After the compression of the big bang, the color of the white matter that formed after the expansion and compression shifted into a shade of golden violet.
Soon, that golden violet matter began to transform into something unknown.
Across the surroundings, there was nothing left. All the cosmic bodies were nowhere to be seen, and even space itself had vanished and had not yet healed.
The healing had begun, but the process was extremely slow, almost as if reality itself was struggling to repair its shattered structure piece by piece.
At that moment, the golden violet matter started to move once more, but its speed was extremely slow compared to its previous terrifying velocity.
If someone were able to observe that matter from a distant vantage point, they would notice that it was drifting slowly towards the direction of the World of Akumia, or rather towards the direction where the new realm was being formed.
Its movement was silent and steady, guided by the attraction force the Eternals had unleased across the whole universe or realm.
**
While outside, the pressure might have lasted only a few minutes, for Ash those few minutes were literally like several exhausting days.
Under that overwhelming pressure, Ash almost lost consciousness.
Almost.
Perhaps after years of repeatedly falling unconscious during Rune Comprehension, he had unknowingly built a resistance towards such states.
Because of that, he remained awake, though barely holding onto clarity and awareness.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his soul.
Ash was lying flat on his back, floating atop the Soul Sea, specifically outside the Soul Tree that housed both the Soul Vault and the Soul Library.
The usually calm and endless black sea beneath him rippled violently, reflecting the instability spreading throughout his inner world, while faint tremors passed through the entire Soul Space like distant thunder.
From his vantage point, he could see numerous cracks spreading across the sky of his Soul Space. Those cracks stretched like shattered glass, branching endlessly and trembling as if they could collapse at any moment.
Faint distortions leaked through those cracks, carrying an unfamiliar presence that made the entire Soul Space feel fragile and strained.
My soul is fucking damaged.....damn...it....
Ash was on the verge of bursting into anger and frustration because he had absolutely no idea what had happened, nor did he understand why his soul had suffered such heavy damage.
But somehow even without activating Omni Thought, his mind and thoughts were calm.
He felt anger, but that anger was not affecting his thoughts.
The memory of that crushing pressure still lingered within him, leaving behind a suffocating sense of helplessness that irritated him even more.
He clenched his fists slightly as he tried to recall any possible cause, yet his mind found nothing but blank confusion.
Before he could even voice his complaints or gather his thoughts properly, the pressure vanished abruptly, disappearing as if it had never existed. Immediately after, an intense white brilliance poured out from the cracks in the sky.
Ash’s eyes widened instantly, becoming completely mesmerized as he stared at the radiant light seeping through those fractured skies.
The brilliance carried an indescribable purity and authority, one that made his thoughts slow down naturally, as if his mind had willingly surrendered before that overwhelming existence.
Even the rippling Soul Sea beneath him began to calm slightly, reacting instinctively to the presence of that light.
The light revealed itself only for a brief moment, yet that fleeting glimpse was enough for Ash to etch that brilliance permanently into his memories.
Every shade, every flicker, and every pulse of that light engraved itself into his consciousness, leaving behind an impression that he instinctively knew would never fade, no matter how much time passed.
Soon, the brilliance receded, withdrawing into nothingness as if it had completed its purpose.
As the light faded, Ash’s soul began to heal under the lingering traces of that brilliance, with the cracks across the sky slowly sealing themselves, restoring stability to the trembling Soul Space.
The tremors gradually faded, and the black sea returned to its calm, endless stillness.
However, Ash did not wake up.
A day passed, two days passed, three days passed...
Ash showed no signs of awakening. His soul body floated peacefully above the Soul Sea, unmoving and silent, as if he had sunk into a state deeper than sleep itself.
It was only after the seventh day that Ash finally broke out of his trance.
Ash slowly opened his eyes.
His pupils carried a faint reflection of that same brilliance he had witnessed, though it faded gradually as awareness fully returned to him.
For several moments, Ash did not move at all. He simply floated above the Soul Sea, staring silently at the restored sky of his Soul Space, allowing his thoughts and senses to stabilize after the overwhelming experience.
The cracks had vanished completely, leaving behind a sky that appeared deeper and far more stable than before, almost as if it had been reforged through an unknown process that he could not comprehend yet instinctively knew.
