Above The Sky
Chapter 622 - 622 591 The Approaching Finale 33

622: Chapter 591 The Approaching Finale (3/3) 622: Chapter 591 The Approaching Finale (3/3) After everyone had rested, more than an hour had passed.

Just as Ian had speculated, after possessing the power of the Dead Lord for a while, he had begun to vaguely comprehend the existence of the “Heartlight Body.”

To be honest, after so many years of practicing the Sublimation Path, Ian had already gained an accurate understanding of the power system in the Terra World.

Essentially, the Sublimation Path of Terra did not focus on the body but on the “soul.”

Based on the many volumes in the Imperial Capital Grand Library and fragments of information about the pre-era civilization, Ian realized that during that time, there seemed to be no Sublimators above the Fourth Energy Level, not even an entire First Energy Level.

The entire Sublimation Skills were a branch of Alchemy, mainly focused on a sect that sought to elevate one’s own soul.

In the era of the pre-era civilization, without the many Magical Beasts of today or the abundant power components, the Sublimators of that time could only continually meditate and train, tempering their bodies and forging their spirits to reach a “complete” state, which is the human limit.

After that, if there were any talented individuals, they could gradually perceive Origin Quality and use it to condense their own Primordial Seed.

That was the First Energy Level.

Only by reaching the human limit could one have the qualification to condense a Primordial Seed, but the success rate of forming a Primordial Seed was not high.

Although medicine at that time was highly advanced and failures could be revived, attempting a second time after that grew immensely difficult.

For the Second Energy Level, the accumulation of Origin Quality within the Primordial Seed had to reach a threshold, which would mature the spirit and then condense a soul.

The Third Energy Level, on the other hand, was yet another transformation—the soul, once solidified, could act independently of the body.

As is well known, humans can think without a soul; the body itself possesses wisdom, and the soul has its own independent thinking ability.

Both resonate beyond space and time, engaging in dual thought, and this detached soul even possesses various mysterious transcendental abilities.

At that time, the soul was referred to as the Heartlight Body, a Substitute, or the Super-Ego…

In any case, that was already the limit of the Sublimation Skills of the pre-era civilization.

After all, in a civilization that could reach the Domain of Void with mere Alchemy and modify the void, the functions of the soul could be completely replaced by various Spirit State Instruments and Alchemy.

The process of cultivating Sublimation was extremely painful, and talent played a significant part—this refers to a type of persistent mental state; mere physical talent was of no significance to the pre-era civilization.

Even if one succeeded and possessed a soul, it was nothing more than a convenience of not needing instruments to enter the void.

Only those at the Third Energy Level could become masters and privileged individuals in their respective fields.

For they have indeed proven their extraordinary will and wisdom, able to delve into their own hearts without seeking the ease and convenience of technology, and to tap into the depths of their soul’s power in this world.

Such individuals could be successful in anything they did, achieve any career; even in times of bad luck, as long as they weren’t killed, they would rise again, without feeling disheartened or self-blame, but would rationally and objectively review their mistakes.

For they view the world in a way that transcends ordinary human thinking, like manipulating game characters from a higher vantage point, with the body no longer a cage that binds their thoughts and perspective but a starting point.

As for the Fourth Energy Level…

Humans had never reached this energy level on their own during the pre-era civilization.

Those who possessed this power were actually their creations—the initial ones being those using the Ether Furnace Core as their central energy source for ‘Otherworld Colonization Centers’ and ‘Cosmic Warship Carrier Mother Entities,’ these super organisms.

Whether it was the Crystal Dragon or the Frost-Seduction Moth, they were the ultimate weapons of war crafted by the pre-era civilization, merging the essence of the entire civilization.

Left on an ordinary planet, any one of them was powerful enough to suppress the entire world.

Even among the vastness of cosmic space, planets with natural Fourth Energy Level life forms were few and far between, each one a precious and highly dangerous Titan Planet, a deadly forbidden zone.

And such monumental devices of civilization had been created in countless numbers by the pre-era civilization; heaven knows how many types, how many entities.

Regardless, with the extraterrestrial technology and the Spark Ships from other civilizations, the people of Terra of the pre-era civilization never ceased to be inspired.

They fervently absorbed these technologies and, with their methods, turned them from imagination into reality.

But this technology and even the cultural forms from extraterrestrial origins also had a significant impact on the development of Terra’s own civilization.

The most apparent manifestation of this lies in the Sublimation Skills.

The Calamity of Heavenly Fall further exacerbated this point.

The Calamity of Heavenly Fall.

To this day, no one knows the true nature of the disaster that destroyed the pre-era civilization, but the shattered moon is sufficient proof that it was a catastrophic disaster capable of entirely destroying Terra’s civilization, with only the Shield Moon sparing humanity from total annihilation.

Among the survivors of Terra, a significant portion were Sublimators…

The individual power of the Sublimators was proven as they could live freely in the post-calamity environment, and even ascend better.

Why did the pre-era civilization need to reach the human limit to condense a Primordial Seed?

Simply put, the human species was just too physically weak.

—Since our perceptive abilities cannot capture Origin Quality, let’s transform our own bodies.

Even if limited by the strength of the physical body, unable to perceive the Primordial Seed in adulthood, at least the number of those with Prime Material Perception could be significantly increased.

The pre-era civilization had already adapted to this point—they modified all humans, whether it was the White Folks, the Crimson People, or the Iron Folk and Golden Folk, as well as Elves, Dwarves, Fishpeople, Demihumans…

They were all ancient ‘templates’ created for interstellar migration, adapted for various different planetary environments.

