Chapter 4552: Pre-THE! III

The Way.

What was the Way truly?

Noah found himself asking such a fundamental question as a sense of profound euphoria passed across his entire existence.

He opened his eyes and spread out his senses with newfound clarity as he explored where they had appeared. Him, Lumivara, and THE Living Origin had materialized inside a small pocket of stable existence that seemed to be surrounded by unfamiliarly terrifying storms of multicolored instability.

The region they occupied was remarkable in its stark beauty. They stood on the peak of a floating snowy mountain that drifted through space with no visible means of support. Snow fell upward as often as it fell down, defying natural laws.

The mountain itself was surrounded by concentrated waves of THE Civilizational Authority of Origin, creating a protective bubble of white-gold radiance that kept the environment stable and breathable.

But all around this sanctuary, multicolored environmental regions pulsed with visible instability of Existence itself. These zones shifted between states that should not coexist: solid becoming liquid becoming energy becoming concept without transition. Colors that had no names flickered across surfaces that might not actually exist.

Even entities like Stellara with their Pre-THE authority could be systematically shredded apart if they ventured into such regions of instability without adequate protection.

THE Living Origin’s voice cut through Noah’s observations with an explanation.

"This place is known as the Unstable Genesis Domains," she said. "It is where all the accumulated entropy of the Infinite Unfurling is gathered and concentrated. A region where the fundamental instability of Existence itself manifests in its purest and most dangerous form."

She gestured toward the chaotic zones surrounding their mountain peak.

"This is a location that even THE Surface Depth of Absolute Sovereignty entities do not like to visit casually. The instability of Existence itself actively reduces the effectiveness of all Ways of Existence that enter these domains. If one is not careful enough, they could heavily injure their foundation and corrupt their Way permanently."

Her white-gold eyes focused on Noah specifically.

"The instability here could very well shake you to your core and test everything you believe about your Sovereignty. This will be the place of your continued struggle as you enter this new phase of your existence as Pre-THE."

Before his transformation could even fully settle and stabilize, he was already being told of the hardship he would immediately be facing. Noah shook his head with wry acknowledgment and closed his eyes to focus on himself for now.

His mind returned to track as he contemplated the question he had posed to himself.

What was the Way?

Even while sensing the terrifying instabilities pulsing in the far distance beyond their protective bubble, he opened his mouth and spoke his understanding aloud.

"The Way, My Way specifically, is how I am," he said with a voice carrying conviction. "It is what I am at the most fundamental level. My character, my presence, my words, my weavings, my deficiencies, my strengths, my very being in its totality."

He paused to let the words settle.

"When I walk my Way, I am finding myself. I am discovering what I truly am beneath all pretense and assumption. When I lay a claim on my Way, I lay a claim on who I am. I establish Sovereignty over my own existence."

His eyes opened with intensity burning in their depths.

"If I say I have Sovereignty over Mana, then I am Mana itself. If I lay my claim on Hunger, then I am Hunger made manifest. The Way is not something external that I wield. It is me."

He smiled as his existence vibrated and pulsed with an ever-increasing aura of immensity and grandness.

"I am My Way. I am Mana. I am Hunger."

BOOM!

This was his affirmation as he arrived at a new stage of his existence with complete understanding.

In the next moment, a glorious transformation occurred that defied normal expectations.

Noah’s entire body turned into pure Primus Mana with startling completeness. His physical form dissolved as it became a swirling cluster of Civilizational Authority that condensed and reformed.

The energy shaped itself into a Lemniscate symbol, an infinity sign that rotated slowly in three-dimensional space. The symbol pulsed with concentrated power before releasing a massive burst of blue-gold light.

HUUM!

The radiance spread outward for Gigaparsecs in all directions!

BOOM!

THE Living Origin’s expression shifted dramatically as she witnessed this transformation. Her features became extremely grim, as if she had just observed something inherently impossible and extremely problematic occurring before her eyes as she saw the expression of his Way.

Yet this shocked expression faded rapidly as she forced herself to calm and regain composure.

