"The middle path leads to the seal. The last lotus petal should be the true inheritance, where Brandon hid his treasures."

There was nothing to hesitate about. His next stop was clear.

Grey shot toward the final petal platform. The moment he touched it, space twisted and swallowed him whole.

A flash later, he was standing somewhere completely different.

Grey opened his eyes, and immediately the next scene caused his entire body to freeze.

"Gold."

His voice trembled slightly.

"Gold."

His eyes widened like saucers.

"Gold!"

Everywhere he looked, he saw only gold. Gold coins, golden furniture, even a golden dog statue staring at him with a strange look on its face.

Grey stood there dumbfounded.

"Is this the inheritance or did I accidentally teleport into a rich guy's dream?"

He lifted a random gold brick. It was heavy, solid, real.

Grey felt his heart thumping. Then he slapped his own face.

"Ow! It's real!"

His eyes lit up like a starving beggar who had suddenly found a buffet.

"Brandon… good man! You are saint! Why didn't you leave a donation box at the entrance?!"

Grey suddenly hugged a pile of gold like a long-lost relative.

"Inheritance? Who cares about that! Wealth is the true Dao!"

The golden dog statue silently shot him a side eye of judgment.

Of course, that was just Grey being dramatic. The golden dog statue was just a decoration; it was not actually judging him or shooting him a side eye of judgement, it was just that the dog naturally had that look.

After rolling around in the gold pile for a good few seconds, Grey finally coughed and climbed back to his feet. His expression stiffening.

This was truly unbecoming of him. How could he lose composure over a bit of gold? Even if it was enough to empty out an entire Golden Chamber warehouse, this reaction was still shameful.

He was a respected expert who pursued the perfect path of evolution!

His main goal should always be power, not wealth!

Completely contradicting what he said earlier about wealth being Dao, Grey cleared his throat, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the golden door attached to the mountain of wealth.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw neatly displayed armor sets behind transparent showcases. There were rows of weapons, piles of strange stones, and stacks of talismans arranged in perfect order.

Yet none of those things held his attention.

What truly caught his eye was a single drop of golden liquid floating above a pedestal, emitting a faint radiance.

"Core essence." Grey's eyes sharpened, unable to hide his excitement.

Now what was a core essence? Simply put, it was the direct power an expert began to utilize from the third rank onward. It was the condensed life essence of a powerful being. For someone of a lower rank, obtaining such a thing was no different from striking a cosmic jackpot.

"It's mine now."

With this, Grey was certain. Absolutely certain that he could break into the second rank and undergo the second metamorphosis.

"Of course, I need to stop at metamorphosis."

Why?

It was simple. His second rank evolutionary path was not complete.

The second rank involved transformation, altering one's own physiology. On Blue Star, the majority of evolvers practiced the Twelve High Human Transformation Technique.

This technique was incredibly complex. It contained sections tailored for immortal cultivators, martial artists, and espers. Grey believed it was something the Daoye Palace had brought down to this planet. With years of collective research, the people here managed to decipher and adapt additional portions that suited other evolutionary paths as well.

Once completed, it allowed one to evolve into a High Human, a being stronger than ordinary humans, with an extended lifespan, enhanced abilities, and special bodily traits.

For example, the Eye of Illusion. High Humans awakened it at the final stage of their transformation. It allowed them to see through illusions and was known for its versatility.

Grey had already studied this technique thoroughly. But it left him completely unsatisfied.

As someone who sought perfection, how could he settle for simply becoming a High Human?

He refused to accept this as his limit.

So he researched the Bloodline Warrior Transformation Technique instead. Unlike the High Human path, this one transformed parts of the user's body into that of the beast whose bloodline they inherited. Once they reached the third rank, they could even transform entirely into the beast.

Grey believed he could create his own transformation path by studying these techniques.

"In a way, these transformations completely change one's race."

It was difficult to describe in simple words, but it was possible. People had been following such paths for countless eras.

He also believed there had to be many more transformation techniques scattered across the starry sky. Perhaps the immortal lady with a library full of secret arts had something useful as well.

"I should visit her after all this is over." Grey nodded to himself.

He stepped closer to the floating golden droplet and activated his appraisal skill.

[Core Essence (Fourth Rank) – Can be used to elevate one's life level continuously, especially effective for those below the fourth rank.]

Though tiny, the core essence held enough power to last him many days. If he consumed all of it here in one sitting, he could probably reach the middle stage of the second rank.

Of course, he was not going to do something that reckless. First, he lacked a transformation technique. Second, rapid advancement could harm his foundation.

A stable foundation was everything on the evolutionary path. Without it, breakthroughs could kill.

Right now, Grey's foundation was at its peak. He could easily reach the second rank and undergo metamorphosis. Anything beyond that would be dangerous.

"But if I only reach the pseudo stage of the second rank, can I even contend with a late stage expert?"

The entire reason he entered this secret realm was to grow stronger. That was his goal. Since this was an inheritance ground, he knew it must contain something like a core essence. All inheritance grounds did. Could it even be called an inheritance without it?

He would have crashed out if there actually was not a core essence of some sort in here.

On the bright side, this core essence being here meant he may not have to use Plan B.

At the same time, Grey believed that simply becoming a second ranker was nowhere near enough to contend with someone in the late stage.

Honestly, he doubted he could even fight a peak middle stage second ranker.

As evolutionary rank increased, the gap between each level widened drastically. In the second rank, this gap became terrifyingly obvious.

Without a proper transformation technique, the results he achieved would be far from ideal.

He originally intended on finding a transformation technique from within the inheritance ground. Considering it was from a fourth rank expert, he thought the treasury would at least have something similar to that, but reality was often disappointing.

That was when his gaze fell on the talismans arranged neatly on the side.

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