—

Cedric felt the familiar pull as he was sent back to Prime Earth.

When his vision adjusted, he found himself back in his seclusion room. He also felt the familiar weakness stemming from the need of his body to synchronize with the strength he reached during his time within the tower. Due to the immensity of energy he had to make up for, it would take at least two years before this process was completed.

This can be expedited through other means, but since there’s really no immediate need for it, he just had to patiently wait for the process to complete itself. If a time comes that there is a need for him to swiftly catch up to his actual level of cultivation, he had stuff prepared for it anyway, so there is no need to be worried.

Cedric stood up and stretched his body. After that, he stood still for a bit and allowed his perception to gradually adjust to reality. He let nature take its course, not actively interfering with how his perception flows because it’s better this way.

Once he felt some semblance of advancement, he walked out of the seclusion room.

Since he stayed in the tower for thousands of years, completing three stages of his trials at once, instead of an hour, a day passed here. Not that it matters too much, really. It’s just a day, after all. With how busy people were in this world nowadays, a day of him missing shouldn’t cause any form of collapse to the society.

Stepping out of the room and breathing in the fresh and oh-so-familiar breeze of his home, a smile crept up to his face. The inconvenience that had marred deep into his bones due to long periods of seclusion slowly melted away now that he’s back home. And due to the time difference between the tower and his reality, he didn’t miss too much here. Everything is still the same as how it was back then.

‘The next time I return to the tower, though, things will be different. I could just feel it.’ Cedric mused to himself.

Of course, the warning of the tower’s system still remained fresh in his memories. It told him that the next time he comes to the tower, he will bring his body with him.

It was undisclosed whether the time difference would still be the same; other details weren’t also explained, but Cedric could tell that once he made the decision to return there, because he certainly would, things would be more difficult, and he’d undoubtedly face more risk to his life.

But right now, that doesn’t matter. He had time. The AI said that they will wait for him until he’s 500 years old. If he doesn’t appear before he reaches this age, that means that he’s forfeiting his qualifications to climb the tower.

‘500 years old, huh.’ Cedric muttered inwardly as he made his way to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

‘That’s pretty old, especially to my people’s standards.’

Sure, with the changes he brought to Prime Earth and his race in general, reaching this age isn’t considered ‘rare’ anymore. Mostly thanks to the cultivation techniques he had provided, which he purchased from the tower.

A common civilian’s lifespan couldn’t possibly go past 120 years old. Hell, reaching 90 years old for a common civilian is already considered rare and almost a miracle. Past 100 years old, it becomes heaven-defying. Some would even say that they must’ve consumed some life-extending elixirs during their youth to make this possible.

For average Superhumans, 500 years old was already pushing it. But since this is a profession where people die young, it is very difficult for them to reach this maximum age. Planar travelers could live up to 1000 years old, and star travelers of the old times could potentially reach up to 1500 years old.

That’s what it’s like back then. However, with great power comes great responsibility. The stronger one was, the more they’re put at risk since it is a superhuman’s duty and responsibility to protect their home from demonic invasion.

Now, this has changed. Yes, the threat of demon invasion is still looming over their world (quite literally), but it’s not as threatening as in the past since humans of today are now more formidable than in the past.

With the changes that happened since Cedric rose to power and the collective progress that humans have made since then, reaching 500 years old shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

More importantly, Prime Earth is now cleansed of demonic corruption. Humans have more land and space to use for their development. Cedric’s arrangements also increased the vitality and spiritual density of this world.

There would come a day when the awakening ceremony becomes a thing of the past because everybody would have an innate ability to cultivate and become a superhuman. Of course, the difference in innate talent will still remain, but for the most part, this would be a great development for humanity.

And with the cultivation techniques he brought home, especially stronger ones that he has yet to reveal, his people will become stronger and stronger to the point where they wouldn’t need his protection anymore.

This was something that Cedric wanted to see for himself. But this won’t happen anytime soon. He could only wait for it because his people are still developing and accumulating.

**

Done with his coffee and his little time of reprieve simmering in his own thoughts, Cedric made his way to the basement of the Sky Castle.

Yes, he did end up making this place his new home. It’s a little eccentric even for his standard, but it’s a dream come true, so why not?

The basement is where the training grounds were, amongst other utility rooms as well. This is where his girls usually spar and train to polish their skills. Like Cedric, they have little to no competition in this world anymore, so they could only look at each other to test their progress and to keep things interesting.

In here, Cedric saw a lady with an ethereal, cold beauty.

He saw her using one of the specialized training rooms he installed here. Inside, she had her eyes closed in concentration. A fierce blizzard raged around her. The cold and merciless hail threatened to rip apart anybody who dares to come close.

Cedric could sense that most of the snow within the hail turned into deadly shrapnels, moving at blistering speeds and possessing incredible sharpness. The temperature around her was also frighteningly cold, just a step away from absolute zero. He could even see that the frost was starting to affect space and time around her.

Cedric fearlessly breached the seemingly forbidden domain of Absolute Zero Blizzard. He walked at a brisk pace, completely unaffected by the frighteningly low temperatures and the razor-sharp snow and ice raging around him.

The beauty reacted to his presence instinctively. Giant glaciers of ice and snowflakes bearing snow lotuses bloomed around her, further lowering the temperatures and increasing the might of the hail.

This reaction could’ve easily and severely threatened the Seven Deadly Sins despite their seemingly bottonless energy reserves. But in front of Cedric and his absurd physique, it was nothing more than a cold breeze he could just ignore.

Upon reaching a certain distance, the lady seemed to have regained her clarity. The floating glaciers, which threatened to form spears that would easily impale anybody who breached this space, and the snowflakes and snow lotuses that could easily entomb anybody in ice, disappeared one by one.

The domain of blizzard was also dismissed. Slowly but surely, the white mist and snow disappeared, and the temperature also rose until it returned to its normal level.

The cold beauty then opened her eyes only to see Cedric standing tall in front of her with a twinkle in golden eyes filled with indescribable longing.

Faced with this heated and barely disguised enthusiasm, the cold lady felt flustered. She blushed and hurriedly avoided his gaze. She almost seemed to want to hide from all of this, but she stood frozen in her spot, unable to escape his warm and encompassing presence.

“Hey.” He greeted calmly, though his eyes remained as heated as they were.

“Hi,” Isabella greeted in return.

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It sure was awkward. It hasn’t been long since she began coming here on her own volition after all.

Isabella inwardly cursed herself. Saying that she shows more and expresses more of herself to him. Didn’t she already make her decision years ago? Why is she still hesitating and embarrassed about this?

The fact he’s so patient with her also didn’t help. He never pushed her, never forced her into doing anything she didn’t like. For all she knows, he might as well not be expecting anything from her, but his eyes had always been honest.

It never hid his growing affection, and it was really flattering. But it has been years. She was already moved even before this all started, so why is she finding it hard to remain calm in front of him?

Why is it that she couldn’t express what she really wants to say?

And it’s almost as if he could tell that she’s spiraling. Still, always as calm as the first rays of the sun peering over the horizon, he smiled at her and asked:

“You’re doing well. Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep