“What the fuck is going on here?” Klaus shouted in shock as he suddenly appeared in his soul sea. Everything about his soul sea was now a surprise to him. If he hadn’t been there many times before, he would’ve thought this was some kind of prank. But it wasn’t. The senior’s response made that clear.
“Brat, you’re finally here. Good. You came just in time, or things would’ve gotten bad,” the senior said from behind the first door.
“Senior, what is happening?” Klaus asked, still confused. As usual, his soul sea was a swirl of multicolored energy, with nine imposing doors.
But now, something had changed. The Pentaface Bead had been moved away from the door, and the Eye of Malevolence was in a new position too. And there is another thing new now in the soul sea.
But it wasn’t just that the Pentaface Bead and the Eye of Malevolence had been moved. It was the strange changes happening to them. The Bead now had golden runes revolving around it like rings. The runes glowed brightly, exuding a power so immense that the Bead seemed unapproachable. Enjoy more content from
“Senior, what are those lines around the Bead?” Klaus asked, his eyes narrowing as he studied the strange phenomenon.
“Those runes… they’re ancient markings. Power seals. It looks like the Bead is trying to unlock something, but it’s not ready yet, so it’s created these barriers. Golden runes like those aren’t common—they’re dangerous.” The senior said
“Dangerous?” Klaus raised an eyebrow, feeling a wave of unease wash over him.
“Yeah. That power isn’t something you can touch without proper preparation. If you try to use the Bead in its current state, it could backfire, and the energy will destroy you instead.”
Klaus took a step back instinctively, keeping his distance from the glowing Bead. He thanked his lucky stars he didn’t use the bead after he woke up.
“So, it’s unusable right now?”
“Not exactly,” the senior said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “The runes are there to stabilize the Bead, to make sure it doesn’t break under pressure. But that means you need to be cautious. If you try to force it or draw power from it without fully understanding how these seals work, you’re playing with fire.”
Klaus frowned, feeling frustration build up inside him. He has relied on the Pentaface Bead in his recent battles, and now it was essentially locked down. “Is there any way I can use it safely?”
“Not exactly,” the senior replied. “But do you see the golden energy beneath it? If you manage to absorb it, your mind, body, and soul might become strong enough for when the Bead unlocks whatever it’s holding back.”
Klaus sighed slightly, still eyeing the swirling golden energy. “What is this golden energy?”
“It’s a powerful form of your Star Qi—many times stronger. But I’d recommend you don’t touch it until you reach the Grandmaster level.”
Klaus’s curiosity sparked. “What happens if I do it now?”
The senior sighed. “Well, you might explode, which is the easier way out. Or, the hard way—you survive, but your meridians explode, leaving you a mindless dummy for the rest of your life. Either way, it’s not advisable.”
“Damn, senior,” Klaus said, shaking his head with a small smile. “You didn’t have to go full-on villain with your speech. You could’ve toned it down a bit.”
The senior smirked, his tone lightening. “Well, I thought I’d make sure you really understood the risks. Don’t go thinking you’re invincible.”
Klaus chuckled despite the tense situation, feeling a brief moment of levity. But he quickly refocused, glancing back at the golden energy. As tempting as it was, he knew better than to risk his life for a shortcut. He still had battles to fight, and now wasn’t the time for reckless decisions.
“Alright, noted. I won’t touch the golden energy until I’m ready,” Klaus said, mentally shelving the thought for later.
For now, Klaus couldn’t use the Bell of Harrows or the Eye of Despair, but that wasn’t too bad. It gave him time to examine his other skills more thoroughly. The Fire Spirit Dragon and the Nine Stars Ice Lotus Bloom still needed intense study, and Klaus intended to do just that.
“By the way, senior,” Klaus said, his brow furrowing, “do you think I can let the Lotus Flower and the Dragon absorb this energy? It feels like too much for just me to take in.”
The senior paused for a moment before replying, “Well, you could try, but I can’t guarantee success. There’s potential, though.”
Klaus nodded thoughtfully. “Then I’ll get back to it later,” he said, shifting his attention toward the Eye of Malevolence.
“Please don’t tell me I can’t use this one either,” Klaus muttered, eyeing the glowing artifact. Like the Pentaface Bead, the Eye of Malevolence was also undergoing some kind of upgrade. Green runes now spiraled around it, just like the golden ones on the Bead.
The circumstances surrounding the Eye of Malevolence’s awakening had always been strange. That time, Klaus had felt like a completely different person. The moment the Eye appeared in its eerie green form, Klaus had changed too.
Of course, he knew that something or someone had taken control back then. But to this day, he still didn’t know who or what it was. It wasn’t Fruity, because he didn’t sense the usual calm, monk-like presence when he woke up.
Klaus had never mentioned it to the senior, and the senior hadn’t brought it up either, so Klaus had shoved the unsettling mystery to the back of his mind.
But he had never forgotten. Now, as he stared at the red Eye with its swirling green runes, a feeling crept over him—something was happening. Whether it was good or bad, he couldn’t tell. But he knew it wasn’t normal.
He turned to the senior, who still lingered behind the first door inside his soul sea, watching everything unfold.
“Senior… what’s going on with the Eye?” Klaus asked, his voice low, trying to mask his unease.
The senior was silent for a moment before finally speaking. “The Eye of Malevolence is… evolving, like everything else in your soul sea. But it’s more unstable than the Bead. Whatever energy is driving it, you’ll need to be careful, brat. This isn’t the same Eye you’ve been using.”
Klaus narrowed his eyes. “Unstable how?”
The senior sighed, his tone grave. “The Eye is feeding on something deeper within you—your anger, your hate, even your fear. It thrives on negativity. If you’re not careful, it’ll turn that power against you. You could lose yourself like you almost did before.”
Klaus’s heart skipped a beat. He had always known there was something dangerous about the Eye, but this confirmed his suspicions. “So what do I do with it? Just leave it alone?”
“No, you do exactly the opposite. Resist the negativity and embrace the change. That way, you will have supreme control over it,” the senior’s voice echoed in Klaus’s mind, laced with warning. “You have to know, brat, the Eye of Malevolence is something you shouldn’t underestimate.
You have no idea how powerful it is. So, man up and see if you leave here a sane man or an insane one.”
Klaus gulped, but he didn’t panic. He stood still for a moment, steeling himself. Then, with determined steps, he moved forward until he was face-to-face with the terrifying red eye.
Without hesitation, he reached out and gently touched it. The moment his hand made contact, a chilling numbness spread through his mind.
He didn’t know how it happened, but as soon as the numbness took over, his personality shifted, just like the first time the Eye had awakened.
A smirk curled at the edge of his lips. From his palm, a surge of red energy shot forth, wrapping itself around the Eye. It shuddered violently for a moment before settling. The green runes that had been swirling around the Eye turned blood-red, though they continued their eerie spiral.
Klaus’s smirk deepened into something darker, more sinister. His gaze shifted to the Pentaface Bead, and with the same twisted grin, he eyed it knowingly.
Then, in an instant, he vanished from his soul sea and woke up back in the real world.
The moment he regained consciousness, Klaus broke out into a cold sweat. His heart pounded wildly, his breath shaky. He was terrified of something—something he had felt deep inside. And he knew exactly what it was, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully acknowledge it.
“I am my own fear,” he thought to himself, the realization chilling him to his core.
Klaus reached into his space ring and pulled out a bottle of water, drinking deeply to calm his nerves. The cold liquid did little to wash away the lingering dread that clung to him.
Still, he couldn’t ignore the changes in his soul sea. Steeling himself once again, he re-entered his inner world, ready to examine the Eye and whatever transformation it had undergone.