Chapter 72: The Gathering of Sovereigns at the Golden Gates

For the next ten days, Ethan kept a silent, unblinking vigil over the Whispering Forest.

Perched high in the shadowed canopy or observing through the subtle lens of his shadow-clones and the Red Fire Fairy, Ethan tracked every move of the blue-skinned Hobgoblin. And with every passing day, the sheer abnormality of Keklar’s growth pushed the boundaries of what Ethan’s past-life memories deemed possible.

It was an eating machine fueled by a system of absolute supremacy. Whatever Keklar consumed—whether it was the toxic flesh of high-rank beasts, the crystallized cores of subterranean monsters, or the rare medicinal roots of the deep forest—his body processed and absorbed it with terrifying efficiency.

In less than ten days, a creature that had barely scraped past Rank 1 was now radiating the dense, crushing pressure of a **Rank 3 Major Powerhouse**. His raw strength, durability, and mana capacity had multiplied exponentially.

Even Ethan, who prided himself on his deep knowledge of dark magic and hidden bloodlines, felt a genuine jolt of shock. Keklar’s skill arsenal had expanded into a terrifying collection of monster traits. He had acquired the *Venom-Spit Gland* of a swamp basilisk, giving his strikes a corrosive acidic edge; the *Echo-Sonar Sense* of cave-dwelling shadow bats, allowing him to perceive movements through absolute pitch-blackness; and the *Regenerative Flesh* of a multi-limbed troll, making minor wounds heal almost instantly before his eyes.

However, it was a discovery on the ninth night that truly made Ethan’s crimson eyes widen in disbelief.

Keklar had hunted down and devoured a rare, translucent **Void Slime** deep within a subterranean crystal cavern. Within minutes of digesting the creature’s gelatinous core, a violent transformation rippled through the Hobgoblin’s massive frame.

From his elevated observation point, Ethan watched in absolute astonishment.

Down in the forest clearing, Keklar’s towering, bluish-grey muscled body suddenly began to ripple and liquefy like hot wax. His calcified bone plating melted, his indigo skin smoothed out, and his feral, tusked visage softened. The mass of flesh bubbled and shifted, stretching and reshaping itself with eerie fluidity until, within seconds, the towering monster stood entirely replaced by an ordinary, well-built human youth with dark hair and sharp, intelligent features.

Ethan stared from the tree branch, his expression locked in profound shock.

*’Slime Transformation...’* Ethan realized, a sudden wave of clarity washing over him. *’He devoured a Void Slime and absorbed its cellular malleability. That’s how he plans to bypass human checkpoints. That’s how a bloodthirsty monster intends to walk openly through the human empires without raising a single alarm!’*

The pieces of the grand puzzle clicked together instantly in Ethan’s mind.

If Keklar could disguise himself as a human, he wouldn’t stay hidden in the wilderness for long. The grand stage of the continent—the inter-empire academy—was about to open its gates.

"The Sovereign Academy..." Ethan murmured softly, a cold, knowing smile returning to his lips. "If my calculations are correct, that is where all the chosen ones, the rising prodigies, and the core players of this era are heading. And if Keklar wants to devour human potential to fuel his evolution, he will inevitably make his way there as well."

Ethan didn’t linger in the Whispering Forest a second longer. With a flick of his wrist, he dissolved his shadow-clone, packed up his research, and prepared for his own entry into human civilization.

---

Days later, deep within the heartland of the central continent, a grand, four-horse luxury carriage rumbled steadily along the stone-paved imperial highway.

The central empire—known across the continent as the **Aethelgard Empire**, the magnificent nexus connecting the human territories, the beast domains, and the demon borders—was bustling with unprecedented activity. Thousands of nobles, elites, and aspiring youths were converging toward the capital for the grand opening of the **Supreme Evolution Academy**.

Inside the plush, velvet-lined interior of the moving carriage, four young elites sat facing one another. They were dressed in opulent, embroidered robes bearing the crests of their respective houses, discussing the rumors swirling across the continent with breathless excitement.

"Have you heard?" a young noble with silver-trimmed cuffs and a haughty expression whispered, leaning forward. "This year’s admission to the Supreme Evolution Academy isn’t just a standard academic term. Every single major empire and grand duchy has dispatched their ultimate ’Chosen One’—the absolute pinnacle of the younger generation!"

"Ah, you mean the monsters who hold imperial backing?" a sharp-eyed female cadet from the southern marquisate replied, adjusting her collar. "Every empire has cultivated one true prodigy to represent their bloodline and supremacy. They say these Chosen Ones possess innate talents and cheat-like skills that defy normal cultivation."

"Indeed," chimed in a burly young warrior from the eastern military factions, crossing his arms. "Take the **Grantham Empire**, for instance. Their Chosen One is none other than **Prince Julian**, third in line to the throne, who awakened the *Glacial Dragon Bloodline* at age fourteen. He can freeze an entire battlefield with a single breath of frost."

