Darian's consciousness was swallowed by an ancient era. In front of him, there was only an absolute void. Nothing occupied that infinite space: there was no underworld, no universes, no form of life. Only eternal silence and the primordial void.
Suddenly, something awakened.
It was a small point of light shining in multiple colors.
That thing kept expanding and expanding...
In Darian's mind, its name appeared: Omega.
Right in front of him, the absolute beginning of everything was happening.
Time began to accelerate. Billions and billions of years passed in the blink of an eye. From Omega, two fundamental energies emerged: the Power of Birth and the Power of Origin. They were complementary opposites, essential pillars for creation.
The Power of Birth was the first to manifest. Under its influence, a small space opened, and the first universe was created.
This first universe was the core of everything, where the power of the first Laws of the World was concentrated. After fulfilling its role, the Power of Birth receded, and then the Power of Origin came into action.
Its energy condensed, giving rise to countless primordial life forms. These entities had no bodies or defined forms; they were like flickering flames pulsing with incomparable energy. They were ethereal life forms, what some might call Wisps; but they were, in truth, the pure essence of the Power of Origin.
All of them appeared at once and began to very, very slowly develop consciousness and personalities, becoming the first conscious beings to inhabit that primordial universe.
At the same time, the first Heaven's Will was formed. With it, the Ten Items of Primordial Chaos emerged, which were the tools of the laws of the world to shape reality.
Billions of years passed.
The underworld stabilized as a Yin realm, while Yang accumulated inside black holes.
With balance achieved, the laws of the world pulsed with a supreme light that illuminated everything. This was the Primordial Light, from which all universes were born simultaneously. Within the universes, the power of chaos emerged from the Power of Birth; this was the foundation of everything that would come to exist. These universes were like eggs ready to generate life, just waiting for the command of the heavenly laws to begin.
Darian was witnessing and feeling the birth of the cosmos. Everything was being engraved into his mind. It was knowledge so vast and deep it felt unreachable.
Until something strange happened.
Inside the first universe, he saw a disturbing scene: a group of millions of Origin Spirits suddenly lost their strength. Their consciousness seemed to be fading; were the laws of the world killing them?
The laws of the world pulled them in, and then something extraordinary happened: each Origin Spirit was split into thousands of small parts. Soon after, the laws of the world added different types of energy to each of those parts, and they slowly transformed into... souls.
That was the origin of all life forms that populated the universe.
Those millions of souls were sent straight into the river of reincarnation, which was just beginning to take shape.
Darian reflected internally about all of that. In short, that entity called Omega was what gave origin to everything. It wasn't known whether it had consciousness, but if anything could be called a God, that thing would be Omega.
Then, it split into two parts. The Power of Birth was the physical, energetic, and material side; everything that could be felt, seen, and touched was created from it. Then the second half moved: the Power of Origin, and that was what created all souls, consciousness, and life forces across all universes.
As Darian reflected, the scene kept accelerating faster and faster.
Suddenly, he saw a very beautiful female figure entering the first universe. This universe was like the heart of the world, and the pillars of the laws of the world existed there.
Darian immediately recognized that female figure from the descriptions in the book. She was slender, with golden wings, radiating a terrifying beauty and power. She was the one who almost dominated the entire universe forever: the Queen.
She was an immortal when she entered that universe. Then, Darian watched her devour the purest Power of Birth and Power of Origin into her body. Then...
...she fused the two.
Darian watched that scene as if he were right beside her. It was so realistic he could feel everything perfectly, in detail.
Suddenly, her entire existence changed. Darian tensed up, watching the birth of the first sovereign of the world. That was the ascension of a Sovereign of Eternal Chaos.
Darian knew the rest of the story. This Queen dominated the entire world, enslaving countless universes and their life forms. Heaven's Will was the only resistance that could exist against her, but that consciousness clearly wasn't enough.
When it was about to be destroyed, and the Queen was about to win...
That's when the last missionary of Heaven's Will rose. This figure was an anomaly in every sense. He crossed universes and built his power with his own hands as he ascended.
When he reached a level capable of bearing that weight, the ancient Heaven's Will handed everything to him, including its own power.
The scene in front of Darian completely changed in a second.
Now, in front of him, there was a round, immense figure floating in the darkness of the underworld. His eyes were closed, and an aura of power that made Darian feel his entire existence tremble.
