Lex decided to set aside the task of deciphering the inscriptions for now. He knew there would be time to solve their mystery later, so he chose to explore for the moment.
Before him stood a cathedral-like structure, its architecture, unlike anything he had ever seen. The building's gem-like stones shimmered faintly, their surfaces smooth yet unyielding.
A quick scan revealed that their hardness rivaled that of cosmic weapons, a material that could withstand forces capable of tearing apart realms.
He walked toward the entrance, where a massive stone door stood firmly shut before him. Intrigued, he raised his fist and struck it casually.
CRACK!
The impact tore through the entrance, effortlessly shattering the door in half. Fragments of the gem-like stone scattered, their edges glowing faintly before fading into lifeless debris.
Lex stepped inside, but what greeted him wasn't a grand sight—no sprawling halls of forgotten majesty, no relics of divine significance.
Instead, he found a simple hall lined with staircases running through its center, weaving in different directions like an intricate maze. Multiple pathways led deeper into the structure, connecting to rooms beyond his sight.
He glanced around, but no trace of life met his gaze. The hall was eerily silent, its vast emptiness amplifying the weight of his solitude.
He Moved cautiously toward the center, he stepped onto one of the staircases, his every movement deliberate and measured.
To ensure his safety, he released clones of himself to scout ahead. Their silent forms darted into the shadows. Fortunately, no hidden traps lay in wait.
As he advanced, he found himself standing before a room. He opened the door cautiously, Inside, the floor was littered with scattered, damaged weapons—swords, axes, spears, and countless others, each bearing the scars of numerous battles.
These weapons although scattered like scraps, radiated powerful coercion as if daring anyone to approach. Lex could sense a faint, lingering consciousness within them.
He also felt a hidden gaze, heavy and watchful, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pinpoint its source.
"Their consciousness has been worn away by time," he realized, a pang of melancholy tugging at him.
"Time… time is merciless," he murmured to himself, the words a solemn reminder of the relentless march of existence. It steeled his resolve: He would grow powerful and become eternal and everlasting no matter the cost.
Lex picked up one of the ancient swords, its hilt cool against his palm. The moment his fingers tightened around it, he felt a faint pulse, a whisper of power, dulled yet undeniable. He tested its weight, and he slashed horizontally.
SHRKK!
The air trembled, and the wall before him was sliced cleanly in two. His eyes widened slightly. "This…" It was the first time he encountered a weapon that could amplify his strength. Curious, he channeled two percent of his power, adjusted his grip, and delivered another strike.
SHRKK!
The next wall, twice as thick, was cleaved just as effortlessly.
His thoughts raced as he said, "Double." His attack power had doubled. His grip tightened as he stared at the worn-out blade.
A weapon that could double his strength… Such a thing did not exist in his universe.
Even the strongest weapons, Cosmic Weapons—would shatter if he attempted to channel his Origin Energy into them. But this sword, despite being damaged and eroded by time, still had the ability to amplify.
Then, a thought struck him. What could this weapon achieve at its peak? A rare flicker of excitement stirred within him. He had to find out.
Lex turned his attention to the other weapons, settling his gaze on a spear among the scattered relics. It was elegantly crafted, its shaft adorned with intricate carvings of dragons that looked almost lifelike as if they might move at any moment.
But their eyes were blank.
Faded.
A sign that whatever will once reside within had long diminished. There were cracks along the shaft, remnants of countless battles, yet the spear exuded an unshakable presence even in its damaged state.
Lex's eyes flickered toward an engraving near the hilt—a name. "Voidpiercer."
He traced his fingers over the inscription before tightening his grip. Curious, he injected a strand of his Origin Energy into the spear.
The weapon reacted immediately.
A pulse of power surged through it, and Lex thrust the spear forward without hesitation.
SHRKK!
The tip of the spear vanished. For a split second, it seemed as if it had simply ceased to exist but in reality it had pierced through space itself.
The spear reappeared in the depths of the void a distance so far from Lex position, its tip emerging within a galaxy. And in an instant, Quasars, once shining like celestial beacons, collapsed into nothingness.
The sheer force from the sword disintegrated them into their atomic levels, erasing them as if they had never existed.
Lex slowly lowered the spear, his expression that of excitement. A weapon that ignored distance… that pierced through space itself. Even in its weakened, worn-out state, Voidpiercer was a force unlike any he had ever wielded.
"Good spear," Lex praised, genuinely impressed. A weapon that could attack from anywhere without limitation; such a concept was rare and could not exist in this newborn universe, but Voidpiercer did although indirectly.
He set the spear aside, his intrigue deepening. With renewed curiosity, he turned to the rest of the ancient armory, testing each weapon individually. Swords, axes, daggers, and maces—each carried a remnant of its former power.
Some amplified his strength; some manipulated the flow of space, and others bent the fabric of reality itself.
Time blurred as he immersed himself in their mysteries. Days went by. He had tested thousands of weapons, each bearing traces of divine craftsmanship and forgotten powers.
