Days passed.
Lucien benefited from the cultivation circle just as much as the others did.
ditating alongside the four elental won refined his understanding of the Laws tied to their elents. Fire, water, wind, and earth unfolded in new ways when observed through their perspectives. Their resonances were different from his own, and that difference sharpened his comprehension.
Sylra and Marina were catching up rapidly.
Breakthrough followed breakthrough in the following days.
Their foundations strengthened at an almost alarming pace. By the ti both of them reached the seventh level of Ascendance, Lucien finally stepped away from the cultivation circle.
They did not object.
Now, they knew him well enough to understand.
Lucien never lingered in one place for long once a direction beca clear.
While they continued their ditation, Lucien returned to his own preparations.
The eggs of the guardian beasts remained inside the Monsterdex.
None of them had hatched yet.
Still, one egg troubled him more than the others.
The phoenix.
For now, he had placed additional restrictions around that egg. He had no intention of letting it hatch.
...
In the following days, Lucien and Eirene traveled again.
Their destination was the remaining resource sites in the West Continent.
There were four in total.
With the Void Disc and Eirene’s Law of Equivalence, the journey itself was manageable.
The disc devoured energy with every leap, but Eirene balanced the cost by exchanging surrounding forces whenever possible.
And so, the expedition succeeded.
One by one, the hidden resource vaults were opened and stripped of everything valuable. Spirit crystals, artifacts, mineral veins, sealed arrays, and ancient materials all vanished into Lucien’s divine energy core.
They did not linger after each discovery.
The Void-Walker encounter had taught them enough.
Take the treasure.
Leave imdiately.
By the end of the expedition, the four resource sites on the West Continent were now empty.
Lucien and Eirene returned to Lootwell without further incident.
The remaining resource sites across the other continents would have to wait.
Even with Eirene’s assistance, long-distance travel across vast oceans with the Void Disc demanded more energy than they were comfortable spending right now.
There was no need to rush.
Lootwell was already overflowing with resources.
•••
Lucien began planning his next objective.
He wanted to continue exploring the other planes to search for his small world, and perhaps claim a few other small worlds along the way.
The Primordial Sli had simply thrown him into the Big World without giving any coordinates.
For all Lucien knew, his ho world might be nearby.
Or impossibly far away.
Still, he would search eventually.
For now, another problem demanded attention.
The Celestial Realm.
Once Sylra and Marina reached the peak of Ascendance, all five of them intended to attempt the breakthrough together.
Lucien could not afford to improvise when the ti ca.
He needed a thod that would allow them to make use of the Abyssal Pool without danger.
So he returned to the Palace of Stillness.
Entering through the true entrance felt different from before.
When they had first encountered the place, they had entered through a Void Gate.
That had been a trespass.
Now he walked through the proper path.
The palace had changed.
Or perhaps he had.
The colossal stone guardians lining the corridors were awake now.
They stood as towering statues of armored won carved from stone.
As Lucien stepped inside, every one of them moved at once.
Their weapons lowered.
Then they knelt.
The long weapons pressed quietly against the floor in silent acknowledgnt.
Lucien blinked once.
He had not expected that.
He nodded slightly in return and continued walking.
The palace interior stretched out in long, interconnected corridors. Unlike the eerie silence he rembered before, the atmosphere now felt... peaceful.
Even the quiet seed gentle.
Lucien followed the inner pathways until he finally reached the chamber he had co for.
The Abyssal Pool.
A sea of absolute blackness filled the enormous chamber.
There were no waves nor ripples, only a perfectly still surface that devoured light.
Lucien approached slowly.
Even standing near the edge felt unsettling.
Lucien swallowed.
He rembered the story.
There had once been a being that crossed the Abyss itself.
The Primordial Sli.
Lucien took a breath.
Then he activated Sli Beast Mode.
His body shifted, transforming into the adaptable sli body.
Step by step, he approached the edge of the abyssal water.
Then he slowly lowered one foot.
The mont his sli foot touched the surface...
Pain exploded through his body.
Lucien felt his energy being deleted from existence.
"Fuck no."
He yanked his leg back instantly.
The sli mass recoiled from the abyssal surface as if escaping annihilation.
Lucien exhaled slowly.
That had been enough.
The Primordial Sli was a primordial existence.
Comparing that being’s body to his own was like comparing a mountain to dust.
Even if the sli body was endlessly adaptable, adapting to sothing like this would require ti he did not have.
Lucien frowned and tried another thod.
He invoked the Law of Nihility.
Dark concepts gathered around his body.
For a mont, the abyssal surface reacted.
The resistance lessened slightly.
But only slightly.
Lucien could imdiately feel the difference in scale.
The Abyssal Pool contained sothing far more absolute.
