The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Currtly, Klaus was just a Level Ascded, so this was the perfect momt to begin the tempering process.

He closed his eyes, letting his mood settle and his mind clear. Th, with deliberate precision, he formed several hand seals. A diagram began to glow on the g beath him. Klaus smiled slightly, pleased that he had formed the correct seal. Next, he created another hand seal, causing the diagram to start spinning slowly.

It rotated for a while before coming to a sudd stop. As soon as it did, Klaus felt his Spiritual ergy stir within him, heating up and circulating faster. His body began to feel warm and loose, a sign that the tempering process was beginning.

Suddly, Klaus felt a foreign ergy ter his body. His bones began to feel soft and hot. The ergy was both violt and soothing, making him sweat on his back while remaining calm. It started at his head and flowed through his tire body.

The process lasted only a few seconds before it abruptly stopped. Klaus th felt a violt shaking in his soul sea. A part of his consciousness was drawn into it. As he looked a, he saw the soul sea quaking as if a storm were approaching.

Th, the first door creaked op slightly. From behind it, Klaus saw what appears to be a world, a rather strange sight. He didn\'t dwell on it, though, since something else caught his atttion.

For just a fleeting momt, he saw a blood-red star boiling like blood on fire. A wave of bloodthirsty ergy emanated from it. Ev though the sight was brief, it left a deep impact on Klaus. He felt a profound shift within him as if something fundamtal had changed.By just a single glance, his mood shifted unknowingly.

Suddly, a torrt of blood-red ergy erupted from the door, filling Klaus\'s tire Soul Sea. He was jolted by the surge, and before he could call for help from the Sior from behind the door, he was forcefully pulled back to his physical body.

Once back in the training room, Klaus immediately felt his bones being soaked in a powerful, painful, and terrifying ergy. His bones started to heated up as the red ergy began to flood his body. The tire room was suffused with a dse red qi, almost corroding everything.

The red ergy surged from Klaus\'s head to his toes. With each cycle, he felt an overwhelming power build inside him. Yet, wh the next wave of ergy hit, that earlier strgth seemed insignificant in comparison. He could do nothing but dure the increasing pain he was going through. The process seem automated making him unable to stop ev if he wanted.

"The tempering process is something you must dure," a voice echoed in his mind. "After each cycle, the pain multiplies several times over. You must cleanse your bones of all impurities first."

"Sior," Klaus replied, his voice shaking slightly. "Are you saying the process hasn\'t ev started yet? I am dying here ev if my strgth is also rising."

The voice chuckled, almost mocking him. "Foolish brat, do you think this is the real power of the Star Diagram? This is merely the beginning. Once you complete the first Bone Tempering stage, you\'ll be able to crush ev Tier 6 monster with just a slap."

Klaus\'s heart pounded in his chest at the Sior\'s words. Ev now, without the true tempering, he felt several times stronger than before. He believed he could smash through any oppont with a single punch. But the Sior\'s words made it clear: the real tempering hadn\'t ev begun.

Just how monstrous is this technique? Klaus thought, stunned by the pottial it held. Klaus immediately clched his fists, channeling ev more ergy into his body. Right now, he craved strgth, and since he had found a path, all he could do was dure and grow stronger. The pain is the paymt.

"Don\'t resist it," the Sior\'s voice instructed calmly. "Let the ergy flow through your body. The star ergy will temper not just your bones but your tire body. Your bones form the structure of your body, and with each tempering, your body will adapt to your ever-growing strgth."

Klaus gritted his teeth and released his resistance. A surge of ergy poured into him, and an intse burst of power erupted from his body, shaking the training room.

"Now, guide the ergy along the path set in the diagram," the Sior continued. "Once this step is complete, you\'ll sse the star ergy more. Only th can the true Bone Tempering begin."

Klaus nodded, focusing his mind as he moved the ergy. He started from his head, allowing the ergy to flow down to his toes. As it passed through him, he felt a wave of nourishing ergy cleanse his body. It was as if all the impurities had be washed away, leaving him feeling light and refreshed, as though he had be reborn.

"This feeling is amazing!" Klaus exclaimed, marveling at the newfound strgth coursing through him. He could feel his body growing several times stronger.

