“What do you think?” the cat asked with a smug tone, its voice laced with amusement.

“I’m an old man trapped in a child’s body. Amusing, right?” the false Kranos teased, grinning with an expression that could only be described as insufferable.

Staring at the impostor, the real Kranos wore a dumbfounded look, his brows furrowed tightly. Confusion stormed in his mind like a whirlwind.

‘What is going on?’ he thought, eyes widening as he turned toward the cat, utterly stunned. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

“Not amusing at all,” Kranos muttered, shaking his head. “First things first. Stop calling me an old man.” He rubbed his temple as a dull ache crept through his skull. This creature was proving more problematic than useful, always finding ways to reveal his reincarnated identity.

“Secondly, is it just me you can transform into, or can you imitate anyone?” Kranos asked, his gaze sharp and focused.

“Of course I can. What do you expect from me, the most terrifying creature in existence?” the false Kranos scoffed, glaring at Kranos as if he were an idiot. Then, without hesitation, the form shifted, bones cracking and rippling unnaturally as a transformation began.

“What do you think? Are you impressed?” This time, the creature no longer resembled Kranos. Instead, it had taken the form of an ethereal beauty with flawless skin, radiant hair that shimmered like moonlight, and eyes that held galaxies within them. The aura surrounding her was enchanting.

Kranos was momentarily taken aback. She was easily the most breathtaking woman he had ever laid eyes on.

But who was Kranos? A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes, yet his expression remained calm and unreadable.

“Pretty useful,” he said flatly. “However, I still don’t understand why the Divine Court would want to kill you.”

“You!” The woman’s expression twisted with fury. In the blink of an eye, her form blurred into a shadow, and she launched herself at Kranos.

She bypassed the space between them in an instant, landing on him like an ominous wraith. Her presence weighed heavily on his chest.

Kranos froze, his body locked in place. He could not even twitch a muscle. All he could do was stare into the void ahead, caught in a daze.

“How dare you speak of the Divine Court like that? Do you have any idea how terrifying they are? Even uttering their name is enough for them to sense you and begin tracking you. Do you really think you are on my level?”

The voice in his ears sounded distorted and layered, as though countless souls were whispering the same words simultaneously.

Kranos blinked, shaken to his core. Was that why he could not move? Was he being observed by something far beyond his comprehension?

“Oh… I didn’t know that,” he admitted silently. As he noticed the oppressive aura gradually retreating, he exhaled slowly in relief.

After making sure the disturbance had completely faded, the shadow slipped off his body and reformed into the familiar cute cat, now licking its paw like nothing had happened.

“Of course you didn’t. Have you never heard the phrase ‘do not pry into the mysteries of gods’? All the higher beings in the Divine Court are true gods.”

“By gods, do you mean god realm cultivators?” Kranos asked, frowning. From what he understood, he could already challenge god realm cultivators. Were they truly that terrifying?

“How foolish can you be?” The cat sighed in disappointment. “No one in the immortal world is worthy of the title of god. Only by reaching the absolute peak of the divine world can one earn that title.”

The cat shook its head and cast a pitying glance at him.

Kranos ignored the look and asked calmly, “Then how were you able to shield me from the Divine Court’s perception?”

“You are too stupid to understand, even if I explained it.”

Kranos twitched slightly but continued.

“How are you able to survive in the void despite having no cultivation? Why are you not affected by its corrosive nature?”

“Still too stupid to understand!”

“Then tell me, why are they trying to kill you?”

“Even if I told you, what could you possibly do about it?”

A vein bulged on Kranos’s forehead. He clenched his fists, resisting the urge to slap the smug feline. With effort, he pushed down his anger and tried to stay calm.

Since the conversation was clearly going nowhere, he sighed and changed the subject.

“How do you plan to regain your strength?”

The cat fell quiet for a moment. When it finally answered, its voice was calm.

“That’s not something you need to concern yourself with. You are my master, and I am your lifebound creature. Leave my matters to me.”

Kranos gave the cat a long, deep glance, sensing its prideful nature once again.

He decided to stop bothering with it. He had more important matters to deal with, like accumulating ten million time points and returning to the immortal world.

Just as Kranos closed his eyes, preparing to meditate and try absorbing the ambient time points, a ripple tore through space.

