The morning sky above Abor carried a sweet calmness that was far away from the dangers of Eternals. Endless blue stretched across the horizon while sunlight reflected over the vast ocean.
High above the ocean, Vivi floated beside me quietly.
Her violet dress shifted softly with the air currents while strands of violet hair drifted behind her, and unlike usual, there was a seriousness in her expression now.
I looked toward the endless sea below before asking, "You really think this is the best place for it?"
Vivi nodded immediately.
"Yes," she replied calmly. "Abor is the most heavily protected planet in the entire Blue Spiral right now. The boundary shield is stable, the defensive formations surrounding the planet are active, and every major force in the galaxy is already being watched by us."
Her violet eyes shifted toward me afterward.
"And more importantly," she added softly, "I’ll be watching personally."
I smiled faintly hearing that.
"You make it sound dangerous."
"It is dangerous," she replied without hesitation. "You are not simply increasing your level, Billion." Her gaze lowered briefly toward the ocean beneath us. "This is ascension."
I nodded.
I was about to enter Saint rank. The first true step beyond mortality. That was what made it dangerous.
Vivi folded her arms lightly before continuing, "Ragnar is already stationed near the outer planetary boundary with the legion fleet and Aurora activated the academy defensive arrays half an hour ago. Even Silver suspended the intelligence network movement across the nearby systems."
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
"So everyone is nervous."
"Yes," she answered immediately. "Because nobody knows what happens when someone like you ranks up to Saint."
"That is fair."
Even I didn’t fully know.
The only thing I understood clearly was that the moment I crossed this boundary, the system governing my existence would fundamentally change. The body would no longer remain the center of power.
The soul would.
And my soul was anything but normal. For a few moments neither of us spoke while the wind continued moving across the ocean beneath us.
Then Vivi suddenly looked toward me again.
"Are you ready?"
I thought about the question briefly before exhaling slowly.
"No," I admitted honestly. "But I’m going anyway."
She smiled.
"Good," she said quietly. "Just push through. If it does not work out then it was nice knowing you."
Without another word I stepped forward into empty air and allowed gravity to pull me downward.
The wind exploded around my body instantly as I descended through the sky toward the ocean beneath us, clouds tearing apart around me while the sunlight vanished behind layers of water moments later. The deeper I moved, the darker the surroundings became until eventually only faint blue light filtered through the massive depths around me.
Then finally I reached the ocean floor.
But the pressure surrounding me no longer felt meaningful. Even without actively resisting it, the ocean itself bent naturally around my existence.
I slowly descended until my feet touched the seabed.
Then I opened the system notification waiting silently before me.
[Rank Advancement Available]
[Current Rank: Transcendent]
[Advance to Saint Rank?]
For several seconds I simply stared at the notification.
"Yes."
The response echoed silently through the depths of the ocean and the world reacted.
The ocean around me froze. It stopped moving. The currents vanished completely as if the sea itself had paused. Then the essence within my body surged violently.
Every strand of essence across my existence began collapsing toward the center of my soul simultaneously while the laws engraved into my body lit up one after another.
Tempest.
Blood.
Consumption.
Harmony.
Bounded Reality.
Spacetime.
Elemental Convergence.
The surrounding ocean trembled violently.
Far above the sea, the skies over Abor darkened instantly as essence throughout the planet began reacting to my breakthrough. Massive currents of energy spiraled through the atmosphere while laws across the Blue Spiral fluctuated faintly in response.
And then my soul appeared. No, the projection of my soul appeared.
But even that projection was enormous.
A gigantic translucent figure slowly materialized above the oceans of Abor, visible across continents and skies alike while essence storms formed around it instinctively. The projection towered into the heavens with closed eyes and flowing silver light moving across its massive form.
333 feet.
The moment it appeared, the entire galaxy reacted.
Many transcendents across distant worlds opened their eyes simultaneously. Within the Naga territories, Layla slowly lowered her tea while the old naga warrior beside her narrowed his eyes toward the distant stars.
On a battlefield several systems away, the Demon Monarch stopped mid-laughter and looked upward while black-red flames around his body flickered violently.
Even inside the Prime Galaxy, certain existences noticed.
Back beneath the ocean, the transformation continued.
Pain spread through my body next. Every cell, every strand of essence, every fragment of existence began restructuring itself around the soul instead of the body. My flesh cracked apart repeatedly while silver essence surged through the fractures, rebuilding everything continuously as the boundary between body and soul started dissolving.
The system notifications appeared continuously in front of me.
[Existence Restructuring Initiated]
[Essence Evolution Detected]
[Soul Force Conversion Active]
[Generator Prime Adapting...]
The essence flowing through my body compressed further and further until eventually it no longer resembled ordinary essence at all.
It became heavier and denser forming a new energy - Soul Force.
And the moment the first traces of it formed, my soul opened its eyes.
The ocean exploded outward.
Far above the surface, kilometer-high waves rose into the sky while silver essence erupted from the depths of the sea like a pillar piercing the heavens.
Inside the soul space, I found myself standing before my own gigantic soul once more.
Only this time, I could change it.
I understood instinctively that Saint rank allowed the soul to fully manifest identity and authority for the first time. The shape it carried would become the foundation of future existence itself.
So I stepped forward.
And reshaped it.
A crown formed slowly above the soul’s head, forged from silver essence and rotating runes carrying the authority of laws themselves. A long dark cape unfolded behind its shoulders while the Executor’s Staff materialized within the left hand, ancient symbols glowing faintly across its surface and my sword Prarambh appeared in the right hand.
The sword radiated differently from everything else. It was calmer and older.
As though even now only a fraction of its true nature remained visible.
The moment the soul fully stabilized the galaxy shook. Pressure spread outward from Abor across the entire Blue Spiral while countless beings instinctively looked toward the distant projection hanging above all the worlds.
Because now it no longer resembled a soul.
It resembled a ruler.
Far above the sea, Vivi watched silently while silver essence storms spiraled around the giant projection in the heavens. She had intentionally allowed the aura and presence to spread beyond Abor instead of suppressing it.
Let them see.
That was the decision she made.
Let the galaxy witness the birth of a Saint.
Back beneath the ocean, my body slowly rose from the seabed while the water around me bent outward under invisible pressure. The silver glow surrounding my skin stabilized gradually while my laws settled deeper into existence itself instead of merely existing within me.
And finally the system spoke once more.
[Rank Advancement Complete]
[Saint Rank Achieved]
The moment the notification appeared I opened my eyes.