Child of Destiny

...…

Real World.

Soaring Continent, Eastern Sea Region.

Ace City.

An old man wearing a worn-out gentleman's hat partnered with a set of casual clothing entered the city. He had a slouch posture that seemingly told everyone that he was lazy and too tired to do anything.

There was an old-looking but exquisite cane on his hands that he played with while walking. He twirled that cane around his hand while casually looking at the surroundings.

What was surprising about this was that no one seemed to be able to notice his presence despite the oddness of his actions. Even the people who were brushing past him did not notice that the cane was right in front of them and about to hit their heads.

Surprisingly, none of them got hit as the twirling cane turned illusionary and passed through their bodies when it was about to fall on the head of anyone.

It was the same for the old man as he continued to walk in a straight line down the streets. He seemed completely unbothered by the crowded places he went through or the other obstacles blocking his body. He just walked straight and ignored everything else.

Not long after, he arrived in front of the gate of the Magic Ace Academy.

He stopped at the huge gates before starting at the luxurious and majestic arc above them. He squinted his eyes as he stared at the name of the academy before casting his gaze at the tall stone tablet next to the gate.

"Tsk! That Old Fatty told me to head here, but don't inform anyone about my arrival," complained the old man as he heisted where to enter the premises of the academy or not.

Given his attainment and realm, those powerful monsters residing inside the academy would think that he was invading their territory if he blindly stepped through the gates.

He was not afraid of any of them or any kind of trouble, but they would be huge casualties if a fight broke out. Even though those old people had a certain level of rationality not to fight him, there were still some exemptions.

Some of them were his acquaintances, but it was also very reason why knew that they were easy to provoke.

First, there was Martial King Lin Huang, who used to be a battle maniac who wanted to fight anyone as long as it was a strong opponent who could put up a good fight and gave him the thrill of battle. He would dare to fight anywhere so long it was someone worthy of his attention.

Then there was the Undefeatable General, Manuel Morales, the crazy demon of the battlefield. Given the personality of this person, if there was someone powerful with unknown origin dared to enter the premises of the academy, then this short-tempered old monster would take it as a form of challenge to the academy.

These two alone were more than enough to give the mysterious old man a serious headache.

It had been a while since he had retreated from the battlefield and settled somewhere unknown after his retirement. But after an old acquaintance visited him and told him that it was time to repay the favor that he had owed in the past, he could not refuse their request and come here.

The problem was that old fatty was pretty much unreliable.

He continued to stay outside the academy and stood in front of the gates, completely ignoring the students who were entering and exiting.

No one was able to notice his presence, not even the guards. The cars and other vehicles were also passing through the gates of the academy as their drivers could not even see his existence. They drove naturally and brushed past him as if there was no one there.

Fortunately, no one caused an accident and rammed into the old man, or else the consequences might not be something that he could afford to pay.

It continued this way until something intriguing happened, which piqued the interest of this mysterious old man.

...

Shin just finished consulting his senior about his current problem, so he could only wait for the good news.

He originally wanted to use the energy chambers to train his control over his innate attributes and increase his mastery of the three breathing techniques. But after some consideration, he decided to do it in his room since he only needed to do a simple energy control exercise.

He could do the rest during the scheduled time when he had to use them. He had to follow the training plan that Professor Henry had arranged for him.

Even though he felt that he needed to increase his pace a little due to the words that Uno had said to him inside the game and the warning that Old Man Lin had given him, he could not rush everything just because of this.

He had to be careful and steadily build his foundation to avoid encountering some accidents in the future.

Having a steady pace did not mean that he was slow, he had to trust the arrangements of the professor and not feel too anxious or crumble due to the pressure.

"One step at a time, steadily and firmly," he mumbled as he drove his Black Panther toward the gates of the academy.

It was at that moment that he noticed an old man standing in front of the academy gates. This old man in a casual set of clothes with a worn-out gentleman's hat over his head was giving a mysterious feeling despite how ordinary he looked.

He squinted his eyes and focused his gaze to get a clearer look at the old man, but he could not find anything strange from the latter. He felt that the old man was just an ordinary person.

But at the same time, Shin could not shake off the strange feeling that he was getting due to the mysterious air surrounding the old man.

Shin observed the old man as drove. The latter continued to stare at the academy with his mystifying gaze while having his hands crossed behind him while holding the black cane.

That was when the old man sensed the gaze from Shin.