Time twisted unnaturally, and a figure suddenly materialized in the void.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a crisp black tuxedo. The instant he arrived, he began coughing violently, his body trembling as the corrosive energy of the void gnawed at his soul.

“An anomaly?” the cat muttered under its breath, watching the man with narrowed eyes.

“Huh? An anomaly?” Kranos was stunned. “Quick, keep him alive,” he ordered the cat.

The cat rolled its eyes. “Why should I?”

“He might be valuable to us,” Kranos replied, already feeling another headache approaching. He pleaded with the creature despite his frustration.

After a moment of silence, the cat finally agreed.

It shifted again, transforming into a smoky shadow, and wrapped itself around the newcomer, shielding him from the void’s effects just in time.

Kranos sighed in relief, watching the scene unfold.

“What do you want me to do with him now?” the cat’s voice echoed inside his mind.

Kranos’s eyes widened slightly. “You can speak to me mentally?”

“Of course. I’m your lifebound beast. There are many things we can do. Now stop wasting time and answer my question.”

Kranos could clearly imagine the cat rolling its eyes at him. He was amused but gathered his thoughts.

“What kind of anomaly is he? Can you tell?”

The cat paused briefly, then responded. “This guy is terribly unlucky. He’s a transmigrated anomaly. But his transmigration method is strange. He came here with his true body, and somehow he landed directly in the void.”

“If we hadn’t been here, he would have been dead within minutes.”

“In that case, doesn’t that make him lucky?” Kranos asked, brows raised.

“No. If I say he is unlucky, then he is unlucky,” the cat said firmly, its tone absolute.

“Yeah, whatever,” Kranos mumbled. “Still, he could be valuable. I’ve heard that transmigrated anomalies are some of the most powerful beings.”

“Hah,” the cat scoffed with disdain. “You’re so ignorant.”

“You know about other anomalies?” Kranos pressed curiously.

“You are too stupid to understand,” the cat replied bluntly.

Another vein popped on Kranos’s forehead. Inwardly, he had already marked this creature down for a future punishment. Once it returned to cat form, he swore he would give it a thorough beating.

“Keep him alive. I’m entering cultivation,” Kranos said flatly. He sat cross-legged in the void and began meditating.

The cat, still wrapped around the anomaly, gave a lazy shrug. “I have nothing better to do.”

Deep in cultivation, Kranos reviewed the technique he had acquired.

Then his thoughts shifted to the concept of time absorption.

Could time only be harvested from other living beings?

Why couldn’t he absorb the ambient time around him?

Driven by curiosity, Kranos acted. He released his time aura, attempting to draw in the temporal energy nearby.

But nothing happened. He quickly realized the problem.

The time aura was a natural extension of himself and his system. Because it was internal, it could not actively absorb time from the surroundings.

After some time passed, Kranos still had no solution.

He could not afford to stay in the void forever waiting to accumulate time points. Eventually, he might go mad or worse, cook the cat and eat it out of frustration.

He needed a faster method to accumulate time points.

Opening his eyes, Kranos’s gaze landed on the cat, still in its blurry humanoid form, shielding the anomaly.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning.

“If I cannot absorb time using my aura, maybe I can absorb it through my time domain. Since it is a part of me, it should be possible, right?”

The thought excited him. It felt like the key to solving his problem.

Without hesitation, he closed his eyes again and activated his profound time domain, allowing it to spread into the void.

Instantly, he felt it — the flow of time. It was rich, potent, and surrounding him like an endless river.

A smile spread across his face.

Now he had a clear path forward. If all went well, he could return to the immortal world much sooner than expected.

Kranos concentrated, drawing in the ambient time and converting it into system points.

To his delight, there were no complications. The time points began to rise steadily.

At first, it was slow — one time point every ten minutes. But as he continued, the pace quickened to one point every few minutes, and eventually, it surpassed the system’s passive rate.

Just as he lost himself in cultivation again, the cat’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Old man, the anomaly is waking up. Aren’t you curious to see what kind of golden finger he possesses?”

Kranos furrowed his brow in confusion.

“What is a golden finger?”

The cat’s voice was filled with disappointment.

“You really are hopeless.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep