SPIRIT SOUL

Kyle's premonition intensified with every passing second as the pitch-black mass seemed to be compressing itself to an extreme state.

Even though he couldn't really understand what was going on, it was obvious that something had gone wrong.

There were several questions he wanted to find an answer to.

But Kyle was unable to grasp, what the barrier had done to create the black mass and what kind of existence it was.

He was more than eager to know what was going on less than half a kilometer away from them!!

His body was still petrified and he was unable to move even a single inch.

And, it was exactly the same scenario for the others.

As such, even though the storm had receded, they still had huge problems to face.

The terrifying situation in front of them was about to escalate at any moment.

Taking a deep breath, Kyle mentally prepared himself for everything that might occur.

His eyes kept darting to the black mass and widened when he sensed movement.

Alongwith the entire group, his eyes grew wide as he witnessed how the compressed black mass that had been stable, began to vibrate violently.

Just a moment later, small cracks manifested on the black mass.

These small cracks ruptured, enlarging themselves at a terrifying velocity.

Everything in the surrounding kilometer was enveloped, including Kyle and the others.

All of them were shell-shocked and their first involuntary reaction was to close their eyes and flinch.

They expected unbearable pain to hit them and spread through their body.

However, no such thing happened.

And instead, the moment they opened their eyes, brightness dazzled them.

It took them a while before their eyes adjusted to the bright light.

It was then that they saw that a golden glow enveloped everything around them, dispersing the darkness.

'Is that a heavenly phenomenon?' Kyle wondered in shock.

Excitement spread through his entire body, replacing the fear he had felt only a few seconds before.

Something in the center of the light piqued his interest.

But before he could even think about that, excitement spread through his body, almost making him forget what he wanted to do.

From evading death by a hair's breadth, his entire body felt as if it was nurtured to an extraordinary extent. Simultaneously, his comprehension of the wind affinity seemed to increase without putting any effort.

This was all owing to the golden hue that enveloped him.

Not just Kyle but it enveloped every single living being in the surrounding kilometer which the black mass had previously enmantled.

Kyle was not sure how the black mass could turn into a heavenly phenomenon.

His knowledge about the same was limited to what he had only heard in his past life.

And that was very little. However, the effects he felt on his body were exactly the same as described.

Every single living creature inside the radius of the heavenly phenomena would be enlightened, nourished, and their cultivation pace accelerated by a thousand times!

However, there was one particular thing that made Kyle feel as if the phenomenon was not a normal one.

It was because of the object he had seen earlier.

In the end, everything that had happened was not normal.

But, everything originated from one place which is the forbidden zone.

This was probably also the place where the object he was staring at came from!

Just as he thought about that, the golden hue around everyone had been retracted.

When that happened, every living being was visibly frustrated.

There was only one being that was still benefiting from the golden hue- Kyle!

He was still enveloped by the golden hue and it took him a second to realize that the golden marble he had been eyeing had now emerged in front of him.

Upon taking a closer look, he realized that it was not a marble.

It was more like a unique-looking scale that was black-colored.

Meanwhile, the depths of it radiated a deep golden glow.

This caused Kyle to frown as he had never seen such an exotic scale.

His eyes went wide as a voice was transmitted into his head.

[A...soul of the Old Universe...and a young one at that...interesting!]

It was the charming voice of a calm and patient woman, who was proficient in playing around with others. Kyle realized this with a feisty expression.

He knew that nothing good would come out of it when he heard 'Old Soul'.

Gritting his teeth, he completely ignored the nourishment his body received.

It filled him with nutrition and energy as he awaited the next words of the woman.

Initially, Kyle had wanted to say something.

But just like it was the case before, he was unable to move even a single inch.

He could not even move his eyelids.

As he was unable to shut his eyes, he was forced to face the golden glowing, black scale.

[It has been a long time since I saw an acquaintance...Show me which era you belong to, and how such a young exemplar of us can even exist!]

A faint trace of interest could be heard in the woman's voice.

But Kyle couldn't even think straight as a single doubt emerged in his head.

'Us?'

Only a moment later, an unbearable headache swept through his mind making him stumble backward.

It felt like thousands of blazing blades were pierced through his brain, only to leave him behind with nothing but pain…endless pain.

Seconds felt like eons and Kyle didn't even realize that the torture had stopped just a moment later.

As he sagged in relief, the voice resounded within his head once again.

[You were just trash before reincarnating and were not even able to cultivate. That's… disappointing…]

Apparently, the mysterious woman had just read his memories while Kyle had just helplessly watched.

He was too weak and not able to do anything at all.

He was a mere mortal who had just gotten a glimpse of the sheer strength of the unknown being.

