"Huh?" As soon as Grey came back, he saw Evan's expression change drastically, as if something dire had happened.
"Senior?" Evan exclaimed out loud, louder than usual.
Hearing his exclamation, Ellen, Albert, and Alissa immediately turned their heads toward Evan with looks of concern.
"What happened, Evan?" Ellen came to Evan's side and asked, concern and worry written on her face.
"N… Nothing." Evan shook his head slowly. "I just suddenly zoned out. Don't worry."
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Ellen nodded and calmed down.
Seeing this, Grey knew Evan was most likely affected by the sudden appearance of his all-powerful Senior. However, he didn't plan on saying anything now.
The Immortal Senior would reveal herself to Evan on her own once she woke up again.
"Well, you guys have fun." Grey said with a smile. "I'll be on my way now. I won't keep you guys any longer."
Saying that, he nodded slightly at Alissa, who surprisingly also nodded back, and then directly went inside the Evolver's Association.
As soon as he went in, all four of their phones rang simultaneously.
"Huh, what a coincidence — our phones rang at the same time." Ellen said with a surprised expression.
Everyone swiftly took out their phones to check, and to their surprise it was from the Evolver's Association "Tournament" group.
"It's from the tournament group." Albert said as he pushed his eyeglasses back.
He swiftly navigated through the messaging app and opened the message for everyone to read.
[Notice! A new substitute member has joined the Tournament Group. Please welcome him @everyone. @Grey Lockhart]
"…" All of them fell dead silent when they saw this.
Especially Albert and Ellen — both of them were also part of the substitute team, and it was honestly surprising to see Alissa's brother there.
On Alissa's phone, she tried to tap Grey's profile, only to find that she had blocked the user.
"…" Indeed, this confirmed it; it was none other than her brother.
"What a coincidence." Ellen mumbled under her breath as she stared at the freshly closed door of the Evolver's Association.
…
"It's time." Grey muttered to himself as he entered the private training room he had rented. With the current wealth he possessed, renting a top-tier training room in the Evolver's Association was no longer hard for him — it was effortless, and the amount deducted would barely even make a difference.
As soon as he entered, he took out the talisman papers he had brought from the Golden Chamber. He swiftly took out a special ink pen infused with cosmic energy that he had also brought from the Golden Chamber and began drawing the Mini Cosmic Energy Conversion Diagram.
One by one, the diagrams, each shaped like a golden ratio, were drawn on every talisman he had brought, and he started sticking them all around the walls and floor of the room in an array to maximize the cosmic energy.
Afterward, he took out several translucent bottles — one with blue liquid and another with light green liquid, bubbles rising from the bottom to the top.
These were the healing potions and energy potions he had purchased. He neatly placed them around him in a circle as he sat down cross-legged in the center of the potions.
It was now time to officially step into the 1st Level of the 1st Rank.
Grey calmed his breathing. He completely forgot about everything else and focused solely on his body and Nexus energy. Once his concentration reached its peak, he began.
The first step was awakening the mind.
Buzz!
Nexus energy slowly churned, pulsing rhythmically along with his breathing, and swiftly started climbing out of his energy field. From the energy field it flew straight to his spinal cord.
Buzz!
A purple glow formed around his lower spine. This time, the Nexus energy rushed into his neural pathways not to overload his senses but to form something completely new.
As the Nexus energy surged, it wove a unique pattern; from that pattern a spark was born. The spark rushed to his mind.
His mind had been completely and utterly empty, with no source of light.
However, that changed.
Buzz!
As soon as the spark struck his mind, the darkness exploded as if the world were ending. The spark shone with great brilliance and brought light to the world of his mind, growing even stronger as more and more sparks emerged.
Like fireworks, they exploded one by one and eventually combined, forming a huge purple flame etched with an intricate pattern. Instantly, the purple flame rushed deeper into his mind, toward his soul, and merged with it, granting his soul a purple hue.
Grey's mind stirred. He felt as if some chain placed on his brain had been lifted. A sense of ease washed over him as his thoughts abruptly accelerated and things which once seemed doubtful and confusing began becoming clearer to him.
At the same time, a feeling of control appeared in his mind — he felt he could command his thoughts now.
Not only that, as the transformation continued, information was constantly poured into his mind; it was the visual feedback coming from his awakened consciousness, which spread out five meters around him.
Additionally, he awakened a brand-new ability, but he didn't dwell on it too much, because things hadn't ended yet.
Right after he finished awakening his mind, it was finally time for his body.
Nexus energy bubbled within his body, and immediately a vortex began forming in his energy field, sucking in all the Nexus energy. However, Grey didn't panic. He had already placed the conversion diagrams, and fresh cosmic energy was being poured into his body from all directions; it was continuously converted into Nexus energy as the vortex kept absorbing the energy.
Coincidentally, the silent Heavenly Tribulation lightning within his energy field awakened; it buzzed, and wisps of it started entering the vortex of Nexus energy.
Seeing this, Grey was surprised, but he didn't panic. He focused and readied himself for the body-tempering process to begin.