Lorion continued to drift.

  He was wrapped in a dim golden glow. His body didn’t move. He didn’t wake up.

  He was unconscious, floating alone in the void.

  There was no light. No sense of direction. Nothing to see or feel. Even time didn’t seem to matter.

  It wasn’t space. It wasn’t anything.

  No one could tell how long he had been drifting. A few minutes? A few thousand years? It didn’t make a difference here.

  At some point, something appeared in the distance.

  It was a soft glow.

  It didn’t flicker or pulse. It was steady. Faint, but real.

  It wasn’t a star. It wasn’t a planet. Just a presence, far away.

  The golden light around Lorion slowly moved in that direction. Whether it was guiding him or simply drifting, no one could say.

  As he got closer, the dark space ahead shifted slightly. Like something was being pressed from the other side.

  That was the universe his mother had chosen.

  There was no noise.

  He passed through.

  Lorion had entered.

  He was no longer in the Outer Abyss.

  Around him, tiny points of light floated in the dark.

  Some were weak. Some were brighter. They didn’t move.

  But they were there—far apart, spread in every direction.

  After an unknown amount of time, Lorion's body floated in front of a blue planet.

  The planet was quiet and round. White clouds wrapped around it like scattered trails, and faint rings of energy circled above its upper atmosphere. There was a thin, translucent glow covering the entire planet, barely visible unless seen up close.

  The golden light surrounding Lorion didn’t stop. It brought him forward.

  When he touched the glow, a sharp crack echoed in space. A circular fissure appeared where he passed through, just his size. Then, the crack sealed itself almost instantly.

  A moment later, the golden light faded.

  Lorion’s eyes opened.

  “What?!” he blurted out.

  He looked around, confused. “Mother?!”

  There was no answer. Just wind and clouds around him. The sky was dark, but he wasn’t on the ground. He was floating in the upper layer of the atmosphere.

  He calmed his breath and looked down.

  After thinking back, he remembered everything. The conversation. His mother’s sad expression. Then nothing. She must have knocked him out and sent him away.

  He lowered his head slightly.

  She wanted to protect him from the Neo-Humans. He understood that. But it still hurt. He had trained so hard. He thought he was strong enough to stand beside her, to take revenge for his father and brothers.

  He sighed and looked ahead.

  Where had she sent him?

  He didn’t believe there was any place safe from the Neo-Humans—not in their universe. He raised his hand and tried to spread his divine sense.

  Something flew out of him.

  He stepped back by instinct, but then froze. It looked like his mother. Not her real self—but a small piece of her soul.

  It opened its eyes and smiled.

  “If this fragment is here, then you survived the Outer Abyss,” the soul said softly.

  “Outer Abyss?” Lorion asked.

  He didn’t remember. He had been unconscious.

  “The Outer Abyss is the space between universes. It surrounds everything. Together, all universes form the Multiverse.”

  Lorion was stunned.

  Other universes?

  He had never heard of such a thing. To him, his universe was all there was. But now he was in another one?

  “I was lucky to find this one. It’s still young—only a few billion years old. There shouldn’t be any Sacred Emperor-level beings here. The energy is weak, so you should be able to grow fast. Especially on this planet.”

  Aeris’s soul fragment looked around calmly.

  “This world has many resources. You can take it all for yourself. Other than a few half-step Sacred Emperors—none of whom are in this galaxy—nothing here should be able to kill you.”

  Lorion clenched his fist. “Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll grow stronger and come back to help you destroy those humans.”

  “No.”

  Aeris's expression turned serious.

  “Not just stronger. You must surpass me. Surpass even the True God Realm. With your Everclimb Warbody, your potential has no limit. All you need is time.”

  Her gaze was firm.

  “Do you understand?”

  Lorion nodded. “Yes, Mother. I won’t disappoint you.”

  She smiled.

  “By the way... do you know what kind of race lives on this planet? Their strength? Their system?” he asked.

