The Approaching Finale

After everyone had finished resting, more than an hour had already passed.

And just as Ian had guessed, after wielding the Undead Monarch's power for some time, he had gained a vague insight into the existence of the Soul Light Body.

To be honest, after cultivating the Ascension Path for so many years, Ian had long since developed a precise understanding of Terra's power system.

At its core, Terra's Ascension Path did not focus on the body at all, but on the "soul."

Based on the many texts in the Imperial Capital Grand Library and scattered fragments concerning the Pre-Epoch Civilization, Ian had realized that there seemed to have been no Sublimers above the Fourth Energy Level during the Pre-Epoch Civilization—not even universal First Energy Level practitioners.

The entire art of ascension had been a branch of alchemy, a spiritual discipline primarily focused on elevating one's own soul.

During the Pre-Epoch Civilization, there were none of the many magical beasts of today, nor were there such abundant power components. The Sublimers of that era could only meditate and train continuously, tempering their minds while honing their bodies, until their spiritual will reached a state of "perfection"—the limit of humanity.

After that, those with talent could gradually sense Origin Matter and use it to condense an Origin Seed for themselves.

That was the First Energy Level.

Only after reaching the limits of humanity did one qualify to condense an Origin Seed, and the success rate was not high. Although medicine had been incredibly advanced back then, failures could be saved, but attempting it a second time afterward was exceedingly difficult.

The Second Energy Level required the Origin Matter accumulated by the Origin Seed to reach a threshold, allowing the spirit to gradually mature and ultimately condense into a soul.

The Third Energy Level was another transformation—once the soul had solidified, it could act independently of the body.

As everyone knew, humans could think without a soul. The body itself possessed intelligence, while the soul also had the capacity for independent thought. The two resonated in a manner that transcended time and space, engaging in dual thought. Moreover, the soul that left the body even possessed all kinds of mysterious abilities.

At that time, the soul was called a Soul Light Body, an Alter Ego, or a Super Ego... In any case, that was already the limit that the Pre-Epoch Civilization's ascension arts could reach.

After all, in a civilization capable of reaching and reshaping the Void Realm through alchemy alone, the soul's functions could be fully replaced by various spirit-based instruments and alchemy.

Furthermore, ascension cultivation was extremely painful and heavily dependent on talent—by that, they meant a persistent state of mind; mere physical talent was meaningless to the Pre-Epoch Civilization. Even if one succeeded and gained a soul, it merely meant being able to enter the Void Realm without equipment. It was nothing remarkable.

Only those at the Third Energy Level could become masters and privileged figures in related fields.

Because they had truly proven their extraordinary will and wisdom. In this world, they sought none of the speed or convenience brought by technology, instead dissecting their own hearts and excavating the power buried deep within their souls.

Such people could succeed at anything and accomplish any undertaking. Even if luck failed them for a time, so long as they were not killed, they would surely rise again. They would not become discouraged or blame themselves, but would instead examine their mistakes rationally and objectively.

Because their way of seeing the world had already surpassed mortal thought. They viewed the world from above as though controlling a game character. The body was no longer a Cage binding their thoughts and perspective, but merely a point of departure.

As for the Fourth Energy Level...

No human had ever reached that level through individual strength during the Pre-Epoch Civilization.

Those who possessed such power were actually their creations—at first, super organisms such as the Otherworld Colony Center and Space Battleship Carrier Mother, which used Aether Furnace Cores as their core energy sources. Whether Crystal Dragons or Frost-Enticing Moths, they were ultimate civilization war weapons forged by the Pre-Epoch Civilization through the concentrated essence of their entire civilization. On an ordinary planet, a single one would be enough to suppress the entire world.

Even among the vast stars of the universe, planets with naturally occurring Fourth Energy Level lifeforms were exceedingly rare. Each was an incomparably precious Titan Planet, a super-high-risk forbidden land of death.

Yet the Pre-Epoch Civilization had manufactured countless such civilization-defining weapons. Who knew how many types, or how many individual units?

In any case, with the Spark ships of alien civilizations, the Terrans of the Pre-Epoch Civilization had no shortage of inspiration. They feverishly absorbed those technologies and turned them from imagination into reality through their own methods.

However, these alien technologies and even alien forms of civilization had also greatly influenced the development of Terra Civilization itself.

The most obvious manifestation lay in the ascension arts.

The Calamity of Falling Skies had further intensified this.

The Calamity of Falling Skies. To this day, no one knew the truth of the disaster that had destroyed the Pre-Epoch Civilization, but the shattered moon was proof enough that it had been a terrifying calamity capable of thoroughly annihilating Terra Civilization. Only Watching Moon had shielded the people from destruction.

Among the surviving Terrans, a considerable number had been Sublimers... The individual strength of Sublimers had proven itself. They could live freely in the environment after the Calamity of Falling Skies, and even ascend more effectively.

Why had the Pre-Epoch Civilization required people to reach the limits of the human body before they could condense an Origin Seed?

Put simply, it was because the human body as a species was simply too weak.

—Since our senses cannot capture Origin Matter, then we shall modify our bodies.

Even if they were limited by the strength of the physical body and could not sense Origin Seeds upon reaching adulthood, they could at least greatly increase the number of those capable of sensing Origin Matter.

The Pre-Epoch Civilization had already adapted to this—they had modified all humanity. Whether the White Folk, Red Folk, Iron Folk, Gold Folk, or even Elves, Dwarves, Merfolk, and Demi-humans... they had all once been adaptive "templates" developed for interstellar migration and tailored to different planets.