Yes.

Terra Humans adapt their abilities according to the region they inhabit.

Any of the current races are inherently human, only displaying adaptations to different planetary environments due to Terra’s drastic changes and the extremity of ecological environments.

Therefore, through widespread death leading to natural selection, a race adapted to the world after the Calamity of Heavenly Fall was born.

These are the people of present-day Terra.

The races of Terra.

Races suited for Origin Quality and ascension.

But this was not enough.

The First Energy Level was too weak; apart from a significant enhancement of perception and vitality, there was no increase in actual strength—various Magical Beasts, Heavenfall creatures, Alien Forms, and even extraterrestrial monsters rampaged across the Tella Continent; merely relying on the feeble power of the First Energy Level, it was impossible to fight against these man-made weapons and tools, let alone extraterrestrial Magical Beasts.

Thus, let them use that power for themselves.

The biotechnology of the Terra People in the previous era was extremely advanced; they had long prepared their bodies to accommodate various biological organs, and many had already been installed.

After the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, the surviving Terra People used the remnants of Alchemy and Sublimation Skills to modify their own bodies, refining Magical Beasts’ Origin Structure to undergo a form of precision processing, creating the earliest Magic Potion.

That was the initial form of the Sublimation Path that Ian now practiced.

Integrating the information from Redwood Base and the various hints provided by the Silver Chip, Ian organized the evolution of the Terra Sublimation Skills from the previous civilization to the present day.

From this, he keenly observed that the current Sublimation Skills are essentially two training systems.

One is Terra’s original ‘Soul Sublimation.’ The other is the ‘Body Sublimation’ that developed after the Calamity of Heavenly Fall.

The combination of these two training systems is what led to the birth of the ‘Fifth Energy Level,’ a tier that the previous civilization had not fully touched.

And the Heartlight Body was no longer just a solid soul with special abilities.

It became a Fifth Element born from the organic combination of the soul and the Body’s Origin Material.

“Aether…”

Standing at the edge of the Black Soil Farm, Ian gazed at the clump of mist in his hand, flickering with light blue luminescence.

It seemed to be a physical entity, but if someone were to touch it, they would absolutely get no response.

Only Ian.

Only Ian himself could manipulate this Fifth Element conceived from the mix of his soul and Origin Material.

A unique Fifth Element distinctive to each individual.

He murmured softly, “So that’s how it is, Spirit Energy and Origin Material are fundamentally one and the same.

The reason why Natural Spirit Energy is so difficult to utilize is that it is most deeply combined with Origin Material, being the force closest to Primal Aether, thus nearly inexhaustible.”

“Humans can only freely control the forces of the world like truly transcendent beings once they’ve mastered Primal Aether.

It’s the same for Magical Beasts—the extraordinary size of Behemoths is due to the support provided by Aether and Natural Spirit Energy.”

“Magic Potion can only provide the material for ‘Body Sublimation.’ To truly achieve the leap from the Second to the Third Energy Level, Magic Potion is merely a catalyst, merely a ‘source of power for the Sublimator.’ Sublimation requires an extremely stable self-awareness, so stable that, even if the body lacked a soul, or the soul lacked a body, it could still maintain the same ‘consensus’ without any error.”

“And such steadfast consensus can even mix the Spirit Energy condensed in the soul with the Origin Material condensed in the body, creating the very first ‘Primal Aether’ within the human body.”

“And from this Primal Aether, the Heartlight Body is conceived.”

“As well as affecting the Origin Material and Natural Spirit Energy, allowing those without Spirit Energy to create ‘Life Spirit Energy’ for themselves.”

Ian didn’t need this—as he already had Foresight View.

Even if his Heartlight Body were to awaken more abilities, it would only be an enhancement and assistance to his Foresight View, but still, his Heartlight Body would possess enormous power.

Now, with the augment of the Dead Lord’s Power and the enormous amount of Origin Material fostered by the Ancient Dragon Heart Core, Ian’s body was beginning to condense bits of ‘Primal Aether.’

He was already condensing his Heartlight Body.

But this was the power of the Deceased Monarch, and it didn’t mean that Ian had thoroughly crossed that threshold himself.

Ian was still contemplating his ‘consensus.’

—What exactly won’t I abandon, will I uphold in my actions, that keeps me from worry, from anxiety, from distracting thoughts?

Ian silently surveyed the entire Black Soil Farm, his crimson eyes scanning the entire Subspace Labyrinth.

His confusion seemed to question the many Lost Souls, “What about you?”

[Revenge]

The Lost Souls replied in unison: [And also rest]

There was no hesitation in their voices, no confusion, no stray or troubling thoughts.

This was their unwavering consensus.

Yes, so if a Deceased Monarch completely merged his self into these Lost Souls, he would skyrocket through the Third Energy Level—forming his own Heartlight Body.

But Ian was different…

His self-awareness was too strong; he had never been influenced by the Lost Souls.

In fact, he was influencing the Lost Souls in return.

Even so, the Lost Souls, relying on their own consensus, were still condensing the Heartlight Body, providing Ian with valuable experience in forming his Heartlight Body.

At this moment, Ian heard the Huai Guang Rescue Team, led by the Glorious Sword, they had finished resting.

Forget it.

It’s time to set out.

He thought to himself.

So Ian turned and walked toward them.

Towards the conclusion of this adventure.