As Raqin continued to absorb the energy of the Sea of Hollow Flesh, his consciousness gradually drifted away.
The roaring sea vanished.
The crimson moon disappeared.
The Bone Lighthouse was nowhere to be seen.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing amidst an endless sea of stars.
Countless galaxies revolved around him.
Nebulae stretched across the heavens like rivers of colored mist.
Before he could comprehend where he was, a terrifying pressure descended.
Something was approaching.
At first it appeared as a tiny black dot at the edge of the cosmos.
Then it grew larger.
And larger.
And larger.
Every star in its path dimmed.
Entire constellations shattered into particles.
Space itself seemed unable to withstand its existence.
Wherever the creature passed, everything was reduced to nothingness.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
As though it had never existed.
Raqin instinctively understood one thing.
This being could devour worlds.
Yet strangely...
He felt no fear.
Instead, he felt familiarity.
Warmth.
Like meeting someone he had known his entire life.
The colossal being finally stopped before him.
Its body stretched across countless stars.
Its eyes resembled twin suns.
Its presence alone eclipsed the universe around them.
Then, as if sensing his thoughts, the giant creature began to shrink.
Its massive body rapidly condensed.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Until it stood only a head taller than him.
Only then did Raqin finally recognize it.
The dragon.
The sword.
The aura.
His martial spirit.
The creature smiled.
"You seem remarkably calm."
Raqin crossed his arms.
"Should I be screaming?"
The spirit blinked.
Then laughed.
The sound echoed across the stars.
"Most cultivators would have collapsed from terror."
"Good thing I'm not most cultivators."
The spirit nodded approvingly.
"Indeed."
Its expression gradually became serious.
Then, to Raqin's surprise, it lowered its head and bowed.
The vast universe trembled.
"Thank you for granting me existence, my Sovereign."
Raqin raised an eyebrow.
"Sovereign?"
"And what do you mean by granting you existence?"
The spirit slowly lifted its head.
"I was once nothing."
"A possibility."
"A concept."
"A sleeping instinct buried within countless fragments of fate."
Its golden eyes locked onto his.
"But when you awakened me..."
"I became real."
Raqin frowned.
"I created you?"
The spirit shook its head.
"No."
"You created my consciousness."
"There is a difference."
Seeing Raqin's confusion, it continued.
"Spirits have always existed."
"They are born from laws, bloodlines, destinies, and countless mysteries."
"But I..."
The spirit placed a claw against its chest.
"I am the first of my kind."
"The first being to walk this path."
"The first existence carrying this nature."
"The first me."
Raqin remained silent.
The explanation somehow made sense despite sounding absurd.
"That still doesn't explain the Sovereign part."
The spirit laughed softly.
"I expected that question."
Its gaze became distant.
"The moment I awakened, I inherited your memories."
"Your hatred."
"Your loneliness."
"Your determination."
"Your dreams."
Images appeared throughout the stars.
A young Raqin imprisoned beneath a mountain.
A child staring at an unreachable sky.
Years of isolation.
Years of suffering.
Years of defiance.
The spirit watched the scenes silently.
"I witnessed everything."
Its voice became solemn.
"Then I saw something else."
Raqin frowned.
"What?"
The spirit's expression turned strange.
Almost reverent.
"A throne."
The stars around them suddenly shifted.
A phantom image appeared in the cosmos.
An enormous throne standing above heaven and earth.
Upon it sat a silhouette.
The figure's face could not be seen.
Yet its presence surpassed everything.
Gods.
Dragons.
Demons.
Titans.
Creatures beyond comprehension.
All of them knelt.
All of them trembled.
All of them bowed.
The spirit lowered its head again.
"And behind that throne..."
Its voice carried absolute certainty.
"I saw myself."
Standing behind the sovereign.
Guarding the throne.
Protecting it.
Serving it.
The spirit looked directly into Raqin's eyes.
"That was the moment I understood."
"Whether it was destiny, prophecy, possibility, or madness."
"It did not matter."
The dragon knelt on one knee.
Its fist pressed against its chest.
Its head lowered.
"I recognized my master."
"I recognized my sovereign."
Silence filled the cosmos.
After a long pause, Raqin scratched his head.
"That's great and all..."
The spirit looked up.
"But what if that vision was wrong?"
For the first time, the spirit froze.
Then Raqin grinned.
"Have you considered that possibility?"
The dragon stared at him.
Then burst into laughter.
A laughter so powerful that entire galaxies shook.
"Perhaps."
It smiled.
"But until proven otherwise..."
Its eyes glowed like dying stars.
"I choose to believe in the future I witnessed."
Then its expression became serious.
