Shiki did not know exactly what powers awaited beyond the milestone of the third Peak, given the immense challenge required to reach it—specifically, the need for five Dragon Essences as the primary requirement.

  The fastest method to gather Dragon Essence was not through dungeon raids but by hunting other dragonewts who possessed it. However, when Shiki had achieved 75% Bloodline Purity in her past life, the Brides War had erupted. This monumental conflict forbade battles between dragonewts, forcing Shiki to rely on S-level or higher dungeon raids to acquire Dragon Essence.

  Despite this, the true strength of a dragonewt lay not solely in the height of their Bloodline Purity but in how deeply they mastered the power derived from it.

  As a well-known proverb states, "One technique practiced a thousand times is better than a thousand techniques practiced once." This principle held true for dragonewts: those who delved into mastering a single element to perfection were far stronger than those who dabbled shallowly in many.

  A deep mastery of a specific element could even prompt the System to generate a new notification in their interface, granting them a Skill.

  There were three primary ways to obtain a Skill: first, automatically upon breaking a Bloodline Purity milestone; second, creating one through intense practice until recognized by the System; and third, acquiring it through a Cultivation Book.

  However, Cultivation Books were extraordinarily rare and difficult to find. Beyond extraordinary luck, the most effective way to obtain one was through repeated raids of B-level or higher dungeons. Due to their rarity, dragonewts who managed to create Skills often kept them secret, sharing them only with trusted disciples or faction members.

  Shiki’s Skill, Eye that Unveils Secrets, was a product of the Dragon Essence: Dragon Eyes, integrated within her. This Skill provided photographic memory and detailed facial expression analysis. If the Dragon Eyes were used to breach a Bloodline Purity milestone, the Skill would evolve into Supreme Heavenly Eyes, granting extraordinary abilities such as 360-degree macro vision, precise motion detection, illusion and disguise penetration, and enhanced emotional and intent reading through body movement and aura analysis.

  In her past life, Supreme Heavenly Eyes was one of the keys to Shiki's rise to power, underscoring the vital role Skills obtained through Dragon Essence played in achieving true strength.

  In terms of difficulty, acquiring a Skill ranked from hardest to easiest as follows: creating it oneself, obtaining it through Dragon Essence, and lastly, acquiring it from a Cultivation Book. However, in terms of the power gained, the hierarchy reversed: Dragon Essence Skills ranked highest, followed by self-created Skills, and lastly, Cultivation Book Skills.

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  This was because while obtaining a Cultivation Book required immense luck, dragonewts who reached the Amphithernia or Lindwormnia Realm generally found little difficulty conquering B-level dungeons. Repeated raids would eventually yield a Cultivation Book, though the chances of gaining a truly powerful Skill were slim.

  Conversely, self-created Skills were challenging for the System to recognize, as only truly unique and previously unrecorded abilities were accepted. Yet, those acknowledged by the System were often immensely powerful, such as Magma Mastery, a deadly combination of earth and fire elements renowned for devastating battlefields.

  Dragon Essence Skills, on the other hand, required no training.

  Once the Essence integrated with a dragonewt’s body, its wielder instinctively understood how to use it, as if born with the ability. However, the type of Skill acquired depended on the Dragon Essence used. For instance, Shiki’s Dragon Eyes granted the Skill: Eye that Unveils Secrets, while Dragon Skin would provide the Skill: Tough Hide.

  Essentially, Dragon Essence acted as a vessel of the purest dragon genes, still lingering in dragonewt bodies. This was no secret among the veterans of the Tower of Procession, who recognized that dragonewts descended from dragons. Historical records from Atta World corroborated this, revealing numerous links between modern dragonewts and the legendary rulers of the skies.

  However, an unknown past event led to the degradation of dragons, resulting in their current form as dragonewts. It appeared the System and the Guide were designed to restore the dragonewts’ bloodline purity to that of their noble ancestors.

  As a dragonewt’s Bloodline Purity increased, they grew closer to their dragon forebears and significantly more powerful. Regardless of how meager a dragonewt’s attributes were initially, they would rise dramatically with each percentage of Bloodline Purity gained.

  For this reason, Shiki saw no point in training conventionally. No matter how strong she became at 0% Bloodline Purity, she would never rival the attributes of a dragonewt with even 1% Purity. As a result, Shiki’s current attributes matched those she had in her past life upon first arriving at the Starting City. Yet, while her interface appeared the same, something was distinctly different this time.

  "Hm?" she murmured, noticing a new Skill alongside Eye that Unveils Secrets and an item: Ring of ???. Shiki furrowed her brow, pondering the connection between the Skill ??? and the mysterious ring. To her recollection, no equipment in the Tower of Procession ever granted Skills or enhanced attributes. While wearing armor was preferable to not, accessories like rings, necklaces, or bracelets were purely cosmetic, akin to fashion statements in the real world, offering no practical benefits.

  The fact that a ring could grant a System-recognized Skill was utterly unprecedented.

  "As I suspected, this ring must be the reason for my regression..." Shiki muttered, her gaze fixed on the ring adorning her finger, doubt etched across her face. "But why doesn’t the System know its name?"

  The label "???" in the interface suggested that the System lacked information about the enigmatic ring. Yet, a thought struck her.

  "...Or perhaps it’s not that they don’t know, but rather, they don’t dare to reveal its name..." Shiki paused, her frown replaced by a chilling smirk as realization dawned.

  "Fufufu~ How interesting..." she whispered, her voice laced with cold and deadly anticipation.