Solanky closed his eyes and calmed himself as the mysterious hand continued pulling him deeper into the unknown.
He instantly felt time and space around him shift. The flow of time had changed completely. One day in the God Realm was equivalent to an entire year in the space he had just entered.
When he opened his eyes, his pupils contracted.
Beneath him stretched a boundless sea of pocket dimensions, each one comparable in size to the entire God Realm.
The mysterious hand finally stopped. It gradually transformed into an armored humanoid figure.
Its appearance was identical to the corpse of the Ancient Devil-God Solanky had seen beneath the lake, except this one was clad in magnificent armor.
Solanky gasped.
The armored figure slowly extended a hand and made a grabbing motion.
Before Solanky could react, an irresistible force engulfed him.
He knew he had absolutely no chance of resisting. The aura radiating from the figure was comparable to that of the Sky Hybrid Sect's Ancestor.
He was instantly pulled into the figure's grasp.
Without saying a word, the armored figure dashed forward.
His speed instantly reached three hundred times the speed of light.
He made no effort to protect Solanky from the terrifying pressure generated by such velocity.
Fortunately, Solanky instinctively activated the full-body armor of his clan's treasure.
Even so, the resilient armor immediately began developing tiny cracks across its surface.
Without hesitation, Solanky took out a God of Gods Spirit Core and used its energy to reinforce the armor.
The cracks sealed themselves almost instantly, while the armor's durability doubled.
The armored figure accelerated once again.
His speed climbed to six hundred times the speed of light.
Without warning, he hurled Solanky toward a lifeless planet.
The instant Solanky crashed into its surface, the armor protecting him shattered completely.
Fortunately, his body remained intact.
The tremendous impact carved out a crater covering nearly one hundred and fifty square kilometers.
The barren planet itself was twice the size of Planet Sabiru, and every rock upon its surface possessed a hardness comparable to steel from Earth.
Solanky lay inside the crater, breathing heavily.
"If not for the armor..."
"I would have been crushed into a pile of flesh."
He slowly tried to activate his bloodline.
Nothing happened.
He attempted to circulate his magical power.
Nothing.
His spiritual energy was gone as well.
For the first time since awakening his bloodline, Solanky felt like an ordinary mortal again, just as he had been before everything began.
He attempted to summon the armor once more.
It refused to respond.
He tried opening his spatial ring.
Nothing.
He reached for the jade slip.
It too remained completely inactive.
Everything required bloodline or spiritual energy to function.
He possessed neither.
Just then...
The armored figure appeared above the crater.
Although his face remained hidden behind the helmet, Solanky could clearly feel the absolute indifference within his gaze.
The figure charged again.
This time, however, his speed had been deliberately reduced to only one hundred and fifty thousand meters per second.
For the first time in his life...
Solanky truly felt powerless.
He knew death was inevitable.
The armored figure arrived before him in an instant.
Boom!
A single punch landed squarely on Solanky's stomach.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His eyes widened in surprise.
The blood was no longer gray.
It had become bright crimson.
The impact hurled him across mountains and valleys for over five thousand kilometers.
His body crashed through countless cliffs before finally stopping.
He could no longer feel his limbs.
His vision gradually blurred.
Yet before he could recover, the armored figure appeared again.
Another punch.
This one sent Solanky soaring into the skies above the planet.
The assault continued relentlessly.
Punch after punch descended upon him.
Eventually, Solanky became numb to the pain itself.
His battered body drifted into outer space above the planet.
He had become almost unrecognizable.
His limbs were twisted.
His flesh was mangled.
Every bone in his body had been shattered repeatedly.
Only then did the armored figure finally stop.
Silently, he observed Solanky.
Although his body had reached its limits, Solanky's will refused to break.
His desire to survive...
To continue fighting another day...
Remained stronger than ever.
The armored figure finally spoke.
"You have passed the test."
"You are now qualified to inherit the Master's legacy."
He snapped his fingers.
Immediately, Solanky's broken body began healing at a visible speed.
Bones reformed.
Flesh regenerated.
His breathing gradually stabilized.
The armored figure continued,
"Every being before you died the moment they crashed onto the planet."
