Jiang Kai slowly woke up from unconsciousness.
He glanced at his wristwatch—only a few minutes had passed since he last checked the time.
Not only that, Jiang Kai noticed that although the burning sensation in his body hadn't lessened, his stamina had recovered quite a bit.
"What's going on?" Jiang Kai was still puzzled when he suddenly saw the little black mouse beside him blinking its tiny eyes at him.
Jiang Kai suddenly remembered—this little guy had an incredible recovery ability.
"Did you save me?" Jiang Kai asked in surprise.
The little thing quickly nodded, afraid that someone might steal credit for its contribution.
Come to think of it, it was precisely because of this small creature that Jiang Kai hadn't been able to teleport out of the Ancient Temple of Destiny—but who could have expected that by not abandoning it, he would end up saving his own life.
"Thanks, little one." Jiang Kai forced out a faint smile. "When we get out of here, I'll find you a beast carcass to eat. But for now, I still have to complete my class change. Let's hope we can make it out alive!"
Having recovered a bit of his strength, Jiang Kai was in a slightly better state than before—but trying to change class under a supergravity environment was something no one had probably ever attempted.
Moreover, this was twenty times gravity—even greater than the intensity in the War God Temple's training camp!
Still, Jiang Kai had no other choice but to endure the pain that came with the class change...
An hour passed. Two hours… During the process, Jiang Kai realized that in this supergravity environment, his body's enhancement rate was several times faster than under normal conditions!
After three hours, the familiar system voice finally echoed.
[You are carrying the item "Star Dust Fragment." You may consume 10 grams during your Tier Five class change to increase the chance of obtaining an exceptional talent. Would you like to use it?]
"Damn, I almost forgot I even had that… I thought it was over already." Jiang Kai muttered, taking out ten grams of Star Dust Fragment. "Use it!"
When Jiang Kai opened the small vial, countless glowing specks flew out, scattering around his body.
Those glowing dots shimmered in brilliant colors, like a swarm of fireflies dancing around him.
"Is that all?" Jiang Kai wondered aloud. Previously, when he'd taken out Star Dust Fragments, nothing special had happened. But this time, as soon as he opened the vial, they had flown out on their own.
Clearly, they knew it was their time to act!
Four hours later, the strange feeling within Jiang Kai's body finally began to fade, and half an hour later, it completely disappeared.
"Did… did I succeed?"
As soon as he spoke, the system voice sounded in his ear.
[From a mortal profession to a transcendent profession—you have taken your first step toward true power. You have completed your Tier Five class change!]
"I did it!" Jiang Kai's eyes widened in disbelief.
After countless hardships, he had finally succeeded in ascending to the transcendent level using Destiny materials!
"What's my class? What's my class?!" Jiang Kai's excitement quickly turned to anticipation.
[Because you used a Divine Punishment-class material, your class change will trigger Heavenly Retribution. If you can endure it, your class change will succeed. If not, it will fail.]
"This…" Jiang Kai froze, suddenly realizing what he had overlooked. He hadn't used ordinary materials!
"So it really does trigger Heavenly Retribution!"
[Heavenly Retribution will arrive in three seconds. Three… two… one!]
Three seconds later, Jiang Kai suddenly felt the gravity within the Seven-Tier Pagoda surge tenfold—up to a horrifying thirty times gravity!
In an instant, his internal organs ruptured, and he spewed a mouthful of blood!
Though the gravity had only increased by tenfold, that tenfold was stacked on top of his previous limit—this terrifying pressure became the last straw crushing him!
Jiang Kai felt as if his entire body would be flattened into a puddle of blood.
Just as he was about to fail his class change, the Yama Token and the Light God Token at his side began to glow simultaneously.
Jiang Kai's consciousness entered the Wheel of Fate space.
Inside it, he finally found a brief moment of rest.
But the appearance of the Wheel of Fate also meant one thing—he was on the verge of death.
Facing the gigantic wheel before him, Jiang Kai suddenly noticed something different this time.
Previously, the Wheel of Fate had always been a single, large circular disk. But now, what appeared before him were two overlapping wheels—one large and one small.
"What's going on?" Jiang Kai muttered, confused.
[Hidden effect of the Light God Token activated.]
[The Wheel of Fate has been upgraded to a Dual-Layer Wheel. Each spin will now produce two layers of outcomes. Would you like to spin it?]
Though Jiang Kai was startled, he had no time to think and chose to spin.
The large wheel began to turn clockwise. The small wheel seemed to have some kind of link with it—while the large one turned clockwise, the smaller one spun counterclockwise.
After a while, the spinning stopped—the results appeared!
[Primary effect: Acquired "Still Observation." For 30 minutes, gain the Clairvoyant Eye effect. While Clairvoyant Eye is active, your body will be immobile.]
"Damn it! I'm screwed!" Jiang Kai cursed.
The worst thing about the Wheel of Fate was that he never knew what he would get.
In previous spins, he had been lucky enough to land on beneficial results—but this Clairvoyant Eye was completely useless in his current situation!
Just as despair began to set in, another notification appeared.
[Secondary effect: Acquired "Endurance." The Still Observation state is extended to 60 minutes. All duration-type skills now last longer—but all received damage effects are doubled. Duration: one hour.]
"So that result came from the small wheel?"
It seemed the secondary effect was a sort of enhancement—or perhaps correction—of the first effect. Though sometimes it might weaken it instead.
Either way, the secondary effect influenced his other abilities as well.
"Damn it… this spin gave me nothing useful!"
The Wheel of Fate's spin had ended, and neither Still Observation nor Endurance offered him a way to turn the tables.
Once he exited the Wheel of Fate, what awaited him would likely be his first death—and one that occurred during the most crucial moment of his transcendence.
Suddenly, Jiang Kai seemed to truly understand what it meant to be a "gambler."
Perhaps he had once basked in glory, his power towering above others—like a gambler in a winning streak, full of confidence and luck.
But as they say, if you walk by the river often enough, you'll eventually get your shoes wet. No one wins every game forever.
With each higher stake, a single loss could turn a millionaire into a beggar overnight.
Failing to transcend meant becoming worthless.
With a rush of consciousness, Jiang Kai was ejected from the Wheel of Fate—he was on the brink of death.
Just then, the "Still Observation" effect activated.
Through the clairvoyant power, Jiang Kai saw the old man outside the Seven-Tier Pagoda!
They had caught up to him!
The Huang family had never intended to let him go. They had never intended to let his family go either!
If he fell here, his big brother, Yingzi, even all his friends—might face the same fate!
"No… I can't lose!" Jiang Kai's bloodshot eyes burned with fury.
Under the crushing gravity, even lifting his head was impossible—
—it was as if some invisible hand was forcing him to bow before fate!
"So this is Heavenly Retribution? Is this what it means—to make me surrender?"
In truth, transcendence materials were only the physical aspect of a class change. The real deciding factor wasn't the materials at all—it was willpower.
"What is fate? To make me bow to Huang Jianguo and the rest? To make me submit to failure? Is that my fate?"
Suddenly, Jiang Kai's eyes widened in defiance. His teeth clenched tight as he summoned every ounce of strength left in his body, and slowly, painfully, he lifted his head.
"No! I won't lose! I'll never lose!"