Chapter Eighteen: Temple of the Divine Evolution

Power.

Boiling power surged through his body.

As he clenched his fists, it felt as if he were gripping a mountain in his hands.

Yang Luo exhaled in disbelief, gazing ahead.

When he had just plunged into the river, he’d floated downstream for a while, and now he found himself beyond the city limits of Qingxia. Looking around, the riverbanks were overgrown with wild grass, shaded by trees, and wild birds perched atop tangled shrubs, their delicate calls audible.

Yang Luo’s eyes widened.

The world before him had never appeared so clear.

He’d never been nearsighted; years of burning the midnight oil over books since childhood, and then working daily at a computer after graduation, had taken their toll. Though not truly impaired, Yang Luo would sometimes find his vision blurred from overuse, distant objects indistinct.

But now, standing again on this riverbank, the world looked as if it had shifted from 1080P to an 8K display, and his internal graphics card had been upgraded from a PTX-1060 to an RTX-4090TI. Everything before his eyes was dazzlingly new.

The sounds around him were also extraordinarily clear.

He could hear the wild birds calling from the tangled branches beside him, the sound of the wind brushing the tips of grass within dozens of meters, and the rustling leaves in the forest hundreds of meters away. All these sounds poured into his ears—not as chaos, but as an ordered symphony. His mind, as if it had received a dozen consecutive upgrades, handled and interpreted these sensations with unprecedented power.

Never had the world seemed so wondrous.

Never had it been so beautiful.

Yang Luo reached out, pressing his hand to his heart, feeling its powerful thrum.

Not long ago, this very heart had been his nightmare, a harbinger of his doom. He had feared to listen to it, for its feeble beating meant he was approaching death with no recourse.

But now… everything had changed.

Within his chest, his heart thudded—steady and strong—like a pressurized pump driving the source of his life, greater even than the engine of a race car.

Yang Luo clenched his teeth, forcing down his emotions.

He raised his fist and struck the river before him again and again, as if to vent all his anger, resentment, and pain from these past days.

…Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Like mortar shells raining down, each punch sent up great sprays of water, and with every blow, the waves rose higher.

Until, at last—the force of his fists shook the several-meter-wide river, water surging skyward, fish leaping from the surface, waves tumbling and roaring, and for a moment, the river’s flow was cut off, exposing the damp riverbed at its center.

Bang!

After this outburst, Yang Luo’s mood finally settled into calm.

The river before him quickly resumed its flow, the riverbed covered anew, but the image of that split current—wrought by a single punch—was etched deep in his mind.

To sever a river with a single punch… He now possessed such power.

He drew a deep breath, an irrepressible smile breaking across his face.

But Yang Luo knew full well that this power was not a matter of chance, nor a miracle. It was a gift from a higher existence.

He recalled the image of the black eagle, the crimson light it had carried and shot into him, and, most important of all, the voice that had resounded in his mind. Yang Luo’s thoughts grew dazed.

And as if in response to his confusion, that wondrous and commanding voice sounded once more in his mind.

A voice like that of a god.

At the first note, Yang Luo was overtaken by intense reverence and awe, as if his very soul responded instinctively.

“Have you… felt it? This power?”

“I have,” Yang Luo replied reverently to the voice, “This power is your gift, is it not—?”

At the same time, he felt something strange.

What the voice spoke was not his own language, yet he understood it perfectly.

Was this too an aspect of Its divine might?

Yang Luo could not help but wonder.

“Indeed.”

It answered his unspoken question with calm indifference.

“This is the ‘Divine Evolution Elixir,’ a relic of the ‘Temple of Divine Evolution.’ It shatters mortal limits, allowing one to ascend the path to the heavens… and you are the one chosen by the ‘Temple of Divine Evolution.’”

“…Divine Evolution Elixir… Temple of Divine Evolution?!”

Yang Luo’s heart raced with both terror and excitement.

Those two names brimmed with unfathomable mystery, and in an instant, he felt himself standing within a vast and unknown world.

“Indeed… I am the Master of the Temple of Divine Evolution…”

The voice seemed to echo from an unfathomable distance, grand and remote, yet every word was clear to him.

“Master… why have you chosen me?” Yang Luo drew a deep breath, nerves taut, and asked his question.

“It is but fate… all things are wrought by fate’s hand…”

He could not comprehend what the great Master meant by “fate,” but perhaps it was something akin to destiny.

Was he too one chosen by destiny?

Yang Luo’s spirit surged with excitement, barely contained.

But the voice of the Master continued.

“The Temple of Divine Evolution cannot yet return from chaos to the world of men… It can only choose agents within the mortal realm… you are now such an ‘Acolyte of the Divine Evolution’…”

Acolyte of the Divine Evolution… What a formidable title—was this his new identity? Yang Luo felt that excitement nearly burst from his throat.

But suddenly he thought of the massive black eagle, the one that had delivered the Divine Evolution Elixir into his body, granting him this opportunity. Was it too a member of the Temple?

“Its name is Black Moon… divine beast and emissary of the Temple of Divine Evolution… It has the power to walk among mortals… Perhaps you shall meet again in the future…”

Yang Luo could not help feeling a twinge of regret. He had wished to see Black Moon once more, to express his gratitude—for it was the one who had given him the elixir and this chance.

But from the Master’s words, it seemed unlikely he would meet Black Moon soon. Still, “divine emissary” sounded far more imposing than “acolyte”…

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, Yang Luo sensed the connection between himself and the Master growing fainter, his heart tightening as he abandoned all other distractions.

“Master, what is happening—?”

“The Temple of Divine Evolution has yet to return to the world; it is difficult to maintain communion with your mind for long…”

“Then, Master, as an acolyte, is there anything I must do?”

“There are no taboos, no requirements…”

Did that mean he was completely free, even able to reveal the existence of the Temple itself?!

Yang Luo was momentarily stunned.

He listened intently to the Master’s words, as if receiving sacred instruction.

But the voice grew ever more distant, wafting down like a message from the clouds.

“Have no worries… the old days are soon to return, the gods shall come again… then the Temple of Divine Evolution will reappear upon the earth… await in peace…”

With that, the voice vanished.

Yet the import of those final words was overwhelming, so much so that Yang Luo forgot to breathe.

The old days are soon to return, and the gods shall come again?!!