Imprisoned for a Trillion Years, I Was Worshipped by All Gods!

This time, after spotting Daniel, Greg locked eyes on him with unrelenting intensity.

Because it had to be him!

Greg had no evidence, but he was absolutely certain—Daniel was behind everything!

From the very beginning, every attempt Greg had made to sabotage Daniel had failed miserably.

At one point, he had even begun to doubt his own mastery of magic arrays.

But after escaping the Wall of Life and Death, Greg finally figured it out.

It was all because of Daniel!

"You! It's you! You're the one who's been scheming against me this whole time!"

Greg pointed straight at Daniel in the crowd, shouting furiously.

Hearing this, Daniel raised an eyebrow.

How did he figure it out?

Daniel was confident that the tricks he had used were so subtle that even the person who designed the totems and magic arrays in this competition wouldn't have detected them.

Did Greg possess some kind of special treasure that allowed him to sense it?

"I'll kill you!" Greg roared.

Daniel met his glare calmly.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, his voice even. "We're not allowed to fight here, you know."

But Greg didn't care.

He charged straight at Daniel, unleashing a terrifying aura—intent on killing him on the spot.

Daniel instinctively took a step back, preparing to defend himself.

But before he could do anything—

Greg suddenly collapsed to the ground, completely immobilized.

"You haven't humiliated yourself enough?"

A cold voice rang out.

It was the Artisan's Sanctuary representative from before.

He cast a frosty glance at Daniel before grabbing Greg and dragging him away from Lake Island.

—

A Moment of Laughter

"Daniel, are you okay?"

Veya walked over, checking on him.

"Yeah," Daniel said with a smirk. "That guy's just so ugly, it scared me for a second."

His comment sent waves of laughter through the crowd.

Now that Greg was gone, no one bothered hiding their amusement anymore—they laughed openly at his embarrassing defeat.

Veya shook her head, chuckling.

No matter what happened, Daniel's expression never changed.

It was always calm, always composed—like nothing in this world could ever truly trouble him.

—

The Third Trial

After some time, the third trial was announced.

This round was a bit unusual.

Thousand Suns Hall presented three ancient technique manuals.

Contestants had to comprehend and internalize the teachings within a set time limit to pass.

This trial was both a test and a reward.

The manuals were essentially gifts from Thousand Suns Hall to those skilled enough to learn from them.

Typically, challenges like this occurred on the second day of the competition.

But this time, it was moved up to the third trial—most likely as compensation for the disruptions Greg caused in the earlier rounds.

Without Greg causing trouble, this trial went smoothly.

Daniel had no difficulty passing.

At the end of the trial, only forty contestants remained.

Veya was among them.

Truth be told, Veya was a genius in her own right—even without Daniel's help, she had the talent to make it this far.

—

A Meal to Remember

That night, Veya kept her promise and treated Daniel to a meal.

At first, she thought he had been joking when he said he had a big appetite.

But when she saw Daniel clear two entire tables of food, she finally understood.

He had been dead serious.

—

Back at the Forge

Upon returning to the forge, Dixon had already heard the news of Daniel's victory.

Laughing heartily, he pulled out a bottle of fine-aged liquor he had been saving for years.

"Let's drink!" Dixon declared, ready for a night of celebration.

Daniel didn't refuse. The mood was right, after all.

But—

The one who had been eager to drink ended up passing out first.

After only a few cups, Dixon was already out cold.

Daniel shook his head in amusement.

No wonder this liquor had been aged for over ten years—at this rate, one bottle could last Dixon a lifetime.

—

The Final Showdown Begins

The next morning, the final round of the Enlightenment Competition was set to begin.

Now, only forty contestants remained.

Among them, only nine were from Greenstone City—including Daniel.

The rest were all outsiders.

This alone showed just how fierce the competition had been this year.

At the center of Lake Island, a massive training ground had been prepared.

All the finalists stood ready.

Around them, a large audience had gathered to witness the showdown.

Since the final battle had arrived, many spectators had come to watch.

Not only because it was the grand finale, but also because there were now only forty contestants left.

"Daniel! Good luck!"

From the crowd, Betsy shouted encouragingly.@@novelbin@@

Nearby, Dixon simply watched Daniel with a knowing smile.

He didn't need to say anything—he had absolute confidence in Daniel.

Meanwhile—

Greg was watching Daniel with a burning gaze of hatred.

By his side, the Artisan's Sanctuary representative silently observed.

After witnessing Greg's outburst yesterday, the man shook his head in disappointment.

He had originally seen potential in Greg.

That was why he had brought him along.

But yesterday's humiliation had changed everything.

Regardless of whether or not Daniel had orchestrated it, Greg had completely lost control in front of everyone.

It proved that he was unfit for the role the Sanctuary had envisioned for him.

He had overestimated Greg's capabilities.

And now, his evaluation of Greg was dropping lower and lower.

With that kind of mentality, how could he be trusted?

—

The Mysterious Blue Stone

As the sun rose, the deep chiming of bells echoed through the air.

Then, members of Thousand Suns Hall carried in a massive Blue Stone and placed it before the contestants.

Everyone was confused.

This was supposed to be the final round.

So why bring in a giant rock?

What were they supposed to do with it?

A strange mist hovered over the stone, obscuring whatever lay beneath.

"This is your great fortune," a Thousand Suns Hall official declared.

"This Blue Stone is a relic passed down from the Sanctuary itself. Though it only contains a fragment of its true nature, it is still an extremely valuable artifact for all of you."

—

Daniel's Skepticism

Daniel, feeling bored, leaned toward Veya.

"They're hyping this up a lot," he muttered. "That probably means it's nothing special."

Veya stifled a laugh.

"Why do you think so?" she asked.

"Because," Daniel explained, "if it was really that powerful, they wouldn't need to talk so much about it. They'd just let us try it and we'd all immediately see how amazing it is."

"But instead, they're wasting time making it sound impressive. That usually means it's just overhyped garbage."

Veya wasn't sure what some of his words meant exactly, but she got the gist.

Basically—

If this Blue Stone was truly legendary, they wouldn't need to sell it so hard.

—

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A Bold Claim

"This Blue Stone contains a sword scar," the official continued.

"It was left behind by an entity so powerful that none of us can even comprehend its existence."

"This sword mark belongs to a being who has mastered the laws of the universe—a truly unique existence across all eternity!"

Daniel snorted with laughter.

No one even knew who left it, yet they were calling them the greatest of all time?

Daniel almost felt bad for them.

"Eternal?

I literally built the God Realm myself. Let's see who this 'legend' is supposed to be."