Chapter 41: A Visitor Beneath the Three-Eyed Dragon’s Gaze
A Visitor Beneath the Three-Eyed Dragon’s Gaze
Bang!
Just as Damien Salvatore continued wandering anxiously outside the door, it suddenly opened.
The wooden doors swung inward without a sound.
Victor stepped out with the bearing of a dragon striding across the world.
His long shoulder-length black hair flowed gently behind him as the morning breeze stirred the hem of his black robe embroidered with majestic golden dragons. His handsome face remained calm and composed, while his golden eyes seemed to hold endless depth. Merely standing there made the surrounding air feel quieter, as though the world itself instinctively yielded before him.
"What are you wandering around for so early in the morning?"
Victor asked with mild curiosity, a faint smile touching his lips.
His gaze swept over Damien.
Only three days had passed.
Yet traces of True Spiritual Power were already circulating naturally throughout Damien’s body.
The young man’s aura had become far steadier than before.
He stood at the threshold of the Spiritual Awakening Realm.
Victor’s eyes revealed a trace of appreciation.
"As expected of a Golden Destiny."
"This rate of advancement truly lives up to the title of Child of Destiny."
He thought silently.
Even with countless opportunities provided by the Eternal Legacy System, Victor understood that destiny itself still played an irreplaceable role.
Someone blessed by heaven naturally walked faster than ordinary cultivators.
"Cough... cough..."
Seeing Victor emerge so suddenly, Damien nearly jumped in surprise.
He quickly cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.
After organizing the countless excuses in his mind for what felt like the hundredth time, he finally spoke.
"Patriarch..."
"Well..."
"This morning I went into town to buy breakfast."
His eyes instinctively shifted away for a brief moment.
"I met an old beggar."
"He kept muttering strange things."
"He said some major event was about to happen in Aurelia City."
"Something about a Heavenly Secret Realm appearing, bringing great opportunities and all that."
"I’m still young, so I couldn’t really understand what he was talking about."
"So I thought I should report it to you."
After finishing, Damien forced the most innocent expression he could manage.
Inside, however...
He was praying Victor would simply accept the explanation.
There was no better excuse he could think of.
"A Heavenly Secret Realm?"
"An old beggar?"
A faint smile appeared on Victor’s face.
"Yes, yes, exactly!"
Damien nodded so vigorously that his black hair bounced with the movement.
Victor naturally understood where this information truly originated.
It certainly wasn’t from some mysterious beggar.
It came from Damien’s memories of his previous life.
The young man simply wasn’t ready to reveal his greatest secret.
Victor had no intention of forcing the issue.
Everyone carried secrets.
As long as Damien remained loyal to the Salvatore Family, Victor was willing to wait until the day he chose to reveal everything himself.
Still...
Victor silently engraved the information into his memory.
A Heavenly Secret Realm appearing within Aurelia City...
That was undoubtedly an opportunity too valuable to ignore.
In fact, ever since emerging from his secluded cultivation, Victor had already sensed that something about Aurelia City felt unusually quiet.
Almost...
Too quiet.
The Salvatore Family had swallowed both the Ashthorn Family and the Ravencreast Family in rapid succession.
Such a monumental upheaval should have shaken the entire city.
Every major force should have reacted.
The City Lord should have questioned them immediately.
Yet...
Nothing had happened.
No investigation.
No warning.
No interference whatsoever.
It was as though someone had deliberately ignored the complete reshuffling of Aurelia City’s balance of power.
That silence alone was highly suspicious.
Victor’s golden eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
It seemed there were many things happening beneath the surface.
Just then...
"Oh?"
Victor suddenly raised his head.
His expression remained calm, but a faint glimmer flashed through his golden eyes.
"A guest has arrived."
His gaze effortlessly pierced through walls, courtyards, and countless buildings before settling upon the entrance of the Salvatore Family estate.
—
Outside the Salvatore Family estate.
A middle-aged man dressed in elegant robes stood motionless before the massive gates.
It was Adrian Valerius.
However...
The usually composed master of the Celestial Fate Pavilion looked nothing like his normal self.
He stood frozen where he was.
His breathing had become uneven.
Cold sweat slowly formed across his forehead.
Shock completely filled his eyes.
Within his pupils, mysterious Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams patterns revolved continuously as his observation technique operated at its absolute limit.
His vision pierced beyond the physical world.
He wasn’t looking at the buildings.
Nor the walls.
Nor the people.
He was looking at destiny itself.
The moment his gaze rose toward the skies above the Salvatore Family estate...
His entire body stiffened.
His heart nearly stopped beating.
"Fortune... transforming into a dragon..."
His lips trembled.
His voice was barely audible.
"A Three-Eyed Auspicious Destiny Dragon soaring through the heavens..."
"What in the world is going on with the Salvatore Family...?"
His mind had gone completely blank.
To ordinary people...
The Salvatore Family appeared prosperous.
Powerful.
Grand.
Nothing more.
But Adrian Valerius did not see the ordinary world.
His cultivation technique allowed him to glimpse the hidden currents of fate.
And what he witnessed today overturned everything he believed possible.
High above the estate...
A colossal golden dragon stretched across the heavens.
Its body measured tens of thousands of feet in length.
Each scale shone like condensed sunlight.
Ancient golden radiance flowed endlessly across its majestic body.
Every movement caused invisible waves of destiny to ripple through the sky.
Its four immense claws looked capable of suppressing mountains, kingdoms, and even fate itself.
Yet what truly shook Adrian’s soul...
Were its eyes.
Three eyes.
Not two.
Three.
The third eye rested upon its forehead like a divine heavenly mark.
It remained tightly closed.
Yet even while unopened, it radiated a terrifying pressure that made Adrian instinctively lower his head.
He didn’t dare continue staring.
He had an indescribable feeling.
If that eye ever opened completely...
It would see through every secret beneath heaven.
Nothing could hide from it.
Not fate.
Not karma.
Not destiny.
The dragon slowly lowered its enormous head.
Its deep, ancient golden pupils calmly settled upon Adrian.
At that instant...
His entire body turned cold.
Every instinct screamed danger.
It wasn’t killing intent.
Nor hostility.
It was something even more terrifying.
The gaze of an existence so vastly superior that it regarded him no differently than a mortal might regard a grain of sand.
Adrian’s breathing became increasingly difficult.
His observation technique collapsed on its own.
The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams vanished from his pupils.
He staggered back several steps before barely regaining his balance.
His back was completely soaked with sweat.
His heart pounded violently against his chest.
"This..."
He stared at the gates of the Salvatore Family with disbelief.
"This Salvatore Family..."
"Could it truly be some ancient imperial clan..."
"...or perhaps an unrivaled sacred land in disguise...?"
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