Lumivara simply stared with wonder and awe at the magnificent display, her fox ears twitching with barely contained excitement.

At such a critical moment, Noah’s perception was grand enough to manage observing the brief flash of concern on THE Living Origin’s features. He noted it carefully but could not and did not address it right now.

Because his focus absolutely had to remain on himself and the ridiculous sense of euphoria his existence felt at achieving Pre-THE status.

Prompts bloomed before his vision with detailed information about his advancement.

|MAJOR MILESTONE ACHIEVED|

|THE Organ of Civilization Development: 10.00%|

|Classification Upgraded: PRE-THE EXISTENCE|

|You have taken the first genuine steps toward THE Surface Depth of Absolute Sovereignty.|

|THE Civilizational Authority Resistance has been elevated to 10%.|

|THE Rudimentary Units of Everything: Maximum capacity increased from 24 to 81 units, and the usage of a single one now lasts 3 minutes|

|Current Status: 43/81 |

|THE Rudimentary Units of Everything have begun an active process.|

|Function: Passively transforming all forms of Authority within your existence.|

|Conversion Target: Pre-THE Civilizational Authority of Existence|

|Progress: Ongoing and irreversible.|

|Effect: Your baseline power will continuously elevate until transformation completes.|

|THE True Expression of The Sovereignty of Mana and Hunger are now seamless with your existence.|

|Note: Your Way and your existence have become indistinguishable.|

Noah’s form of vibrant pure energy vibrated with satisfaction as the information he was receiving so far was already grand beyond his expectations.

But he knew from experience that the best revelations were always reserved for last in these systematic updates.

And this intuition turned out to be absolutely correct as in the next moment, new prompts materialized with extraordinary implications.

|After extensive exposure to the authorities and mechanisms of THE Northern Unfurling Node of Existence of THE Creature, THE Organ of Civilization has comprehended a unique methodology of existence.|

|New Construction Initiated: THE Infinite Desmoterion|

|Classification: Sovereign Prison Domain|

|Primary Function: Irreversible imprisonment of entities who have laid claim on a Sovereignty.|

|Secondary Function: Perpetual refinement and exploitation of imprisoned Sovereignties.|

|Mechanism: Conquered enemies are placed within THE Infinite Desmoterion where they exist in a state of enforced cultivation under dilated temporal flow.|

|CORE FEATURES|

|Temporal Dilation: Time flows 1,000x faster within the prison relative to external reality.|

|Mana Influence: All imprisoned entities become gradually influenced by Mana as the foundational authority.|

|Forced Refinement: Prisoners are compelled to continue refining their Ways and advancing their Sovereignties.|

|Advancement Reflection: Any progress made by prisoners reflects as direct boons to your own Way of Existence.|

|Authority Extraction: Refined Sovereignty essence can be harvested periodically as Crystallized Fragments.|

|Escape Prevention: Domain is anchored to THE Organ of Civilization itself, making escape impossible as the process itself is irreversible|

|Current Maximum Prisoners: 9 entities with established Sovereignties|

|Capacity increases with THE Organ of Civilization development.|

|Can only imprison entities you have personally defeated in combat.|

|Prisoners retain consciousness and awareness of their imprisonment.|

|Extremely powerful entities may resist Mana influence.|

|Creating and maintaining the domain requires continuous expenditure of 10 Rudimentary Units of Everything every 24 hours.|

|Prisoner Slots Unlocked: 9/9|

|Active Prisoners: 0/9|

|Maintenance Cost: Inactive (no prisoners currently held)|

|Domain Stability: Absolute|

...!

After Noah looked at the absolutely ridiculous prompts outlining THE Infinite Desmoterion and all its implications, he could only focus on reading them again just to be completely certain of what he was seeing.

Sometimes, things seemed so ridiculously advantageous that one had to verify their understanding multiple times.

He was essentially being given his own personal prison-cultivation-farm where defeated enemies would be forced to eternally refine their Ways while he harvested the benefits of their progress.

It... was horrifying in its efficiency.

And absolutely perfect for someone walking the path of Mana and Hunger!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.