Enlightennt of the Soul
"So while this task would take others decades... you will likely grasp it quickly."
Anos exhaled slowly.
At least that was reassuring.
Still, he noticed sothing strange.
Budha’s expression had subtly changed.
The calm saint-like smile from earlier slowly disappeared.
Then—
A sharp grin appeared on the monk’s face.
It was not gentle.
Not peaceful.
Not holy.
It was the exact sa dangerous smile every incarnation seed to show whenever battle or growth excited them.
Even his eyes changed slightly.
Azriel imdiately burst into laughter beside him.
"There it is!"
The vampire emperor pointed at Budha excitedly.
"I was waiting for the monk’s real face to appear!"
Anos stared at Budha silently.
The monk simply smiled back at him.
A very bad feeling suddenly crept into Anos’ chest.
"...What are you planning to do?" he asked slowly.
Budha folded his hands behind his back calmly.
"Nothing excessive."
"That answer sohow makes more worried."
Azriel laughed harder after hearing that.
Budha ignored both of them and slowly walked forward. The endless white space beneath their feet rippled faintly with every step he took.
Then he stopped directly in front of Anos.
The monk’s expression beca calm once more, though traces of that dangerous excitent still lingered in his eyes.
"You already possess overwhelming talent," Budha said quietly. "Your body is tempered. Your instincts are sharpened. Your battle experience surpasses countless worlds."
"But talent alone cannot awaken Zenith Aura."
Anos listened carefully.
Budha slowly raised one finger.
"Zenith Aura is not learned through words."
Another finger rose.
"It is not learned through formulas."
A third finger.
"It is not sothing you obtain by copying others."
The monk’s voice beca deeper.
"Zenith Aura is understanding."
"Understanding of what?" Anos asked.
Budha looked directly into his eyes.
"Yourself."
Silence spread afterward.
Even Azriel stopped smiling for a mont.
Budha continued calmly.
"Mana allows one to control the world."
"Zenith Aura allows one to impose themselves upon it."
The white world trembled faintly the mont those words left his mouth.
Anos’ golden eyes narrowed.
Budha slowly stretched out his hand.
"In battle, mana obeys thought."
"But Zenith Aura..."
A faint invisible pressure spread around him.
"...obeys existence itself."
Anos felt his body tense instinctively.
There was no killing intent.
No mana.
Yet his instincts scread at him.
Budha looked toward the endless white sky.
"When a swordsman swings his blade enough tis..."
"When a warrior survives enough battlefields..."
"When the soul experiences enough suffering..."
"The spirit eventually awakens."
Golden light suddenly appeared around Budha’s body.
At first it was faint.
Then—
Ancient golden symbols slowly began manifesting around him.
Anos’ eyes widened slightly.
The symbols floated through the empty white space like divine scriptures descending from heaven itself.
Each character radiated ancient pressure.
So looked like unknown runes.
Others resembled forgotten languages from dead civilizations.
Azriel crossed his arms while grinning faintly.
"Here we go."
Budha’s voice echoed calmly through the endless realm.
"Zenith Aura is the voice of the soul."
"It is rage given shape."
"Conviction given force."
"Will given existence."
The golden symbols started revolving around Anos slowly.
Then—
Pain exploded inside his soul.
Anos’ eyes widened violently.
His entire body trembled.
It felt like countless burning needles were piercing directly into his spirit itself.
Not flesh.
Not nerves.
His soul.
"Ghk—!"
He nearly fell to one knee imdiately.
The golden symbols spun faster around him while Budha continued speaking calmly.
"Feel it."
"Separate it."
"Understand it."
Anos clenched his teeth hard enough to nearly crack them.
Pain.
Pure pain.
It felt as if sothing invisible was forcefully peeling layers away from his existence.
His mana instinctively surged in response.
But the mont it did—
The pain intensified.
"Damn it... what is happening?!" Anos growled.
Budha calmly answered.
"This is soul alignnt."
The golden scriptures glowed brighter.
"You spent your entire existence mixing mana with your instincts, emotions, and spiritual senses."
"So now..."
Budha pointed directly at Anos’ chest.
"...you must separate them."
Another wave of agony struck.
Anos felt like his mind was splitting apart.
Every instinct inside him scread to resist.
To reject it.
To fight back.
Azriel suddenly spoke from the side.
"In the past," the vampire emperor said casually, "many incarnations stopped trying to learn Zenith Aura because of this pain."
Anos glared at him while breathing heavily.
"You could’ve ntioned that earlier."
Azriel shrugged.
"You wouldn’t have cared anyway."
...Unfortunately, he was right.
Budha continued calmly.
"Most beings never realize how deeply mana influences them."
"The mont they attempt true separation..."
The monk’s eyes sharpened slightly.
"...their soul resists."
Anos slowly steadied his breathing.
The pain still remained unbearable, but he forced himself to endure it.
He had survived battlefields filled with death.
He had fought dragons.
He had stood before monsters capable of destroying kingdoms.
Compared to that—
He refused to lose against pain.
The golden symbols continued circling around him.
Budha’s voice echoed again.
"Do not chase mana."
"Do not reject mana."
"Simply observe."
Anos slowly closed his eyes.
His breathing beca calr.
Mana.
He could always feel it naturally.
Like air.
Like instinct.
Like an extension of himself.
But now...
For the first ti...
He tried separating it ntally.
