"But the things you see outside... they are just a fragment of my memory. None of it exists anymore."

Suddenly the scene through the rift twisted into a nightmare. Aron's eyes turned completely cold. It was the exact same devastation he had witnessed during Earth's Calamity.

Countless terrifying, colossal ugly monsters were slaughtering the cultivators, cutting humans into pieces and wiping them out mercilessly.

High in the sky, the figure standing beside Aron was fighting a terrifying giant beast alongside his sect's elders, the heavens shattering around them. Those moves were so strong that Aron knew even S-rank Sires couldn't fight against him as an equal.

The figure standing in the white void sighed heavily.

"I do not know how your soul managed to reach this realm... where my memories are still intact."

He turned and looked deeply into Aron's confused eyes. Aron himself had no idea how his Enhance skill had triggered this miraculous, heaven-defying phenomenon.

"We are already dead," the cultivator continued solemnly.

The very moment those words left his mouth, the colossal monster in the vision swatted the cultivators out of the sky, crushing them to death in an instant.

Aron gulped, looking back at the figure in absolute horror.

The cultivator's spiritual form began to gently fade.

"You came here by fate. Therefore, I am giving you my supreme technique and my sword as a reward. I am not asking you to take revenge for me... I only want someone to inherit my legacy so it is not lost to the void."

The cultivator pointed his index finger directly at Aron. A sharp, blinding white light shot from his fingertip and sank straight into the space between Aron's eyebrows.

Simultaneously, an incredibly complex, ancient glowing rune branded itself directly into Aron's heart.

A flood of knowledge exploded in Aron's mind. The profound understanding, the muscle memory, the terrifying intent of that supreme sword technique. He remembered every single move as perfectly as if he had practiced it for a thousand years.

Having passed on his power, the ancient sword cultivator smiled faintly and vanished into thin air.

A split second later, the endless white void shattered, and Aron's golden eyes faded back to normal as his vision snapped back to the real world.

Immediately, a string of crisp notifications chimed in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! You have acquired the Flowing River Sword: Liuhe.]

[Congratulations! You have successfully obtained the enhanced version of Sword Dance: Flowing River Sword Technique (A-Rank). This was the signature technique of the Flowing River Sect on the Azure Planet.]

Time snapped back to normal. Dravis, completely unaware that the world had just paused, immediately executed his Sword Dance, slashing viciously toward Aron's neck.

Aron didn't even blink. He casually stepped to the side, effortlessly dodging the glowing blade.

The heavy strike missed him entirely and slammed into a metal trash bin in the alley, slicing it perfectly in half with a sharp screech.

While casually avoiding the attack, Aron spoke to his system internally.

'System! What exactly was that place? And how does the second function of my skill, Enhance, actually work?'

[Ding!]

[Host, the moment you activate the 'Enhance' function, your Abyssal Gaze breaks down the core mechanics of the target skill. It then bridges a connection to the memory of a supreme existence who mastered the superior, enhanced version of that skill in the past.]

[ If the proper memory can't be find, the system will create a memory and engrave it to host's soul.]

[That dimension is called the Realm of Memories. Your second function simply allows you to glimpse into this realm to inherit their legacy. It is as simple as that.]

Meanwhile, Dravis was growing more furious by the second. His chest heaved as Aron dodged every single one of his desperate strikes as if they were nothing but useless, uncoordinated flailing.

"You! How are you doing that?!"

Dravis roared, his eyes already bloodshot. Gritting his teeth to the point of aching, he wildly swung his sword at Aron yet again.

Aron kept his relaxed, mocking smile as he fluidly sidestepped the lethal arc, continuing his mental conversation.

'Then what about the sword he gave me? Where is it? Did that dead fellow lie to me...?!'

Thinking he might have been scammed by a ghost, Aron's smile vanished instantly.

[Ding!]

[Host, please be at ease. In extremely rare cases, the entities within the memories possess the power to pass down their personal belongings along with their techniques. You have encountered one of those extraordinary rarities.]

[As for the sword, it is already safely stored within your System Space. That sword is called Liuhe (A-Rank), the ultimate sect-protecting weapon of the Flowing River Sect.]

