"Let's begin." Grey closed his eyes, he stabilized his breath and double checked everything.

He made sure his energy was stable, his mind clear, and his bodily functions running smoothly.

Second rank dealt with transformation, hence, to start it off one needed to transform their powers first to create that first spark of transformation and undergo metamorphosis.

Grey exhaled slowly and sank his awareness inward.

Nexus energy surged within the vortex deep inside his elixir field. However, the vortex no longer looked like the swirling force he first awakened, it pulsed like a living thing and the size was 100 times that of the first time he created it, it blinked rapidly as if eager to break through a greater boundary of power.

Now, he would use his nexus energy and core essence to push himself to the 2nd rank.

The current Nexus Ascension Scripture was more than enough to do it.

"Transform."

The instant he willed it, his consciousness plunged into the depths of his mind.

The world vanished and Grey found himself standing inside his mind. A solitary blinking purple flame burned quietly in the endless space, just as it always did.

The moment Grey appeared within his mental space, the purple flame reacted.

It brightened, a single ripple spread through the space, wrapping the surroundings. The empty expanse behind the flame shifted and folded like molten glass being reshaped as purple black nexus energy and golden core essence rushed into his mind like a tidal wave.

Immediately, he felt his sea of consciousness stirring, like a shackle had been lifted from it, a sense of liberation assaulted his mind as the empty expanse began to expand.

It expanded like there was no stop to it and the flames began to dance wildly.

The expansion of the sea of consciousness stopped and immediately it began to compress, the sea of consciousness compressed, condensed and finally its foundation became solid, yet it did not stop there, the 2nd rank was a huge leap, one expansion alone was not enough.

Immediately after the sea of consciousness expanded and compressed, it began its expansion once again, stretching out endlessly, compressing and then expanding once more.

With each expansion, Grey felt a sense of pleasure assault his mind, like a splitting headache was being lifted off his head continuously, and with each transformation his thoughts moved more freely and without any lag.

The most notable transformation was definitely of his flames.

The purple flame which was his nexus psionic energy thickened, extending outward like threads, those threads intertwined, forming shimmering outlines of walls, pillars, archways and halls. A structure slowly took shape around the flame, built entirely from the psionic energy intertwined with the mysterious purple fire.

A mind palace was being forged.

A mind palace was the crucial part of an Esper, once it was created, one could store information however they liked and this palace was also where mind essence, a crucial power needed for Espers to transform, was produced.

People could convert vital essence into mind essence, likewise, mind essence could be converted into vital essence and similarly both of them could be converted into energy essence formed by people who utilized energy like the immortal cultivators.

In a way, they all harmonized with each other but each one could only be utilized after conversion.

Grey had other plans, since his evolutionary path utilized all three aspects of power, he wanted to form one true essence to strengthen them all at the same time.

Nexus Essence.

If he was not wrong, this essence should naturally form once all three aspects reached 2nd rank through resonance.

Soon, the mind palace had formed with his psionic energy taking root deep within it, and immediately shards of light flew into the mind palace which was vast and settled themselves into it.

These shards were his very memories, both from this life and previous life. They would be stored here till the time he died and the memories would be picture perfect.

The mind palace was complete.

Now he could also use this to store information from the information layers and the Blue Star database as well.

At that exact moment, the vortex of energy in his core stirred.

The vortex, which had always swirled with powerful force, stopped spinning. For a heartbeat, it became silent.

Then it contracted violently.

The entire vortex collapsed inward, compressing into a tight, dense light of silver-purple brilliance, it was no longer a vortex.

No, it had transformed into a compressed star.

It pulsed with frightening power. Each pulse sent condensed nexus energy into every meridian like beams of concentrated starlight.

The transformation of nexus energy had begun.

Layers within the energy peeled back one by one. The energy density multiplied several times, new intricate and mysterious patterns began to emerge inside the star, his once purple-black energy now had hints of silver in it and soon, energy essence was formed.

However, with the creation of the star, he felt his body going completely heavy, like he would collapse any moment.

This usually did not happen to an immortal cultivator as they continuously had their body strengthened with spiritual energy.

Grey depended on his own flesh.

It simply could not handle the power of the star formed inside his elixir field.

However, the feeling did not last long, nexus energy churned out from the star and shot into his body like a tidal wave.

His bones vibrated, a deep rumble echoing through his skeleton. They did not just crack and heal. They resonated with the star inside him and the heavenly tribulation power, absorbing the power from it and growing tougher with each passing moment.

His muscles tensed, then loosened then tightened again. Nexus energy wove through them like thin threads of silver, reinforcing each fiber while keeping flexibility.

His purple star-like blood heated until each heartbeat sent waves of energy rolling through his veins.

The vital essence had formed.

Then, his heartbeat began to beat in a specific rhythm, the same rhythm his star of nexus energy blinked in, the same rhythm the purple flame inside his mind palace flickered.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The three essences of the mind, energy and body rushed toward each other as if calling to each other and collided.

Boom.

A powerful explosion spread out within Grey's body and soon, a dense silver-purple colored power formed.

Nexus Essence!

At that timing, Grey felt it, a lock.

This lock was none other than the lock of life and evolution.

Only by breaking this lock would he surpass his life level and undergo metamorphosis.

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