The sky no longer felt fragile or stretched thin. Instead, it carried a quiet, heavy stillness that gave off a subtle sense of permanence.
Ash slowly raised his hand and looked at it, flexing his fingers carefully, observing every minute sensation traveling through his soul body. He expected to feel weakness or instability after suffering such severe damage, but instead, he felt something entirely different.
His soul body felt lighter, yet denser at the same time, as if every fragment of his existence had been compressed and refined repeatedly until only the purest essence remained, free from unnecessary impurities.
That light.....what exactly was it...?
The memory of that brilliance surfaced clearly in his mind, vivid and untouchable by time.
Unlike Rune comprehension, which required focus, discipline, and deliberate effort, this knowledge existed inside him naturally, as if it had been engraved directly into the deepest layers of his soul without resistance or rejection.
It felt less like something he had learned and more like something he had remembered.
He slowly stood up and looked at his surroundings, allowing his gaze to travel across the familiar yet subtly transformed expanse of his Soul Space.
The first thing he noticed was that his Soul Tree had undergone a quiet but undeniable transformation.
Its branches had become thicker and more stable, their structure appearing more harmonious and balanced. Its leaves carried a faint glow that pulsed rhythmically, almost resembling a slow heartbeat that resonated with the entire Soul Space.
In fact, the Soul Tree itself had grown even more, its presence becoming grander and more overwhelming than before, stretching higher into the soul sky and rooting deeper into the Soul Sea.
And somehow, it was giving Ash the strange yet undeniable feeling of being alive, not merely as a construct of his soul, but as something that was responding to his existence and growth in return.
Ash understood that his soul foundation had been refined to an entirely new level.
It was not an increase in power in the usual sense, nor did it grant him immediate strength that he could measure or display. Instead, it was an increase in purity and stability.
His soul could now endure pressures and burdens that would have previously shattered it without resistance, allowing him to withstand forces that once stood far beyond his limits.
Soon, fragments of realization began to surface in his mind, forming naturally without conscious effort.
He had gained an incomplete but extremely profound insight into the Origin Compression Principle.
Ash did not know why that name surfaced within his thoughts, yet he understood its meaning naturally, as if the concept had always existed within him and had merely awakened after the experience he had just endured.
He realized that existence itself was born through compression and release. Creation required pressure. Evolution required refinement through collapse and rebirth. The destruction of old structures was not always an end, but often a necessary stage before a stronger and more stable existence could emerge.
The greater the compression endured, the more stable and potent the resulting existence would become.
This understanding did not manifest as words or knowledge he could easily explain or teach to others. What he expressed was just the gist of it.
Instead, it manifested as instinct, shaping the way he perceived growth, destruction, and transformation itself, embedding quietly into the core of his being like an unshakable truth.
Does that means I would not fall unconscious for straight 8 hours after seeing the Rune’s knowledge?
Ash’s eyes brightened at that possibility, a faint spark of anticipation rising deep within him.
If that assumption turned out to be true, then his speed of Rune comprehension would increase drastically.
The forced unconsciousness after every session of absorbing Rune knowledge had always acted like a heavy chain slowing him down.
Removing or reducing that restriction would allow him to continue learning for longer periods, which meant fewer interruptions and far greater efficiency.
Even imagining such progress made his heart stir slightly with excitement.
However, Ash did not immediately jump to testing this theory. The recent changes inside his soul were sudden and far too mysterious.
Acting impulsively after witnessing such an overwhelming phenomenon could easily backfire. He had already experienced how fragile his soul could become under forces he did not fully understand. Because of that, he suppressed the urge to experiment and instead chose to observe himself carefully.
Ash slowly exhaled, calming his rising thoughts, before activating {Eye of Omniscience} to see his details.
At first glance, nothing seemed different. The arrangement of information remained exactly the same, and most of his attributes showed no visible change.
For a brief moment, Ash wondered whether he had misunderstood the aftereffects of the trance or perhaps overestimated its impact.
Still, he carefully scanned every section one by one, refusing to miss even the smallest detail. Soon, his gaze stopped at one particular category that rarely showed noticeable fluctuations.
**
[Hidden Attributes]
Luck -> 0
Willpower -> 101
Soul power -> 150
***