Absolute Mastery: From Servant to Sovereign 14

Chapter 775 Return to Skyfire Planet

At last, Kael had returned to the Sunlance Galaxy. The sight of it stirred a flood of emotions within him.

When he had fled Sunlance Academy, he had been nothing more than a Stellar Realm cultivator—an insignificant figure at the mercy of anyone stronger than him. Now, after all these years, he had reached the Galactic Great Circle. Only one final step separated him from the Eternal Realm.

Kael suddenly furrowed his brow. He took out a jade bottle and swallowed several drops of Immortal Spirit Liquid.

The devouring beast within him finally quieted, releasing a stream of nourishing energy throughout his body.

“Kael, if even the City Lord of Northguard couldn’t bring you down, I doubt the Dean of Sunlance Academy could do any better,” Seraphyne said.

“What makes you say that?” Kael asked with a smile.

“Northguard City is stronger than Sunlance Academy overall. You can tell from the strength of their prodigies.”

“How so?”

“Every galaxy produces its own prodigies, and their strength generally reflects the caliber of its senior leadership. Last time, Everett Tuo, Elowen Tuo, and Quentin Duan routed several of our top-ten prodigies. That alone suggests the City Lord of Northguard City is far stronger than the Dean of Sunlance Academy.”

Kael stood behind Seraphyne on the flying sword, his arms wrapped around her slender waist. It was so narrow that he could almost encircle it with one hand.

“That makes sense, but I still have no intention of risking a visit to Sunlance Academy. We’ll return to our homeworld first.”

“You’re becoming more cautious, Kael.”

Seraphyne gave him a radiant smile. Against the cold darkness of space, it seemed warm enough to thaw the ice and coax flowers into bloom.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Kael leaned in and kissed her.

They lost themselves in the kiss as the flying sword streaked through the void.

Neither knew how much time had passed before their lips finally parted. Seraphyne’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes had taken on a faint, dreamy haze.

“Once we return to our homeworld, I’ll marry you before all of humanity’s senior leaders,” Kael promised.

For some reason, Calla immediately came to mind.

Although Calla was his disciple, she had also entrusted herself to him completely. Once he returned, didn’t he owe her a proper commitment as well?

A pale golden planet appeared ahead. There was no need to guess who controlled it. The Golden Dragon Race maintained a garrison there, and wherever the Golden Dragons were stationed, a stellar teleportation array was bound to be nearby.

After several spatial shifts, Kael descended onto the planet.

He made no attempt to conceal his cultivation. The aura of the Galactic Great Circle rolled outward without restraint.

Figures shot into the sky from a sprawling estate. A dense crowd of Golden Dragon and Heavenly Dragon cultivators appeared, followed by several women from the Heavenly Phoenix Race.

None dared come within a thousand yards of Kael. They could only watch the pair from a distance, their bodies rigid with tension.

“Who is in charge here?”

Kael swept his gaze across the crowd before settling on a Planetary Tier 9 Golden Dragon.

“Lord Lin, your reputation precedes you. May I ask what brings you to this planet?” the man asked cautiously. “The Vice Dean is already on his way.”

“Is he coming to see me off?”

Kael raised an eyebrow and landed beside the teleportation array.

The other cultivators descended around him, forming a loose encirclement. They knew they were no match for Kael, but this planet belonged to their race. Their pride would not allow them to hide from him.

“Lady Emberwing, why are you…”

One of the Heavenly Phoenix women stared at Seraphyne in disbelief.

“Caedran and I were only ever foster father and daughter. Don’t imagine anything more,” Seraphyne replied coldly.

The woman didn’t dare argue. Kael’s name had already spread throughout several nearby galaxies. Even though he came from humanity, the lowest-ranked race, she would never risk provoking him.

“You. Grant us access to the teleportation array.”

Kael pointed at the strongest Golden Dragon cultivator.

“Where do you intend to go?” the man asked stiffly.

“Grant us access.”

“I wouldn’t dare refuse.”

Humiliation burned within the Golden Dragon as he approached the array and formed several hand seals.

Kael surveyed the surrounding cultivators, then took Seraphyne by the hand and strode openly into the center of the formation.

The teleportation array began to hum and rotate. Moments later, the pair vanished without a trace.

Several Golden Dragons at the Great Ascension Realm watched them disappear, their hearts pounding with excitement.

That was how a man should carry himself—surrounded by powerful enemies, yet leaving as calmly as if he owned the place, his authority so overwhelming that no one dared defy him.

...

Years earlier, after humanity withdrew its elite forces, experts from the other races had destroyed the great formation established within Blood Race territory.

As a result, members of the myriad races could now fly freely through the Skyfire Desert, while the humans scattered across it had lost that privilege.

The other races still didn’t dare attack humanity openly. The Ant Race now protected the humans, and more importantly, no one had heard that Kael was dead. If he ever returned to Skyfire Planet, he would undoubtedly settle accounts with anyone who had harmed his people.

Instead, the other races had become experts at obstructing humanity from the shadows.

Whenever the humans needed a rare material, the other races harvested it first. Whenever humanity attempted something important, they interfered before it could begin or secretly sent powerful cultivators to sabotage it.

The Ant Race could never catch them in the act, leaving Amir Huang powerless to stop them. As a result, humanity had failed to produce a single new Great Ascension cultivator in all the years since Kael’s departure.

Yet something strange had happened during that same period.

Before Kael arrived on Skyfire Planet, only one in every ten thousand human mortals had been born with a Spirit Root. From the time of his arrival until the present day, however, that proportion had risen dramatically.

Now, roughly one in every thousand mortals possessed a Spirit Root.

Even Amir couldn’t explain why.

At the heart of the Phantasmal Oasis, the long-dormant teleportation array slowly began to turn.

The vines covering it snapped and tore loose. As the array spun faster, a brilliant column of white light erupted from its center.

When the light faded, a man and a woman stood side by side.

“Kael, we’ve finally reached your homeworld,” Seraphyne said with a smile.

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t my homeworld.”

With a single Earthfold Step, Kael carried Seraphyne beyond the teleportation array. His immense Spiritual Sense then swept across the entire planet.

“Humanity has produced quite a few promising talents.”

Kael nodded in satisfaction and opened his status panel.

After a moment’s hesitation, he invested all his remaining Galactic Points.

Consuming Immortal Spirit Liquid every day allowed him to accumulate Galactic Points rapidly, though the gains still couldn’t compare to those he earned by killing powerful enemies.

[Human King: 756.639]

[Galactic Great Circle: 12%]

[Stage Twenty of the Fiendgod Transformation: 100,000,000/200,000,000]

[Grand Celestial Manifestation: 1/100]

[Sacred Skin—Fortification: 10,000/20,000]

[Sacred Tendon—Fortification: 10,000/20,000]

[Sacred Muscle—Fortification: 10,000/20,000]

[Sacred Organ—Fortification: 10,000/20,000]

[Sacred Bone—Fortification: 10,000/20,000]

[Supreme Divine Craftsmanship: 4,500/5,000]

[Divine Alchemy Dao: 50%]

[Tier 10 Sanguine Edge: 4,520/5,000]

[Inner Cosmos: 200,000/500,000]

[Myriad Spirit Eye Tier 1: 15/100]

[Sound Spirit Root: 1%]

At that moment, Kael noticed that his Inner Cosmos had begun advancing on its own.