The invitation was meant for Atlas, but Kayden stopped him from accepting it. Atlas needed to strengthen his mind without shortcuts and continue going through soul sessions during this period—being away for ten thousand years was too long without stabilizing. As a result, Kayden received the invitation in his place. He saw it as a great opportunity to push his sixth sense to its limit, which at that moment spanned 25,000 kilometers—a staggering amount, though Kayden believed he could achieve much more.
Master and disciple traveled through various space portals to one of the most distant points on the planet. There was absolutely nothing there—just a vast stone desert devoid of life or civilization. It was so remote that it would take months of travel at a good speed to reach this place. Kayden and Atlas easily found their destination, as all the mana in the area was being pulled toward the center of the desert like a black hole.
The amount of mana being drawn in was so massive that the surrounding environment was practically drained of it. Kayden had seen this many times before, as his path did something similar, but not on the scale of millions of kilometers like this. After a few hours, Kayden and his disciple found themselves before an enormous altar spanning dozens of kilometers, covered in millions of runes. It was an incredible sight—each rune radiated a unique aura, and mana flowed through them evenly, giving the pentagram a glowing, almost surging quality, as its blue color intensified with each passing second.
Kayden and his disciple could hardly believe what they were witnessing. The gigantic altar stretched as far as their eyes could see, its edges fading into the distant horizon. Each rune carved into the ancient stones glowed with a rhythmic, breathing blue light. The air around the altar was thick with an ancient and overwhelming energy. The runes, etched with astonishing precision, formed intricate patterns that seemed to shift slightly, changing shape as mana coursed through them. The soft hum of rising energy filled the air, mingling with the crackling of pure energy emanating from every line of the colossal pentagram.
As time passed, the altar began to transform before their eyes. The glow of the runes intensified, and the vibrant blue deepened into richer, more profound hues as if the altar was absorbing mana directly from the surroundings. Atlas felt his skin tingle, and his hair stood on end from the proximity to such immense power. The pentagram at the center of the altar slowly started to rise from the ground, like a living entity about to awaken. The ground beneath their feet trembled lightly, and a distant, almost imperceptible melody echoed through the runes, filling the air with an overwhelming presence. It was clear that something monumental was about to happen.
Within minutes, they reached the center, where an ancient hourglass stood—a relic used to measure time with sand. Surrounding it were dozens of people, all-powerful mages from high realms. However, they were not the ones who would be entering, as only those below the seventh realm would benefit from the ten thousand years. For a seventh-realm mage, ten thousand years would offer little in terms of learning, but for mages in the sixth realm or below, it was an immense amount of time.
As soon as they stepped into the area, all eyes turned toward them, but no one could say anything before they were pulled directly toward Yan and his family. Kayden didn’t even manage to step before he found himself face-to-face with the god, while Atlas stood before his siblings.
"It’s been a while, Lord Kayden," Yan greeted him. Kayden bowed and offered his greetings, then remained silent, waiting.
"Atlas, why are you still in the fourth realm?" Jasmine, his sister, was the first to speak after not seeing him for decades.
"I haven’t reached the ideal point to advance," Atlas replied, as usual. Over the next few minutes, everyone exchanged their experiences. While most had incredible stories to tell, Atlas had only trained.
While his siblings visited other planets and used legendary treasures, Atlas had only trained and trained. He hadn’t left Kayden’s side for decades. In the past, this might have caused him to feel regret, but after seeing the strength he had gained, there was no room for sadness.
"You’ve turned him into a monster, Kayden," Yan commented, out of earshot from his children. Atlas had once been the weakest, but now, he could go toe-to-toe with the strongest, as long as they were in the same realm.
"He’s not ready yet. I want a few more thousand years to refine him. I’ll turn him into a true monster, Lord Yan, just wait," Kayden’s words made the god raise his eyebrows.
In Yan’s view, Atlas was already terrifyingly strong. His son had always been special, but he shouldn’t have been able to surpass the level he was previously at. All of this was due to Kayden’s special soul technique.
"Can the soul technique be used on my other children?" Yan was a good father, willing to move entire worlds to make it possible.
"No, the person must have an exceptionally strong mind, and none of your other children possess that. They’d go insane after just a few days," Kayden answered honestly. Only this monster, Atlas, seemed to have the necessary mental strength, but he didn’t need Kayden’s technique.
"That’s a shame. What’s your goal for Atlas?" Yan didn’t know how far his son could go, but he had some ideas. Kayden’s next words, however, took him into a completely different world from what he expected.
"I want him to become a monarch. He’ll likely be dozens of times stronger than he is now and will only have your daughter as his main opponent in this world."
Even Kayden wasn’t the strongest in his realm, and he knew that. When he was in the fifth realm, there were still people who could fight against him. But the difference was that he had no race backing him. Atlas had immense immediate potential, while Kayden had tremendous future potential.
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Most people’s strength followed a sequential growth across realms, but Kayden’s power increased multiplicatively. With each realm, his strength grew dozens of times because his sixth sense expanded, and the area it covered multiplied his strength directly.
Author’s note: problems lead me to come back with a chapter for a while, sorry dear readers