"I..." Kyle thought as the chaos in his mind slowly lifted.
The surroundings didn't feel as... intense anymore. Things were slowly calming down, and his thoughts started to make sense again.
"I... I'm returning."
Kyle regained control of his senses, and his Energy Sense returned to its normal size. The Energy in the surroundings didn't seem as clear and intrusive anymore.
Then, he felt the wall inside his mind and pushed Energy into it.
BOOOOM!
Kyle's eyes widened as the haze lifted in an instant. It was like a wave went through the world, returning it to an orderly collection of concepts.
Massive streams of Energy washed into Kyle's mind, and he felt it becoming indescribably clear.
There was no more noise.
His head was just... silent.
The pain was gone, except for the Sin Flames, but by now, they didn't feel relevant anymore. They might as well not exist.
For a while, Kyle just lay on the ground, calmly sensing the world around him.
Everything made sense.
Every person, stone, animal, tree, river, and mountain felt so clear and familiar to him. It was like he had been all of these things, which was why he knew everything about them.
Kyle closed his eyes in satisfaction and silence.
For an unknown period of time, he just let his mind rest. It was almost like he fell asleep.
Eventually, he opened his eyes again, and he just looked at the ceiling of his little cave.
"I've succeeded," he thought calmly. "I've got through all of the Refinements. I'm a Legendary Sage now."
"The Seventh Refinement... it was... I don't know," he thought as he furrowed his brows. "It was definitely horrible, but it also feels like a dream. It's like I've woken up from a nightmare. It was terrible while it happened, but after waking up, it feels so distant and unimportant."
"It's like I've been in an endless nightmare, but now, I'm awake."
Kyle sat up.
"But that's a good thing. The sensations were so bad that they might cause lasting damage if the Seekers still remembered them clearly. Such intense pain can change you."
"In the end, even though the trials are difficult and painful, the God still wants powerful Seekers. He doesn't want broken people. Most likely, the Refinements were designed in this way to promote growth while not permanently damaging the Seeker."
Kyle sighed.
"Still, how did he come up with that stuff? Why did he make the Refinements in this way?"
"I wonder, has he experienced something similar in the past? Is this some kind of thing where he says that he's done that and it made him strong, which is why we should also go through it?"
"Possible, but I don't know. However, if that's the case, he's right. At least, when considering how I feel. The Sin Flames barely feel like an inconvenience anymore, even though over 90% of people who condense them commit suicide due to the pain."
"I guess I've gotten so accustomed to pain that they barely faze me anymore."
For a moment, Kyle also focused on the visions of the Fourth Curse of Karmic Luck.
If he focused on them, they felt almost overwhelming. It was difficult to distinguish reality from illusion.
Yet, as soon as Kyle stopped looking at them, they basically vanished. They were still there, but he just didn't really notice them. It was like looking at a slightly smudgy screen in one's home. One was so used to the smudges that they didn't even see them anymore. However, if someone focused on them, they might think that they should clean their screen.
"Did I learn anything during the Seventh Refinement?" Kyle thought as he perceived his surroundings.
He looked through the world with familiarity. It was like he knew everything about all of the things around him.
He learned basically everything there was to know about the majority of the things in his Energy Sense.
Countless concepts appeared in Kyle's mind, and they easily combined into small groups.
BOOOOM!

The Law of Yin-Water was completed as well.
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