In the Void Ocean, after sending his clone into the new world, Kaelan distanced himself from it and searched for a suitable hiding place.
Eventually, he found a massive rock drifting through the endless Void.
Using his strength, he hollowed out its interior and settled inside to recover.
Creating the clone had damaged both his Essence and his True Spirit.
Recovering Essence was relatively simple.
Recovering the True Spirit was not.
Kaelan absorbed the surrounding Void Energy.
Although doing so did not increase his cultivation, it accelerated the recovery of his Essence.
Void Monsters were creatures born from Void Energy.
Their flesh, blood, bones, and organs were all transformed from Void Energy.
Because of this, Void Energy naturally replenished their bodies.
It was also the reason Kaelan could transform himself into pure Void Energy.
His True Spirit, however, was a different matter.
He possessed no method capable of actively healing it.
Fortunately, a wisp of Immortal Energy existed within his True Spirit.
That Immortal Energy continuously nourished and repaired the damage.
Unfortunately, the process was extremely slow.
After making several calculations, Kaelan estimated that fully restoring his True Spirit would require more than two hundred years.
To most beings, two hundred years was an unimaginable length of time.
To an immortal Void Monster, it was merely a long period of waiting.
While recovering his Essence and True Spirit, Kaelan turned his attention toward improving his understanding of the Void Monster Way.
Like his inherited memories, the Void Monster Way had been born with him.
He could use it instinctively.
Yet understanding and usage were two entirely different things.
A child could swing a weapon.
That did not mean the child understood martial arts.
Kaelan's situation was much the same.
To improve his strength, he currently had three options.
The first was destroying worlds.
The second was improving his understanding of the Void Monster Way.
The third was cultivation.
At present, he was already in the process of destroying a world.
Had he wished, he could have devoured the world directly.
Instead, he chose a slower approach.
He wanted the world's cultivation knowledge.
Only after obtaining that knowledge would he destroy it.
As a result, he had no choice but to wait for his clone.
That left improving the Void Monster Way as his only path forward.
During the past two thousand years, his understanding of the Void Monster Way had reached less than five per cent.
The Way was profound beyond imagination.
Every increase in understanding required immense effort.
It was difficult.
Slow.
And frustrating.
Yet it remained the only path available to him.
Kaelan sank into cultivation.
He continuously studied the Void Monster Way while synchronising himself with the surrounding Void Energy.
His consciousness gradually merged with the endless Void.
Time passed silently.
Days became months.
Months became years.
The Void remained unchanged.
Dark.
Silent.
Endless.
His senses spread throughout the surrounding region.
He did not actively search for anything.
Instead, he maintained a state similar to an alarm.
Any disturbance entering his perception range would immediately alert him.
Until then, he remained motionless inside the drifting rock.
Recovering.
And comprehending.
While studying the Void Monster Way, Kaelan suddenly sensed a disturbance enter his perception range.
His concentration immediately sharpened.
However, he did not spread his senses to investigate.
Doing so would have been foolish.
Spiritual perception worked both ways.
If he could perceive others, others could perceive him.
Careless probing might reveal his location.
Instead, Kaelan slowly opened his eye.
The single vertical eye on his head stared into the endless Void.
Through his Energy Vision, he observed the source of the disturbance.
The moment he saw it, his body froze.
A Tier Five Transcendent.
The energy source moved through the Void at astonishing speed.
Even from a great distance, Kaelan could sense the immense power contained within it.
Fear rose inside him.
Not because the opponent's life level exceeded his own.
According to his inherited memories, Void Monsters were nearly invincible against opponents of the same realm.
Yet inherited memories were one thing.
Reality was another.
He had never fought a Tier Five Transcendent before.
Nor did he possess any true Transcendent cultivation method.
Most of his strength came from his Void Monster body and bloodline abilities.
Meanwhile, the approaching figure was clearly a cultivator.
A being who had reached Tier Five through a complete cultivation system.
Furthermore, Kaelan was injured.
His Essence had yet to fully recover.
His True Spirit remained heavily damaged.
Under such circumstances, he felt little confidence.
His first instinct was to flee.
The thought appeared almost immediately.
Hide.
Wait.
Avoid unnecessary danger.
Yet he suppressed the impulse.
