832 Natural laws IV
Nine knew the man in front of him was Kyle. But felt that something was off. The way Kyle's eyes scanned him from head to toe, with little to no emotion, made it seem as if the man were looking at someone who had died a long time ago.
Kyle advanced, but Nine instinctively recoiled. He didn't want to, but it was a reflex. Amusement danced in Kyle's eyes; this was the third time he had witnessed the same reaction, yet each time, Nine looked equally startled and shocked.
Nine noticed that Kyle's hair wasn't silver anymore; instead, it had turned black. His eyes retained the same shade of green but were devoid of any emotion.
Kyle chuckled softly, but the corners of his lips remained downturned as he raised his hand to point his finger at his forehead.
"Don't worry, I just want you to do something for me. It was difficult for me to enter this space because in your time, my body is still heavily reliant on the bloodline. So, I don't have much time."
Nine's gaze focused on the finger that touched his forehead, and after Kyle was done, he vanished from the domain.
Kyle lowered his finger.
"Huh, it's good enough this time."
He spun around and left, reappearing in the shattered gray world that lay in disarray like a broken mirror reflecting chaos.
He watched Nine and, finally this time, the man succeeded in completing his task of finding the dark contracts without dying.
With one final glance around the broken world, Kyle slowly walked away, and his consciousness returned to his body.
It was undeniably true that calmness banished anger, for in that moment, he felt an unshakeable serenity, as if nothing in existence could ever provoke him again.
In the Sea of Consciousness, his body stirred, and the glow returned to his eyes.
Kyle spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth, the crimson droplets vanishing in the clear water, and sat down on the bed of jagged stones at the bottom. Fish of all sizes roamed around his body. There were even powerful supreme rank monsters at the bottom, but none dared to get near.
"Who is it? Show yourself?"
He turned to his side. In the cold depths, a pair of glowing crimson eyes greeted him through the shadows. The owner swam into view, and Kyle finally saw its form.
It was a colossal dark serpent with gray scales and two horns that spiraled from its head. It exuded a powerful supreme rank aura, infused with the essence of natural laws, yet it wasn't hostile at all; instead, it regarded him with intense curiosity.
"You are the third... the third person to reach the dark bottom."
It hissed. Kyle tilted his head. So, he was the third person to reach this place?
"Who are the first and second?"
He asked with curiosity in his voice. The serpent circled his body. Its size was so massive that Kyle was astounded; its tail stretched out like a leviathan, occupying nearly fifty percent of the depths.
"The first was the one who created this place, and the second was... that guy from the blessed race. He was called Azazeal. He left behind his name and mentioned he would personally thank the creator when he reached the Celestial realm. Yet, I could tell that man had no such intentions. He simply wanted to understand just how powerful the Celestial who created this place was and whether he could eliminate him."
Kyle let out an 'Oh' and nodded. So, his thoughts that this place was created by another were correct.
The serpent was powerful and had mastered all the natural laws in the Sea of Consciousness, but he could easily tell that it had yet to become a Celestial. It stood at the pinnacle of the supreme rank, unable to cross the final boundary.
"How old are you? And tell me, the creator of this place... how strong was he?"
The serpent paused, seemingly searching its memory since it had been too long.
"My age? Maybe 5,000 years or more? I am not sure. I have always existed in this Sea. As for the strength of the one who created this place, his power at that time was equal to yours now. I recall this because that old man was exceptionally powerful even before he left for the Celestial realm."
Kyle raised an eyebrow. He knew he had grown powerful, but there was no way his strength could possibly compare to that of the one who forged this powerful Sea. The notion of creating a similar sea, brimming with natural laws that clashed with one another, seemed beyond his grasp.
As if reading his thoughts, the serpent erupted in faint laughter and paused, its voice echoing through the depths.
"Try it... You have the power to conjure a Sea of Consciousness of your own—perhaps one even more powerful than this! You grasped the natural laws in this place in a short time. I remember, even Azazeal took countless years to reach the depths, yet you... accomplished it in just a month."
It paused for a moment.
"I thought you had died when your consciousness vanished into the boundary of time. However, I then remembered that Azazeal had emerged from that boundary. So, I waited, and now I'm amazed that in just another year, you have shattered even the boundary of time. It's... overwhelming. But the new generation always surpasses the previous one. So, I understand."
Kyle's eyes widened slightly.
"How long have I been here?"
The serpent hummed faintly.
"Roughly one year and a month...? You should be grateful you found a way out of the gray world so soon. Usually, people who enter that place disappear never to be seen again. You could have simply grasped the natural law of time, which would have given you the power to interfere with a year in the past. Many people manage that easily. But you were greedy, just like Azazeal, and you wanted to control and rule time entirely."