"Restored?"

Merlin, who had kept his head low all this time, appeared calm and sedate as he slowly lifted his head. He glanced around and said in a low voice, "Titus, you've also been in the Illusory World. Can't you tell?"

Titus shook his head as he replied, "I can't. This Illusory World is completely under your control now, and I am but a parasite living in your world. What's more, since the Illusory World had been destroyed after the battle between you and the Void Zone, and after most of the power of the natural order had been destroyed, I can no longer sense the changes in the Illusory World. I'm only able to see what's happening to the world before me."

Titus' tone revealed a hint of helplessness. He was the one who had originally consolidated this Illusory World, and even the overall framework was built by him.

However, since he had given it to Merlin, the Illusory World had changed dramatically. Before, he was still able to sense some of the changes in the Illusory World but now that the Illusory World had been restored, the entire process had been built completely by Merlin's will. Thus, Titus had no connections whatsoever with the current Illusory World.

Seeing the look of helplessness on Titus' face, Merlin grinned. This feeling of having absolute control was wonderful. Three thousand years ago, he had been severely injured and was practically knocking on death's door.

The Illusory World was the foundation of his powers. He was most fortunate that his most basic natural order had not collapsed. That was the foundation of a perfect, complete world.

Therefore, with his powerful Mind Power, Merlin had effectively built a new Illusory World based on the foundation of the original Mind Heart and the broken Illusory World.

It could be said that this Illusory World had been restored. After three thousand years of restoration, not only had it been completely restored to its former state but Merlin's various sentiments of the origin of the natural order had also been incorporated into this renewed Illusory World.

As such, the Illusory World now had gradually materialized in the form of a complete Latitude Cosmos with its magnitude of proportions was several times larger than its former size.

Three thousand years were enough for the former Spell Caster civilization to rise into a powerful civilization, and it was also enough for Merlin's Illusory World to evolve to an almost terrifying extent.

If the immense size of the Void Zone was the standard, then Titus could not even imagine that Merlin's Illusory World had reached a hundredth of its size!

One hundredth may appear seemingly small but Merlin's Illusory World's territory back then had not even reached a ten-thousandth of its magnitude, let alone a hundredth.

A hundredth of its territory was already quite terrifying. The Illusory World today was complete and stabilized, and Merlin feared no one from the Void Zone.

No one but the origin of the natural order. If the origin of the natural order of the Void Zone had consolidated all of its power, it would still pose a threat to Merlin. After all, Merlin's Illusory World had yet to be stabilized.

"From illusion to reality… Where's the turning point?"

Merlin muttered. To actualize the Illusory World from illusion in three thousand years appeared to still be a dream, a far distant one as Merlin still did not have a single clue.

However, Merlin could sense that what he needed was a very important turning point. Perhaps it was just the light at that right moment that he needed for his Illusory World to take a crucial step forward.

All these years, Merlin had been searching for that turning point.

After a long moment, Merlin slowly replied, "The Illusory World had long been restored, and it's even advanced a step further!"

Titus was Merlin's only friend now; he could tell him anything without reservation.

There was a glimpse in Titus' gaze as he said in a deep voice, "Haha, I knew you wouldn't be so easily defeated. The Void Zone may be strong but it can't find us. You won't help that little guy out even once?"

Merlin knew that he meant Stedman. This little guy was the eighteenth person he had parasitized upon. He had a good character and will, though he was unfortunately regarded as a very dull and slow person among the Purple-eyed Dimension.

"He should be in charge of his own destiny. Can't you see that the little guy's willpower is strong? He's acquired more time than the others have, and that's his wish. Let him work hard. It'll help us avoid unnecessary ramifications as well. Our days of peace will come to an end if we're discovered by the Void Zone."

Merlin said calmly. The reason why he had parasitized in the body of another life form was to avoid being detected by the Void Zone. He knew that the entire Void Zone must have been looking for him desperately.

The minute he resurfaced in the Void Zone or a dimension, he was sure to be discovered by the Void Zone. By that time, all the many ultimate existences and even the Thirty-six Emperors were sure to pounce upon them.

Merlin was not afraid of the Thirty-six Emperors but he was not yet ready for the battle against the Void Zone. Since encountering the last incident with the origin of the natural order, he had learned that it had regarded him as its greatest threat, even more so than the Vestigial Tribe. Despite how great a danger the Vestigial Tribe posed, they had never destroyed Void Zone. At most, some of the orders of the Void Zone had caused an imbalance in the Void Zone.

