“There’s one more thing… Before you reach the Xiantian level, do not rashly enter my cultivation cave… Even with the identity token, if your strength hasn’t reached Xiantian, you still won’t be able to open it… Please remember this, sir.”

“If all goes well on my journey, I should return in about two years. If not… I hope, sir… you will not forget today’s promise.”

“The restriction on your body will automatically disappear in five years…”

Ethan Brooks suddenly felt a warmth in his hands—a small, delicate bundle had already landed in his arms.

Looking at the tiny kitten, smaller than his own palm, its whole body still hairless, plump and reddish…

Ethan Brooks couldn’t help but feel a wave of anxiety wash over his heart.

I… I don’t even know how to raise it…

That last sentence let him catch the hidden meaning in the white-robed woman’s words.

If all goes well, she’ll return within two years.

If not… the restriction will be lifted automatically in five years.

In other words… if the white-robed woman doesn’t come to take her child within five years, she probably won’t ever return in this lifetime…

But even if she were to die early, she still wanted to leave her child three years to grow…

Ethan Brooks felt a bit moved inside.

As for the restriction, Ethan Brooks completely understood. — For a powerful demon clan expert to entrust her child to a stranger, if she didn’t leave any backup measures, even Ethan Brooks himself wouldn’t believe it.

“Take care, sir…”

The white-robed woman’s figure slowly rose into the sky, her gaze still locked tightly on the bundle in Ethan Brooks’s arms, full of loving reluctance.

At last, two tears fell from the sky, landing on the bundle.

“I’m counting on you, sir…”

Her voice lingered, but her figure had already vanished.

Ethan Brooks suddenly woke up, as if he had just had a dream.

He was standing at the entrance of the clinic, outside was only the pitch-black drizzling night.

Where was the icy snow, the bright spring sunlight of March?

But the warmth in his arms was clear and real. Looking down, he saw a delicate bundle cradled in his hands.

Inside, a tiny, red kitten that hadn’t even opened its eyes was sleeping weakly, breathing softly.

But the three high-grade spirit pearls he had just received had already vanished without a trace.

In an instant, a stabbing pain rose in his chest—a soul-piercing agony that cut to the core.

“Aow…”

Ethan Brooks stifled a miserable groan, hurried back inside, carefully set down the bundle, and quickly pulled open his shirt to check his chest.

He saw that only an empty string remained around his neck, and the little broken knife that had hung there for ten years was nowhere to be found.

…………

(2)

Where did the knife go?

Ethan Brooks had almost no interest in even guessing.

Where else could it go but into my body?

Where did those three demon clan spirit pearls go?

That question didn’t need to be asked either: the knife ate them.

At this moment, Ethan Brooks felt only excitement in his heart.

Damn it… I’ve waited ten bitter years, raised it for ten bitter years, my eyes have turned green waiting for this golden finger—it must have finally arrived…

It’s been so damn hard…

There was no need for Ethan Brooks to investigate further.

In his mind, a shining long knife appeared automatically.

Then it immediately vanished.

A cultivation method, as if he had studied it for a lifetime, was deeply engraved in his mind.

“The Dao Canon: Spirit Transformation Sutra.”

Dao Canon?

Spirit Transformation Sutra?

What is this?

A golden finger technique?

Before Ethan Brooks could check it out, he suddenly felt as if he were blind with his eyes open. In an instant, a blinding white light filled the entire world.

It seemed that for tens of millions of miles around, everything was flooded with this intense light. Between heaven and earth, only boundless blazing white remained.

Completely unprepared, Ethan Brooks’s eyes took the full brunt of the glare, and he instantly felt a stinging pain, forcing him to shut his eyes. Immediately, an overwhelming sense of majesty and solemnity spread boundlessly from high above…

This intense light shone upon the world for at least three or four seconds.

As if it was going to melt the entire world…

Then, a series of thunderous explosions boomed across the clear sky, rumbling without end.

The whole town trembled. Ethan Brooks felt the ground beneath his feet shake like waves, lost his balance, staggered two steps, and fell hard to the ground, his ears ringing as if his eardrums would burst.

He wanted to scream and vent his fear, but no sound came out. Before such heavenly power, he was as insignificant as an ant.

His ears buzzed, sticky blood flowed from his nose, and his heart pounded almost two hundred times a minute.

His mind was muddled, but by instinct, he hugged the little bundle tightly to his chest, protecting the tiny creature inside.

A thunderous voice roared, “Your Majesty, you come to the mortal world, and just leave in such a hurry?”

Vaguely, he heard a clear, angry voice from high above: “Edward King, you have already crossed the line. Do you really intend to kill us all?”