Darian was watching what he had read in the book. It was the epilogue of the war of the past, the moment of his father's awakening.
He felt that figure slowly unite the two powers. Everything merged into him, similar to how the Queen had done. But...
His power was a thousand times purer and more overwhelming. It was like before, he had seen a fish jumping out of the water and trying to walk on land. But now, he was seeing a dragon rise from the sea, ready to become the supreme ruler of heaven and earth.
The entire world was illuminated.
That figure opened his eyes. Then, The One Beyond Chaos was born.
After everything, Darian's world went dark.
...
Color suddenly returned to his world. Then, Darian found himself back in the same place as before, beside Niara and facing his father.
He stayed silent, his mind completely stunned by the massive amount of information.
In the book, there were only a few very simple lines about what happened at the end. Darian even knew about Omega and the two primordial powers, and he knew that both the Queen and his father reached that level of power after merging those two things again.
They were the only two who managed to return to the power of the beginning of everything, fusing the two powers again and becoming fragments of pure Omega. Because of that, they gained powers of creation, destruction, and control over everything that existed.
Darian didn't just see it; everything was engraved in his memory in full detail.
After a few minutes, Darian took a deep breath and managed to calm down and return to reality.
He shifted his gaze to his father.
That immense figure nodded. "You gained more than I had back in my time. Do you understand why I gave you all this knowledge?"
Darian nodded.
After everything ended, his father organized and created the method of ascension that both types of immortals used: Natural Immortals and Celestial Immortals.
Natural Immortals had to evolve up to the ninth level, using the immortal power they possessed to nourish their bodies and energies to the limit. In short, it was like forcing their bodies into an atavistic state, making everything in them return to the Power of Birth.
After completing everything, they could break through to the final level, becoming a *World Sovereign*.
Celestial Immortals followed the other path. They used immortal power to nourish their souls and thus return to the purest Power of Origin. After completing everything, they reached the final level, becoming a *Genesis Sovereign*.
But to have such a terrifying soul, they needed a body at least capable of handling it. So, the Celestial power of their cultivation, something that came directly from Heaven's Will, could be used to nourish the body to the limit and make that possible.
In the end, a Genesis Sovereign could achieve a physical body, thanks to celestial power, with a potential equivalent to 60% of the physical strength of a World Sovereign.
It was an absurd cheat that Genesis Sovereigns had. Their souls reached infinite power, and the advantage that World Sovereigns had in their bodies wasn't that overwhelming. Using techniques and other methods, that physical gap could be reduced even further.
As for World Sovereigns, there was no way to compensate with techniques for the difference in Origin power in the soul. They were destined to be weaker forever.
Of course, there were unique advantages that World Sovereigns had, things Genesis Sovereigns would never have. But in a one-on-one fight, they would always be far inferior.
Darian took a deep breath.
Now, with all the knowledge he had gained, he perfectly understood the foundation of Byon's power, the former missionary.
Would that make him win? Of course not. But having that knowledge could bring him many opportunities.
Darian asked his father seriously: "How much time do I have?"
"In seven days, Byon will be fully recovered. He plans to launch a full surprise attack, and with his complete power, he'll easily destroy everyone."
Hearing that, Darian took a deep breath. Thanks to their previous battle, he had, by a miracle, severely injured Byon. That gave the Spiritual Guardians a chance to try to defeat him. But now, in seven days, he would be fully healed.
In other words, Darian had to attack first if he wanted a better chance of winning.
Darian turned and grabbed Niara's hand. Then he faced his father and said with confidence, "I have to go. I don't know how I'll win, but I'll try using everything I have."
"Good. We'll be watching." That figure said and made a subtle motion forward.
At that moment, a spatial channel opened in front of Darian and Niara.
Both of them swallowed hard. Then, their gazes turned to Meru, Ruri, and the others who had been there the whole time.
"We'll keep an eye on the brat, too. Don't worry about anything." Meru said softly.
Ruri nodded with a calm look. "Go, defeat that bastard, then bring the rest of your family. I want to properly meet your two siblings and your adopted daughter."
Darian nodded, taking a deep breath. He turned to Niara, who smiled back at him, full of confidence. That made Darian feel filled with energy and determination.
"Go,"
The two of them stepped forward and entered the channel, disappearing.
