"What do you need, Miss?" he asked.

"I want to send Victor to the underground. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?" Carla replied.

The old man froze slightly and seemed hesitant when he heard that.

"The required resources have already been covered by me," Carla added.

"Alright." The old man did not hesitate for long before nodding.

After that, he opened the cave gate.

"Victor, you can only go in alone. I don’t have enough resources for myself anymore. But don’t worry, this is a public entrance—you won’t encounter the sect’s ancestors. You should be able to last about half an hour inside," Carla said to Victor, who simply nodded.

In his mind, he complained a little because he could only stay there for half an hour.

He then stepped into the cave.

What he found was a large glass chamber with an open door, similar to a transparent elevator.

Of course, it was controlled by spiritual energy.

In the cultivation world, that was not strange at all.

Victor stepped inside, the door closed, and it began to descend—not too fast, but not slow either. It might reach the base of the mountain in five minutes, but it would continue deeper beyond that, and Victor did not know how far it would go.

At the same time, the Black Diamond in his hand suddenly shattered and turned into a black aura that enveloped him.

It had already activated.

Even though there was no visible light, there seemed to be an invisible radiation that could already destroy him.

Even the black aura began to thin little by little.

A moment later, Victor froze.

A dark red light appeared in front of him and formed the figure of his mother made of light.

The woman smiled faintly while looking around.

Even without the black aura, she could endure. Of course, her light form was still slowly fading.

"You?" Victor frowned immediately.

"Do you think I didn’t leave anything behind in my son’s body?" the woman said. "To be honest, I’ve long wanted to come to this place. It turns out my trace on you is what brought me here..."

"Have you been watching me all this time?" Victor asked coldly.

"I can naturally observe you, but do you think I have nothing better to do than just watch you? Since you went to the academy, I’ve only watched you once—when you were making love with your girlfriend. Fortunately, you have normal desires. I was quite worried you would turn out like your father, a man without desire."

"...."

Victor was stunned when he heard that last sentence.

His father?

Of course, he had sometimes wondered who his father really was.

However, as a reincarnator, he preferred to focus on himself.

Since his father did not appear in the Russell Clan, he simply assumed he didn’t exist.

But it was impossible for Margaret to have a child with an ordinary man.

Now that she mentioned it—a man without desire—what did that even mean?

How could a man without desire impregnate a woman?

Victor had even more questions when thinking about his parents, such as why he was talentless while his mother was so talented.

Degradation was normal, but usually not this drastic.

Just as Victor was about to ask, the woman raised her hand.

"No need to concern yourself with unimportant matters," she said.

"Aren’t you afraid of being discovered by the Holy Light Sect?"

"You think I’m afraid of them? But don’t worry, it’s safe for me to appear here. The Holy Light Sect’s surveillance cannot reach this place—it will be gradually eroded by the aura of the Source of Light."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Just doing a few things to the Source of Light. You’ll see."

Victor frowned more deeply but said nothing further.

This was not good for the Holy Light Sect, but it was not his concern.

After some time, the glass chamber finally stopped.

The door slowly opened.

What Victor saw in front of him was not something blinding as he had expected.

He saw a basement, and in front of him was something that looked like part of a capsule.

The rest could not be seen because it was blocked by walls.

The light was not too dazzling, but when Victor observed it for more than three seconds, his eyes began to sting and blur.

Even his body started to feel as if it were burning, as if it would melt into liquid.

He had not even stepped out of the glass chamber, yet the effect was already there despite the protection of the black aura.

Fortunately, as a Peak Sage Realm cultivator, this was something he could endure.

Margaret stepped into the basement first, and her light form faded faster.

As she stepped forward, the black aura surrounding Victor also began to thin more quickly.

"No need to go further," Margaret said.

Victor indeed stopped. If he went further, the time he could remain there would become even shorter.

Without possessing light power, there was nothing he could do except stand still. There was nothing he could train, yet he clearly felt something inside him beginning to awaken.

It surged violently, but his own body seemed to restrain it—something that confused Victor.

Minute after minute passed. Victor focused on his body and did not observe his mother, who seemed to be sending a strange power toward the capsule ahead.

Speaking of talent and Power Affinity, Victor had obtained them by stealing, from the System, and from rare resources such as the Heavenly Thunder Spirit, which directly granted him Heaven Class Lightning affinity.

Here, however, the Source of Light did not grant it directly, but awakened what already existed within the body.

Everything already exists within the body.

It simply has not awakened, and most people cannot awaken any of it.

But the Source of Light is guaranteed to awaken a person’s light affinity—at least at Earth Class—and it awakens quickly, even rising further to Sky Class.

However, for Victor, it was clearly slow.

His own body seemed to be preventing the awakening.

Why was that?

He could not help but grow suspicious, especially after just wondering why he was talentless despite having such a powerful mother.

Earth Class Fire—that was the only innate power he possessed.

Fortunately, the Source of Light continued to push his Light Power Affinity to awaken.

His body, which had been trying to restrain it, finally stopped resisting at the twentieth minute of his time there.

DING!

(You have obtained Earth Class Light Power Affinity!)

[Power Affinity:]

(Fire: Heaven Class)

(Wind: Earth Class)

(Lightning: Heaven Class)

(Light: Earth Class)

A notification from the System appeared.

The Source of Light naturally continued trying to help him, attempting to elevate his Earth Class affinity to Sky Class. However, this time, Victor knew it was impossible—even without a time limit.

His body once again imposed a restriction, and this time it was much stronger. It truly felt as though something within him was being forbidden from awakening.

Something inside him was being suppressed.

What about the World of Light? Could it help awaken his Light talent despite the limitations of his body?

After all, unlike the Source of Light, the World of Light did not guarantee success, even after entering three times.

"Let’s go back. There’s no point in you staying here any longer," Margaret said as she passed by him.

"Are you going to tell me what’s going on?" Victor asked.

"Just keep your curiosity to yourself. And there’s no need to complain—you can take from others what you lack," Margaret replied indifferently.

She forcibly pulled Victor back into the glass chamber, which immediately began ascending.

After that, Margaret returned to Victor’s body, causing him to frown since he truly felt nothing.

Perhaps her power would recover inside him after being eroded by the aura of the Source of Light.

Victor hated the fact that there were things he simply could not resist at all.

He kept frowning until the glass chamber stopped at the top.

The cave gate was still open, and Carla stood there with a faint smile.

Victor immediately walked toward her.

"How was the result?" she asked.

"Disappointing. Maybe I’m just not suited for light," Victor replied.

"It’s not really a problem. Earth Class Power Affinity isn’t entirely useless—you can use it to gain insights that strengthen your other powers," Carla said.

"Can we go to the World of Light now?" Victor asked.

"Not yet. Wait until night. The World of Light was created by our founder by drawing the gentle aura of the Source of Light. Even though it’s gentle, it’s still dangerous. Only at night, when the world becomes cooler, do the harmful effects fade. Midnight is the safest and best time," Carla explained.

"How about we take a walk first so you don’t get bored waiting? Actually, don’t you like bullying people or stealing things from them? How about we bully the disciples in this sect? Honestly, I like doing that too."

Victor, "..."