"That's... different," Kyle said. "What about their Battle-Strength?"
"Battle-Strength and Stages are the same thing in the Transcendent Realm," the Duchess of Twilight said. "The power of Laws dictates your Battle-Strength and your Stage at the same time. If you had a higher Battle-Strength, you would have a higher Stage."
"Technically, the Transcendent Realm doesn't have Stages. If you want to advance, you simply need to comprehend a Level Two Law and consume enough Ether. If you do that, you will reach the next Realm."
"A Level Two Law?" Kyle asked.
"The Yin Elements," the Duchess of Twilight said. "Skysand and Winterfire are examples."
'Yin Elements? What? Are we Buddhists now?' Kyle thought.
"Fully comprehending one of these Elements represents comprehending a Level Two Law," the Duchess of Twilight explained. "If you can comprehend either of those, you can reach the next Realm."
"Okay," Kyle said, scratching the back of his head, "so, what's with the five Stages then?"
"Those Stages represent your understanding of Laws. Just because you can advance by knowing a Level Two Law doesn't mean that everyone will do that. You can also become a Transcendent by comprehending a Half-Law."
"Half-Laws?" Kyle asked. "I assume you mean when you condense a Law without knowing all of the Fragments, right?"
The Duchess of Twilight nodded. "Every Yang Element has a Base Fragment and three Auxiliary Fragments. You can forcefully condense a Half-Law by knowing either the Base Fragment or all three Auxiliary Fragments. You can only condense a Full Law when you have all of its Fragments."
"The lowest requirement to become a Transcendent is to condense any Law, even if it is just a Half-Law. Transcendents who advance with only a Half-Law are called Nobodies."
The Duchess of Twilight furrowed her brows as she looked at the ground. "They can't even be considered Transcendents."
"How so?" Kyle asked. "They're still Transcendents, right?"
"Have you ever seen a Transcendent in person, besides myself?" the Duchess of Twilight asked, looking at Kyle casually.
"Yeah," Kyle said. "I saw Silvester, the Second Advisor, this Harald guy, and King Skysand."
"All of them are Nobodies," the Duchess of Twilight said.
"Even Emperor Winterfire?" Kyle asked with raised brows.
"Yes, even him," the Duchess of Twilight said. "When comparing us, how does my Aura differ from theirs?"
An answer quickly shot into Kyle's head, but he didn't dare to say it. "I feel weaker, right?" she asked.
Kyle just silently nodded.
At that moment, Kyle felt like the world in front of him was changing.
The Ether in the room suddenly became so thick that he felt like he could swim in it.
Light and darkness seemed to intertwine and surround the Duchess of Twilight.
As Kyle looked at the Duchess of Twilight, his eyes widened in shock.
It was like there was an inferno of Ether around her!
It was like the world was illuminating her!
It was so… different!
When Kyle had seen the other Transcendents, he had also been able to feel their power, but after comparing them to the Twilight Duchess, he realized that there was a fundamental difference.
It wasn't about quantity or quality.
It was about something else.
Control!
After seeing a comparison, Kyle could tell that the Ether around the Duchess of Twilight was acting like it completely belonged to her!
It was like the Ether was inside her body instead of being lent by the world!
Whenever the other Transcendents gathered Ether, it was like a violent storm that flew towards them.
But that wasn't because they were so powerful, but because their control over the Ether was horrible.
As Kyle watched the Duchess of Twilight, he could tell one thing.
The other Transcendents and she couldn't even be compared!
It was a fundamental difference!
It was like the difference between a Mortal and a Transcendent!
They were not of the same world.
A moment later, the Ether around the Duchess of Twilight vanished, and she simply felt like a relatively strong Peak Expert to Kyle.
"As a Transcendent," the Duchess of Twilight said, "you have power over the world. The world is not giving you its Ether. The world's Ether is your Ether."
"By condensing a Half-Law, the world acknowledges you as a Transcendent, but only begrudgingly. If you barely beat someone in a fight, they will listen to you, but they will not follow your orders blindly."
"If you truly want to command someone, you need to show that you are much more powerful than they are."
"In the same way, the world is only half-heartedly supporting Nobodies."
"Their Core Spark is barely functional, and it has been built on a shaky foundation."
"Even if they manage to comprehend the full power of a Level Two Law, they will still find it difficult to fight against a new Transcendent that advanced with a Full Level One Law."
"Their haste has cost them their future. "
"A Nobody will never reach the next Realm, no matter how hard they try."
"You understand the Law of Metal," she said. "If you were to advance, you would be able to win against every single Transcendent in the world, excluding me, even if they all fought you at the same time."
Kyle blinked a couple of times.
'I know that I would be pretty strong, but I didn't think that I would be that strong!'
"And you are an actual Transcendent, then?" Kyle asked.
"I am a Fulfilled Transcendent," the Duchess of Twilight said.
"Still don't know what that means," Kyle said.
"Nobodies are Transcendents who became Transcendents with a Half-Law," the Duchess of Twilight said.
"Standard Transcendents are Transcendents who have advanced by comprehending a Full Law. This is the second Stage of the Transcendent Realm, and any new, real Transcendent starts there. Nobodies will forever remain Nobodies. Only Standard Transcendents have a future."
"When you manage to comprehend a Level Two Law, you become an Advanced Transcendent. At that point, you can advance, if you so wish. As long as you have not hastily comprehended a Half-Law of the second level, your future will not be negatively impacted."
"Those who truly wish to become powerful may decide to remain Transcendents to learn more about Laws. The few of them who manage to learn a Complex Level Two Law will earn the title of Fulfilled Transcendent."
"Complex?" Kyle asked.
"A Complex Level Two Law is a fusion of two or more Laws of which at least one has to be a Pure Level Two Law. In a way, you can consider them Level 2.5 Laws."
"And you are on that level?" Kyle asked.
The Duchess of Twilight nodded.
"But there are five levels, right?" Kyle asked. "You only named four so far."
The Duchess of Twilight sighed.
"The fifth level is reserved for Transcendents, who have comprehended such a powerful Complex Level Two Law that it can rival Pure Level Three Laws."
The Duchess of Twilight looked down.
"I have given up on ever achieving this level."
"People of this level are called Unique Transcendents. They are called as such because the Laws they comprehended are so complicated and powerful that, outside of specialized gatherings, none of them will ever meet."
"In their reality, they are the most powerful Transcendent."
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