His understanding of Nihility was still far too shallow.
After several more attempts, Lucien finally sighed.
There was only one option left.
Ask soone who knew more.
Lucien entered his divine energy core.
The Abyssal One was where he expected him to be.
Alanthuriel stood among the slis, observing them as they practiced under his guidance. The creatures had grown stronger in recent days.
Lucien approached respectfully.
"Senior Alan."
He clasped his hands.
Alanthuriel turned slowly.
His gaze was quiet and imasurably deep.
Lucien explained his plan.
"I wish to use the Abyssal Pool as a thod to reach the Celestial Realm. Senior... do you know a way?"
Alanthuriel remained silent for a long ti.
Then he spoke.
"Reckless as always."
His tone carried faint amusent.
"But the choice is not foolish."
Lucien waited.
Alanthuriel continued.
"In all things that appear impossible, there exists a path. The Abyss is no exception."
Lucien imdiately pulled out a notebook.
Alanthuriel glanced at it.
"You truly intend to write it down?"
Lucien nodded.
"Even if I forget nothing, the details deserve respect."
"Very well."
He raised one hand.
"There are three thods."
"The first."
"To be born of the Abyss."
Lucien wrote it down anyway before crossing it out.
That option was obviously impossible.
"The second."
"Erase your energy."
Alanthuriel continued calmly.
"As you know, the Abyssal Pool erases all energy structures. Mana, spiritual force, law constructs, artifacts, even divine weapons."
"But objects without energy can pass."
Lucien understood imdiately.
"Like wood or stone."
Alanthuriel nodded.
"Or flesh that carries no circulating energy."
Lucien exhaled slowly.
"That is... difficult. Not impossible, but dangerous."
Alanthuriel’s gaze sharpened slightly.
"There is also a third path."
He then revealed sothing.
"I have only thought of this thod now as well. It is based on my observations of you since the mont I arrived here."
Lucien leaned forward, intrigued by what he was about to say.
"The thod of the Empty Vessel."
Alanthuriel’s voice deepened.
"You cannot resist the Abyss."
"You cannot overpower it."
"So instead... you beco sothing the Abyss has nothing to erase."
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
Alanthuriel continued.
"Construct a shell that contains no energy."
"No mana."
"No law."
"An entirely inert vessel."
When Lucien heard those words, it felt as if lightning had struck his mind.
For a brief mont, everything inside his thoughts froze.
Create a body.
Alanthuriel knew he could do that.
But the question was not whether he could create a body.
The question was...
What would that body be used for?
Lucien’s thoughts began turning rapidly.
Then suddenly—
Understanding dawned.
His eyes widened.
And as if confirming that realization, Alanthuriel slowly turned his gaze toward a distant direction within the divine energy core.
When the Abyssal One looked back at him again, there was faint amusent in those ancient eyes.
"It seems," Alanthuriel said quietly, "that the answer has already found you."
Lucien nodded slowly.
Alanthuriel continued.
"Then hear the thod."
His voice carried the calm weight of sothing older than most civilizations.
"Forge for thyself a body."
Lucien listened without blinking.
Alanthuriel raised a finger, if it can be called one.
"Transform the nature of that vessel."
"Then invoke that peculiar skill of yours... the one that reshapes origin and pattern."
"Mirror the constitution of the synchronized twin."
Lucien imdiately understood which one he ant.
The Mirrorhorn Duants.
Their constitution created a perfect resonance between two bodies.
What happened to one could influence the other.
Alanthuriel’s voice continued.
"Once the constitution is established, allow the empty vessel to enter the Pool."
"The Abyss Pool devours energy."
"But it does not reject what carries none."
Lucien’s breathing slowed.
The logic was terrifyingly elegant.
Alanthuriel finished the thought.
"Thus, the empty vessel may walk where you cannot."
"It may endure what you cannot."
"It may train where your true body would be erased."
Lucien’s eyes glead.
Alanthuriel’s gaze remained calm.
"And because the vessel shares your synchronized constitution..."
"What it learns..."
"What it survives..."
"What it becos..."
"All shall reflect upon you."
Lucien could not help it anymore.
A wide grin spread across his face.
The entire problem that had tangled his thoughts suddenly unraveled.
The Empty Vessel.
It could enter the Abyssal Pool.
It could adapt there.
And every improvent it gained would be mirrored back to him.
Lucien laughed softly.
"Senior Alan... your observation is terrifying."
Alanthuriel rely nod.
Lucien’s mind was already racing again.
The Empty Vessel could train in the Abyss.
His real body would remain safe.
And if the vessel succeeded...
Then the thod could be refined.
Lucien exhaled slowly.
It had been the right decision to ask the Abyssal One.
Now the path forward was clear.
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