"How many years had it been? I finally saw life from The Source Devouring Universe again."
The enormous phantom leaned close to Leon, its building-sized eyes filled with wistfulness.
"Ever since I was buried in the depths of space, how long had it been? Nearly a trillion eras, perhaps..."
The phantom's deep sigh left Leon stunned.
"You're a life-form from the previous era?" Leon thought that a trillion eras was almost enough to match a full cycle of reincarnation.
"Life-form? No, I am merely an intelligent program."
The phantom said, "In the middle to late stages of the previous reincarnation era, Zhou, the supreme Time Beast God, fell, leaving behind me and this fortress."
"After The Source Devouring Universe entered reincarnation, the fortress was buried within fragments of cosmic space. Only now has it emerged once more."
"Little fellow, are you the one the great World Consciousness spoke of—the person with the potential to pass the assessment and obtain all the inheritances Zhou left behind?"
"I must remind you that this assessment is life-threatening."
Leon nodded. "Whether I succeed or fail, I want to give it a try!"
"Hmm... very well. A special life-form with a hundredfold genetic level—at some level, you and Zhou can be considered kin. You are qualified to try," the phantom said, exhaling.
"But your foundation seems quite poor. Throw a punch and let me see."
"Yes!" Leon took his stance and used the flawed force-amplification technique he had deduced to fifteenfold strength, throwing a punch.
The phantom immediately frowned.
Its voice crashed like thunder. "What the hell is this? Have you never received a proper inheritance?"
"Not yet. I've always been figuring things out on my own." Leon nodded.
"A blank sheet of paper? Fine. I'll give you thirty days to thoroughly learn this Ben