In the outside world.
The Universal System, which would fuel the growth of every mortal race along with countless other races, was developing at an astonishing rate.
The Runes, the glyphs, and the natural laws, some unknown even to the Three Eternal Supremes were somehow being devoured by the expanding outline of the system’s foundational structure, as if the very fabric of existence was willingly
cooperating in the formation of the Universal System.
The Universal System was essentially absorbing everything from the universe, continuously learning, analyzing, and adapting.
In simple words, it could be described as evolving at an incomprehensibly rapid pace, growing more complete with every passing moment as it refined its own structure.
However, that was not the only transformation occurring throughout the mortal realm or the universe itself.
After just a few months of the transformation beginning, the Life planets closer to the World of Akumia slowly drifted towards it, arriving at the outer boundaries of the world before eventually colliding with it.
Contrary to what one would normally expect, there was no catastrophic explosion. Instead, the worlds, including the World of Akumia, began to disassemble.
The worlds separated from their planetary cores, breaking apart like carefully structured blocks.
The massive fragments then began to stretch, reshape, and transform into vast flat lands that floated within the forming structure. The people living on those worlds were left completely dumbstruck, their minds unable to process the surreal phenomenon unfolding before their eyes.
They could only watch in stunned silence as their homelands shattered apart, only to merge seamlessly with fragments of other worlds. While they were being protected by some sort of energy or barrier covering them.
The process carried an almost mythical grandeur, resembling the forging of a divine realm rather than the destruction of countless planets.
While the various mortal races witnessed different versions of this transformation based on their surroundings and perception, the Eternal Supremes experienced an entirely different sight.
They observed Runic symbols, countless unfamiliar glyphs, and fundamental natural laws weaving themselves into the forming world.
These elements fused together with perfect harmony, becoming the structural framework of the newly forming land.
Even concepts and forces that had remained hidden since the birth of existence were now revealing themselves as part of the grand construction.
They also witnessed the budding world wills of the merging planets being absorbed into the Universal System.
These world wills, which were still immature and incomplete, slowly dissolved into the system’s foundation, nourishing it and allowing a faint yet genuine consciousness of the Universal System to begin taking shape.
It was estimated that it would take around one or two years before all the worlds across the universe will fully fused together, ultimately forming a sacred land capable of housing every race within the mortal realm.
Or rather, a boundless land that could expand endlessly to accommodate the infinite possibilities of the mortal realm.
**
Meanwhile, inside the Soul Space...
Time continued to pass.
And inside the Soul Space, eventually, 1000 years had passed.
After 1000 years, Ash finally woke up from his flow state. For a while, he remained seated in the lotus position, not doing anything, simply staying still as if his body and mind were trying to reconnect with existence after such an unfathomably long period of isolation.
His mind was functioning a little slowly, like gears that had been turning continuously for centuries and were now attempting to settle into a normal rhythm again, but awareness soon returned to his eyes.
Ash looked at his surroundings with a distant gaze, as if trying to confirm that everything was real. He then looked at his hands, turning them slightly as he observed the familiar shape of his soul body, before closing his eyes and directing his perception inward, examining himself from within.
Everything’s same....nothing changed....
At least, that was what it appeared to be at first glance.
But that was not entirely true. The moment Ash noticed the number of 110 Golden Books resting within his Soul Library, he immediately understood, after making a rough calculation, that around 1000 years had passed by.
That realization carried a heavy weight within his mind, because such an amount of time was far from insignificant.
In fact, the number was so vast that it left him feeling slightly disoriented, as if his sense of time had completely lost its meaning during his immersion in comprehension.
1000 years...passed in a blink of an eye.....that’s 10 times more than what a normal person lives on earth, and that much amount of time has passed....
But instead of feeling satisfied after comprehending so many glyphs and investing such an enormous amount of time, Ash found himself drifting into deep contemplation.....
What changed after my 1000 years of comprehension?
Nothing. Yes, I learned more about the Rune of Truth as a whole. I learned countless concepts that shape existence itself, concepts that govern reality at its most fundamental level, knowledge that ordinary beings would never even imagine touching. But so what? Can I use that knowledge to truly benefit myself after 1000 years? Still not.
The thought lingered stubbornly in his mind, refusing to fade away like the countless distractions he had crushed before through sheer discipline.
Am I wasting my time? Is everything I did till now worthless?
No, I am not wasting my time. Runes take time to comprehend, and anything that requires an immense amount of time to be completed is rarely meaningless. The longer something takes to be built, the deeper its foundation settles, and the more stable it becomes when pressure eventually arrives.
Everything I did was not worthless, because what I am doing is laying down my foundation, and a foundation is never meant to produce immediate results. It is meant to silently support everything that will stand upon it in the future.
So what if it takes a long time. Even if it takes 10,000 years to properly establish my foundation, I would still walk this path without hesitation, because rushing strength only produces fragile power that collapses when truly tested. Power that is built slowly carries weight that cannot be shaken easily.
This strange conversation continued to unfold within Ash’s heart and mind.
A question would emerge naturally within his thoughts, and his will would respond based on what he believed to be the truth, what he believed to be the correct path, and whether his chosen road truly aligned with his nature or not.
Many times, his inner voice attempted to pull him toward doubt, subtly whispering possibilities of shortcuts, impatience, and fears that had quietly accumulated inside him over time.
Yet Ash refused to deviate from his path.
Every doubt was examined carefully. Every fear was confronted directly. Every temptation was analyzed until it lost the ability to influence him.
He did not suppress these thoughts, because suppression only allowed them to grow in darkness. Instead, he dragged them into the light of his awareness and broke them apart piece by piece.
After the passage of an entire day spent questioning himself without mercy, no further questions emerged from Ash’s mind. The silence that followed was not empty or hollow. It felt steady, calm, and deeply settled, like a vast lake whose raging storms had finally dissolved into complete stillness.
But as Ash realized no more questions were forming and his thoughts had finally reached clarity, instead of feeling exhausted or mentally drained, he felt unexpectedly light.
It felt as if something inside him had quietly aligned itself, as if invisible chains that he had never noticed before had loosened and shattered without making a sound.
Ash felt truly free at that moment. After confronting every insecurity he had carried within himself, after acknowledging every hidden doubt that had lingered deep inside his will, he allowed his true nature to surface naturally, without restraint, without guilt, and without fear of what that nature might eventually shape him into.
For the first time since beginning his journey, Ash was no longer walking forward because he believed he had to.
He was walking forward because it was simply who he was, and walking this path had become as natural to him as breathing itself.
Ash soon realized that these strange questions which arose from within himself must have been some sort of effect of the Rune of Truth, because the Rune had shown him all his insecurities with brutal honesty and forced him to confront them directly, allowing him to gradually dismantle each one of them with his own will and reasoning.
And after getting rid of those heavy weights resting upon his shoulders, he truly felt unusually light, as if a silent pressure that he had grown used to carrying had suddenly vanished without leaving behind even a trace.
Thus, Ash decided to take some time away from comprehending the Runes this time, because 1000 years was simply too long of a stretch to continue without pause, and even though his mind had remained stable throughout that period, he could feel a faint mental exhaustion that only revealed itself now that he had stepped out of that intense flow state.
He decided that for the next 1 year, he would do absolutely nothing related to comprehension and would instead spend his time playing with Eric and accompanying him properly, something he had unintentionally neglected during his long isolation.
After all, despite everything he had become and everything he was striving toward, he was still fundamentally human, and humans required moments of rest to maintain clarity of mind and stability of emotions.
If he could use this opportunity to allow his soul to loosen itself and recover from the constant strain of deep comprehension, then it would only benefit him in the long run.
***