Hearing that the A-rank sword was safely tucked away, Aron felt a surge of elation. He casually sidestepped another desperate slash from Dravis and grinned broadly.

"Ahhh, you really are dumb," Aron said indifferently. "Can't you see I'm just playing with you?"

Dravis froze. Reality finally crashed down on him. Looking back on the fight, Aron hadn't broken a single drop of sweat. He had been toying with him from the very beginning.

Dravis gritted his teeth, his breathing ragged and heavy. With bloodshot eyes, he clenched his sword in a death grip.

Aron suddenly chuckled. "Now that my hands are free... I think I'll let you see what a true sword technique looks like."

He extended his right hand. A beautiful, pure white sword materialized in his grasp.

Its hilt and scabbard looked deceivingly simple, but the moment Aron unsheathed it, the crystalline light-blue blade pulsed with a blinding, ethereal light.

Aron didn't assume any complex stance. He simply swung the Liuhe sword toward Dravis. Yet that single, casual slash filled Dravis with absolute, suffocating terror.

He had never seen such a domineering, absolute sword intent in his entire life. Panicking, he immediately triggered his Sword Dance, channeling every ounce of his mana into a single swirling vortex to unleash his most powerful strike to counter.

The two slashes collided.

BOOM!

A massive shockwave erupted in the narrow alley. Dravis was blown backward like a broken kite, landing hard on his back with a sickening thump.

His body skidded across the rough pavement for several meters before finally coming to a halt. Trembling, he looked down at his hand and felt his soul leave his body.

His prized B-rank weapon was snapped completely in half.

The dust settled, revealing Aron standing in the exact same spot, unharmed, with that same terrifying smile on his face.

Dravis pointed a shaking finger at him. "You... You're a Fake Sire?!"

Usually, Fake Sires were dangerous criminals who deliberately hid their true ranks and skills from the Sire Association to operate in the underworld.

Aron shook his head slowly. "No. I was actually heading to the Association today to register. I just awakened a new skill."

Dravis was dumbfounded. It was theoretically possible in incredibly rare cases that individuals could undergo a second awakening, but the chances were virtually zero.

And yet, this former F-rank trash had somehow awakened a monstrous new power.

Aron smoothly sheathed the Liuhe sword and dismissed it back into his System Space. Then he began to slowly walk toward the fallen young master.

Dravis stammered, frantically kicking his legs to crawl backward.

"Stop! S-Stop right there! I... I didn't actually want to kill you! I was just... just trying to scare you!"

But before he could drag himself any further, Aron was already standing over him. He reached down, grabbed Dravis tightly by the collar, and hoisted him up with a dark grin.

Then the beating began.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

One heavy punch after another rained down on Dravis's face and body.

"Hehehe! Didn't you want to kill me?" Aron sneered.

CRACK!

Another punch landed squarely on Dravis's nose.

"Wuwuwuwuu... wuwuwu!"

Dravis burst into miserable, ugly tears. Never in his wildest nightmares did he think that he, the high and mighty heir of the Soberto family, would be beaten like a dog by an orphan who was supposedly a F-rank trash just a few days ago.

"Pleath! Pleath! Folgiff meee..." he sobbed. With several of his teeth broken, his pleas came out completely slurred and jumbled.

Aron finally stopped punching and tossed Dravis back onto the ground, where the young master lay limply, gasping for air.

Aron leaned in close. "You tried to kill me, so I'm going to need some compensation."

As someone who had grown up dirt poor, Aron valued money above almost everything else. Besides, he actually needed it right now.

Re-evaluating a Sire's rank at the Sire Association wasn't free. While the initial test was covered by the government, any subsequent re-testing required a hefty fee.

Understanding immediately, Dravis pulled the Space Ring off his finger with trembling, bloodied hands and offered it up.

"Hele... take ith, take ith! Hele are a million dragon coins... and... many treasures..." he babbled through a painfully swollen face and black eyes.

Aron chuckled, snatching the ring from his palm. He sent a trace of mana inside to check the contents. Dravis wasn't lying. There really was a million Dragon Coins sitting inside, alongside various resources.

Now Aron was officially a millionaire.

His eyes lit up instantly.