Chapter 661: Chapter 661 - Law Cores
The upgraded Grace System had only just begun collecting traces of possible compatible people.
Lucien only needed time.
He left the matter running beneath the Grace System’s new structure and turned to the next prepared step.
The world was not kind enough to have only one urgent project.
•••
The next day, the district representatives came.
They came with carefully written recommendations for the best people to receive the Mythical Law Cores.
Lucien read through them.
Then he smiled.
The representatives had chosen well.
They had selected people with discipline.
People with strong foundations and people young enough to grow further, but not so immature that sudden power would turn them into walking disasters with better posture.
Lucien approved the first batch.
Another special army would soon be born.
The thought pleased him.
It also made him cautious.
Giving power was easy.
Surviving the consequences was the hard part.
•••
The meeting was held on the vast training grounds in the main territory.
The field had been expanded repeatedly over the years that it now felt like a plain built for armies to learn humility.
Formation lines glowed beneath the ground.
Pressure barriers waited at the edges.
Healer stations stood ready but quiet.
At the center of the field stood several hundred chosen youths.
All of them were at the peak of the Metamorphosis Realm.
They were young enough that their futures still looked enormous in front of them.
And old enough that their eyes had already learned what the world could take.
When Lucien arrived, they bowed as one.
The movement was clean.
But a little too nervous.
Lucien did not blame them.
For them, this was not an ordinary summons.
Their Lord had called them to receive an opportunity that could change their lives faster than most people could properly understand.
Lucien looked over them.
Inspect unfolded silently.
Their status panels appeared.
He read through each panel.
Lucien nodded in satisfaction.
The district representatives had done well.
Most of the candidates had high loyalty, and strong compatibility with at least one available Core Law.
Lucien stepped forward.
The training ground became quiet.
He did not raise his voice much.
He did not need to.
"You were chosen because you are capable."
The youths listened.
"You were chosen because your foundations, and your actions show that you can carry more than you currently carry."
Lucien let the words settle.
"I am offering you an opportunity. It can raise you quickly, but quick power still needs judgment. If any of you refuse, you will not be punished. You will not lose your current position. You will not be shamed."
That surprised them more than the opportunity itself.
Lucien saw it in their faces.
Consent meant nothing if refusal only wore the shape of consent while fear held the pen.
Lucien continued calmly.
"What I am offering you is a Core Law."
The silence changed.
Many of them already knew the words.
Some did not.
But all of them understood from the reactions around them that this was not a normal treasure.
"A Core Law contains a complete law essence. If used correctly, the Law can integrate directly and raise comprehension to a high level at once. Still, the process requires one additional step to reach Ascendance. You must establish a Domain Seed at the right time."
He raised one hand.
A dark orb appeared above his palm.
"When you crush it, the law essence will enter your spirit. If your compatibility is high, it may immediately push you into Transcendence. Once you reach the peak, you can then form the foundation of your Domain Seed. Once the Domain Seed stabilizes, the law comprehension will continue rising. If the process succeeds fully, you may reach the peak of Ascendance in one step."
This time, the training ground could not remain completely silent.
Several representatives looked envious despite themselves.
They were too experienced to be petty about it, but envy was a very honest emotion when several hundred young people were about to receive something that countless geniuses would fight wars to obtain.
Lucien did not mind.
Envy without resentment was only admiration wearing uncomfortable shoes.
"I will supervise the process personally," Lucien said. "If anything goes wrong, I will intervene."
That settled the field more than any promise of reward.
The youths looked at one another.
Then they bowed again.
This time, deeper.
No one refused.
Lucien was not surprised.
They were not idiots.
An opportunity like this could rewrite destiny.
But he had given them the choice.
That mattered.
Even if none of them took the exit, the door had existed.
•••
The Law Cores appeared one by one.
They floated around Lucien like a constellation of compressed concepts.
Lucien matched them carefully.
A young man with a Swordsman Job received the Core of Hollow Cut.
A Dark Mage received the Core of Inversion.
A shield-bearer with a Vanguard Job received the Core of Momentum.
Not every match was obvious from the outside.
Some candidates looked confused when their cores reached them.
Lucien did not explain every choice.
Their Jobs understood before their pride did.
That was enough.
The Core Laws hovered before their recipients.
The youths held them carefully.
Lucien gave the final instruction.
"Crush them when you are ready. Do not fight the law essence. Guide it. Let your foundation receive it first, then stabilize your spirit."
A pause.
Then the first Core Law cracked.
Light shot upward.
The law essence became a stream and rushed into the youth’s forehead.
His body stiffened.
Then his aura rose.
Metamorphosis shattered.
Transcendence opened.
The training ground erupted in controlled pressure as hundreds of Core Laws broke one after another.
Light filled the field.
