Chapter 79: The Blessing & The Ruin

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: The Blessing & The Ruin

"How did you survive an SSS-rank gate?"

Hearing Nyxara’s question, Aeon looked her in the eye for a moment before answering calmly.

"Well, technically, I didn’t survive," Aeon said. His words caught everyone in the room off guard, leaving them utterly confused.

"What do you mean by that?" Nyxara asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aeon sighed as he began his explanation. "Well, the moment I saw the gate mutate into a red gate, an attack pierced my chest. I’m pretty sure I died right then and there. The next thing I knew, I woke up right here."

This revelation bewildered the room even further. His parents and friends exchanged worried glances the moment he mentioned his death.

"Hmm. When you emerged from the gate, you were unconscious, holding the head of a Voidborn that we estimate to be SSS-rank based on its features and energy signature," Kael noted, adjusting his glasses as he laid out the facts.

"It is clear that you killed it. But if you truly have no memory of the event, it is highly possible that you awakened a power formidable enough to keep you alive while annihilating every enemy inside the gate."

Hearing Kael’s theory, Aeon feigned a look of surprise and immediately checked his Akashic Records status window.

Staring at the empty air, he forced a shocked expression. Behind this mask of disbelief, his mind raced with calculated precision. He needed a foolproof alibi, something to stop their tracking gaze from digging into his real capabilities. This performance had to be flawless.

"Holy shit! What is this?" Aeon exclaimed, pointing a finger at the interface.

"What’s wrong?" Aldrich asked, tracking Aeon’s startled gaze. Since no one else could see another person’s Akashic Records interface, they could only wait for Aeon to reveal what had stunned him.

After a few moments of tense silence, Aeon turned toward them and opened his mouth.

"I actually received a Blessing."

"..."

Everyone stood dumbfounded by what they had just heard. Some stared in shock, their eyes widening, while others stood frozen in place, stiffened by Aeon’s words.

"Whaaaat?!" Aeon’s friends shouted in unison, staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. Seraphina, naturally, played along, careful not to expose Aeon’s Oscar-level acting.

To avoid alerting Nyxara’s passive telepathy, Aeon had already manipulated his and Seraphina’s thought frequencies into fake mental tracks.

And weeks prior, with Seraphina’s consent, he had placed a sealing soul print upon her soul. This completely locked away her knowledge about the future and shielded her thoughts and memories from prying minds.

It was the sole reason Nyxara had not suspected either of them up until now. It was a terrifyingly close call, but his mental barriers held firm under her passive scanning.

Shaking off her initial shock, Nyxara looked at Aeon with visible excitement. "A Blessing? What kind of Blessing, and which Divine Being bestowed it upon you?"

Blessings were supernatural gifts granted to mortals by higher existences, such as gods, goddesses, or powerful celestial beings. They could grant unique abilities, enhanced cultivation speed, divine protection, or even fragments of the bestower’s cosmic authority.

Consequently, anyone chosen for a Blessing immediately stood head and shoulders above their peers. If the entity wished it, they could even permanently elevate the recipient’s natural talent and aptitude.

Throughout history, these divine interventions shaped the fates of entire empires. Mortal kingdoms rose and fell on the whims of chosen champions, making a blessed individual both a priceless asset and a dangerous target.

While the existence of gods was common knowledge, actual Blessings were exceptionally rare occurrences. If Aeon had truly received one, his survival against an SSS-rank gate suddenly made perfect sense.

Instead of answering immediately, Aeon raised his hand. A brilliant golden energy instantly coated his arm.

Whooosh!

"It is called the Blessing of Celestial Light," Aeon declared, letting them look at the glowing energy. He theb paused for a beat before continuing.

"It grants celestial light energy that accelerates cultivation, increases energy purity, strengthens Law comprehension, and eradicates evil forces. It even granted me an SSS-rank light affinity."

As Aeon detailed the capabilities of his fictitious blessing, the room fell into an awed silence.

Breaking the quiet, Professor Chen Hao stared at Aeon. "Now it makes sense how you managed to survive that gate and achieve supreme enlightenment. Though... it still doesn’t quite explain how you comprehended the Laws of Space and Time."

Chen Hao remained in deep disbelief. Even with the aid of a divine blessing, it felt fundamentally impossible for a boy so young to grasp the intricate Laws of Space and Time.

"True, but it is an extraordinary Blessing regardless. With its innate ability to eradicate evil forces, the Voidborns would have been heavily neutralized, given their fatal weakness to the light element," Tharos added, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

It was a well-known fact that Voidborns were weak against light, which made individuals with a light affinity or holy power highly sought after. The higher the affinity rank, the more devastating they were against the Voidborn monsters.

"So, which Divine Being granted you this power?" Nyxara pressed, eager to identify the entity that had intervened inside the mutated red gate.

Aeon scratched his head, putting on a confused expression. "Umm, I can’t actually see the name. It’s just a bunch of question marks. They probably want to keep their identity a secret from me."

The group was briefly baffled by this, but they quickly accepted the explanation. Many Divine Beings acted cloaked in secrecy, so it wasn’t an entirely unprecedented phenomenon.

After a lengthy back-and-forth of relentless questions, Nyxara finally concluded her interrogation. She and the others excused themselves from the room, leaving Aeon to rest.

