The two men of the Geo Pulse Sect stared at the Portal with flickering expressions. Ryker had definitely predicted that the Portal would appear here, but they still didn’t know how he had. There was no one who could do so, at least not without special instruments. And even then, it would take days of calculation and planning before they could be certain about it.

As though that wasn’t bad enough, often, there was about a 30% chance that the calculations would be wrong and they would have to try again.

But this… this was entirely out of their expectations. They hadn’t considered for a moment that Ryker actually had such a way out. Now they weren’t sure what to do.

“We need to report this matter.”

“Can’t we just—”

“No. You know the rules. If we take a single step through the portal, our lives are over. There’s no going back after that.”

Their expressions became solemn. It was a huge taboo to take such a step, but they had also never heard of someone who could come here and then suddenly leave afterward. At the very least, the Geo Pulse Portal didn’t have such issues tied to it.

…

Ryker waited on the other side of the portal. He half expected them to come storming out, but even after several minutes, nothing happened. Then, the portal blinked out.

Of course, Ryker hadn’t thought that just running to the other side of the Portal would be enough. The real reason why he had chosen to was because firstly, in case things went bad, it would be easier to escape through a world that he understood, and secondly… he had been exploring this Geo Pulse planet for a very long time now and understood it like the back of his hand.

He could grasp the patterns of the gravity and magnetic pulses, easily taking advantage of them even in a hectic battle. Comparatively speaking, the Dao on the other side made things much more unpredictable, and it was also an unfamiliar landscape to him. If he was too careless, he could even end up dying himself.

All these things considered, this was definitely the best place for him to do battle. And yet, just when he was prepared for a showdown, nothing happened.

‘Fascinating… I guess this also makes sense. If they didn’t have strict rules, how much earlier would they have been discovered?’

The one portal that was more sustainable than the others had someone like the timid turtle guarding it. It definitely wasn’t a coincidence that he found her so close to the portal in the first place.

‘Well, seems like I won’t need to worry about them… for now.’

There were only two ways that these things could go. Either they would forget he ever existed, or the next time he saw one of them it would be a true powerhouse.

Only time would tell. Either way, he had gotten what he needed out of it.

He entered the prison after finding a secluded region in the distance. Then, he brought out a large number of corpses.

During his time in three of the most dangerous regions of this Iteration, he had gathered up a large number of corpses. His purpose was purely for the sake of helping Phoenix to refine their body.

From the Geo Pulse Planet, he gathered up many Pulsing Horn Rhinos. From Mount Destruction, he gathered up a large number of Ruby Serpents. And from the Storm World, he had gathered up a large number of Swallowing Wind Doves.

Just looking at his storage device, one would think that he had raided a butcher’s store. But the problem was that there was likely no butcher in the world that could have such a large concentration of 7th Circle creatures.

Ryker took his time, bringing out the Soup Stone that he had traded for from the Valorian Clan.

He didn’t cook what he wanted to for Phoenix immediately. Instead, he carefully made dish after dish, baptizing the Soup Stone in large numbers of 7th Circle beasts. It could be said that there was likely no Soup Stone in existence that had ever received such treatment from the very beginning.

If it was just the 7th Circle beasts, that would be one thing. But more shockingly than that were Prometheus’ flames.

Ryker had never used his own beast’s flames on his Soup Stone before for obvious reasons, but now that he had, he felt that it was completely different. The Soup Stone seemed to quickly be gaining a spiritual character.

Ryker was surprised by this, but he didn’t wait as he pressed onward.

What was the purpose of a Soup Stone? It was a stone infused with the essence of a Spiritual Cook’s life’s work. It could be used as the foundation for sauces, it could be used in marinades, and, of course, it could be used to enhance soups. It could be said that no matter the dish, the Soup Stone could have a role.

If one wanted a salad, a Soup Stone could enhance the dressing. If one wanted a steak, a Soup Stone could enhance the basting. If one wanted fried meat, the Soup Stone could even infuse its essence into the very oil.

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‘Is this the power of chaos?’ Ryker couldn’t help but wonder.

It should take years to season a Soup Stone. Ryker had planned to forcefully leap over this hurdle by wasting a lot of quality resources. He had expected to take upwards of 90% in loss. However, because of Prometheus, the penetration of the seasoning was far beyond his expectations. He ended up losing not even 30%.

Due to this, Ryker finished much earlier than he expected, and he brought out the herbs he had prepared earlier as well.

An hour later, the Soup Stone had already surpassed his old one. It had to be remembered that he had put 14 years of blood, sweat, and tears into that Soup Stone. But in just a single sitting, he had already surpassed it.

The best part was that he still had so many of the resources he had gathered left.

‘It seems that it’s about time for Phoenix to reach the Ascension…’

Ryker’s gaze sharpened and he began to cook. Meats sizzled, Spiritual Qi swiped through the air, and aromas lingered, filling people with an overflowing sense of gluttony.

Hours later, Ryker summoned Phoenix, already thinking about what he would do after this. He would definitely take Jaana and return to the Valorian Clan. He might swing by the Rivarius Clan’s oceans again to get what he needed to help both Queen and Prometheus.

