Grey was dumbfounded.

Was it that easy?

For a split second, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry anymore.

All it took for him to form the exact technique for the purpose of creating the markings all at once was simply realizing the clear intent behind it.

And doing so actually bypassed the evolutionary limits!

For a split second, Grey felt proud.

Proud of himself.

This was the result of two weeks of continuous study.

And what should have originally taken him at least countless years of research and data, along with highly specialized technology, was completed in just two weeks.

In fact, there was no certainty that anyone would even find it at all, because from the way the technique was named, it was clear that nobody other than him had discovered it before.

This technique completely belonged to him.

It wasn't like his Nexus energy, where he merely discovered an existing energy. This was something he built from scratch.

This was the result of his evolutionary path.

No one else could have done it.

The technique that was compiled was a fusion of his previous thoughts regarding circulation patterns and the Chaos Trait Modularization Art.

The technique could do exactly what he theorized. It froze all circulation patterns at once and then forced the DNA to act, allowing all genetic markings to form simultaneously.

It seemed that evolutionary limits couldn't truly bind biology.

"Then, there is no need to waste any more time." Grey grinned.

It was finally time to start evolution.

It was time to forge the markings that would one day be known as the near-perfect genetic markings and ascend to Level 1 of the Second Ranker.

Then, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Was this really near-perfect?

Sure, gods were said to be near-perfect, and even the former City Lord of Ashspire City, Orin Ardent, had confirmed it when he temporarily formed a connection with an unknown part of the information layer.

According to him, there was only one true perfection in this world. If that was the case, it definitely wasn't something bound by the limitations of a race.

For something to be perfect, it would not be constrained by something like a "race."

His technique allowed him to combine traits and even remove them.

In theory, the race he had forged was already stronger than a god or a True Source Dragon.

And quite honestly, he didn't even know if there were beings beyond that level, but he believed it was highly unlikely.

If that was the case, then, That would without a doubt make what he had forged superior to the True Source Dragon and the Gods, even though it was all plagiarism in the end.

The True Source Dragon's origin imprint and Lia's Hell Portal imprint would also be acquired by him.

Unlike the human transformation technique, which only unlocked the origin imprint at the twelfth marking, superior races were different.

The human transformation technique was essentially trying to reach origin, but Gods and True Source Dragons had already attained it.

That was why their origin imprints manifested early.

He also planned on comprehending the origin imprints of other beast cores and storing them within his Anchor.

Comprehending the origin imprint of a beast was easier than most others.

"After this, my next goal should be refining my techniques, fully establishing the evolutionary path, and at the same time focusing on finding the Nexus Law."

Of course, he still had no inkling whether the Nexus Law even existed.

But he would make something work.

Worst case scenario, he would simply comprehend the Law of Chaos. It was stronger than Hongmeng and even the Source Law of Frost within Alissa, at the very least.

But before doing anything further, he named the unnamed technique.

It wasn't exactly a transformation technique. It was more of an auxiliary method that prevented explosion when multiple circulation patterns collided, forming all genetic markings at once and then automatically refining them to their peak by removing useless traits through the Chaos Trait Modularization Art.

Since that was the case, he decided to call it the Nexus Race Optimization Technique.

This was a crucial part of his evolutionary path from this point onward.

Then Grey looked at the secret realm, and a thought arose.

If he transformed here, wouldn't it completely break the secret realm?

If he was being honest, after fighting Fedrick and then Alissa draining the secret realm's power, it was already weakened significantly. If he continued using it, the Realmheart might collapse entirely.

For his own safety, and to avoid being thrown into the chaotic space outside while keeping the secret realm functioning, he believed it was better to do it outside.

As for destroying Blue Star's terrain, nobody would come complaining, maybe except the world will itself.

Speaking of it, that thing was a terrifying existence, and he didn't want anything to do with it.

With that decided, Grey left the secret realm and stepped out of his room.

To his surprise, everyone was gathered in the main hall.

Werner, Meiling, Meiying, Valeria, her two bodyguards, Alissa, Lia, and Little Hong were all present.

He glanced outside. Snow was continuously falling around the mansion.

"What's up?" Grey casually walked toward them and greeted them. "Why is everyone suddenly here?"

"Grey!" Valeria and Meiying immediately called out.

"You came at the perfect time." Valeria said with a giggle.

"Alissa and Lia are having a competition." Valeria continued. "They are having a cook-off to see who is the better essence infusion chef."

"Oh?" Grey tilted his head in interest.

He remembered that Alissa used to take spirit cooking classes before. Having restarted her training, her skills must have already returned.

"Look at you two, acting like children and fighting over who can cook better." Grey teased.

Alissa immediately shot him an annoyed glare.

"If you don't want to participate in childish activities, then don't. Hmph." She huffed.

"Calm down, Alissa." Lia chuckled dryly before speaking. "It was Sister Valeria that fanned the flames."

"She is the one that started this contest."

"Oh." Grey shot her a side glance, which Valeria shiftily avoided while whistling softly with her hands clasped behind her back.

This woman really couldn't stay still.

"It's been a while since I ate essence-infused food, so at Miss Valeria's invitation, I also came." Werner, who was seated nearby, spoke calmly while rubbing his beard. He was the only truly dignified expert with a calm demeanor, while the rest were acting like brats.

But it made sense. He was more than a hundred years old after all.

But one thing was for certain. Werner enjoyed this.

In the pursuit of formations, he had been lonely for many long years, but now he had people he could call close and return to.

For that, he was grateful to Grey, his master.

Then, the grand disciples chimed in as well.

"I heard that Sister Lia's cooking is very tasty." Meiling said with glowing eyes. "And since Meiying insisted on coming, I couldn't possibly say no, right?"

"Meiling, you're the one who was looking forward to this more than me." Meiying shot her twin a glare.

Grey simply laughed.

It was a rare sight, everyone gathered together like this.

He glanced outside once more at the falling snow and smiled.

Today was the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, almost exactly two weeks since the High Order incident. In his old world, this was the time when the entire population of Earth celebrated.

It was a time for family and friends to gather and connect, talk about the old things and welcome a new year together.

And right now, this gathering was no different.

Soon, Alissa and Lia placed a variety of dishes in front of everyone and took their seats. Grey sat at the center of the long table.

Everyone turned to look at him. They saw him smiling at the food, as if reminiscing about the past.

"Everyone, Merry Christmas."

He spoke those words under the confused gazes of the others and began eating while drinking wine.

Soon, they forget about his words as everyone was too stunned by the savory and flavorful food prepared by Alissa and Lia.

In the end, Grey declared both of them winners and rewarded them with a pair of Azure Spirit Vitality Pills along with some Federation Credit to splurge.

After that, Grey discussed his rank-up and gave instructions to Werner and Valeria before leaving the Ascension Province.

He was heading toward the eastern part of the southern region to attempt his breakthrough. That area was more barren and sparsely populated, and it was also where White Spring was located.

It would be beneficial for him to utilize the pure concentrated energy there for his breakthrough.

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