A Tier Five Transcendent appearing in the outer layer of the Void was unusual.
Very unusual.
Most Tier Five beings remained within worlds or travelled through regions rich in resources.
The outer Void possessed almost nothing.
That was one of the reasons Kaelan had chosen this place as his refuge.
He continued watching.
The distant figure moved steadily forward.
Its direction never changed.
Gradually, Kaelan realised where it was heading.
The world.
His target world.
The realisation caused his heart to sink.
For a moment, he remained completely still.
What should he do?
He did not want to confront a Tier Five cultivator.
He knew nothing about the cultivator's abilities.
Nothing about their cultivation path.
Nothing about their combat strength.
And he was injured.
Every instinct urged caution.
Yet he could not allow the cultivator to reach that world.
His thoughts rapidly turned.
Should he protect the world?
The question itself felt absurd.
A Void Monster protecting a world.
The clone inside the world never entered his considerations.
It was only a clone.
Even if it died, he could create another.
The real issue was the world itself.
Was the world valuable enough to risk his life?
He did not know.
That was precisely the problem.
He did not know its value.
The world might contain cultivation knowledge capable of changing his future.
Or it might contain nothing useful at all.
But if he abandoned it now, he would never find out.
Kaelan recalled the past two thousand years.
During those two thousand years, this was the first world he had discovered.
If he abandoned it today, when would he find another?
One thousand years later?
Two thousand years later?
Ten thousand years later?
There was no guarantee.
Even worse, what if the same situation occurred again?
What if every time he found a world, a stronger being appeared?
Would he retreat every time?
Would he abandon every opportunity?
If he did, his strength would never improve.
A path of constant retreat led nowhere.
Whether the world contained valuable knowledge no longer mattered.
Even if the world proved worthless.
Even if the cultivation systems inside were useless.
Destroying the world alone would still increase his strength.
That was enough.
The hesitation gradually disappeared from Kaelan's eyes.
In its place appeared determination.
He would not abandon this opportunity.
Not this time.
Not after waiting two thousand years.
The Void Energy around him began to stir.
Kaelan slowly emerged from the hollow rock.
His eight tentacles stretched outward.
The massive stone drifted silently through the Void behind him.
His single eye remained fixed upon the distant cultivator.
Fear still lingered within his heart.
He did not believe himself invincible.
He did not believe victory was guaranteed.
But he was no longer willing to retreat.
Without another thought, Kaelan accelerated.
His body transformed into a stream of Void Energy.
Like a silent current flowing through an endless ocean, he headed directly toward the approaching Tier Five Transcendent.
Soon, he arrived between the cultivator and the world.
Then he stopped.
He waited.
The Void around him remained silent.
The distant figure gradually approached.
As the distance shortened, Kaelan finally saw the cultivator clearly.
The man walked through the Void Ocean as though strolling through an ordinary road.
A multicoloured sphere of light surrounded his body.
The protective barrier continuously repelled the surrounding Void Energy.
Seeing this, Kaelan frowned.
According to his inherited memories, a Tier Five Transcendent's body had already evolved enough to withstand the erosion of Void Energy.
Only Tier Four Transcendents required protective energy barriers when travelling through the Void.
Yet this cultivator was clearly a Tier Five.
Kaelan carefully observed him.
Then a possibility emerged.
The cultivator might have broken through recently.
His body had not yet fully adapted to the transformation.
Nor had he discovered all the abilities granted by the Fifth Tier.
The conclusion immediately improved Kaelan's mood.
A newly advanced Tier Five was far less frightening than a veteran.
Perhaps this battle was not as hopeless as he had feared.
The cultivator continued approaching.
Closer.
Closer.
Until he finally entered striking distance.
At that moment, Kaelan acted.
His body materialised from the surrounding Void Energy.
The sudden appearance shocked the cultivator.
Without hesitation, Kaelan unleashed his attack.
All eight tentacles moved simultaneously.
Each carried the power of a Tier Five Void Monster.
At the same time, he activated the Void Monster Way.
The surrounding Void Energy erupted.
Invisible laws descended upon the region.
The cultivator's expression changed drastically.
For the first time since entering the Void Ocean, genuine alarm appeared in his eyes.
Then Kaelan's tentacles struck.