Appearing far away, through his clouded vision, Kyle caught sight of a middle-aged man clad in a blue cloak draped over his shoulders and fastened with a clasp, who had just emerged from the old temple.
The man was tall and looked genuinely taken aback that Kyle had evaded him.
A few others—a pair of old men and a middle-aged woman, all wearing similar cloaks—followed him out of the temple.
At their appearance, the surroundings immediately fell silent. All the Rulers froze in their tracks, visibly shocked. The eldest among them quickly placed his hand over his chest in a gesture of deep respect.
"Ruler Yizhe! Please forgive us! We were chasing someone and momentarily forgot that this ancient temple is where you and your companions reside in seclusion!"
Kyle narrowed his eyes at the newcomers, who were staring back at him. He frowned.
Strange.
What was this familiar feeling?
He felt that the aura of this Yizhe person was oddly familiar, as if he had sensed it before, though he couldn’t recall where. It would have been one thing if the aura were merely familiar, but he felt an immediate aversion toward this person, as if he had wronged him... His gut feeling had never been wrong. That was why, instead of fleeing, he couldn’t help but blurt out.
"Have we met before?"
Yizhe raised an eyebrow, muttering.
"Perhaps..."
He narrowed his eyes at Kyle.
"Maybe you are one of those I guided—or noticed—during their trial to cross the final boundary to become a Celestial. Not that I remember each and every one I helped—"
His disdain-filled voice faltered as a vivid, old memory resurfaced at the back of his mind, and his eyes widened in shock. One of the two old men behind him also froze, recognition flashing across his face. The old man shouted in disbelief at Kyle.
"It’s you!"
His old eyes bore into Kyle’s body with unconcealed shock and astonishment.
"But how...?"
He muttered, pausing for a moment.
"Barely three fleeting years have passed since Yizhe and I saw you cross the final boundary to enter the Celestial rank! How are you already at the peak of 6th stage?!"
His words sent shockwaves through everyone present. Even Yizhe flinched, recalling how he had meddled when Kyle was passing his final trial to become a Celestial. He had even made the entire process far more difficult for this kid!
He and those standing behind him had comprehended an ancient, unique natural law, which allowed them to take advantage of periods when nature was most lax in an area to subtly intervene or assist whenever those in the lower universes were crossing the final trial to enter the Celestial rank.
This earned them great respect because, although not very powerful, they held the formidable ability to prevent anyone from becoming a Celestial if they chose to.
Therefore, many Celestials would often seek their help if they wanted their family members to ascend to the Celestial rank more quickly. Even if no one asked, Yizhe had a bad habit of intervening whenever he sensed that a young person was crossing the final trial to enter the Celestial rank.
He would always cause them to fail their final trial to become a Celestial, believing these youths were still too inexperienced!
Yizhe recalled what he had said in displeasure when he first saw Kyle.
’He is far too young! Does he even have enough experience to understand the responsibilities of a Celestial? He has reached this place only because he was born with something special!’
The old words rang in his head.
’Not even 40... just a young cub who has barely crawled out of his mother’s womb!’
Yizhe finally shook off his daze as the middle-aged woman beside the old man spoke, her frown sharp with disbelief.
"Impossible! How can someone reach the peak of the 6th stage of the Celestial rank in just a few short years? Everyone present here is several thousand years old... Have you ever heard of anything so absurd?"
Before anyone could respond to the woman, Kyle’s voice cut through the air.
"I see... we’ve indeed met before."
He paused, his gaze sharp.
"No, the correct way to put it is that you have seen me before... but I haven’t."
He wasn’t an idiot. Just now, after hearing the newcomers, he connected the dots and finally understood what had happened.
A laugh escaped his lips.
Kyle finally knew why his final trial to become a Celestial had been so difficult.
Wasn’t it very strange?
Nature favored him—he was the luckiest! Thanks to his bloodline, his potential was immense. Yet, unlike how he had advanced through the lower ranks as if taking a walk, entering the first stage of the Celestial rank had felt like scaling a towering mountain. Why had the difficulty increased so much?
It was all because of these bastards!
Damn it. Now he got why he felt ill will toward Yizhe—they were meant to be enemies. If only he could beat him up!
But for now, he needed to escape.
He could settle his past grievances later, once he reached the peak of the 7th stage.
With that thought, he blinked and tried to vanish in a random direction using instant teleportation. Yet, before he could, a heavy pressure shattered the space around him.
He cursed as he saw Yizhe—the one who had tried to grab his neck earlier—rushing straight at him with an excited gaze. The middle-aged man even cooed softly.
"Don’t run. I just want to know why the power you were born with has grown so much! It was clearly just a weak essence when I first saw it, but now it has evolved!"
Without hesitation, Kyle unleashed all his natural laws and fled once more, pushing his speed to the absolute limit. The man’s smile was unsettling—eery and terrifying enough to send chills down his spine!
Many had sensed his icy power, but none had ever discovered its source. This man, however, was after its origin—his bloodline! He knew where Kyle’s power came from!
"The hell! I don’t owe you guys anything! Stop following me like I’ve robbed you!"
He dodged a few attacks and fled without looking back. It was at that very moment, a massive golden crystal plummeted from a portal that had suddenly opened near him, striking him with a heavy impact. He cursed as he stumbled, instinctively grabbing it.
"What the damn is this now?"
Kyle paused as he sensed the vast power within the crystal, along with the lingering natural energy his fake body had left on it.
Almost choking on his breath, he realized the crystal had been sent by his fake body from within the Layer of Three Ancients!
As for how, he had no time to ponder!
His body trembled as everyone following him froze like him, their eyes locked on the glowing crystal, breaths growing irregular, and pupils dilating with a wild intensity.
Kyle didn’t even dare to breathe as he very slowly turned around, his gaze meeting the greedy eyes of numerous powerful Rulers.
They had all sensed the overwhelming power contained within the crystal—and were ready to tear him apart to claim it. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to strangle his foolish fake body to death!
He swallowed his curses.
"Well... this time, I’m really done for."
It wasn’t bad enough. At the same time, his cold essence stirred violently, roaring within him, demanding that he devour the crystal.