Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 969: The World Recognized Him

Ethan didn't answer right away.

He'd already finished the scan.

The system's analysis laid itself out cleanly in his mind.

Target Structure: Pure energy aggregate

Number of Energy Cores: Sixteen

Energy Type: Multi-energy fusion framework

Ethan's gaze shifted, just slightly.

He could feel it clearly now—this thing wasn't just some guard. It was part of this world's energy circulation. Every core inside it represented a different source, and all of them held a perfect balance with each other.

A complete energy lifeform.

And a perfect energy vessel.

Heavenly Demon Lightning stirred in him, almost on instinct.

Ethan slowly raised his hand.

"Then," he said, voice low, "let's see how much you can actually take."

White lightning erupted in an instant.

Power raced along his Powered Combat Armor, spreading into a stable attack structure. He compressed the lightning to its limit—then released it violently.

The bolt tore through the air.

The moment it connected, space itself shuddered.

The energy lifeform snapped into defense. All its cores spun up at once, weaving layered energy barriers. The shockwave spread out, cracking the ground and blasting crystal formations into collapsing shards.

But Ethan didn't stop.

Heavenly Demon Lightning began to seep in.

At first, it only left a thin, barely-there mark on its surface.

Then that mark started to spread.

A harsh, grating裂-sound screamed from the energy lifeform's body as its internal core structure began to destabilize. It lowered its head toward its chest, and for the first time, real shock broke through.

"That's impossible…"

Its voice wavered.

"This kind of power…"

The cracks multiplied fast.

White lightning had already invaded its core circulation framework.

"This is energy from The Infernal Abyss."

It looked up at Ethan.

And for the first time, fear appeared in its eyes.

"You… how can you possibly control this kind of power?"

Heavenly Demon Lightning fully unleashed from Ethan's palm.

The white lightning stopped being a single strike and split into countless fine branches, like living things with minds of their own, racing along the cracks in the energy lifeform's body.

Each thread released an ultra-high-frequency vibration the instant it touched the target's structure, completely scrambling what had been a stable energy cycle.

The air screamed, like it was being torn apart.

The energy lifeform tried to reassemble itself. Multiple cores inside it spun in unison, desperately trying to hold the balance—but the fused nature of Heavenly Demon Lightning kept forcing its way deeper, loosening the connections between those cores until they couldn't stay stable.

Ethan didn't give it a chance to recover.

He jerked his hand up. The white lightning condensed into a high-density beam and punched straight through its core region.

BOOM—!

A shockwave detonated outward.

The energy lifeform's body convulsed violently—then collapsed completely, breaking into countless shattered motes of light that scattered in every direction. More than a dozen energy cores of different structures hovered in the air, still maintaining faint cycles, like they'd lost their vessel but hadn't quite died yet.

Ethan stepped forward.

Heavenly Demon Lightning still flowed through him, making the structure of those cores painfully clear to his senses. He could feel it—each core represented a different energy source. If he absorbed them, his strength would undergo another qualitative leap.

Just as he reached out to collect them—

The air trembled again.

A new wave of energy surged in from the distance, closing fast.

Ethan's eyes snapped to that direction.

Heavenly Demon Lightning turned over inside him on instinct, pushing his body into a combat state.

But when the figure finally appeared in front of him, Ethan frowned slightly.

It was a child.

At least, that was what it looked like.

Its structure was far simpler than the previous energy lifeform. It only had a single energy core, and its energy intensity was nowhere near the enemy Ethan had just destroyed. Its aura was unstable, like it hadn't existed for very long.

Ethan didn't attack immediately.

He stood there, watching.

Then—next second—the child suddenly dove toward the ground.

Fast.

Before Ethan could fully react, it had already snatched one of the energy cores—and shoved it straight into its body, swallowing it whole.

Then a second.

A third.

Its body began to change.

Energy swelled rapidly.

That weak aura spiked in a heartbeat. Complex energy patterns surfaced across its skin, its circulation reconstructing at high speed, as it vaulted from a low-level existence into a high-tier energy lifeform in an instant.

It lifted its head and smiled.

"Finally."

Its voice was no longer childish—there was a clear, mature awareness behind it now.

"I've waited a long time."

Its gaze settled on Ethan.

"You helped me finish the last step."

Ethan's gaze turned icy in an instant.

He understood now.

This wasn't a child.

It was a disguise.

Heavenly Demon Lightning gathered fast.

He didn't hesitate.

White lightning compressed in his palm, forming a highly stable sphere of energy—then he hurled it.

The energy sphere ripped through the air.

Space kept cracking open along its path, like glass under a blade.

But when the attack hit—

It only left a single裂-like fissure.

That presence slowly straightened to full height.

"Useless," he said, voice low.

"I'm one of this world's cores."

He lifted a hand.

Energy spread outward in a rush.

"As long as this world exists, I won't disappear."

Just as he was about to counterattack—

Another force descended from the sky.

It wasn't as pure as Heavenly Demon Lightning, but it was just as overwhelming.

Space compressed in an instant.

That existence's body was forcibly pinned in place.

Ethan paused, surprised.

He looked up.

Thalorien hovered overhead.

Every energy node on his Powered Combat Armor was fully lit. His attack locked directly onto the target's structure, throwing its energy circulation into temporary instability.

Ethan didn't waste the opening.

He blinked in front of the target.

Heavenly Demon Lightning erupted at full output.

He reached out and grabbed the opponent's core structure with his bare hand.

The being tried to struggle.

"You can't—"

It didn't get to finish.

Ethan clenched and yanked.

The core structure was torn free by force.

The energy cycle collapsed completely.

Its body disintegrated in a rush.

The air went still again.

Ethan stood there, feeling the core's energy seep into him. Heavenly Demon Lightning completed the fusion almost instantly, pushing his energy tier up another notch.

He lifted his head, looking into the distance.

A mountain range stood there in silence.

He could feel it—

one of this world's true energy sources.

He didn't say anything.

He just started walking.

Thalorien and the other Emerald Castle warriors followed immediately.

They could all feel it.

The real power was up ahead.

The moment Ethan's boots touched down on the surface of the mountains, the ground beneath him answered his presence.

Not with shaking—with resonance.

A thread of white lightning spread from the soles of his boots, like an ancient vein system waking up, flowing through the rock itself. Heavenly Demon Lightning stirred instinctively, forming a complete energy circuit with the mountain range beneath him, and his senses extended deep into the entire region in a single breath.

He slowly crouched and pressed his palm to the stone.

The instant he made contact, an extremely dense surge of Infernal Primordial Power flooded up his arm and into his body.

This wasn't ordinary energy. Its structure was older than that.

Heavy. Stable. And carrying a kind of destructive potential—like a sleeping behemoth, waiting for someone to wake it.