The old man lowered his gaze and stared straight at the young man as the black car drove by. The moment his eyes met Shin, the latter suddenly felt an intense shudder of his entire body.

That simple gaze made Shin feel a heavy pressure that came out of nowhere. At the same time, he also felt that his consciousness was getting dragged toward the depths of an abyss.

That feeling only lasted for an instant before his 'vision' suddenly changed. He found himself in the middle of a chaotic battlefield where experts beyond his imagination could be found fighting against each other. Then in the center of that battle stood a lone silhouette that resembled a demon.

Casting his gaze at that demon, Shin was immediately crushed by a pressure that he could never imagine. Along with it, the demon slowly grew larger as it 'walked' toward him.

The demon was growing larger with every passing second before it became a towering giant that reached the sky.

Throb! Throb!

Shin was about to get crushed by that pressure thoroughly when he felt a pair of soft throbbing inside him.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Then a pair of silhouettes stood behind Shin without him knowing.

On the left was a beautiful woman with an appearance that could topple the kingdoms. She was so beautiful that she could be mistaken as a goddess descending from heaven. Her silhouette might only be made from mental energy and looked illusionary, but the pressure that she was giving off could rival the towering demon in front of her.

She possessed a divine aura that could make the surroundings bathed in sacred and holy light. She easily offset the powerful pressure that was crushing Shin just by her appearance.

Standing on the right was a man with handsome features. He had a pair of purple eyes with a sharp gaze. His long silver hair was hanging on his back while fluttering along with the wind.

This man had an appearance that could rival the beauty beside him, but he had that masculine air that indicated their differences. He was also wearing an evil grin that would make the people looking at him think twice before approaching him.

And unlike the holy and divine aura that the woman beside him had, he possessed an evil and eerie air that signified that he was not an ordinary person.

The crushing pressure that was coming from the towering demon was instantly nullified right after his appearance before he looked at the latter.

Swoosh!

Boom!

Then there was a silent explosion inside Shin's head, waking him from that dreamy state. He also subconsciously hit the brakes of the car right after waking up.

Huff~! Huff~!

He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely as he stared at the old man in fear and anxiousness. He was not sure what exactly happened, but he guessed that he accidentally fell into the illusion made by the 'little' pressure that the old man was passively emitting.

If it was any other people, then they would not fall into it and be pulled into it just like what happened to him. But because of his sharp and powerful Spiritual Sense that was enhanced by his Divinity Grade Mental Energy, he accidentally peered through the old man.

The 'True Sight' skill that he had created and incorporated into the real world was also activated through his subconsciousness due to his 'wanting' to see through the old man.

If not for whatever phenomena that occurred as a defensive measure that he had, then he would most likely get 'drowned' inside the old man's spiritual world and become a cripple.

He would be in his vegetative state right now.

"Just who is this old man and how strong is he?" he mumbled while trying to compare the old man with the old monsters that he knew.

But since the old monsters around him were not taking him seriously and always holding back during their training or other circumstances, he could not fully grasp the difference between them and this old man.

…

While Shin was trying to calm himself down and observing the old man, the latter was also scrutinizing him.

"Hoh~!"

The old man could not help but become amazed at this young man. He became very interested.

Not only did Shin see through the illusionary barrier that he passively emitted, which prevented the other people from seeing or noticing him, but the young man also subconsciously pulled his bloodlust and peer through his spiritual realm.

What was even more surprising about it was Shin escaping from that inner world by 'himself' without the old man ejecting him to prevent the accidents.

Everything only lasted for an instant, but it was already a very long time for an absolute expert like him, especially with the huge gap that they had.

And the more serious thing about that was even the old man himself did not know how Shin had done it.

"This youngun has quite a background," commented the old man as he immediately got a rough guess of what had happened.

Having a defensive measure that could protect their younger generation from suffering a spiritual attack was quite common in powerful families or huge organizations.

It was a special means to protect the young talents of their families or organizations.

After all, absolute and apex experts such as himself could easily kill someone way weaker than them through spiritual attacks.

It was easier than killing a bug or an ant.

But to be able to offset his spiritual pressure and even escape from the inner world of an expert of his level within that instant, especially n with such ease, was not something normal.

Even if he was away and isolated from the rest of the world for such a long time, he was confident that no one could easily do such a feat that he could not recognize.

With all that, the old man looked at the black car a few meters away from him, staring at the young man driving with full amusement and curiosity.

"What an interesting fellow."

...