Chapter 22: Power Upgrade

Kyle stood in front of the stardust crystal, his hand gently touching the crystal that emitted a soft glow. The information conveyed by the ancient symbols kept swirling in his mind. The hall was completely silent. Alicia and the mysterious person stood quietly aside, their eyes fixed firmly on Kyle. They could sense that Kyle was in the midst of a crucial transformation.

Kyle closed his eyes and immersed himself in a deep resonance with the stardust power. He recalled the exquisite use of the stardust power by ancient civilizations as shown by the mysterious symbols. Those scenes flashed through his mind like a movie. In the records of ancient civilizations, the stardust power was not just an energy for attack and defense but also a bridge that could communicate and coordinate with everything in the universe.

He began to try to re - arrange the flow of the stardust power in his body according to the guidance of the mysterious symbols. In the past, although the stardust power in his body was powerful, its operation was a bit chaotic. At this moment, he strived to guide it into a more orderly and efficient cycle. With his efforts, Kyle felt that the stardust power in his body seemed to have awakened its latent potential and began to pulse at a new frequency.

Suddenly, Kyle's body trembled slightly, and a powerful energy fluctuation radiated from him. A faint layer of starlight gradually appeared on the surface of his skin. These starlight particles were like flowing liquid, forming a bright halo around his body. Alicia and the mysterious person watched this scene in surprise. They could feel the power and purity of this energy, which far exceeded what they had seen before.

"This... This is incredible!" Alicia couldn't help but exclaim, her eyes wide with shock.

The mysterious person nodded slightly, a glimmer of relief flashing in his eyes. "It seems that those mysterious symbols have really opened a new door for him."

Kyle slowly opened his eyes, with star - like lights shining in them. He gently raised his hand, palm up, and a small ball condensed by the stardust power slowly rotated in his hand. This small ball seemed tiny, but it contained immense energy. The surrounding air was slightly distorted due to its presence. With a thought from Kyle, the small ball instantly split into countless tiny stardust particles. These particles, as if they had a life of their own, fluttered and circled around him, forming a magnificent halo.

"I can feel it. My control over the stardust power has reached a new level," Kyle said, his voice full of surprise and confidence.

Alicia quickly walked forward, her eyes filled with curiosity and excitement. "Kyle, tell us quickly. What's this new power like?"

Kyle smiled and said, "Now I can control the stardust power more precisely. It's like a part of my body and can change according to my will. Just like these particles, I can make them combine and disperse freely to achieve different effects." As he spoke, he pushed these stardust particles outward. The particles spread rapidly, and wherever they went, ripples appeared in the air, as if the fabric of reality was being affected by these particles.

To further test his newly - acquired ability, Kyle turned his gaze to a corner of the hall. There was a huge rock there, more than two - people - tall. Kyle concentrated and controlled the stardust particles to fly towards the rock. The moment the stardust particles touched the rock, something strange happened. The rock began to tremble slightly, and countless small cracks appeared on its surface. These cracks spread rapidly, like a spider's web. Then, in a flash of light, the rock turned into countless tiny particles and drifted away with the wind.

Alicia and the mysterious person were so shocked by the scene in front of them that they couldn't speak. Alicia walked forward, her eyes filled with amazement. "Kyle, you did it! This new power is amazing."

Kyle nodded, his face beaming with an excited smile. "These mysterious symbols have given me so much. Now, I can feel that the connection between the stardust power and me is even closer, and I can control it more precisely."

The mysterious person walked up, a glimmer of approval in his eyes. "This is just the beginning, Kyle. There's still a lot of room for you to improve your understanding and application of the stardust power. But this breakthrough has undoubtedly taken us an important step forward on the road to exploring the secrets of the stardust."

Kyle deeply agreed. He looked at the stardust crystal in his hand again, his heart filled with gratitude. He knew that this crystal and the mysterious symbols in the ruin were the keys to his power upgrade. And he also understood that with the increase in power came greater responsibilities.

"I want to try using my new power to explore deeper into this ruin. Maybe there are more secrets about the stardust power waiting for us to discover," Kyle said, his eyes revealing a determined look.

Alicia nodded, her eyes full of support. "We'll go with you, Kyle. No matter what we encounter, we'll fight side by side."

The mysterious person nodded slightly. "Let's move forward. The answers may lie ahead."

The three of them took a short break in the hall to regain some strength, and then they walked towards the deeper part of the ruin.

They walked along a narrow passage. The walls of the passage were still engraved with various mysterious symbols. As he walked, Kyle carefully observed these symbols. He found that they had an internal connection with the symbols he had deciphered before, as if they were different parts of a complete knowledge system. He would stop from time to time, using his newly - acquired stardust power to communicate with these symbols, trying to obtain more information.

"Look here," Kyle pointed at a set of symbols and said. "These symbols seem to be talking about the connection between the stardust power and time, but I haven't fully understood it yet."

Alicia leaned in to take a look and said in confusion, "The stardust power and time? That's really beyond imagination."

The mysterious person pondered for a moment and then said, "Maybe this is the deeper mystery of the stardust power. We need to explore it more deeply."

During their progress, they encountered some small energy traps. These traps were triggered by ancient energy devices and emitted energy beams. In the past, Kyle and the others might have had to go through a lot of trouble to avoid or break these traps. But at this moment, Kyle easily used the stardust power to form an invisible shield in front of him. This shield could not only withstand the attacks of the energy beams but also absorb part of the energy and convert it into his own power.

"This new shield is amazing!" Alicia exclaimed.

Kyle maintained the shield and said, "I didn't expect it to absorb energy automatically. It seems there are still many surprises in this power."

As they delved deeper into the ruin, the surrounding environment became more and more complex. An ancient and mysterious aura filled the air, as if time itself had slowed down. Kyle could feel that a powerful force was waiting for them ahead, and his newly - mastered stardust power would be a powerful weapon to face the unknown challenges.

Finally, they reached the end of the passage. A huge stone gate stood in front of them, engraved with even more complex and mysterious patterns.