As Aeon leaned back against his pillows, he reached out mentally to his system.

’Hey, system. What will happen if I absorb the Ruin Energy of the Voidborns I killed?’ Aeon inquired, recalling the corpses currently stored in his inventory. He wanted to know the consequences of devouring them and their corrupted energy.

[Ding!]

[Technically, ordinary beings cannot use Ruin Energy, and attempting to do so would result in immediate death. However, because you possess the Infinite Evolution talent, your body will safely adapt, allowing you to manipulate and utilize it freely.]

[The exact evolutionary changes that will occur remain unknown. What is certain, however, is that you will grow significantly stronger.]

Aeon pondered the system’s response for a moment. He had already trusted that his Infinite Evolution talent would safeguard him. As for what specific traits he would develop, the quickest way to find out was simply to test it.

With his goal locked in, Aeon closed his eyes and began re-studying the newly comprehended Laws of Space and Time.

The following day, Aeon was officially discharged from the hospital and returned directly to his island villa, where his parents were anxiously waiting.

After spending some time catching up, Aeon escorted them to the Academy’s teleportation gate as they prepared to return to the northern states of the Valthoros Empire.

Since parents were strictly barred from the Academy grounds outside of dire medical emergencies or major institutional events, they had to return to their home estate.

Now completely undisturbed, Aeon wasted no time. He summoned a portal to his Infinite Omniverse Dimension and stepped through, vanishing from his villa.

Instantly, Aeon emerged on the other side, his feet lightly touching the water of the golden ocean world.

Dismissing the portal behind him, Aeon opened his inventory and piles of monstrous Voidborn corpses tumbled out, floating effortlessly on top of the water without sinking.

Using his telekinesis, he efficiently separated the bodies into organized groups based on their species and respective power ranks.

"Now, before I begin, show me their status windows," Aeon commanded, focusing his gaze on one of the slain creatures.

[Certainly,Master.]

[Name:None]

[Race:Voidborn | Species:DreadReapers]

[Rank:A-]

[RuinAbility:RuinCleaver(D-rank)]

Aeon scanned the floating status window. When his eyes caught the final section, he questioned the system.

"What exactly is a Ruin Ability? Is it like a Special Talent?"

[Affirmative, Master. You may view it as such. These are innate abilities that Voidborns are either born with or acquire across their lifecycles by devouring other living beings who possess distinct Special Talents.]

Aeon was fascinated by this new revelation. He had read academic records mentioning that Voidborns wielded a bizarre, specialized power, but no scholar had ever successfully identified its name or true origin.

While researchers suspected it was a form of structured ability unique to the Voidborn race, it remained pure speculation and theory without concrete proof.

Because no one else possessed a system capable of analyzing a monster’s status window like Aeon could, the rest of the world remained entirely unable to distinguish a standard Special Talent from the Ruin Ability.

Curious, Aeon tapped on the interface to expand the ability’s description.

[Ruin Ability: Ruin Cleaver (D)]

[Description: An offensive Ruin Ability that allows Dread Reapers to unleash devastating slashes infused with Ruin Energy. It is capable of cutting cleanly through physical matter and significantly weakening energy-based defenses. Its destructive power scales continuously alongside the user’s cultivation rank and technical mastery.]

Aeon studied the glowing interface and nodded slowly. "It functions almost exactly like a standard skill. Honestly, it’s no different than a Special Talent."

He murmured the words as his eyes thoroughly scanned the breakdown. To his realization, the single true distinction separating the two forces boiled down to the underlying energy they drew upon.

"One relies on Ruin Energy, while the other channels Cosmic Energy. They are like two sides of the same coin—fundamentally contrasting, yet intrinsically identical." Aeon found himself fascinated by these striking structural similarities, though, upon deeper reflection, it made perfect sense.

If other races possessed something as exceptionally potent as Special Talents, it was only logical that the Voidborns would be armed with an equally devastating equivalent.

"But why do they completely lack a bloodline or a unique physique?" Aeon questioned aloud, shifting his focus to pull up the system windows of the remaining slain Voidborns.

Despite sorting through several entirely different species of monsters, not a single entry listed a bloodline or a physique. Even Vorthak, despite his overwhelming strength, hadn’t possessed either attribute.

[Ding!]

[System level is currently insufficient. Please upgrade the system level to unlock deeper archival knowledge.]

"....."

Bonk!

Aeon smacked his forehead in sheer frustration. "Of course the system level is too low. What else did I honestly expect?"

He rubbed his temples, his gaze sharpening as he weighed the system’s limitation. "If unraveling the mystery behind their missing bloodlines and physiques requires a higher authority level, then this information must be incredibly vital to the grander scheme of things."

His eyes narrowed, entering a state of deep thought as he quietly pondered the cosmic anomaly.

He stood frozen in place for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh of resignation. For the time being, he would simply have to push the matter to the back of his mind.

"Forget about that for now. Show me the quest rewards first," Aeon commanded, a spark of anticipation returning to his eyes as he recalled the sudden notification that had flashed right after Vorthak thought he had successfully ended his life.

[Understood,Master.]

[Quest: Kill the Constellation Who Dared to Slay You]—COMPLETED

[Rewards: 1,000,000 System Points, 1× Binding Slot]

[Penalty for Failure: Your Power will be Sealed for 5 Years]

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