Marlo blinked, and read that last part again.

I normally would not care to criticise you, nor would I care how you lived your life - if only I hadn't foreseen your death.

Oh. It seemed he wasn't mistaken. He continued to read.

I wish I could say that you died a hero. I wish I could say that you died for something you believed in. But no, that wasn't the case. Lax was your attitude when death came knocking. Lacking was your skill when it was put to the test. Man, what happened to the guy who told me that offense was the best defense? When you were attacked, you had neither. Or at least, that is what I saw. For the sake of everything you did for me, I have written you this letter.

Within each word, I have sealed my peak strength at the time of writing this letter. When the time comes, you can use this letter for offense, defense, or to heal someone from the brink of death. What you choose is entirely up to you, but just know that the letter can only be used once.

All I'll say is that not only did you die in my vision, but you failed your family

too.

Even as Marlo read the whole letter, the casual smile on his face did not change, though the attitude hidden behind his eyes did change quite a bit. Marlo turned the letter over, and read the last line.

P.S. The power in my letter can also be used to refine bloodlines, but the letter can only be used once. Choose carefully.

Marlo closed his eyes and took in a deep, deep breath. He had always been a great warrior, unrelenting and unceasing in his pursuit. What had dulled his fighting spirit was not his defeat on his home planet, which ultimately pushed him out of Earth. It was not even being exposed to the vast and powerful Origin realm. Ironically, it was the excellence of his own son that dulled Marlo's fighting spirit.

Ever since he woke up from his coma, Rafael had been too excellent. Time after time, he had proved himself, accomplishing the impossible and making even Marlo think that all he needed to do was sit back and let his son take care of things.

The thought hadn't come at once. It had been subtle, so much so that Marlo himself hadn't realized it until he read Lex's letter. But his will to pursue excellence, his undefeatable will to face death rather than obscurity had dulled... temporarily.

Marlo looked at the letter once more. Lex did not mention how Marlo died, or when. He had merely given him this letter, which meant that the death would be sometime soon.

Logic would dictate that he should use this letter to overcome his hurdle and then slowly work on improving himself. But if he really did that, he might forever be stuck as a Nascent Soul cultivator.

He was a Human Prime. His cultivation path was now solely that of improving his bloodline, again, and again, and again, pushing it to its limit, and then exceeding them where he would be expected to die instead. He had no idea exactly how strong Lex really was.

"That kid always had a sharp tongue," Marlo said as he flashed Giselle a smile. "Do you mind if I cultivate a bit? Help yourself to the food if you want."

"Nah, you go ahead," Giselle said, shaking her head. She had a lot on her mind. She was planning on scheduling her breakthrough to the Heaven Immortal realm right after the Champions tourney. Combined with the rewards she stood to gain from the tourney, she should be able to overtake Lex, right? For some reason, she felt doubtful.

Marlo, right beside her, simply crushed the letter in his hand, and channeled its energy inside his body. Lex was right. He had been too complacent for the past few years. It was time to return to the way things used to be.

As the energy trapped within the letter wrought havoc inside his body, sending unimaginable waves of agony through his being, Marlo's signature mad grin slowly returned.

Pain? If he was afraid of pain, he would not have married Sophia.

What Marlo didn't know was that Lex had mostly bluffed in the letter. He had seen Marlo's future once, sure, which is why he commented on the rabbit. But in truth, he didn't know anything else about Marlo's future. Even so, he had hoped Marlo would use the letter to improve himself.

After all, his real trump card hadn't been the letter. It had been to send Giselle to save everyone. Then, once she saved Larry's behind, he'd show off to that playboy that he had a date scheduled with Giselle - not that either of them ever agreed upon a time. As unfortunate as it was, both of them were too busy to focus on that for now.

Primal Realm, Ruins of Ascension

"I think there's something wrong with this. The human race just went up by another spot," said one of the Primal, finally commenting on it. "That's over 100 spots in a very short time. Either a 100 new Celestials were born in the human race, or something huge is secretly going on."

All of them were stumped, but it was not their job to speculate. Their only job was to record the data, and send it to the relevant parties.

Hazish Major Realm

The Jolly Rancher appeared within the Inn. To be specific, they arrived at the Inter-realm teleportation terminal, with visas in hand, ready to be vetted so that they could gain entry into this major realm.

Fortunately, the Captain had told them that they wouldn't be attracting any trouble in this Major realm, and were only stopping here as a layover to their true destination. Unfortunately, a few seconds after they entered the realm,

Bob began to speak.

"This place feels ominous," he whispered to himself, though his voice echoed through the ship anyway. "It is almost as if destiny... has been waiting for us in

this realm."