Chapter 11: The “Desolation” Trait

Despite Lucian Star's confident demeanor, Ava Gray couldn't have cared less about him.

A so-called "social gathering"? Why would she need something like that? And as for that "personal mentorship" talk—she had zero interest.

Even if she somehow took first place, the teacher might glance at her domain—behold, a Dual-World Divine Kingdom, some worthless piece of trash—and toss it aside. Now that would be a sight to behold.

Someone like Ava Gray was content to go with the flow. She knew her place quite well. If she just kept inching forward at her own pace, there was no need to chase after things that were tasteless to gain yet a pity to abandon.

Meanwhile, ever since Lucian Star had shown up, Chloe Star's face had looked increasingly grim. Throughout the entire morning, she hardly changed expression.

Shortly thereafter, once the students finished providing the requested data, Lucian Star left the classroom and conducted a brief survey, instructing everyone to transmit information about their Divine Kingdom.

He then gathered and organized this information, handing it off to the headmaster.

Striding down a long corridor to a discreet office, he politely knocked on the door, straightened his attire, and stood respectfully at the threshold.

"Come in," said a cool, distant voice.

Without a moment's delay, Lucian Star hastened inside and presented his materials with reverence.

The headmaster turned around, took the documents, and nodded. "Alright," he said, "you needn't worry further. You can go."

After Lucian Star departed, the headmaster picked up the data in his hand and studied it. A faint smile curved his lips, and his curiosity was piqued.

Interesting. According to these records, there were only about a dozen people in the entire academy who had broken through to the third tier.

Moreover, among those dozen or so, many had simply been force-fed resources. Their Divine Kingdoms spanned a mere 5,000 square kilometers, and their devotee counts were pitifully small—low quality, at that.

That lot was hardly better than some second-tier folks. The headmaster set those papers aside, losing all interest.

But then he came across a few files that stirred his curiosity. "These five might turn out to be the dark horses of the upcoming tournament," he murmured.

As the headmaster of Yanhuang Academy, he had naturally signed the necessary confidentiality agreements. Still, sitting at this lofty position gave him access to all sorts of juicy details.

For instance, there was a child from two illustrious maritime families, whose domain turned out to be a desert Divine Kingdom—completely contrary to expectations. Even now, the husband's side remained oblivious to any anomaly.

Then there was an extraordinarily gifted youngster rumored to be the descendant of a famous lineage from both the Dark Divine Realm and the Light Divine Realm. Their Divine Kingdom had undergone some peculiar changes, yet no one besides the headmaster knew the truth.

The Divine Realm itself was divided into many factions based on elemental attributes—like the Light Divine Realm, Dark Divine Realm, Elemental Divine Realm, and the Life-and-Death Divine Realm.There were also the three Supreme Realms created by the top three Supreme Deities: the Sunlit Divine Realm, the Radiant Moon Divine Realm, and the Astral Divine Realm.

Of the two youths in question, one hailed from the Light Divine Realm, and the other from the Elemental Divine Realm. Both had reached the third tier, though the desert one wasn't participating in this event—likely due to personal concerns.

The rest were equally fascinating.

First, there was Chen Hao from the Chen family, whose domain was a Light Divine Kingdom with exceptionally high potential, details undisclosed. The domain covered around 10,000 square kilometers with 20,000 devotees—mainly angels, plus a few other light-attribute followers.

Another was Xiao Yuan from the Xiao family, with a Sea Divine Kingdom, also extremely high potential, details undisclosed. That domain spanned roughly 8,000 square kilometers and had 30,000 devotees—mainly drowned corpses, plus a mix of water-attribute or demonic subordinates.

Taking a calm sip of tea, the headmaster nearly choked upon seeing the next file.

Ava Gray: Divine Kingdom classification undisclosed, potential undisclosed, attributes undisclosed, domain area 20,000 square kilometers, 150,000 devotees. Main subordinates: Dark Spirit Race, Ancient Elves, Royal Dragons, Humans, Dwarves, and Destruction Demons—no others.

Unlike Ava Gray, who was rather vague about her subordinates, the headmaster was now seeing their true designations.

Staring at the data, he fell silent. Humans and dwarves aside, the rest were… a bit extreme.

Destruction Demons rank among the top in offensive might, especially adept at specialized magic.

Ancient Elves boast innate magical affinity, and though they might not wield weaponry, their extraordinary magic talents grant them innate armor-piercing spells. They can inflict effective damage even across tiers.

The Royal Dragon clan, possessing the purest of dragon bloodlines, can effortlessly crush other races through raw physical strength alone, even if lacking advanced magic talents.

Dark Spirit Race wields terrifying assassination skills, including the power to harvest souls—making them some of the most fearsome assassins on the battlefield.

The headmaster felt a twinge of pain. Not because of anything else, but primarily because each of these races possessed a certain [Desolation] trait.

The trait's sole effect was to inflict lethal damage on souls, making resurrection impossible. Furthermore, each being bearing [Desolation] was entirely unique.

Throughout history, soul-based subordinates have always been notoriously difficult to nurture—and just as tough to eliminate. The Abyss is so troublesome precisely because it manipulates souls, leading to a stalemate in its battles.

If this person truly competed, either their opponents would suffer catastrophic losses, or these precious subordinates would die in trivial skirmishes—both outcomes would be heartbreaking!

What puzzled the headmaster most was that these major races exceeded standard evaluation metrics. Typically, only one in tens of thousands possessed such traits.

Yet these races had the strangest detail: they were born with the [Desolation] trait, which only emerged under specific conditions, transforming them from ordinary subordinates into entirely new species.

Moreover, as time passed, that trait would gradually weaken and eventually disappear. No one knew how to preserve it.

Any subordinate bearing the [Desolation] trait was considered the closest to ancient bloodlines, and there was simply no known divine decree or Life Seed that could create such life forms from scratch.

After mulling it over, the headmaster sighed. "No, absolutely not. We can't let that creature step onto the battlefield. These precious subordinates must be reserved for more crucial purposes."

He pondered for a while, then issued a few orders before finally relaxing, leaning back in his chair, lost in thought.

At that moment, Ava Gray was still unaware that she had caught someone's attention. She was simply hurrying toward the dorm room she recalled in her mind.