Child of Destiny

Nuguro stared at Shin, who was looking at him coldly, while also trying to open his mouth to say something. But despite how hard he tried, there was no words came out of it.

He could only cough with blood as his body was shredded by the apparition of the World Serpents that were crushing him from every direction.

He did not last that long before his body turned into a Mana Essence that was absorbed by Shin.

Naturally, Shin did not immediately absorb this contaminated mana essence since it was mixed with dense demonic energy. He had to filter out the demonic energy before proceeding to absorb the purified mana essence.

As for the contaminated energy, it was attracted to the thing that Nuguro had left behind. Aside from the seven Sea Gems, he had also left a crystalized heart that was dyed black due to the wicked energy that it contained.

Shin did not waste any time as he quickly reached his hand and kept the gemstones. He then hesitated for a moment, considering whether to take the crystalized heart, before finally grabbing it.

After that, he swiftly turned around and headed toward the altar as fast as he could.

He could sense that his body was starting to collapse due to the backslash of pushing himself too hard earlier. Moreover, the burden that he had to carry during the battle was too heavy due to the overwhelming power that the fallen World Serpents had provided him.

Due to this, his body, which was already reaching its limit earlier, was forced further beyond. This made the backslash of these powers much stronger than what it originally had been.

He was bleeding in different parts of his body, making his current appearance more miserable.

After struggling to reach the altar, Shin stood in front of the floating scimitar and stared at it for a moment before taking out the gemstones that he had collected.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after the gemstones that he had collected before coming here were taken out along with the ones that he had just gotten from Nuguro, a blinding light was released and illuminated the entire place.

The two sets of gemstones spun above Shin while releasing different lights before slowly merging.

A set of seven Sea Gems floated above the altar for a moment, dyeing the entire place in seven different colors.

Falan and Octo, who were still locked in an intense battle, could not help but pause. Then simultaneously turned their heads toward the altar before wearing expressions that were opposite to one another.

Falan was smiling and nodding his head as he saw Shin standing on top of the altar while Octo wore a grim expression.

“What a useless thing! Can’t even defeat such a trash?” cursed Octo before disengaging from the battle completely.

Now that Nuguro had been eliminated and Shin had collected all the gemstones, it would only take some time before this round of the festival ended.

The Champion of the Seas was about to get crowned, so he now had to leave and meet with the rest of their forces before they got out of this independent realm.

“Let’s meet again on the other side and settle our score at the main battleground,” said Octo as he retreated.

At the same time, he took out an object and crushed it before Falan could even react to it.

Swoosh!

A light quickly swallowed Octo before he disappeared alongside it.

Falan wanted to stop Octo from running away, but he could only watch the latter disappear before his eyes, making him click his tongue with a bitter smile.

He then turned his attention back to Shin, who was watching the Sea Gems merge into a single gemstone.

…

*Ding*

While Shin was watching the formation of the new gemstone, the familiar sound of the system sounded in his ears, giving him the highly anticipated notification.

System: Congratulations! You have collected all the Sea Gems!

System: The Emerald of the Seven Seas is now appearing!

*Ding*

System: You have been recognized by God’s Emerald as the Champion of the Great Ocean.

*Ding*

System: You are now qualified to meet the God of the Primordial Waters. Would you like to meet him now?

…

Reading through the string of nonfiction before his eyes, Shin could finally relax and heave a sigh of relief.

“This so-called trial took longer than I expected,” he mumbled before turning to Falan, who was currently looking back at him.

“I guess this is a goodbye for now,” he mumbled as he pressed the button before him.

Swoosh!

Shin’s body was immediately swallowed by a pillar of light that pierced from the high heavens and descended into this realm.

…

Whoosh!

Not long after, Shin found himself in the middle of a white world filled with nothingness.

It was oddly similar to the world within his Sea of Consciousness, where Uno resided along with the Seed of Hatred that had been sealed.

However, there were also some striking differences that he could not explain and one of them was the overwhelming aura that was filling the entire place.

“I have been waiting.”

While Shin was trying to adjust himself to this environment, a voice suddenly called him from behind.

When he turned around, he was immediately greeted by a ‘familiar’ person that he had seen at the start of each trial.

It was that mysterious person, who was sitting on top of a giant whale, hosting the entire festival of the seas.

“Ah-…” Shin tried to say something, but he immediately realized that he could not talk in this realm.

“Don’t bother. We are running out of time now. I can’t stay in this realm as the current restrictions cast upon me are far beyond my current authority,” said the mysterious individual before explaining.

“Since you have witnessed the records of the Great Oceanic War that happened in the era of Gods and Immortals, you will be tied with the fates of the sea creatures.”

“I don’t know how much time has passed since ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Kraken’ have stolen my Divine Authority, so I can’t gauge how powerful they have become.”

“But I hope that you will give my descendants the inheritance that I have left for them before those two are freed from the restrictions of the current world and come back for what I have left behind.”

Rumble!

A clap of thunder suddenly shook the entire place as this God was taking, creating multiple cracks in different places.

“If you want to learn more about the history of the current world, then you can continue looking at it by completing the trials that I have left behind. I just hope that you will help my descendants when the time comes.”

Swoosh!

He then paused and pointed forward, sending a beam of light that entered the center of Shin’s forehead.

“And as a reward for your efforts, I will leave you with the powers that I used to wield in this realm.”

*Ding*

System: The Avatar of Hydros, the God of Primordial Waters, has given you the authority to control water.

System: Congratulations! You have now the ability to wield the higher form of mana – the ‘Primordial Waters’!

…

After that, the avatar continued. “The rest will be given to you once you have passed the trials that I have prepared.”

“It may be quite a challenge, but you will gain a lot from your experiences you will get from it just like how from this trial.”

“But I must warn you, you must wait until you have grown strong enough to take on those trails, or you will pay dearly for it. Wanting to become stronger has always been a good thing, but being too greedy in exchange for power will always cost you something dear.”

“Leviathan and Kraken have sacrificed almost the entirety of the Great Ocean just for it, but they have lost something that they will never see again.”

His figure was already starting to dissipate at this point as he stared at Shin with hopeful eyes. “I hope that the next time we see each other, you are still on the side where you currently stand.”

After saying those words, his entire figure slowly disappeared into specks of lights.

*Ding*

Then another string of notifications from the system rang in Shin’s ears.

System: Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the Forgotten God Temple’s first trail, the Primordial Waters Trial!

System: Your reputation can now be heard throughout the entire Oceanic Kingdom.

System: You have gained a Special Title – the Champion of the Seven Seas.

*Ding*

System: You have received a special reward for a perfect competition!

– Rewards:

Heart of the Nine-Headed Demon Hydra (Purified)

Fangs of Ouroboros (Mythical Weapon)

*Ding*

System: You have leveled up x5!

*Ding*

System: You have acquired a piece of clue from the Era of the Gods and Immortals – The fragment of God’s Power in your possession is responding.

System: A new clue about the Great Demon Kings of Hell has been acquired! Your understanding of Demonic Powers has increased.

System: Your second ‘Soul’ has absorbed this knowledge! The ‘Mark of the Evil God’ is evolving!

…

Shin could not help but stare blankly at the long string of notifications before his eyes, especially when he did know where to look first as each notification was as important as the other.

It somewhat overwhelmed him before he finally turned his head to the very first notification and thoroughly read them one after another.

……