  “Ah… I didn’t check. But you don’t really need to worry. From what I felt, they’re too weak to threaten you.”

  The soul fragment’s glow began to fade.

  “Well, that’s it. Good luck, my son. I hope we meet again.”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Wait—Mother—”

  He reached out, but it was too late. The soul fragment vanished completely.

  Lorion stayed still for a moment.

  “Something you think is weak... might not be weak to me,” he muttered.

  He sighed, then shook his head.

  His expression turned calm. Then serious.

  He extended his divine sense and began to observe the planet below.

  “Humans?!” Lorion frowned.

  He looked again to make sure. The creatures walking the surface were unmistakably human.

  Why?

  Why would his mother send him to a world ruled by them?

  His eyes narrowed.

  These cursed beings… parasites of the universe. Arrogant, prideful, always unable to live alongside other races.

  “…Did they already spread into another universe?”

  His thoughts darkened. If they had reached this far, maybe the threat was worse than he imagined. But something didn’t add up—he didn’t feel the oppressive strength he knew from his home. These ones… were grounded. Stuck on a single planet.

  Weak.

  His killing intent surged.

  If they hadn’t grown yet, now was the time to act. He could erase them all before they multiplied.

  A cold grin stretched across his face.

  His power erupted.

  An overwhelming pressure descended from above, blanketing the entire planet in an instant. The atmosphere cracked. The clouds twisted. The lands quivered beneath the weight of his presence.

  But before the pressure could settle—

  He paused.

  He felt them.

  Several powerful gazes suddenly turned toward him. At least three felt equal to him. One… was even stronger.

  He clicked his tongue.

  Too soon.

  Without moving an inch, Lorion vanished.

  He folded himself into space. The world around him warped slightly, and then stilled. From the outside, he no longer existed. Even the powerful gazes passed over him as if he were empty air.

  Hidden between the layers of space, he watched in silence.

  No one attacked. No one spoke. But he could feel it—those beings had noticed something.

  He could fight. He could even win.

  But that wasn’t the point.

  The moment he struck, humanity would see him as an enemy. And humans… were dangerous when united.

  He needed to learn more before acting.

  Fighting blindly would be a mistake.

  He turned his focus back to the humans below.

  If he wanted to observe them directly, he had to get close. Blend in. Move without drawing attention.

  His ears shrank and shifted, becoming rounded like the humans'.

  He scanned their appearance. Most of them wore similar clothes—light fabric over their upper bodies, close-fitting around their legs, with soft foot coverings. He didn’t know what the garments were called. He didn’t need to.

  He simply changed to match.

  His flowing black-and-silver robe, woven from divine materials and inscribed with old-world glyphs, faded into shadow.

  In its place appeared a loose black top with a grey panel across the chest. His pants reshaped into a darker, simpler style—tighter near the ankles, slightly creased and rough like those worn by the humans. Even his shoes transformed into soft, flat-soled footwear colored in sky-blue and grey, with thin red lines across the base.

  His golden hair remained. His golden eyes too. Those were not things he intended to hide.

  With his form now masked, he turned his gaze to the world below once again.

  “Let’s see what kind of humans you are.”

  The planet had five main continents. The energy was unbalanced—spread unevenly. Most of the spiritual power gathered around the central region, where the strongest humans appeared to reside.

  But something felt wrong.

  They had Qi, yes, but not in the amounts their strength suggested. Their energy flow didn’t follow the natural paths of cultivation. It felt distorted—like it was being channeled through something unfamiliar.

  Lorion focused harder.

  That’s when he noticed it.

  There were a few locations on the planet—three at most—where his divine sense couldn’t pass through. Each time he tried to scan them, his perception hit a wall and bounced back without a trace.

  His expression grew cold.

  “Are those the places where the humans who sensed me are hiding?”

  In his home universe, ancient cultivators often rested in pocket realms. Sometimes, whole sects sealed their elders in dimensional spaces. It could also be a secret realm.

