The monsters in the Primordial Untamed Jungle were growing too fast. Their numbers and individual combat prowess skyrocketed much faster than Michael could respond. He was in need of more powermore Seals, and more Soultraits.

He was not yet at the 4th Tier, but most monsters in the surroundings were High Beasts, Superior Existences. However, there were also many Mythical Existences. Their numbers were shockingly high, forcing Michael to unlock his other Soultraits and upgrade them in the following weeks. Of course, Michael never stopped practicing Rune Vortex in those weeks. The vortex in the Energy Pillar expanded, and it wouldn't be long before the fusion of Rune Vortex and Energy Pillar was completed.

Michael first reactivated Seer and upgraded it to a higher star-rating. Seer was needed to predict the movements of his enemies, locate all kinds of energy masses in range of several kilometers and to attack his enemies' mind and soul. This, combined with the removal of most seals applied to his other Soultrait Symbols, Michael managed to hunt some of the weaker High Beasts. He started hunting weak High Beasts to unlock his Soultraits and push them back to their full star-rating before his focus returned to his Tier, Rune Vortex, and his Beast God Curses.

Michael split the energy particles accumulated from hunting into three parts. Two parts were used to unseal more Curse and Serpent Seals, while the third portion was used to accelerate his progress. Since his Soul Sphere and Soultraits were unlocked and pushed back to their origins star-rating, Michael was in dire need of a lot more energy to increase his Tier.

He was unwilling to waste more time than necessary and focused on hunting more than 16 hours of the day or until his curse power, body, mind, and soul were too tired to keep going. He would sleep for a few hours and wake up to rest a little longer while practicing Rune Vortex. A month passed, and he advanced to Tier-4. There was no threshold to break or a special phenomenon indicating his High Ascension. Nonetheless, Michael gained tremendous power. The difference between a Tier-3 Awakened and a Tier-4 High Awakened was terrifying. That was the case for ordinary Awakened, but even more so for Michael. He was tens of times stronger as a High Awakened. However, there was more to it. Michael was stronger than he used to be when he was a High Awakened in the past. His control and understanding of his Soultraits was much higher, his bond with Fenrir and Jormungandr was tighter and he had more Cursed and Serpent Seals unlocked. He wasn't sure what happened at some point, but after Fenrir and Jormungandr had 70 active Seals, their Major Seals expanded. A second Major Seal didn't form yet, but the Beast God Curses' Major Seals branched out. Their powers were easier to control, and it wasn't long before Michael realized that both Swallow Domain and Permute were A LOT more useful in this place than anywhere else.

Since the Primordial Untamed Jungle was merely created by the Temple of the Forgotten using the Divinity of a Fallen God, Michael didn't have to care about the jungle. He didn't feel connected to the Primordial Untamed Jungle and wasn't worried about damaging it either. Thus, that was what he did using Swallow Domain and Permute.

He first replicated the energy particles using Permute to create more Curse and Serpent Seals before creating exactly as much energy using the surrounding environment as a resource to feed his Rune Vortex. His War Rune progressed as fast as possible with Rune Vortex a Primordial grade technique about to reach perfect mastery. To put it in very simple terms, Michael progressed rapidly.

However, his actions didn't go unnoticed. Michael destroyed the Primordial Untamed Jungle with his actions. Whether the Fallen God or the True Untamed Jungle didn't like this, Michael didn't know. But he could tell that someone or something responded drastically to his sudden change in actions. The monsters of the Untamed Jungle declared war against him.

They didn't attack each other anymore but worked together to track and attack him. Michael was constantly assaulted by dozens of monsters. No matter where he teleported, Michael was forced to fight with his life on the line.

But that was fine. He used Permute to create enough lifeforce, energy, and curse power to maintain his prime state at all times. He didn't grow tired and switched between using Curse Fusion and his Soultraits to tax his mind or soul less at time, allowing them to recuperate as he continued fighting.

Michael lost track of time, but he didn't care. All he cared about was fighting the monsters of the Primordial Untamed Jungle, gaining their energy particles, and growing even stronger. Thereafter, he would unleash Swallow Domain, devour parts of the Primordial Untamed Jungle, and transform them into even more energy to grow even stronger.

It was only a matter of time weeks, maybe months before he advanced to Tier-5 with 100 Cursed Seals and 100 Serpent Seals active. Michael was back to his former prowessonly to grow even stronger than he used to be. More Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals had been unlocked, but that was only one of many things he earned. His understanding of all Soultrait Symbols had skyrocketed, and his connection with the Beast God Curses was more profound than ever. Michael's mind, soul, and body were perfectly in sync.

The Trials of a Fallen God showed him many new things. They changed him.

Theyimproved him.

(940)

[You still have a few months left before the first trial ends. Use them wisely.] Fenrir said, but Michael could feel a sense of acknowledgment in the wolf's voice. From the looks of it, Fenrir thought that Michael was doing the right thing.

"You can tell how much time I have left? I guess that's good.]

[Yes, I do. Just focus on growing stronger here. I think you'll need as much strength as possible. Your mortal vessel should transform soon.]

"What are you tal..."

[Work hard, and you will find out.]

Michael raised an eyebrow but he did as demanded. He never thought about doing something else, in the first place.

He returned to fighting with his life on the line. One person with his Beast God Curses started fighting against the forces of the Primordial Untamed Jungle. That worked well until the Divine Lifeforms of the Untamed Jungle appeared. As a High Awakened at the 5th Tier, Divine Lifeforms were a little bit too much to deal with. However, given the commitment of Fenrir and Jormungandr, Michael picked the weakest Divine Lifeform in the Primordial Untamed Jungle and fought it.

The fight was fierce, and Michael was on the verge of death on multiple occasions, but River of Vigor kept him alive while True Extraction Essence, Jormungandr's poison-attributed curse power, and poison-attributed energy of Spheres of Elements, wore down the Divine Lifeform slowly but steadily. The Divine Lifeform died and generated enough divine energy particles to push Michael further down his path to a higher Tier while also completing the fusion of the Rune Vortex and the Energy Pillar.

An Energy Vortex formed within Michael long before he ascended to a Divine Lifeform.

He was more than ready for the next trial.