Phield racked his brain, trying to come up with something to stall for time, when a light tap suddenly landed on his shoulder.

"Leave the rest to me."

The aura of corruption slowly withdrew inward. The madness within Rosalia’s star-like eyes was no longer concealed in the slightest. Combined with her breathtaking beauty, it gave her an irresistibly dangerous charm.

"Finally." Phield let out a long breath and laughed. "You woke up at the perfect time. If you stayed asleep any longer, they were about to pin me to the ground and beat me up."

"Those arrogant Imperial Guards have arrived. I’m going to grind them into the dirt."

Rosalia gritted her teeth. Thinking about the humiliation her lord had suffered, the power of her third-rank divinity surged violently from within her. Her clothes fluttered without wind as a terrifying pressure spread outward like ripples.

The two women who had ignored Phield’s warning and continued approaching suddenly stopped again, their expressions turning grave.

"Wait. He was telling the truth. There’s something powerful inside the gray mist."

"No matter what it is, we fight first." Biskaly shrugged. "So what if it’s strong? Both of us are third-rank Divine Chosen."

Even so, the two remained cautious, inching toward the city at a snail’s pace.

"It feels completely different now." Phield sighed in amazement. Previously, Rosalia had still felt like an ordinary person to him. Now she resembled a lofty goddess, cold and transcendent, like an immortal standing above the mortal world. "So, did you gain new abilities? Don’t tell me you don’t have to choose this time."

"I was just about to explain that. The third rank is the stage where Divine Chosen undergo a qualitative transformation. It allows the enhancement of class abilities. Since you’re my lord, you get to choose my advancement path."

"Oh? I still get to decide?" Phield found it incredibly interesting. "If I remember correctly, the previous class didn’t seem to do much. I thought it was basically useless."

Rosalia slowly closed her eyes as an invisible connection extended outward.

At the same time, a sharp pain struck Phield’s head. A massive flood of advancement options poured into his mind. Reaching the third rank not only brought a dramatic leap in physical abilities and divine power, but also unlocked numerous new class routes.

The countless class options nearly made Phield dizzy. Fortunately, the information had been directly transmitted into his mind, and within moments, he filtered out the most outstanding paths.

Name: Rosalia

Original Class: Royal Guard

Basic Type, No Bonuses

Based on the lord, the territory, and Rosalia herself, she possessed the following class potentials:

1. Godslayer: Permanently and slightly enhances related traits after killing Divine Chosen. Killing a War Divine Chosen permanently increases strength. Killing a Flame Divine Chosen permanently increases fire resistance. Bonuses have an upper limit.

2. Blood Royal Guard: The Greatsword of Gluttony transforms into dual blades. Greatly increases attack speed, movement speed, and regeneration, while lowering attack power and armor penetration.

3. Corrupted Dragon Guard: Unlocks the Corrupted Devouring Dragon as a fusion form. Gains a new disintegration divine artifact ability. The Greatsword of Gluttony loses its chain ability.

4. Star-Devouring Dragon: One of Rosalia’s corrupted fusion forms. Possesses the ability to devour divine artifacts. After devouring one, permanently and slightly enhances related traits. Bonuses have an upper limit.

5. Ferryman of the Blood Sea: Greatly enhances soul power. The chains of the Greatsword of Gluttony transform into puppet strings. Any non-Divine Chosen killed by Rosalia can be turned into blood puppets.

...

There were countless bizarre classes afterward, including Clown, Slave Merchant, and even Gambling God. Phield had no idea where such ridiculous potentials came from. Still, the first four were clearly the best choices.

"Holy shit, class advancement is actually this interesting."

Phield stared at the terrifying bonuses greedily. "Can’t we just take all of them? My collector instincts are acting up."

"Nope. My brain can’t hold that many things. It’ll explode." Rosalia crossed her arms and made a giant X with a smile in her watery eyes. "Trying to swallow too much at once never ends well. Just like how you can’t lick two breasts at the same time."

"Can you stop saying absurd things like that?" Phield rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Let’s eliminate options first. The puppet control ability doesn’t suit you at all. It feels like some cheap vine-binding technique."

The first thing he ruled out was the puppet class. After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "Blood Royal Guard is out too. It has no uniqueness. Dual blades sound cool, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually strong. Losing attack power is a terrible trade."

After a long period of consideration, Phield ultimately chose the Corrupted Dragon Guard class.

The first class sounded impressive, but the method of gaining strength was too brutal. To receive bonuses, Rosalia would have to kill Divine Chosen. But Divine Chosen were rarer than pandas. It was far more worthwhile to recruit them instead.

Even if enough enemies existed for her to kill, the words "has an upper limit" annoyed him immensely.

The third option, Dragon Guard, had the drawback of losing the chain ability. The chains of the Greatsword of Gluttony were incredibly useful, which made the choice regrettable.

"Forget it. Gain and loss are both part of life. We’re choosing Corrupted Dragon Guard!"

With a thought, Phield made his decision decisively.

At the same moment, a mysterious force surged out from his chest.

Rosalia let out a soft grunt. Her brilliant starry eyes rapidly transformed into silver dragon pupils before gradually returning to normal.

Her black-and-red dress instantly burned away, exposing her pale skin. She awkwardly covered herself with her hands, looking dangerously seductive.

"Oh? There’s an outfit-destruction phase too?" Phield stared blankly.

"Stop staring already. Even if you want to fool around, do you think there’s time for that?" Rosalia’s cheeks flushed slightly, yet she still said something outrageous. "Right now, I’d let you do whatever you want, but you don’t even have the time, hmph."

Phield scratched his head awkwardly. "That actually makes a disturbing amount of sense."

A moment later, accompanied by the cracking sound of bones reshaping, the transformation was complete. Rosalia’s divine power rapidly wove new clothing around her body.

"So this is what class advancement feels like. I instantly gained one new divine skill and two new talents." Rosalia raised her hand, slowly clenching her fist in excitement. "I can feel divine power submitting to me."

Every talent possessed by a Divine Chosen was monstrously powerful. Gaining two talents and one divine skill made her confidence swell dramatically.

"The Imperial Guards are here. Leave them to me. I’ll use them to test my new strength."

Phield asked worriedly, "You only just advanced. Are you sure you’ll be okay?"

"Relax. If I can’t win, I’ll run." Rosalia grinned coldly. "But before that, I’m going to crush their arrogance. They actually dared to mock us."

"Oh right, put this on. Remember, we’re Shadow World Sect rebels right now."

Phield handed over the Shadow World Sect executor’s ring along with a sinister sheep-bone mask.

He had no intention of exposing his identity. The Empire would never let him go. Secretly growing stronger was the smartest choice.