  His gaze locked onto the nearest of the three.

  He stepped forward once.

  In a blink, he crossed thousands of kilometers and came to a silent stop high above the site.

  Below him, nestled between towering trees and twisted roots, was a moss-covered stone archway. Vines coiled around its frame, and faintly glowing runes pulsed at the top of the structure. Within the arch, a circular portal swirled with bright blue light. It didn’t ripple like water—it pulsed like a living thing, and the space inside it bent slightly, as though leading somewhere far beyond the forest.

  The area around it was alive with color. Lush plants, glowing butterflies, and soft-blue flowers lined the path leading to the gate.

  Yet, no matter how much Lorion strained to peer inside, he couldn't glimpse what lay beyond the gate. Even his divine sense was completely blocked, as if an impenetrable force sealed away all secrets within.

  Around the portal, groups of humans had gathered. Most were young, their auras weak and undeveloped. They stood in lines, walking toward the gate one by one as if entering a training ground.

  Farther back stood the adults. They wore identical dark robes and sat behind long panels, each fitted with wide, glowing screens. The images on the displays showed flickers of light, motion trails, and energy signatures—perhaps feedback from inside the realm.

  “A secret realm?” Lorion muttered.

  He watched as the young humans entered casually, without tension or hesitation.

  Judging by their strength, this place couldn’t be too dangerous. A low-level realm, most likely. That made it perfect.

  If he wanted to understand this world, slipping into the crowd and entering that portal might be the best place to start.

  He would blend in, observe, and begin his contact with the humans from there.

  He slowly descended.

  None of the adults noticed him. He moved without sound, blending into the sky like a drifting breeze.

  He stepped through the portal.

  There was no resistance.

  The moment he passed through, the world around him changed.

  “So it’s really a secret realm…” Lorion muttered.

  Above him was a sky—not the one outside. A soft blue dome stretched overhead, with a pale, quiet star pulsing gently in the center.

  Below, the terrain sprawled out—mountain ranges twisting across the horizon, dense forests crawling up their slopes, and long rivers carving silver paths between valleys. The air felt still. Quiet. Unnaturally so.

  He scanned the land carefully.

  “Is this naturally formed?” he thought.

  If not, then whoever created this… must be at the Sacred Emperor Realm.

  Only someone at the Sacred Emperor Realm could forge a space like this—and his mother had said there was no one at that level in this universe.

  Lorion frowned.

  If someone that strong really was hiding here, then he couldn’t afford to be reckless. Not even with his Divine Physique.

  To a Sacred Emperor, someone like him would be nothing more than a bug.

  As he considered the possibilities—

  It hit him.

  A crushing weight dropped on his body.

  “Urghhh!!”

  He dropped to one knee, barely able to breathe.

  “What is this?!”

  He clenched his jaw, sweat already forming on his brow.

  The pressure didn’t come from a person. It came from the realm itself.

  The laws of this world were rejecting him.

  No—

  They were suppressing him.

  “A cultivation realm limit…”

  His eyes widened.

  He could feel it—his power being forcefully sealed away.

  From Early Stage Sacred King…

  Down to Grand Saint…

  Saint Realm…

  Venerable Realm…

  Great Ascension…

  Enlightened Being…

  Fusion…

  Spirit Convergence…

  And finally—it stopped.

  Peak of Spirit Seed Realm.

  Lorion was soaked in sweat, gasping quietly. The sudden collapse of his cultivation felt like having every layer of his existence peeled away and crushed.

  He had been careless.

  He knew secret realms could suppress power levels. He’d just… underestimated it.

  Now, he couldn’t hide his presence anymore. If anyone nearby looked in his direction—any of the adult humans monitoring the portal from outside—they’d see him immediately.

  He needed time to adjust. And for that, he had to stay low.

  But of course, the moment he needed silence the most—

  A voice called out behind him.

  “Are you okay?”