One Year Later
In one of the quiet residential districts of Planet Diamond, hidden away from the towering crystal skyscrapers and bustling traffic, stood a modest bungalow surrounded by flowering trees.
Unlike the luxurious mansions owned by powerful Sovereigns, the house looked simple.
Peaceful.
Comfortable.
Inside the quiet home, a young man sat cross-legged upon the wooden floor of a spacious training room.
His long raven-black hair flowed past his shoulders.
His breathing remained perfectly steady.
Tiny particles of essence drifted through the air before slowly being absorbed into his body.
The surrounding atmosphere rippled gently.
The young man was...
Jade.
A full year had passed since the Initiate Trial.
During that year, almost everything in his life had changed.
Thanks to Aviana's relentless hunting inside the Spiritual Realm, she had earned enough money for the two of them to purchase this small bungalow.
It wasn't extravagant.
But it belonged to them.
For Jade...
That alone was enough.
Originally, he had believed the damage inflicted by the Silent Fang would leave him crippled for an entire year.
Instead...
The Beast God's lineage had once again exceeded his expectations.
His damaged essence pathways slowly reconstructed themselves.
His broken circulation healed.
Within six months...
He had completely recovered.
Even so, Jade refused to return to the Spiritual Realm immediately.
Instead, he spent the remaining months doing something entirely unexpected.
He studied.
Every day.
Ancient languages.
Forgotten civilizations.
Lost religions.
The history of the Gods.
Anything remotely connected to the old world fascinated him.
At the same time, he diligently practiced the Beast Sutra, sparred with the Ant Demon, and reviewed every memory collected by Ling.
The little shadow had become Jade's eyes throughout the Spiritual Realm.
Whenever Jade rested...
Ling explored.
Whenever Jade studied...
Ling wandered through forgotten ruins.
It had even stumbled upon Blake and Ella during one of its countless explorations.
Since Ling couldn't speak, Jade briefly considered teaching it how to communicate by shaping itself into letters.
After thinking about it...
He abandoned the idea.
Somehow...
Watching the tiny shadow silently spy on people while pretending it wasn't spying had become strangely entertaining.
Eventually, Jade realized Blake and Ella were searching for one of the lost inheritances belonging to the Death God.
Rather than interfere...
Jade simply instructed Ling to quietly help them.
Scout dangerous areas.
Warn them of approaching monsters.
Nothing more.
He had no intention of stealing another person's opportunity.
Besides...
History had become far more interesting than treasure.
Jade slowly circulated the strange energy flowing through his body.
Unlike ordinary essence...
This power felt heavier.
Older.
Wild.
It moved through his body like an ancient beast awakening from slumber.
The Beast Sutra.
During the past year, Jade had finally completed its First Mastery.
The rewards had exceeded all expectations.
His senses had transformed.
Now, whenever life entered a certain radius around him, he could instinctively perceive it.
Not merely its location...
But its vitality.
Its danger.
Its approximate strength.
That single breakthrough ensured Jade would never again unknowingly challenge creatures far beyond his current realm...
Just as he had done against the Awakened Demon Silent Fang.
Thinking back...
He still shivered slightly.
The second mastery...
Was even more difficult.
According to the fragmented ancient manuscripts Jade had painstakingly translated, the Beast Sutra wasn't originally designed for humans.
It belonged to the divine beasts that once followed the Beast God himself.
Its cultivation methods ignored ordinary logic.
Each breakthrough reshaped the body.
Each mastery awakened another instinct hidden deep within one's blood.
Unfortunately...
Almost every surviving manuscript was damaged.
Entire pages had decayed into dust.
Words vanished halfway through sentences.
Important explanations simply...
Ended.
Most historians dismissed the texts as worthless.
The old bookstore owner had practically thrown them away.
"If you want that pile of useless paper..."
"You can have it for free."
Jade had happily accepted.
To everyone else...
They were trash.
To him...
They were priceless.
One particular passage fascinated him more than any other.
Although incomplete, it suggested that the Beast Sutra had not been created by the Beast God alone.
Instead...
It mentioned three Divine Authorities.
The Authority of Beasts.
The Authority of Frost.
The Authority of Space.
Many sections were missing, forcing Jade to piece together the story himself.
From what remained, Beast God sought a way to allow divine beasts to hunt more efficiently.
He desired instincts so sharp they could predict danger before it appeared.
Yet instinct alone wasn't enough.
Somehow...
The Frost God became involved.
Later...
The Space God completed what the surviving text called...
"The Path Between Instinct and Distance."
Whether that meant she was the Beast God's wife...
An ally...
Or merely another god assisting the project...
The damaged pages never revealed.
Even stranger...
The manuscripts made no mention whatsoever of the Earth God.
Jade frowned.
If there truly were only Eight Gods...
Why were so many different Divine Authorities appearing throughout these ancient records?
Was history wrong?
Or...
Had humanity forgotten something?
He slowly opened another weathered manuscript.
Most of its pages had faded beyond recognition.
Still...
One sentence remained perfectly preserved.
> "Those remembered by history were never all who existed."
Jade stared at the sentence for a long time.
"...How many gods were there...?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
He closed his eyes once more.
The Beast Sutra continued circulating.
Its strange beast-like energy flowed throughout his entire body.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Suddenly—
A dull crack echoed inside him.
It wasn't a physical sound.
It came from somewhere far deeper.
The invisible barrier that had restrained his progress for months...
Shattered.
The beast-like energy erupted throughout his body.
His heartbeat accelerated.
His muscles tightened.
Every sense expanded dramatically.
Then...
The familiar voice of the System echoed inside his mind.
Second Mastery of the Beast Sutra achieved.
Reward granted.
Relic acquired.
Eye Echo.
Jade slowly opened his eyes.
Golden light briefly flickered within his pupils.
"...An eye-type relic?"
A slow smile spread across his face.
"I wonder..."
"...what this one does."