"That’s nothing compared to the **Solaria Kingdom**," interrupted a scholarly youth sitting by the window, adjusting his gold-rimmed monocle. "Their chosen representative is **Cassia**, the direct daughter of the Grand Duke of Dawn. She commands the *Solar-Heart Physique*, allowing her to absorb sunlight and unleash destructive beams of thermal plasma that can melt through six inches of tempered steel."

"And what about the independent factions?" the silver-cuffed noble asked eagerly. "What about the wandering prodigies and the mysterious figures emerging from the shadows?"

"Hah! No matter how talented a stray wanderer might be, they can never rival the accumulated resources of an empire’s Chosen One," the burly warrior laughed dismissively. "Besides, with figures like Prince Julian, Lady Cassia, and... well, even the rumors of that second-awakened sword-bone freak Arthur from the Church... the ordinary geniuses won’t even make it past the preliminary trials."

While the carriage echoed with their arrogant chatter, sitting quietly in the corner seat near the front was a young traveler wearing a simple, dark-grey cloak.

It was **Ethan**.

His face was half-hidden beneath his hood, and his pale hands rested calmly on his lap. He listened to the young nobles boast about their empires’ "Chosen Ones" with a look of quiet, profound amusement.

They spoke of princes and dukes as if they were gods walking among mortals. They had no idea that true monsters—beings like Keklar, who could devour systems and mimic human forms, and entities pulling strings from the shadows like himself—were already moving among them, preparing to turn their grand, prestigious academy into a bloody killing floor.

The carriage jolted slightly as it rolled over a stone bridge, crossing the final boundary marker into the sprawling, magnificent metropolis surrounding the Supreme Evolution Academy.

Ethan shifted slightly in his corner seat, raising a pale hand to gently part the heavy velvet curtain of the carriage window.

Outside, the sheer scale of the convergence was enough to paralyze an ordinary cultivator with awe. The imperial highway leading into the capital was no longer a simple road; it had transformed into a roaring, multi-tiered river of wealth, power, and ancient bloodlines.

Hundreds of extravagant carriages—each representing grand noble houses, ancient sects, and imperial dynasties—were jammed in a disciplined, slow-moving procession towards the city gates. Some vehicles were carved entirely from luminous jade that glowed with natural defensive runes, while others were forged from dense, jet-black star-steel, radiating dark elemental suppression.

Even more terrifying than the land caravans were the sights ascending in the sky above.

A collective gasp echoed inside Ethan’s carriage as the young nobles leaned out the windows, their eyes wide with disbelief.

High above the clouds, a magnificent, golden carriage forged from pure divine gold sailed through the air. It was pulled not by ordinary horses, but by four massive **Sun-Feathered Griffins**—divine beasts whose wings spanned twenty meters across, shedding trails of sparkling golden embers with every flap. Their roaring screeches vibrated through the atmosphere, forcing the horses on the ground below to whinny in panicked submission.

"Look at the skies!" the young noble with the silver cuffs shouted, his voice trembling with a mixture of reverence and intense envy. "That... that is the convoy of the Heavenly Sun Sect! They brought four Rank 4 Divine Griffins just to escort their young master!"

"That’s nothing!" the burly warrior exclaimed, pointing toward the eastern horizon. "Look over there!"

Through the mist-covered peaks in the distance, a colossal, shadow-casting silhouette sliced through the heavens. It was an ancient **Sub-Dragon**, its scales shimmering like polished obsidian as its massive wings beat against the wind. Perched atop the broad, spiky neck of the dragon stood a handful of youth dressed in dark-red robes, looking down at the crawling ground caravans with cold, absolute disdain.

"Mounting an actual dragon-kin..." the scholarly youth muttered, adjusting his monocle as a drop of nervous sweat rolled down his neck. "The Beast Empire’s Royal Guard... They really intend to flex their martial dominance right at the entrance."

Every empire on the continent—the Human Empire with its gilded spatial airships, the Beast Empire with its monstrous airborne mounts, and the subtle, shadow-cloaked envoys of the independent neutral territories—had gathered at this exact nexus. Thousands of patriarchs, grand elders, and imperial generals had personally traveled thousands of miles for one single reason: to witness their younger generation enter the prestigious grounds of the **Supreme Evolution Academy**.

Ethan watched the chaotic, majestic spectacle with a calm, unblinking gaze.

To the young nobles in the carriage, these flying divine beasts and golden vessels were symbols of ultimate power and prestige. But through Ethan’s crimson-tinged vision, he saw something entirely different. He saw a terrifying concentration of karmic luck, hidden bloodlines, and volatile energy all converging into a single, massive pressure cooker.

*’So many prime targets brought together under one roof,’* Ethan thought, a subtle, cold smile touching his lips as he let the velvet curtain fall back into place. *’The stage is far grander than I anticipated.’*

The carriage gave a final, heavy jolt as it rolled past the towering, runic-engraved arches of the central city gate, officially bringing Ethan into the domain of the academy.