The spirit fish meat was cleaned, the seasonings prepared...
Sei completed each procedure with great skill. Then, she lit the stove and heated the oil...
Half an hour later.
The fragrant spicy grouper dish, complete with color, aroma, and flavor, was finally served. Just smelling its aroma was enough to whet the appetite.
"Today is your coming-of-age day, Hikaru. Congratulations on your adulthood."
Sei smiled as she placed the spicy grouper on the dining table, looking at Hikaru, the child she had almost watched grow up.
"Adulthood. Unknowingly, I've been in this world for eighteen years already."
Hikaru looked outside, at the dark moon. There was a slight confusion in his eyes, as if he had just awakened from a grand dream after eighteen years of reincarnation. However, this feeling quickly faded.
This world now had important bonds he cared about. The only deep trace left from his previous life was the spicy grouper before him.
The dish he loved most, both in his past life and now. It was also the only connection between his two lives.
"By the way, why hasn't Mio come back yet?"
Hikaru took the rice from Sei's hand and asked in confusion.
At this hour, no matter what Mio was doing outside, she would return on time for dinner. The usual three-person dinner now felt a bit empty with one person missing.
"After she saw that your battle was fine, she tore through space and hid in a dimensional gap to fuse the Kabbalah Tree of Life. Given her condition, she won't be back anytime soon."
"With the Kabbalah Tree of Life, Mio might be able to use it to step into The Other Side all at once."
Hikaru pondered.
Moreover, the issue he had worried about before also disappeared with the emergence of the Kabbalah Tree of Life rank reward. At least, Mio no longer needed the Spirit Crystal inside the Spirit's body.
This was good news.
"Hikaru, the emergence of the Dimensional List this time might cause even greater changes than everyone imagined. The Eternal Beauty List rank rewards alone are already so abundant. One can imagine that in the Artifact List, the Gods and Demons List... those who enter the lists will gain extraordinary benefits."
"Some unknown small forces are also very likely to rise because of the Dimensional List."
"The world order will surely change with the announcement of each list."
Hikaru strongly agreed with that. The top ten rank rewards from this Eternal Beauty List, if lucky, could give birth to several Transcendences. Moreover, something like the Kabbalah Tree of Life even had the potential to help Mio step into The Other Side.
The lists to be announced next would surely have even better rank rewards, and no worse than this.
"Indeed, I never expected that in this world, there would be a transcendent existence like the Dimensional List."
Sei sighed, and continued, "Also, the Dimensional List has fully recovered after being provoked by the gods."
"Fully recovered?!"
Hikaru was slightly confused.
"When the Dimensional List eliminated the attackers, I could clearly sense that it was still in a relatively stable dormant state. Until the gods, to lure me out, tried to forcibly seize the rank rewards, which harshly provoked the Dimensional List and made it recover early. I'm certain that if anyone provokes the Dimensional List again next time, whether entire god systems or experts who have stepped into The Other Side, they will be instantly annihilated without a trace."
Sei said seriously.
Hikaru also nodded. The two attacks launched by the Dimensional List earlier indeed appeared very casual, but it could not be denied that its power was truly terrifying.
"Sei-chan, this is for you."
After saying that, Hikaru took out Amun-Ra's Divine Core and handed it to Sei.
"With this Transcendence Divine Core, plus the Strand of World Source, your injury recovery is completely secure."
Sei looked at the Divine Core in Hikaru's hand. Warmth arose in her heart, then she shook her head and refused, "This Transcendence Divine Core would be far more useful to you than to me. The Strand of World Source is already enough to heal me; at most, it just needs more time, better..."
Before Sei could finish her words, Hikaru immediately interrupted and forcefully placed Amun-Ra's Divine Core into Sei's hand.
"I don't want to hear 'enough'; what I want is absolute safety."
Hikaru's tone and expression were very firm, which slightly shook Sei's heart.
"You!"
Sei, who had been with Hikaru for many years, understood his character very well. Decisions he had made were rarely opposed by anyone.
He was dominant and also gave a sense of security.
Unknowingly, this disciple had grown from a child who had just been possessed by her shattered Divine Core, into Emperor Shin who could shake the gods.
The young eagle had truly matured, enough to soar high in the nine heavens.
She was certain that in a short time, Hikaru would be able to catch up to their steps, break through Transcendence, and step into The Other Side.
All of this was just a matter of time.