Lucien stood in the middle of it all and watched.
His eyes missed nothing.
•••
The reactions differed.
That was expected.
Some candidates advanced violently, their compatibility so high that the law essence entered them like it had finally found the correct door.
Their spirits stabilized almost immediately.
Their Jobs awakened deeper layers.
Their foundations expanded.
They reached Transcendence with startling speed.
Others were slower.
They sat down cross-legged and guided the law essence carefully through their spirits.
For them, the Law Cores did not enter like a river.
It entered like a heavy book, each page needing to be understood before the next would turn.
That was not a flaw.
A slower integration often produced fewer hidden cracks.
Lucien watched both kinds with equal attention.
The Law Cores contained enough comprehension to raise a path toward sixty percent.
But comprehension was not liquid poured into an empty jar.
The recipient still had to shape it.
Lucien could crush a Core Law and receive the Law directly because his foundation, system, and authority were abnormal enough to make absurdity look legal.
Others needed structure.
That was why the candidates had been selected from peak Metamorphosis.
They stood at the threshold where a sudden law foundation could become a bridge instead of a hammer.
The first successful Domain Seed formed after less than an hour.
It belonged to the swordsman who had received the Core of Hollow Cut.
His aura rose like a blade being drawn in a silent room.
Within his spirit, a seed appeared.
The moment it stabilized, the Law Core essence surged again.
Transcendence passed beneath him like a road he barely had time to inspect.
Ascendance opened.
His comprehension climbed.
When it reached sixty percent, his aura settled at the peak of Ascendance.
No bottleneck stopped him.
There should have been one.
There was not.
The Law Core had already carried the road.
The young swordsman opened his eyes with disbelief so raw it almost looked painful.
Lucien nodded once.
The youth immediately lowered his head again and returned to stabilization.
Good.
At least one of them still had sense after becoming ridiculous.
•••
The others began catching up.
One by one, Domain Seeds formed across the training ground.
Some were strange enough that Lucien studied them twice.
The district representatives watched from above in silence.
Their envy slowly transformed into pride.
These were the people from their districts..
Every successful breakthrough proved not only Lucien’s generosity, but their judgment.
More Law Cores finished integrating.
More candidates crossed Transcendence and entered Ascendance.
More Domain Seeds stabilized.
Lucien intervened only three times.
Once, when a dark mage’s Inversion essence tried to fold his own spirit too tightly.
Living Creation loosened the collapse and allowed the youth to breathe again.
Once, when a movement specialist’s law comprehension accelerated faster than his body could interpret.
Lucien slowed the law flow by a fraction and prevented his nerves from mistaking enlightenment for self-destruction.
Once, when a shield-bearer tried to force his Domain Seed larger out of pride.
Lucien suppressed him lightly.
The youth immediately became much wiser.
Pain was sometimes a very efficient tutor when applied with precision and no permanent damage.
Aside from those, the process continued smoothly.
•••
Hours passed.
The sun shifted over the training ground.
The air became dense with the scent of law comprehension, heated stone, nervous sweat, and destiny being rewritten in bulk.
By the time the final Law Core settled, the training ground had changed.
Several hundred peak Metamorphosis youths had become peak Ascendance elites.
The pressure they released was not yet perfectly controlled.
That was fine.
They would learn.
They would train until their new power stopped walking ahead of their judgment.
Lucien looked across the field.
The young elites were still seated, stabilizing their spirits, and law comprehension.
Some wept quietly.
Some laughed under their breath.
Some stared at their hands as if afraid those hands now belonged to someone else.
Lucien let them have the moment.
Then he spoke once more.
"This power is not a reward for being finished. It is an investment because you are beginning."
The field quieted.
"You have crossed realms faster than most people can imagine. That does not make you wiser than them. It only means your mistakes can now become larger."
Several expressions sharpened.
"You will not be sent to the front tomorrow. You will stabilize, train, learn restraint, and prepare for the Celestial threshold properly. Anyone who mistakes this opportunity for permission to act above others will lose my trust before they ever meet the enemy."
No one missed the meaning.
Lucien’s tone remained calm.
That made it more effective.
"I expect you to become shields, blades, healers, scouts, commanders, and pillars for Lootwell. Not peacocks with better auras."
A few district representatives lowered their heads to hide smiles.
Lucien allowed the faintest curve of his mouth.
"Congratulations. Now earn what you have already received."
The chosen youths bowed again.
This time, their pressure shook the training ground.
From gratitude, terror, disbelief, and the first real weight of the future placed upon their shoulders.
Lucien watched them and felt satisfied.
Another special force had been born.
The next step would be even harder.
Peak Ascendance was impressive.
Celestial Realm was different.
Comprehension had to stop being borrowed momentum and become personal authority.
If they failed there, the Law Cores would become crutches.
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