"I can sse it. Damn, what a powerful ergy," Klaus muttered in awe as the last of the ergy finished washing through his bones. An immediate connection was formed with an external force, one so powerful that it dwarfed his previous spiritual Qi. Wh he had awaked and level up, he felt powerful, but now that he is feeling this ergy, he felt ev more powerful.

His previous strgth was nothing compared to this.

"If only I could..." Klaus\'s curiosity got the better of him. A reckless idea formed in his mind, but the temptation to explore it was irresistible. "I guess there\'s no harm in trying," he smiled, and without hesitation, he began channeling the star ergy into his spiritual qi pool.

The momt the two ergies touched, chaos erupted within his soul sea. A violt whirlpool of conflicting forces swirled a, threating to tear him apart.

"What are you doing?" the Sior\'s voice rang out, sounding alarmed.

"We\'ll find out in a few minutes," Klaus replied through gritted teeth. The instant the ergies collided, his body heated up, as if being torn apart and reassembled over and over again. He knew this wasn\'t literally happing, but the ssation was unbearable. He was mixing two incompatible ergies.

"Idiot! You can\'t mix two ergies that don\'t share any properties! Stop before you explode!" the Sior\'s voice echoed, filled with urgcy.

Klaus ignored the warnings. His body started to turn red as if his very flesh was burning from within, yet he forced himself to dure the excruciating pain.

"Stop it!" the Sior screamed, but Klaus, fighting through the agony, forced a reply.

"No need to be scared, Sior," he gasped, barely able to speak as his mind battled the torture. His tire body shook, but Klaus refused to relt.

Cracks began to form all over his body, widing with every agonizing second. His skin split op, blood seeping through the ever-expanding fissures. His tire being screamed in pain, yet he refused to stop.

"Your foolishness will kill you," the Sior warned, his voice laced with helplessness as he observed the reckless merging of ergies. But Klaus was far beyond reason, pushing through the unbearable torture with sheer determination.

As the cracks deeped, blood trickled from his eyes and nose, yet Klaus continued, stubbornly clinging to his experimt. His aura flickered wildly, growing more unstable by the momt. But Klaus whispered to himself, "Ev if I don\'t know what or why I want this, I will succeed."

Th, without warning, a violt explosion erupted within his soul sea. His vision darked suddly, and his consciousness was pulled inside his soul sea. There, he saw it: the spiritual qi, shimmering , and the star ergy, burning red. The two forces spun furiously, clashing like emies in an eternal battle.

"So that\'s it," Klaus murmured, realization dawning. "Education really is important." He smacked his forehead, lighted by the conflict betwe the two ergies.

"So all I have to do was transform one into the other. I can\'t have both," Klaus muttered. It appeared he was doing the wrong thing from the start.

"That might actually work," the Sior\'s voice chimed in from behind the door, sounding impressed for the first time.

Klaus grinned. "What do you think, Sior? Does this little paragon qualify now?" His tone was like a kid who has won his fathers approval.

"Get to work," the Sior urged, "I\'ll help guide the transformation. Success depds on you."

With a nod, Klaus focused on his spiritual qi, carefully slowing its wild spinning. He immediately felt like his ergy had tered a black hole. Sweat drched him as the task demanded every ounce of his strgth and conctration. But as he focused, a sudd light shot from the door, merging with Klaus and infusing him with boundless ergy.

The spiritual qi began to slow, its frantic motion calming. Klaus clched his teeth, using the oping to feed the star ergy into the spiritual whirlpool. His soul sea trembled as the star ergy gradually veloped the spiritual qi.

"Fuck, it\'s working," Klaus whispered, excitemt bubbling through the pain. Power surged through him, raw and immeasurable. "Is this what it feels like? I feel like I could cut the earth in half!" He clched his fists, both in his soul sea and in the physical realm.

"What are you so impressed about? This isn\'t ev a thousandth of a star\'s true power. Your thinking is good for now, but because of this approach, your future cultivation will become several times harder," the sior warned.

Klaus smiled and replied, "Mr. Johnson used to say that with strgth, everything can be bt. I believe that with ough power, it doesn\'t matter if there\'s a mountain blocking me—I\'ll cleave through it and come out on the other side as the winner."

As soon as Klaus finished speaking, a surge of ergy erupted within his soul sea. Suddly, dse red ergy gushed out of the door, flooding his soul.

"This..." The sior started to say something but but stopped