Noah took a deep breath and pushed his concentration to the limit. He prepared for the final step, the supreme goal of every Magus who had reached the peak of Rank 3: to condense his Truesoul.
At this point a key event occurred. Between Rank 3 and Rank 4, the soul underwent a true existential evolution. It was not a mere increase in power nor a simple accumulation of spiritual force. It was a qualitative change in the very nature of being—a leap that separated ordinary Magi from those who could begin to comprehend the laws of the universe.
Every living being possessed a core deep within its soul, known as the Primordial Essence. This formed consciousness and the self—the fundamental "I" that made one who one was. The soul itself was nothing more than a shell that protected this core and allowed it to interact with the body, just as the body was merely a shell that protected the brain and was controlled by it.
Once a Magus reached the peak of Rank 3, his soul underwent a qualitative change. Under the guidance of Magus meditation techniques, his Primordial Essence began to consume the spiritual force accumulated throughout the entire journey. When this process was complete, the Primordial Essence would have grown powerful enough to solidify and form a Truesoul.
This massive change granted Rank 4 beings a special quality: the ability to interact with the laws that shaped the universe, to comprehend them, and to inscribe them upon their souls in order to wield them at will.
"Huh?"
Noah circulated his spiritual force according to the technique, expecting to feel the beginning of the transformation. But nothing happened. His Primordial Essence did not react. His spiritual force, which had already surpassed the thousand units required, continued to flow through his spiritual sea without being consumed. The condensation process simply would not begin.
"What is going on?"
It was not from a lack of spiritual power. He had more than enough, accumulated during the Harmonic Convergence and refined to the limit. So why was it not working? Noah frowned and mentally reviewed the entire content of the Magus meditation technique.
"Could the Magus cultivation technique be wrong…? No! That can't be. It must be something else."
After a while, he understood what had occurred.
The supernatural power responsible for transforming his soul into a True Soul was not his own spiritual force. It was the laws of the Magus universe themselves. Those laws were what baptized the soul and acted as the catalyst for the change. Without them, no matter how much spiritual power he accumulated, his Primordial Essence would never be able to take the decisive step. It was like having all the wood needed for a bonfire yet lacking the spark that would light it.
"Does that mean my Magus path is cut off?"
The question floated in his mind for an instant. But Noah shook his head almost immediately.
"Not necessarily. With the infinity of worlds out there, I can surely find an alternative to the baptism of the Magus world's laws in order to condense my Truesoul."
He was not defeated. He only needed time and exploration. Somewhere in the multiverse there would exist a substitute—an equivalent law that could fulfill the same function.
"Huh?"
Distracted by his reflection, Noah had not noticed what was happening in his spiritual sea. The power of the two pillars of the Harmonic Convergence, which had stopped flowing into his soul the moment it reached its limit, had found a new destination. It had neither dissipated into the surroundings nor returned to the portals. Instead, it had begun to flow toward the pearl that floated above his spiritual crystal.
The sphere absorbed the power without cease, swallowing it like a bottomless hole. The two torrents of primordial energy converged upon it and vanished into its interior without a trace.
"Interesting, little glutton."
Noah withdrew from his spiritual sea and extended his hand. The pearl appeared upon his palm, floating weightlessly. Inside it the miniature galaxy rotated slowly, yet now it seemed brighter and more alive, as if the power it had absorbed were nourishing it.
"Hmm, what should I call you?" Noah observed it for a moment, and a smile curved his lips. "I know! How about Sealed Universe Bead?"
He waved his hand and placed the pearl upon the upper end of the Staff of Sonum. The metal rings of the staff tinkled softly, and the golden radiance of its surface mingled with the glow of the pearl.
"Since we're going to do this, let's do it thoroughly."
Noah activated his Rank 1 innate spell—the absorption spell. But this time he did not channel it through his own body. He channeled it from the staff into the pearl, using the Staff of Sonum as a conduit and amplifier. The devouring capabilities of the Sealed Universe Bead were magnified exponentially.
Under Noah's impassive gaze, the Spirit World around him began to tremble. It was not a physical tremor, but something deeper, as if the very fabric of that plane of existence were tearing. Cracks appeared in the sky, in the ground, and in the air. They were fissures of white light that ran through reality like broken veins. And then the fractured fragments began to peel away.
Instead of dissipating, they transformed into currents of light—rivers of pure spiritual energy that flowed toward the staff and vanished into the interior of the pearl. Entire floating mountains crumbled into torrents of light and were devoured. Giant forests dissolved into glittering dust that the pearl absorbed without leaving a trace. Rivers that flowed toward the sky reversed their course and plunged toward Noah like cascades of liquid energy.
An entire day passed before the process ended. Now the Spirit World he had known—that landscape of starry skies, auroras, and meadows of celestial-blue grass—no longer existed. It had been reduced to a small sphere, a mere core of origin, the last vestige of what had once been a vast plane.
All the spirits that inhabited this world had suffered the same fate. Most of them—those of low rank who could not resist the power of the absorption—were destroyed and converted into spiritual power that the pearl swallowed without mercy. Only the spirits of middle and higher rank, endowed with strength enough to cling to their existence, managed to survive the cataclysm.
Noah gazed upon the core of origin, a sphere of milky white that floated in the void left by the Spirit World. It was the heart of that plane, the seed from which, perhaps in another ten thousand years, a new Spirit World might have been born. But Noah was not willing to abandon it.
He touched the milky sphere with the pearl.
The Sealed Universe Bead absorbed it as well.