He was powerless and couldn't even decipher the being's complete strength.

Even the others could only look at Kyle's distorted expression.

They had no clue what was going on and endless fear spread through their entire body.

Gaby and the Jars were unable to move, just by witnessing what had happened during the last few minutes.

This had almost been enough to make them lose their mind.

And, it was only when Selene rushed ahead, that they regained their senses.

Without thinking about what she was doing, Selene had rushed towards Kyle.

In an attempt to reach Kyle, she raised her hand and tried to pierce through the thick golden hue.

She wanted to help him by all means, but her efforts were in vain.

No sooner had her fingers touched the hue, she was repelled and flung backward a moment later.

Selene was hurled back where she bashed into Gaby. Both of them were further flung away as the charming voice of the woman resounded in his head again. He could sense the distinct amusement in her voice.

[The youngest soul of the old universe- Even if your past was disappointing, the second chance you obtained seems to be much more interesting….and perfect to play around with!!]

At that moment a thin stream of information flooded his mind. Kyle was able to grasp what had just happened a few minutes ago, starting with the sudden appearance of the Tenux storm.

Apparently, the three kingdoms and the higher ups of the Guild were secretly entering the forbidden zone.

They wanted to procure the treasure that was hidden deep within it.

The said treasure was unintentionally creating the Tenux storm.

Every century in which it blossomed, this treasure released a high amount of energy.

This treasure was some sort of flower Kyle had never had heard about.

But it seemed to be extremely valuable as everyone was fighting for the right to claim it.

Yet, the real issue was that nobody could pluck it without destroying the flower.

This forced everyone to visit the Sadorla forest's forbidden zone every century.

If the flower could not be plucked, they could at least fight for the flower's produced goods, with their life on the line.

However, what the three kingdoms and the Guild didn't realize was that the seemingly simple barrier was even more special than they could have thought.

They had constructed it while placing the sealed black scale in the center of it.

In the end, Kyle and the others had just been unlucky.

It seemed that the flower seemed to have produced mutated beads of exceptional quality.

This had caused the unexpected manifestation of the Tenux Storm.

As a result, it damaged the barrier that was still replenishing the energy it had lost owing to the previous Tenux storm.

If Kyle understood correctly, everything was just a coincidence.

The sealed energy within the black scale was hungrily devoured by the barrier.

As it was running low on energy, it used this sealed energy as an extra boost to repair the barrier.

At the same time, it had allowed the black scale to flee.

The scale seemed to have a fraction of the mysterious woman's conscience within it.

After that, the group of five had witnessed everything clearly.

Nevertheless, Kyle was still not sure where the mysterious woman came from, or how she spoke in his head.

She was evidently an Old Soul too, but at the same time, he felt that something was odd.

He was just unable to connect the dots because he was missing the most important pieces of information!

While Kyle was trying to understand everything, the woman read every single thought of his which made her exclaim inwardly.

[I haven't had fun during the last few thousand years, my little brother...how about you entertain me a little bit?]

Under normal circumstances, this would sound like an invitation Kyle wouldn't decline.

However, this time, he wanted to reject it with all his willpower.

Unfortunately, he couldn't open his mouth as his lips were sealed tight.

Kyle's eyes only darted from left to right.

They grew wide when he heard the woman's next few words followed by multiple things that happened at once.

[[Go Youngest of the Oldest Souls! Fight for your life, and make us proud!!]

This time around, Kyle was able to move his head.

He instinctively turned towards Selene who looked at him in shock as his entire body was enveloped in the golden glow.

He didn't know for sure what was happening to him.

Yet, his instincts told him to shout out whatever was on his mind.

"Selene, I will return, alright?…. If I don't return soon, go to the Lahin kingdom...I will find you!! Don't be too sad!"

Only a moment later, the golden hue disappeared, taking Kyle along with it.

Nothing but thin air was left behind.

Seeing him vanish made Selene, who had been about to grasp the golden hue, fall on the ground.

She fell to the ground with a thud as shock overcame her.

Instinctively, Selene turned her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Her eyes went to the ground to see that the black scale with a faint golden glow was lying there.

Now, it looked like nothing more than a glamorous accessory.

**

At this very moment, millions of kilometers away from the Sadorla forest, the mysterious woman sighed deeply. Her simple sigh created a thunderous rattling of metal as she mumbled,

"To think that I was able to meet such a unique fellow… the youngest of Old Souls from the devoured universe… I hope he won't meet the others too soon…"

She might have sounded as if she wanted to use Kyle as entertainment.

But, that was the last thing she could think of.

She was thousands of meters underground, shackled down by chains that were designed to restrain Titans and Primordial beings.

'Good luck…may your path be a bright one!'