Yes. Terran Humanity displayed different adaptive abilities depending on the regions where they lived.

Every surviving human race today was fundamentally still one kind of human. It was merely because of Terra's drastic changes and the extremity of its ecological environment that they displayed adaptations to different planetary environments.

Since that was the case, through selection caused by mass death, races adapted to the post-Calamity of Falling Skies world naturally emerged.

They were the Terrans of today. The Terra Races.

Races adapted to Origin Matter and ascension.

But that was still not enough.

The First Energy Level was far too weak. Other than greatly enhanced perception and stamina, it strangely offered no increase in actual combat power. All manner of magical beasts, Fallen Sky Demonic Beasts, Aliens, and even extraterrestrial monsters ran rampant across Terra. The weak power of the First Energy Level was simply incapable of fighting these artificial weapons and tools, let alone alien monsters.

So they would use those creatures' power for themselves as well.

The biotechnology of the Pre-Epoch Civilization's Terrans had been incredibly advanced. They had long left foundations in their bodies for installing all kinds of biological organs, and had even installed quite a few already.

After the Calamity of Falling Skies, the Terrans used the remaining alchemy and ascension arts to alter their own bodies. They refined the Origin Matter Structures within magical beasts, performed a kind of fine processing, and created the earliest Magic Potions.

That was the original prototype of the Ascension Path Ian cultivated today.

Combining the information from Redwood Base with the various clues provided by the Silver Chip, Ian had reconstructed the process by which ascension arts had changed from the Pre-Epoch Civilization to modern Terra.

And from it, he had keenly realized that modern ascension arts were essentially two systems of cultivation.

One was Terra's original "Soul Ascension." The other was "Body Ascension," developed after the Calamity of Falling Skies.

It was only through the fusion of these two systems that the Fifth Energy Level, a realm the Pre-Epoch Civilization had never fully touched, came into being.

And the Soul Light Body was no longer merely a solidified soul possessing supernatural abilities.

It was a fifth element born from the organic fusion of soul and bodily Origin Matter.

"Aether..."

Standing at the edge of Black Soil Garden, Ian watched the clump of mist glowing with faint cyan light in his hand.

It seemed to be a physical object, yet if someone touched it, they would absolutely fail to interact with it.

Only Ian. Only Ian himself could manipulate this fifth element born from the fusion of his soul and Origin Matter.

A unique fifth element that would never be the same for any two people.

He murmured slowly, "So that's how it is. Psionics and Origin Matter are fundamentally one. The reason Nature Psionics are so difficult to use is because they are fused most deeply with Origin Matter. They are the power closest to Primordial Aether, and thus nearly inexhaustible."

"Only after humanity masters Primordial Aether can it, like true extraordinary lifeforms, freely control the power of the world. Magical beasts are the same. The reason giant beasts possess bodies so immense beyond all reason is precisely because they are supported by Aether and Nature Psionics."

"Magic Potions can only provide the materials for 'Body Ascension.' To truly complete the leap from the Second Energy Level to the Third Energy Level, Magic Potions are merely a catalyst. They are only a simple 'source of Sublimer power.' What ascension requires is an absolutely stable understanding of oneself—stable enough that even if the body has no soul and the soul has no body, both can remain exactly the same, without the slightest error, in 'consensus.'"

"And the solidity of that consensus can even carry out the initial fusion of the psionics condensed in the soul and the Origin Matter condensed in the body, creating the first 'Primordial Aether' within the human body."

"And the Soul Light Body is born from this Primordial Aether."

"And it can influence Origin Matter and Nature Psionics, allowing those without psionics to create 'Life Psionics' for themselves."

Ian did not need that—he already possessed Precognitive Vision. Even if his Soul Light Body awakened another ability, it would only strengthen and assist Precognitive Vision. But even so, his Soul Light Body would possess tremendous power.

And now, empowered by the Undead Monarch's strength and the enormous quantity of Origin Matter nurtured by the Ancient Dragon Core, traces of Primordial Aether had already begun to gather within Ian, bit by bit.

He was already condensing a Soul Light Body.

But this was only the Undead Monarch's power. It did not mean Ian himself had completely crossed that threshold.

Ian was still contemplating his own "consensus."

—What is it that I will absolutely never abandon, that I will absolutely uphold in my actions, that will leave me without vexation, worry, or distracting thoughts?

Ian silently swept his gaze across Black Soil Garden. His crimson blood-red eyes looked throughout the Subspace Labyrinth, and his confusion seemed to be asking the countless dead souls as well, "What about you?"

Revenge.

The dead souls answered in unison: And rest.

Their voices carried no hesitation, no distracting thoughts or worries, no confusion or incomprehension.

This was their unchanging consensus.

Yes. Therefore, if an Undead Monarch completely merged their self into these dead souls, they would make a sudden breakthrough through the Third Energy Level—gaining their own Soul Light Body.

But Ian was different... His sense of self was far too strong. He had never been influenced by the dead souls.

If anything, he had been influencing the dead souls in return.

Yet even so, the dead souls were still condensing Soul Light Bodies through their own consensus, providing Ian with precious experience in condensing his own Soul Light Body.

At that moment, Ian heard the voices of the Light-Embracing Rescue Team led by Radiant Sword. They had already finished resting.

Forget it. It was time to set off.

That was what he thought.

So Ian turned around and walked toward them.

Toward the end of this adventure.