"Kid, do you want great power?"
That question instantly brought Zayden back to his initial intent and reminded him why he had not given up on reaching the mysterious light.
He needed great power to protect his family. He needed great power to take revenge.
He needed great power to live!
He did not need to think anymore.
"I want it. I want great power!"
Zayden answered firmly.
"Even though you have to fight against the heaven itself?" the man asked again.
Zayden’s heart trembled.
To fight the heaven?
"Once you receive my knowledge and power, there is no way back. You will endure many hardships. Even the heaven will target you. You might face difficult challenges outside of your league. You might face many situations of life and death in the future," the man continued.
There was a slight pause.
"You will keep fighting until you reach a level where you can say that not even the heaven can do anything to you. Are you up for this challenge? If you cannot endure the fate that awaits you after receiving my power, then you will die."
There was another pause.
"Also, you will have to destroy your current cultivation and start over again. You will cultivate using a new cultivation method. But I assure you, this cultivation method is much better than your current one."
Zayden’s chest felt cold.
Destroy his cultivation and start over again?
Could he really do that at this time?
"Once again. Are you ready to face that kind of life? Are you ready to put your life on the line for the future struggle?" the man asked for the last time.
Zayden couldn’t help but lower his head and clench his fist.
That kind of future sounded so terrifying.
Even he had to fight the heaven? The natural power that maintained the balance of the world and all things?
He was only a small character compared to the entire world.
Could he really fight against something like that?
He did not even know what kind of dragon he was facing for the dragon to dare say such a thing.
There were many uncertainties.
He became slightly hesitant.
But then, the moment he remembered the faces of those traitors, he became angry.
Those mocking faces. Those smiling faces. Those bastards who were already playing with his life.
Especially Devron!
He wanted to destroy them all!
Moreover, he still had his family. He needed to return to them.
He wanted to meet his wife and daughter.
He needed to protect them.
Zayden’s determination rose.
He gritted his teeth, and his eyes were filled with determination. He lifted his head and looked at the dragon.
"I’m ready. I’m ready to face everything in the future as long as I can gain greater power. There are still many things that I need to do."
Zayden said.
"Moreover, I will be dead anyway if I don’t do anything. I might as well die while trying than die while cowering in hesitation."
After saying that, Zayden couldn’t help but feel that the man was slightly smiling.
He just felt it.
The man nodded.
"Good spirit. Then—"
"Wait, before we go on, could you tell me who you are? To be honest, I’m quite worried because I don’t know your identity. I should know the identity of the person who is going to give me power, right?"
Zayden cut off the man’s words.
The man nodded.
"You are right. It would not be good for our relationship if you don’t know me at all. Well, I’m the artifact spirit of the spear that you touched before you lost consciousness."
Zayden widened his eyes.
"You are the artifact spirit of the mysterious spear? Then—"
Zayden looked at his surroundings.
He had thought that his consciousness had been brought to some unknown place by this mysterious figure, but to think that this figure was actually an artifact spirit?
Then where was he right now?
"This is the special subspace inside the spear. Well, more or less, the concept is similar to a storage ring, but it’s much more complex. You will understand what I mean later," the man said.
Zayden was shocked.
This was a subspace like a storage ring?
He looked at his surroundings once again.
What he saw were countless stars. It really felt like he was in the middle of space.
So how could this be a subspace like a storage ring?
This made him think what kind of spear he had touched.
"Once you accept my knowledge and, in the future, lift the spear and officially become its owner, you will learn more about me. Although you will never know everything about me or the spear’s origins, as time passes, you will learn more about it."
The man said.
Zayden released a deep breath and nodded.
"I see, but is it really okay for me to receive your knowledge and power despite being a swordmaster? I have never trained myself in spearmanship."
"I knew it the moment I saw you. But you can just start over again. You can learn it here, just like your new cultivation," the man replied.
"Moreover, you have me to guide you. Under my guidance, even a pig could become a spearmaster. And I’m not joking."
There was pride in his voice.
Zayden raised his eyebrows. He just couldn’t help but imagine a pig wielding a spear, but he quickly brushed off the strange image.
Then he took a deep breath before releasing it once again. His eyes looked determined.
"I’m ready to receive your power."
"Good," the man said.
At that moment, a blinding light began to exude from his body.
Zayden suddenly felt an extremely powerful aura.
His heart shook.
His soul trembled.
He widened his eyes in shock, as what he felt at this moment was something he had truly never experienced in all his life.
The blinding light then disappeared.
He was still in the same space, but at that moment, he no longer saw a human figure.
What he saw was a dragon’s true body.
However, the moment he saw the dragon’s body, Zayden’s body instantly collapsed, his butt touching an invisible ground.
His lips and eyes trembled.
Fear rose from the depths of his heart.
For a moment, he forgot about his revenge.
He forgot about everything.
The sight in front of him was something that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
What he saw was a gigantic figure of a long, golden eastern dragon.
But the meaning of "gigantic" here was not something that a mortal could comprehend.
What he saw was a dragon that could swallow countless stars, its enormous body stretching far beyond the scale of countless stars.
Although its head was covered by blinding light, its size was so enormous that perhaps countless worlds like the Eastern World could be eaten by it.
No...
The dragon could swallow the entire space itself.
"Receive my knowledge."
The dragon’s voice made the entire space tremble, and at that moment, Zayden’s mind was invaded by new knowledge.
At the same time, he could see many visions.
Many of them showed the figure of a dragon.
The visions were scattered, and Zayden did not understand the meaning behind them.
However, each of them showed him the grandeur of the dragon.
The new knowledge he received was mostly related to a new cultivation method and spear technique.
He was astonished.
He had already forgotten about his fear and concentrated on this new knowledge.
The more he learned about this new cultivation method, the more shocked he became.
This new cultivation method had a different foundation from the known cultivation methods of this world.
It could be said that this new cultivation technique was as if it had come from a completely different world with an entirely different cultivation.
’Amazing. To think that there is a kind of cultivation that is so vastly different from our cultivation system. The known cultivation levels of this world, from the lowest to the highest, are:
First Stage — Path Opening
Second Stage — Body Tempering
Third Stage — Energy Gathering
Fourth Stage — Energy Condensation
Fifth Stage — Element Integration
Sixth Stage — Law Integration
Seventh Stage — Element Mastery
Eighth Stage — Soul Evolution
Ninth Stage — Peak Transformation
Each stage is divided into three minor realms: Low, Middle, and Peak.’
Zayden thought as he continued absorbing the knowledge.
’But this new cultivation technique could be said to be much more advanced. Its complexity is far beyond the known cultivation system, with ten stages in the Mortal Realm instead of nine. It still has three minor realms in each stage, but each stage of this cultivation technique is like a stronger version of what we already have.’
While Zayden continued absorbing the knowledge, the dragon kept looking at his figure.
Its gigantic body, which was many times larger than countless stars, did not move, as if it did not want to disturb Zayden.
’This is truly fate. Perhaps he could reach the peak?’
The dragon thought.