Phoenix’s appetite was as voracious as one might expect. Their three heads went at it, devouring everything in sight. But this time, Ryker had made so much food that it wasn’t all that easy for them to finish it all. For the first time, they began to truly feel full.

Just when they thought they had reached their limits, they swallowed a large amount of fragrant tea, only for their blood to thrum and roar.

BOOM.

They broke into the Middle of the 9th Enlightenment Realm and their body exploded in size.

Suddenly, they were starving again.

Ryker grinned.

The tea was a bit of an unconventional method. It was something that humans enjoyed, not beasts. Ryker had agreed with this as well, until he saw a special method in the Iteration.

Teas were great for many things.

They could give one an awake state of mind or help one sleep. They could increase appetite or suppress it. They could be sweet on the tongue or endlessly bitter.

At the end of the day, teas were just herbs distilled into hot water. If one was clever with how they mixed their herbs and grinded them, it was possible to force a wide range of results.

In this case, Ryker used it to dilate the blood vessels of Phoenix. The sudden change caused their bottleneck to loosen and forced their body into a growth state. At that moment, the excess energy in the food took action.

This excess energy wasn’t there for Phoenix to absorb. Instead, its purpose was to grind the food down and help Phoenix digest it. This energy used Phoenix’s blood as a vessel, and once the blood vessels were dilated, the food became as smooth as mush and was easily absorbed into their cells.

The process repeated again and again, and soon, Phoenix had broken into the Higher 9th Enlightenment Realm.

Large amounts of energy came from the prison. But the concentration of Spirit Energy was so high that it didn’t even seem like Phoenix was making a dent in it.

A combination of external and internal energy mixed together, coming together to form a beautiful balance.

Peak of the 9th Enlightenment Realm.

BOOM. BOOM.

Phoenix grew as tall as 15 meters, their heads towering over everything.

Queen watched with interest, seemingly not scared of what she was seeing at all. She slithered around Ryker’s neck and continuously gave him kisses as though she was trying to remind him to help her grow up just as fast too.

Ryker smiled and scratched her head.

Phoenix was his second contract. They had been through a lot together already. Although he should have been closer to the Silver Mirror, it was ultimately just an object and he had never heard its spirit speak. As far as he knew, that wasn’t even possible for treasure spirits. Plus, he had a lot of negative associations with the Silver Mirror.

But Phoenix was different. He had watched the big guy grow, and his first taste of strength, true strength, was thanks to them.

Helping Phoenix reach the Ascension Realm… that was just his job as their Master.

“Don’t worry. Soon, I’ll help you all too.”

Prometheus rattled and Queen licked his cheek.

Ryker smiled, and to his surprise, he felt the Silver Mirror tremble slightly.

“Oh?”

Ryker was about to check what he had just seen, when there was a

sudden powerful suction force that nearly pulled him up from his seated position.

JJJRRROOOOM!

Ryker’s gaze sharpened and he looked up.

Every one of Phoenix’s beautiful white scales lit up as though a golden light had been hidden within. The feathers of their tail bristled and their heads rose high into the skies.

Three crowns appeared, one above each of their heads.

A crown of fire.

A crown of earth.

A crown of wind.

Gorgeous in their resplendent light, they rotated and thrummed with a pulsing echo.

BOOM!

Phoenix’s aura broke through the final barrier.

Ryker stood to his feet, his eyes glowing. It was like he could see all of his prospects laid out before him. This was the first step, but there would be many more.

He wanted Phoenix to be his first Ascended beast, and watching as the big guy grew to 20 meters tall, he could already imagine them soaring through the skies, untouched and unbothered by the thoughts and feelings of others.

Phoenix’s aura continued to grow, and suddenly their hunger became overwhelming once again. They practically inhaled the rest of the food, unwilling to let the smallest drop go. Ryker even had to quickly catch his Soup Stone so that they wouldn’t go and swallow that as well. But that didn’t stop his gaze from flashing with pride.

That was it.

When he returned to the Valorian Clan this time, not only would he make the Glory Path challenge seem like nothing more than a joke, he would show them the kind of beasts that Ryker Valorian had under his control… He would show them the true strength of a 9th Circle Talent.

Ryker was lost in his dreams and he felt his emotions surging once again. Feeling that he might spiral into another episode if he wasn’t careful, he hurriedly suppressed it.

But the timing was simply too awful.

Because of this, he missed the flash of darkness in Phoenix’s aura and the surge of Corruption. By the time he realized that something was wrong, a claw swiped out far faster than he could react.

Ryker’s chest was torn open. His bones were treated like fragile paper and his flesh fell like rain.

He was sent flying back with more speed than he had touched in this lifetime, crashing against the walls of the prison.

The walls had not the slightest bit of give. The materials they were constructed of were far too sturdy.

Ryker’s skull fractured into pieces and his brain became a pile of mush. His inner organs were minced and his consciousness faded.

He could barely look up with a bloodied vision to see the Spirit Beast he had taken so much pride in staring down at him with a surge of murderous intent.

‘… Demon… Path…’

Ryker slid down the wall, his liquified flesh mixing in with his blood to leave a grotesque trail.