"I did not expect you to possess the Master's treasure."
"Even after its power was sealed, your will never collapsed."
Solanky stared blankly at him.
He had never imagined that being beaten to the brink of death had merely been a test.
Still recovering, Solanky asked,
"Who exactly is this Master you speak of?"
"What kind of existence would create such a cruel trial?"
The armored figure answered calmly.
"My Master is an existence that stands above the Source Gods."
"He created the God Realm you currently inhabit."
"He established the laws governing bloodline evolution and spiritual evolution."
"He is also the creator of the Source Defying Body Technique, a cultivation path that transcends every realm and every alternate Infinite Source World."
Solanky's heart trembled.
Even the Sky Hybrid Sect's Ancestor possessed no knowledge of the Source World.
Yet this mysterious being existed beyond even that.
The armored figure waved a hand.
The endless sea of pocket dimensions instantly converged into his palm.
Before Solanky could recover from his shock, the figure continued.
"Before departing, my Master left behind these pocket dimensions to serve as an endless energy source for the armor you inherited."
"He once received guidance from an old friend who walked the Spiritual Path, allowing him to glimpse the realm beyond the Infinite Source Space."
"As repayment for that favor, he left this inheritance behind."
"It was meant for any cultivator capable of perfectly walking both the magical path and the bloodline path."
"That was the only condition his old friend requested."
Gratitude filled Solanky's heart.
He silently thanked both incomparably powerful beings.
After a moment, he stepped forward.
"My current strength is nowhere near the Dimensional Realm, let alone the Mysterious Realm."
"I cannot possibly contain such overwhelming power."
The armored figure nodded.
"I know."
"That is why I originally intended to separate the armor within you and replace it with a weaker version."
He immediately began forming countless mysterious seals while chanting in an ancient language.
Finally, he pointed toward Solanky.
Nothing happened.
The armor refused to emerge.
The armored figure frowned.
He stepped closer and placed two fingers against Solanky's wrist, intending to locate the armor's core.
The next moment...
His eyes widened.
"Impossible..."
"How could this happen?"
"The armor has fused with every single cell of his body."
"It has even merged with his spiritual energy."
He stared at Solanky in disbelief.
"Could he truly be the perfect successor my Master waited for all this time?"
After a long silence, realization dawned upon him.
"No wonder the armor refused to fully manifest."
"When that old man placed his seal upon you..."
"The armor must have begun developing its own consciousness."
"Exactly as my Master predicted."
Everything suddenly became clear to Solanky.
He finally understood why the armor had felt strangely restrained during the trials.
He had assumed it was merely because of the residual energy stored within his wings.
In reality...
The armor had already begun protecting his true identity on its own.
The armored figure smiled faintly.
"Come."
He brought Solanky into another independent dimension.
"Sit down."
"I will help both you and the armor absorb one-tenth of the energy contained within these pocket dimensions."
"It will elevate the armor's defensive abilities to an entirely new level."
Solanky obediently sat down.
Streams of incomprehensibly vast energy poured into both his body and the armor fused with him.
His aura rose explosively.
For a brief moment, the pressure emanating from him even surpassed that of ordinary Seventh-Dimensional beings.
Meanwhile, the armor's durability reached the level of an Eighth-Dimensional existence.
Satisfied, the armored figure nodded.
"I must now place a seal upon you."
"For the next ten thousand years, your displayed strength will remain slightly below that of a Fourth-Dimensional being."
Solanky respectfully bowed.
"Thank you, Senior."
The armored figure slowly retracted his helmet.
For the first time, Solanky saw his face.
He wore a warm smile.
"My name is Seth."
He chuckled.
"Would you like to test your armor's durability now?"
Solanky immediately jumped backward.
"Huh?"
"I think I'll pass."
"Besides, I'll suppress my cultivation to the level of a God Emperor."
Seth burst into hearty laughter.
"I was only teasing you."
He turned and gestured for Solanky to follow.
"Come."
"My Master left something else behind."
"It will be of tremendous value, not only to you but also to anyone you trust completely."
Excitement immediately appeared in Solanky's eyes.
Without hesitation, he followed Seth deeper into the mysterious dimension.