However, Merlin's Illusory World could render the entire Void Zone to fall into shambles. This was what the Void Zone had feared the most. Merlin was not prepared for a battle of life and death with the Void Zone yet. Therefore, unless necessary, he would never appear in the Void Zone.

Even if the Void Zone was powerful and could sense every single place in the Void Zone, but there was one place that it was unable to detect, and that was in the body of a life form. That was why, for three thousand years, Merlin had parasitized in the body of a life form.

Most of the life forms that Merlin had parasitized had received some help from him and had gone from a small fry to becoming the leader of their civilization. Only, after their unfortunate deaths, Merlin would search for a new host in the shortest time possible.

Right now, Merlin was living in Stedman's body, and even without his help, Stedman could use the twenty-four times time difference in the Illusory World to make up for his gap with the other average Purple-eyed People.

Moreover, Merlin had even given Stedman a Mind training drill. Once Merlin's Mind Power was strengthened, then it would not only a time difference of twenty-four times, but even thirty, fifty, and a hundred times would be made possible.

Therefore, as long as Stedman followed the steps and persisted in his efforts while making use of these advantages, then even without significant help from Merlin, he would still be able to become an outstanding person in the dimension.

Titus said nothing further. He had been by Merlin's side for the past three thousand years, and now he had placed all his hopes on Merlin. He would not let him do anything that he was not certain of.

Titus was only waiting for Merlin's Illusory World to grow to the size of the Void Zone, powerful enough to stand up against it. By that time, the Void Zone would not be able to eliminate Merlin any longer, and they would have nothing to fear.

When that time arrived, however, it was likely that it would be Merlin who would seek out the origin of the natural order of the Void Zone.

...

Time swiftly flew by, and finally, the day of the interclan tournament had arrived. It was of little concern to Stedman but he had insisted on continuing his training in the Illusory Subspace every day, and cultivated the Mind training drill given to him by the mysterious "Lord Merlin".

The Mind training drill could not directly increase Stedman's powers, and could only enhance his Mind Power. However, after strengthening his Mind Power, he was able to withstand a greater time difference in the Illusory Subspace, and now he had reached a point where he was able to withstand up to thirty times the time difference.

That meant that for every hour outside, he was able to stay up to thirty hours in the Illusory Subspace.

In the future, when his Mind Power had grown even stronger, he could even be able to maintain a time difference of fifty or even a hundred times. His heart soared with confidence and reassurance whenever he pictured such a scene.

Without noticing, Stedman had already mastered Storm Fist and was incredibly skilled in it. However, there was still no place for him in the interclan tournament as he now was only the clan elder's son, and could only watch on the side.

"Bam."

Yet, another young member of the Belmont clan had been defeated.

In this year's interclan tournament, the performance of the Belmont clan of which Stedman had come from was severely disappointing, and their results were almost at the bottom. Their younger generations were far inferior to the younger members of the other clans.

"Helba's lost again. No one in our Belmont clan won a single round yet..."

The younger members of the Belmont clan all turned red with shame. They had been bursting with confidence before, but now all of them had lost, and not even one had managed to score a win.

With such performance, it was a given how disappointed the elders were of them. With these results, even if they had managed to activate the Purple-eyed talent and acquired its power, would they be able to compare with the other clan's equally outstanding youths?

At that moment, some of the elders seated at the top shook their heads. "We've fallen. Was there no one that excelled among the younger generations of our Belmont clan? I'm afraid within the next few hundred years, the Belmont clan would only continue to decline."

The faces of the other elders were also sullen. As a clan elder, his expression was even darker. In all his years as the clan elder, there had been no outstanding prodigies among the young, which lead to the fall of the clan. Even when he passed on, he would not have a good name among the future descendants as well.

"Salin, are you forfeiting?"

Suddenly, the crowd rioted. The last contestant from the Belmont clan was the relatively well-known Salin, who intended to give up.

"My opponent is Corbach. He's one of the best of the Myron clan. I admit that I, myself, am no match for him. So, what else can I do but forfeit?"

Salin had replied straight-faced with a head full of blonde hair. Indeed, he was up against one of the most powerful prodigies of the Myron clan. Forfeiting may be the wisest decision after all.

Only, to willingly forfeit... In doing so, the Belmont clan would have lost all face.

"Father, may I be allowed to compete in Salin's place?"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang through everyone's ears.