"Besides."
"You should be more concerned about what is currently happening to your body."
Raqin's smile faded.
"What do you mean?"
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"The Sea of Hollow Flesh is changing you."
"And what awakens after this..."
"May change everything."
Raqin's smile faded.
"What do you mean, change everything?"
The dragon's expression became unusually solemn.
Its eyes seemed to pierce through space itself.
"For countless ages, cultivators have followed predetermined paths."
"Bloodlines."
"Physiques."
"Martial Spirits."
"Destinies."
"Everything has a place."
The spirit slowly stood.
"But you—"
Before it could finish speaking, the starry cosmos suddenly trembled.
Cracks spread across the heavens.
The countless stars began to shatter.
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"It seems your companion has something urgent to say."
Raqin frowned.
"My companion?"
The spirit merely smiled.
"The one living in your head."
The next instant—
The entire universe collapsed.
The throne vanished.
The stars disappeared.
The dragon's figure dissolved into countless particles of light.
Raqin instinctively reached forward.
"Wait!"
The dragon's voice echoed one final time.
"Become stronger, Sovereign."
"Then return."
BOOM!
His consciousness snapped back into reality.
The violent roar of the Sea of Hollow Flesh assaulted his senses.
Chaotic energy still surged into his body like a raging flood.
His martial spirit stood behind him, absorbing and refining the sea's power at a terrifying rate.
The surrounding cultivators remained frozen in shock.
However, Raqin barely noticed them.
Because a deafening alarm was ringing inside his mind.
DING!
DING!
DING!
DING!
Bright crimson notifications filled his vision.
Warning messages rapidly stacked one after another.
His Host's usually calm voice carried an urgency he had never heard before.
/Warning!/
DING!
/Warning!/
DING!
/Host body undergoing unknown evolution!/
DING!
/Restriction Seal integrity falling below 70%!/
DING!
/Massive influx of foreign energy detected!/
DING!
/Nanoblade Qi density exceeding projected limits!/
DING!
/Martial Spirit synchronization rate increasing!/
DING!
/Warning! Warning! Warning!/
Raqin's pupils contracted.
"What the hell is happening?"
For the first time since he had met the Host, there was a brief pause.
Then the response came.
A response that made his heart skip a beat.
/Host.../
The system hesitated.
As if even it was struggling to process the results.
Then the final notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
New Phenomenon Detected
Classification: Unknown
Existence Rank: Unable To Calculate
Probability Of Occurrence: 0.0000000001%
Status:
A New Path Is Being Born
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Silence.
Even the Host became quiet.
Raqin stared at the notification.
Then at the endless vortex he was creating within the Sea of Hollow Flesh.
His instincts suddenly screamed danger.
Because he could feel it.
Something inside him was awakening.
Something that had never existed before.
Raqin immediately stopped absorbing the energy of the Sea of Hollow Flesh.
The colossal vortex surrounding him gradually weakened as he hurriedly circulated the Heavenly Sword Dragon Foundation Technique.
The raging energy inside his body was simply too much.
If he continued absorbing without restraint, something unpredictable might happen.
As the technique circulated, the chaotic energy that had been rampaging through his meridians was gradually brought under control.
At the same time, his foundation began undergoing another transformation.
The Heavenly Sword Dragon Foundation greedily refined every strand of energy it could absorb.
His qi became purer.
Denser.
Sharper.
Stronger.
Even the restrictions imposed upon his cultivation were steadily weakening.
Raqin quickly sat down in a lotus position and focused entirely on stabilizing himself.
The nanites covering his body receded into his skin, revealing the worn clothing he had been wearing during his imprisonment beneath the mountain.
At first, nobody noticed anything unusual.
Then someone gasped.
"His hair..."
The surrounding cultivators turned toward him.
Raqin's black hair was changing.
Silver strands appeared.
Then golden strands intertwined among them.
Before long, his entire head of hair had become a mixture of silver and gold.
Even his eyebrows had transformed.
Crack!
A tiny arc of golden lightning danced across his shoulder.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Silver scales slowly emerged across his neck and arms.
Each scale gleamed with metallic brilliance.
Golden and silver lightning continuously flashed across their surfaces.
The sight resembled a dragon forged from heavenly lightning.
The surrounding crowd instinctively retreated.
"What kind of bloodline is that?"
"No... that's not a bloodline."
"It feels more ancient."
"Could he be evolving?"
Even Hyde and Jekyll stared in shock.
The phenomenon lasted only a few moments.
The scales slowly receded.
The lightning vanished.
The silver-gold hair remained.
Raqin finally opened his eyes.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"So this is genetic cultivation..."
The information seemed to naturally appear within his mind.