The process felt unbelievably unnatural.
Painful.
As if he was trying to divide his own existence into separate pieces.
Minutes passed.
Or perhaps hours.
Ti itself felt aningless within the white realm.
The golden scriptures continued revolving around him endlessly.
Sotis the pain beca lighter.
Sotis it intensified until Anos nearly lost consciousness.
Yet Budha never stopped speaking.
"Your soul is too accustod to mana."
"Listen deeper."
"Beyond energy."
"Beyond thought."
"Beyond instinct."
"There."
Anos’ brows twitched slightly.
For a brief mont...
He felt sothing.
Tiny.
Faint.
Almost impossible to notice.
But it existed.
Sothing separate from mana.
Sothing quieter.
Deeper.
More personal.
The instant he noticed it—
Pain erupted again.
Yet this ti...
Anos smiled faintly.
Because now he understood.
"There it is..." he muttered weakly.
Azriel’s red eyes narrowed slightly with interest.
"Oh?"
Budha slowly nodded.
"As expected."
The monk’s golden symbols slowly began fading afterward.
The pressure lessened.
Anos finally exhaled heavily.
His entire body felt exhausted despite technically lacking physical form inside this realm.
Sweat dripped from his forehead.
His breathing remained uneven.
Still...
His eyes burned brighter than before.
Budha looked genuinely satisfied.
"You learn quickly."
Anos let out a tired laugh.
"That almost killed ."
Budha smiled peacefully.
"Good."
"...You monks are insane too."
Azriel imdiately laughed loudly.
"Told you!"
The vampire emperor walked closer while grinning.
"But honestly, that was faster than expected."
Anos looked toward him tiredly.
"How long does this usually take?"
Azriel placed a hand on his chin dramatically.
"For ordinary geniuses?"
"A few years."
Anos stared silently.
Azriel grinned wider.
"For monsters?"
"A few months."
Budha calmly added.
"For our incarnations... usually weeks."
Anos frowned slightly.
"Weeks?"
Budha nodded.
"You are already beginning to separate the feeling of mana from the sensation of your soul."
"That alone would take normal martial artists decades."
Anos slowly looked at his own hands.
Even now...
He could vaguely sense the difference.
Mana felt external.
Flowing.
Expansive.
But the other sensation...
Felt internal.
Heavy.
Like sothing sleeping deep inside him.
Budha suddenly spoke again.
"For the next stage..."
The monk pointed toward the endless white ground.
"You must ditate."
Anos blinked once.
"...ditate?"
Azriel imdiately burst into laughter again.
"Oh this is going to be hilarious."
Budha ignored him.
"You need your current body for this process."
The monk’s expression beca serious.
"If you continue training in your Demon Lord form, your instincts will interfere."
Anos understood imdiately.
His current self mattered more.
Not the forr Demon Lord Anos.
Victor.
The person he currently was.
Slowly, the towering demonic body disappeared.
The massive horns faded.
The overwhelming demonic presence vanished.
Monts later—
Victor stood there once again.
A handso young man with sharp features, black hair, and golden eyes.
His black shirt and golden jacket fluttered lightly despite the stillness of the realm.
Budha nodded approvingly.
"Good."
Victor slowly sat down cross-legged.
Then he closed his eyes.
The mont he entered deep concentration, the white world beca quieter than ever before.
Azriel glanced at Budha afterward.
"How long do you think before he learns the basics of Zenith Aura?"
The vampire emperor looked toward Victor’s ditating figure while asking the question casually.
Budha observed Victor silently for a few monts.
Then he answered.
"Well... as expected of one of our incarnations, he is a true genius."
The monk smiled faintly.
"At this rate, it would likely take him around a week or less to fully comprehend the basics of Zenith Aura."
"Any ordinary person would need at least a year just to sense the distinction."
A nostalgic expression appeared on Budha’s face afterward.
"If I had a disciple like this back when I was alive... perhaps my journey would have been much easier."
Azriel crossed his arms.
"I see..."
Then he frowned slightly.
"That’s pretty slow."
Budha’s eyelid twitched violently.
’How is that slow!?’
The monk nearly lost composure internally.
’Even I needed three entire days just to fully distinguish the soul from mana!’
Budha looked toward Azriel with hidden irritation.
Honestly, comparing anyone to this absurd vampire emperor was unfair.
The more ti Budha spent within this endless realm of incarnations, the more ridiculous reality beca.
At first he believed himself extraordinary.
Then he t incarnations capable of destroying mountains casually.
Then worlds.
Then planets.
And eventually...
Monsters like Azriel.
Beings standing within the top ten of all 777 incarnations.
Yet despite all their overwhelming strength...
None of them had managed to defeat the Universal Emperor.
While Budha remained lost in thought, Azriel suddenly beca quiet.
The vampire emperor’s gaze drifted elsewhere, as if communicating with sothing unseen.
Then—
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Hey," Azriel suddenly spoke casually into the emptiness itself, "how about it?"
Budha imdiately realized who he was talking to.
Azriel continued.
"Can I take over while this guy trains?"
His crimson eyes glanced toward Victor’s ditating form.
"I’m sure you can allow this."
The vampire emperor smirked faintly.
"It’s not like we haven’t done this before."
"Last ti we did it for Kevin... and it was you who took over his body."
Azriel’s grin widened slightly afterward.
"How about letting take the wheel this ti."
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