realm!
"Your progression from zero to Silver, to Gold, and to Sanctuary also involved going through many exams. Describing it in terms of participant numbers: from zero to Silver, you had to pass an exam competing against a hundred ordinary people; from Silver to Gold, you had to pass an exam competing against a hundred Silver Sorcerers; and the same applies from Gold to Sanctuary.
"It's just that the first three kinds of exams are very common both in reality and in the Void Realm; as your strength grows, you naturally encounter them. Advancing from Sanctuary to Legend, however, is equivalent to passing an exam competing against a hundred Sanctuary Sorcerers. But neither in the past nor in the present do events of that scale occur frequently.
"Events capable of sweeping up a hundred Sanctuary Sorcerers are almost always epics that overturn situations and shake the world. Those who pass them are without exception legends, which is why this realm is called 'Legend.'"
Hearing this, the sorcerers finally had a sudden realization.
They had always assumed that sorcery realms operated on an automatic upgrade system—where mastering enough knowledge would cause the Void Realm to automatically acknowledge and upgrade them once a threshold was passed.
In truth, however, the Void Realm had always run on an examination system. Even if they truly grasped knowledge surpassing their current level, they still had to take a legendary-tier exam and prove to the Void Realm that they were already a legend before they could advance!
Suddenly, Yaxiu thought of something and looked at Vichy, uttering a term: "The Path of Origin?"
Vichy nodded with a smile. "In the past, the Path of Origin indeed allowed sorcerers to advance both their sorcery power and realm together. But today's Path of Origin no longer works. When an exam paper doesn't have enough questions, the Void Realm may be forced to let you through, but it won't acknowledge your qualifications."
Where in this world was the most suitable place for sorcerers to take an exam? Only the Void Realm, bar none!
Sorcerers from across the entire world gathered in the Void Realm. A single country might not have a hundred Sanctuary Sorcerers, but how could the Distant Sky Realm have anything less than thousands of them!
According to the records in the Lake Light Manual, Time Manual, and Spectre Manual, the Path of Origin in ancient times was known to all and fiercely contested, naturally meeting the conditions of an exam. In the distant past, traveling the Path of Origin was likely the most orthodox and successful path of advancement for a sorcerer!
Yet as time passed, the Path of Origin gradually fell into disrepair, losing its exam functionality. This 'glorious boulevard' favored by demigods had even devolved into what sorcerers called a 'smuggler's back road.'
"So," Igola asked, "does a sorcerer stepping into the divine domain also require an exam?"
"Wrong," Vichy corrected him. "Having the Void Realm acknowledge that you have stepped into the divine domain requires an exam. In fact, there must be Legendary Sorcerers who possess demigod-level sorcery realms, but before taking the exam, they will not be acknowledged by the Void Realm."
Igola was somewhat puzzled. "If even a legendary exam is so rare, wouldn't an exam to step into the divine domain be something not seen once in a century?"
"Not at all," Vichy shook her head. "Compared to legendary exams that must be actively sought out, the demigod exam is practically within arm's reach. As long as a Legendary Sorcerer discovers the method to take it, they can take the exam immediately.
"Furthermore," the maid looked at Yaxiu, "the demigod exam is also the Path of Origin leading from Ruby Mountain into the fifth layer of the Void Realm.
"As long as you pass the exam, not only will the Void Realm acknowledge that you possess the demigod realm, but you can also step into the divine domain and enter the fifth layer of the Void Realm."
The group froze in surprise. Yaxiu swallowed hard and asked, "Then what... is the content of the demigod exam?"
Under the expectant and nervous gazes of the sorcerers, Vichy flashed a brilliant smile. "I don't know."
Chapter 818