Kyle's face turned serious when he found out that the Sea Continent sealed itself off as soon as the shield guarding the planet shattered into countless fragments. And Nine... Yue only knew that Nine passed out after asking Ray and Neon to rescue Kyle. Later, an old man from the Sea Continent took Nine's unconscious body away.
Since then, Nine hasn't been in touch with anyone. Kyle asked about his family and Han and sighed because they were all okay. However, Retric and all the Kings, along with many older individuals from the former east Continent, passed away in battle.
Yue looked at the man in front of her, nervously playing with her fingers. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about the artifacts she had.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a little cry coming from behind Kyle. He turned around and saw a familiar Lynx resting comfortably in Anlee's hands. As soon as the Lynx spotted Yue, it yawned, jumped down from Anlee's arms, and quickly climbed up Yue's legs to rub its head against her hand.
Kyle's eyes narrowed as he locked gazes with the Lynx. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, until the Lynx let out a scared purr and tried to hide itself in Yue's arms. But before it could, Kyle reached over and grabbed it by the neck.
"Oh, it seems your little companion still remembers me, huh?"
The Lynx wanted to struggle and escape from the grasp of the person who had once tried to cook it, but it sensed Yue's emotions. She was happy after such a long time. That's why it stopped struggling and allowed Kyle to do whatever he wanted. But the way its scales drooped and its pale blue eyes filled with devastation indicated its dejected mood.
Yue couldn't help but giggle, and Kyle looked up at her. She quickly took the Lynx from his grasp.
"Don't bully Nox, he's been working hard to get strong so he can be with me all the time. He can increase his size like Bia, but he's still quite weak."
Kyle hummed and stared at the Lynx, feeling an unexplainable dislike towards the creature. It would have been much better if Yue had just cooked it into a delicious dish.
As if sensing Kyle's thoughts, Nox shuddered and quickly leaped away from Yue, scurrying back towards Anlee, who stood in a corner with two other elves.
Kyle looked away from the monster and locked eyes with Yue. He drew a symbol, and a faint, transparent barrier appeared around them. Then, he placed a glass vial on the table between them.
The vial contained a single droplet of gleaming golden liquid, shimmering brightly. Yue stared at the vial, unsure of what it was, but Kyle's next words left her stunned.
"It's divine essence. I can sense that you've reached the (SSS+)-Rank. I don't know how you surpassed your talent to achieve a higher rank... and I won't ask if you don't want to share. We all have our secrets."
He pushed the vial toward the beautiful woman sitting in front of him.
"Normally, it would take you a lot of time and effort to reach the pseudo-divine rank. But with so many dangerous enemies around us, we don't have that much time. So, increase your strength."
Yue hesitated, unsure if she should take the vial. It was too valuable, and Kyle seemed to be giving it to her so easily. She was touched, but her thoughts were interrupted when Kyle placed more similar vials on the table as if he had just bought them in bulk from a nearby market. Her eyebrow twitched, but she cleared her throat and kept her thoughts to herself.
Kyle stood up from the chair and looked at Yue with a serious expression.
"Give one to each of them, Alec, Lara, Mia, Carcel, Regius, Sinon."
"I believe all of them, just like you, have reached the peak of their talent. It doesn't matter what their talent is... I'm just giving them a chance to reach the pseudo divine rank."
Then, two blooming crimson flowers appeared above his palm. The flowers trembled slightly, surrounded by a faint fire, as he placed them on the table.
"Give these to Jian and Bia. They both have a lot of fire based skills, so I think the duo would be a perfect fit to consume the flowers. It will help them enter the Ascendant state. After that, just like the others, it's up to them if they can reach the pseudo divine rank."
Kyle's heart ached a little as he gazed at the flowers. He had been chased by a horde of fire eagles in the secret realm after stealing the flowers, but now he was just giving them away. He rubbed his chest gently to calm his emotions.
"Yue, make sure to remind them that the divine essence and the scarlet flowers are very expensive... No, they can't buy them with money! They should be grateful!"
Yue chuckled and got up from her seat. The corners of her eyes lifted with amusement. She couldn't believe Kyle was entrusting her with such an important task. Does that mean he completely trusts her? She quickly closed the distance between them and crossed her arms over her chest.
"What about you? Don't you want to give this all to them yourself?"
Kyle tilted his head and surprised her by lowering his head slightly to meet her gaze.
"You give it to them and tell them to get ready. If the enemies are being quiet, we'll attack first this time... and not just attack, but completely wipe them off this planet."
Another veil with a golden droplet appeared in his hand, and he let out a faint smirk.
"As for me... Well, I just remember in the secret realm, Nine asked me for the divine essence. So, I am heading to the Sea Continent. First, to meet my friend who can see the future because he knew what was going to happen, even before I went into a coma. Second, to see how long the merpeople can hide underwater..."
He paused for a second, and the smirk playing on his lips grew wider.
"... when everything around them starts to freeze into ice."
