Ninth Layer Mortal Renewal!

Those were all the most valuable things he had gotten, and unfortunately there were no Inner Heaven Grade pills, but that made sense, after all, such things would probably be consumed by the patriarch the second they appeared.

Beyond that, he still had a lot of stuff left for the lower layers, easily enough to build a sect of his own.

What Minos was most concerned about were naturally the Lock Breaking Pills. By now he had already been at the Eighth Layer Mortal Renewal for half a year, and his foundation was solid.

With his foundation firm, he was ready for another breakthrough after a long time. Unfortunately his body was starting to build an immunity to these pills, so he needed even more.

Not to mention his poor talent, even with 24 Lock Breaking Pills, he doubted he could reach the 12th Layer of Mortal Renewal.

It seemed he would have to start searching for alternatives, otherwise he might end up stuck in place for a long time.

But that was a problem for another time, for now he was more concerned about breaking through.

Taking half a dozen pills in hand, Minos began swallowing them piece by piece, tossing another one down his throat whenever he felt its medicinal powers weaken.

With so many Lock Breaking Pills on hand, his Ninth Life Lock stood no chance, and after consuming six pills, it finally collapsed under the pressure.

As per usual, Minos's body underwent another evolution, his flesh rapidly strengthening as a massive surge of power poured into each and every cell.

The Ninth Life Lock added 2400 pounds of strength, which when added on top of the 7000 Minos already had, directly raised him to 9400, just a couple hundred pounds from an even 10,000.

Of course, beyond strength, the Ninth Life Lock also rapidly strengthened his eyes, giving him tremendous motion capturing abilities among other things.

But the changes didn't finish there! Minos suddenly felt a strange tickle at his forehead, as if a new organ was slowly forming.

He was already aware that the Ninth Life Lock was also called the Eye and Nux Eye Lock, but what a Nux Eye was, he wasn't quite sure.

The ticklish sensation soon turned into squirming, the organ shifting around under the flesh of his forehead, making him feel incredibly odd.

Fortunately, the change didn't last long, and soon enough everything settled, his forehead going back to normal.

Despite looking the exact same on the surface, Minos was keenly aware that he had a new ability now, and after concentrating his mind, he could feel the true nature of this change.

His forehead began pulsating as a strange new sense was opened to him. A world of colors and sensation slowly unraveled around him, as his Nux Eye finally allowed him to sense the Nux that had always surrounded him.

This world was small, only about a meter radius around him, but in that range, he could feel the Nux of all different elements.

The sensation was still weak at this stage, but with Minos's incredibly powerful soul, he could feel even the slightest changes.

He could feel the Wood Nux that slowly seeped out of the wooden boards of his house, and the Air Nux that constantly surrounded him, even the Life Nux that was slowly dissipating from his own body.

Each had a different feeling, the Wood Nux feeling dead, likely because the wood boards weren't alive.

The Air Nux felt flowing and free, like a kite soaring through the endless blue skies, or a bird taking off in flight.

The Life Nux was filled with endless vitality, like the smile on a newborns face as they opened their eyes to the world for the first time, giggling as they reached out towards their parents.

Each element felt alive, filled with emotion of its own, as if they each told a story that reached back into the endless eons.

Suddenly, Minos felt like his heart was evolving, very similar to when he had first awakened his Heart Path abilities, but far more intense this time.

If at first, each emotion was just showing itself to Minos, then now, it was as if they had opened their doors, welcoming him inside.

Intrigued, Minos sunk his spirit into each emotion, his soul like a fish caught in a whirlpool, immediately consumed by them.

Despite a single moment passing, Minos felt like he had experienced three different lives.

In the first one, he was a tree standing majestically in the forest range, before a man came and chopped him down ruthlessly.

In the second, he was a soft breeze, traveling through the world aimlessly, just enjoying the freedom of going wherever he pleased.

In his third life, he saw himself, but not as a grown man, rather as a very small infant, seemingly only born a few moments ago.

Looking up, he saw two people. The first was a large middle-aged man with a majestic appearance, and white hair not any different then Minos's.

Beside him was a beautiful woman with a gentle smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with tears as she reached out to the small Minos, and gently rubbed his cheek.

"Do we really have to do this honey…?" The woman pleaded, her eyes red, cheeks soaked in tears.

"We have no choice." The man said with a sigh, though one could tell he was just as devastated as his wife, he just seemed used to acting stronger.

Looking down at Minos, he put on a forced smile before reaching over and roughly messing up Minos's newborn hair.

"I'm sorry son, blame your father for his incompetence." The man said, as he pulled away and began speaking to the guard next to him.

"Take him far away, and make sure to give him to a good mortal family. Don't forget to come back as soon as you're finished…"

"Yes Patriarch!" The guard said with a salute, before taking the small Minos and heading off on his mission.

…

The memories ended there, and Minos couldn't help but open his eyes with a deep gasp, breathing heavily, still shocked by what he had just seen.

'Were those my… Parents? But why did they abandon me?' Minos couldn't help but question, his heart a little low.

'They didn't seem to hate me at all, so there must be a deeper reason, but what? And how did I even see all of that…'

Trying to replicate what he had done earlier, Minos tried to sense deeply into his Life Nux, but while it did work, he failed to go as far back as he needed, just seeing himself when he was around 6 or 7.

At this point, Minos was already somewhat familiar with this newly evolved Heart Path ability, though his control of it was still weak.

Attempting it a few more times, Minos could only let out a sigh and admit that he was out of luck.

It seemed that first vision was just a lucky break, and if he wanted to ever see that far again, he would just have to continue polishing his Heart Path abilities.

Unfortunately, the Heart Path was incredibly difficult to improve, and honestly, Minos had no idea how he managed to break through the first two times.

It just seemed that when the time was right, and his heart was in the right place, everything would come naturally, otherwise, no matter how much one forced it, nothing would change.

In a way, Minos felt such a way of progression suited the nature of the Heart Path perfectly, one that could never be obtained through force, only patience.

Despite having just broken in both his cultivation and his Heart Path, Minos's mood was low, not feeling as elated as he usually would.

He couldn't help but look out of his window, up into the star-filled sky, wondering if his parents still thought of him, or if he was just a distant memory to them by now?

But then he remembered his parents who had truly raised him, and his emotions were in a slight turmoil.

It seemed he just didn't have good luck in that regard, whether it was his birth parents, or his 'real' parents, it felt almost destined that he couldn't spend much time with either…

Letting out a sigh, Minos shut the blinds, not even bothered to test his new strength, just going directly to bed, hoping he could sleep off these feelings…

…

The next day, Minos did feel a little better, though his mood was still far from ideal, but when he went downstairs and saw all the children playing, he forced a smile onto his face.

"Boss, hungry? I prepared breakfast!" Beetus said as he pointed out to the dozens of dishes on the table.

Sitting down, Minos ate patiently as the kids ran around him, laughing and fighting, wrecking everything in their paths.

"Hey, since you've guys finished eating, go cultivate!" Beetus said sternly, appearing more and more like a mother bear.

Hearing Beetus's words, the children's faces all sunk, but they were naturally not stupid enough to challenge the person who fed them.

"Don't look so down. Tell you what, once everyone's done, we can go out to a restaurant." Minos said with a gentle smile, immediately raising the children's moods back to the peak.