His body had awakened a draconic genetic pathway.
By activating it, he could partially transform his body into a dragon-like state.
More importantly—
His physical strength had increased dramatically.
Raqin estimated that simply activating his scales increased his combat ability by nearly seventy percent.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
He rose to his feet and looked toward the opposite shore.
The girl was still there.
Still chained.
Still waiting.
Without hesitation, he activated his nanites.
Black metallic particles flowed across his body.
The crowd immediately became nervous.
"What's he doing now?"
"Surely he isn't planning to cross again?"
Splash!
Raqin dove into the Sea of Hollow Flesh.
However, unlike before, he felt almost no resistance.
The corrosive energy within the sea no longer affected him.
His body seemed to have adapted.
His martial spirit casually absorbed whatever energy approached him.
The crossing that had nearly cost him his life earlier now felt like an ordinary swim.
Within minutes, he arrived at the opposite shore.
The crowd there immediately parted.
Nobody dared block his path.
After witnessing what he had done to the sea itself, they wanted nothing to do with him.
Raqin ignored them all.
His eyes were fixed on a single target.
A young girl.
A leash wrapped around her neck.
Three men stood nearby.
The moment they noticed him approaching, their expressions darkened.
One of them sneered.
"What do you want, kid?"
Raqin didn't answer.
He simply pointed at the girl.
The three men looked at one another.
Then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
"You want her?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"Just because you caused a little commotion, you think you're qualified to challenge us?"
The three exchanged glances.
Without speaking further, they moved.
Like experienced hunters, they immediately surrounded Raqin from three directions.
The crowd retreated even further.
Everyone knew a fight was about to break out.
Raqin remained calm.
His eyes never left the girl.
Then he spoke.
"It seems..."
"...you three really want to die."
The atmosphere instantly froze.
One of the men roared.
"Kill him!"
A sword suddenly appeared in Raqin's hand.
Not by being drawn.
Not by being summoned.
It simply manifested like a visual glitch in reality itself.
The nearest attacker widened his eyes.
Too late.
"Asura Killing Strike."
"First Blade..."
"Precision Slash."
Flash!
A silver line crossed the battlefield.
The attacker instinctively raised his weapon.
Clang—
His attack split apart.
His armor split apart.
His body split apart.
The cut was so clean that he remained standing for several seconds before collapsing into two pieces.
Silence.
Everyone froze.
The remaining two attackers stared blankly.
Their companion was dead.
Instantly dead.
They couldn't even comprehend what had happened.
Then fury replaced their shock.
"You bastard!"
Both men attacked simultaneously.
Their weapons descended toward Raqin from opposite directions.
Raqin moved.
One step.
Two steps.
His movements were effortless.
Like flowing water.
Like dancing lightning.
"Asura Killing Strike."
"Third Blade..."
"Detonation Slash."
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Several cuts appeared across the bodies of both men.
Not deep.
Not fatal.
Barely enough to draw blood.
The attackers laughed.
"That's it?"
"You call that an attack?"
Raqin said nothing.
His nanite sword dissolved into black particles and returned to his storage device.
Then he calmly walked toward the girl.
The crowd looked confused.
Even the two injured men looked puzzled.
Had he given up?
Raqin reached the girl.
Crack!
The leash shattered in his hand.
"It's alright."
The frightened girl looked up at him.
For the first time, someone had actually come back for her.
Raqin lifted her into his arms.
Then turned around and began walking toward the sea.
The crowd finally noticed something strange.
The two men weren't moving.
They remained completely still.
Sweat poured down their faces.
Their expressions twisted in agony.
Their entire focus was directed inward.
Trying desperately to suppress something.
The truth was simple.
The Third Blade had never been intended to kill them directly.
Every slash had secretly implanted Nanoblade Qi into their bodies.
The qi was now rampaging through their meridians like countless microscopic blades.
Destroying everything in its path.
The two men could barely maintain control.
One of them looked toward Raqin's departing figure.
Fear finally appeared in his eyes.
"W-Wait..."
Raqin didn't even turn around.
The nanites formed a small black boat beneath his feet.
His martial spirit emerged behind him.
The boat shot across the Sea of Hollow Flesh.
Only then did Raqin speak.
One word.
Cold.
Calm.
Absolute.
"Detonate."
The two men's eyes widened.
"No—"
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two explosions echoed across the shore.
Blood mist filled the air.
Fragments of flesh rained onto the black sand.
Silence descended upon the entire shoreline.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Everyone simply stared at the young man carrying the girl across the sea.
For the first time since entering the trials—
They realized that Raqin was no longer merely a participant.
He had become something far more terrifying.