Finally, he arrived at the last weapon. As he stood before it, his instincts screamed at him. Unlike the others, this weapon was not whole; it was half of a sword. Yet, despite its incomplete state, it exuded an aura of absolute power.
Lex's fingers twitched involuntarily.
This sword…
It was different. The oppressive sensation it emitted was not coercion, not dominance, but primal.
Something lethal. For the first time since his rebirth, an emotion he had long forgotten crept into his being.
Death.
Lex, a being who had transcended mortality and stood unchallenged as the Will of the Universe, suddenly felt Vulnerable.
He gazed at the damaged sword, his thoughts racing. What kind of weapon was this, even in its broken state, it could elicit such feelings?
The sword levitated naturally, emitting no energy yet exuding an undeniable presence. Lex sat before it, he then extended his consciousness, and enveloped the sword in an attempt to connect with it.
But the moment his consciousness touched the blade, it retaliated. Tiny bursts of powerful sword qi, sharp and needle-like, attacked his mind. The pain was immediate, a stinging sensation that felt as though his thoughts were being pierced.
Lex endured, refusing to withdraw. But the more he persisted, the more intense the attacks became. The needles multiplied in numbers, driving deeper into his consciousness with increasing force.
Then, all of a sudden—a will so overwhelming, so unyielding, surged forth from the sword, slamming into Lex's soul with crushing force.
His body went numb.
The sheer weight of the will rendered him powerless, his vast strength now meaningless before the entity that had laid dormant within the broken blade.
Like a storm of sword qi, the will tore through his soul sea, surging past barriers meant to repel even the greatest of invaders, as if they were nothing more than paper walls before a hurricane.
But then—
A voice echoed from behind Lex's unmoving form.
"Finally, you're here."
The sword's will froze instantly before a low, voice resonated. "What…? A clone?"The revelation did not stop its advance. The will surged once more, its confidence unshaken.
"You believe a mere clone can thwart my 'Dominion Grasp'?" it scoffed.
"Pointless struggle."
Lex's body remained seated, undisturbed. The sword's will continued, its voice carrying an edge of absolute arrogance.
"Your little act of cloning is futile. My technique allows me to possess anything I desire even through the clone I can accesses your real body."
The voice grew colder. "And you? A mere boundling is a speck in my existence."
Deep within itself, the will pulsed, memories flickering. "Xeri, wait for me," it thought. "I shall return… and make everyone who conspired to imprison you pay."
As for Lex, He had already been pushed to the back of the will's mind, dismissed as nothing more than a vessel awaiting possession.
The battle was over.
Or so he will believed.
After mere seconds, the will sensed a creeping sensation crawling up its very essence. Danger. An instinct honed through countless eons screamed at it, a primal warning that something was very, very wrong.
"Where is this feeling coming from?" The thought struck like a blade, sharp and immediate. Its awareness expanded, scanning every inch of Lex's soulsea but he found nothing.
Then, a flicker of doubt crept in. "It can't be…" For the briefest moments, it considered the possibility that it might be coming from Lex. But that notion was absurd. "Ridiculous. This universe is too young; there can't be creatures here that can threaten me."
Reassured by its own logic, it pushed forward, continuing its act of possession, twisting its will deeper into Lex's soul.
But the feeling of danger did not fade; instead it intensified. What began as a soft whisper of warning soon swelled into a deafening roar, foretelling the inevitability of impending death.
Then— "WHAT?!" Panic jolted through him like a spear to the heart. This wasn't just danger anymore; it was death. A presence he couldn't see yet felt undeniably loomed over him.
"How?! Is there someone here capable of killing me? In this young universe?"
"No, impossible." Someone of its level could not exist within the universe. They would be expelled. It scrambled for an answer. "Then… it must be from a powerful weapon?" A realization struck.
But it was wrong.
So very, very wrong.
"I have to hurry before it arrives." Panic crept into the will's thoughts, a sensation it had not experienced in eons. Yet, five seconds had passed.
Lex was still resisting. "Why? Why is he still persisting?" the will muttered, its voice laced with confusion. By all logic, this should have been over. Lex's soulsea should have crumbled, his resistance meaningless before Dominion Grasp technique.
And yet, something was preventing it. It probed deeper, only to collide with an invisible wall. A barrier. Lex had activated a defensive technique so refined that even it, a will of ancient origins, had failed to notice immediately.
"Heaven-Sealed Soul Ward." A divine barrier that locks the Soul Sea from all intruders. This technique is meant not to fight but to endure and defend.
The will's frustration intensified as time slipped away. An impending event loomed on the horizon.
Another five seconds passed, and the will still hadn't succeeded. A flicker of panic seeped into its thoughts.
"What's going on?" It was supposed to be easy. Dominion Grasp should have taken control of Lex's soul in an instant. Yet here it was, struggling.
Worse yet, its essence was depleting. The more it fought, the more it weakened. If it continued like this, it would reach a point where even retreating would become impossible.
"I have to hurry… if I drag this out any longer, I'll—"
Then, realization struck. The will scanned Lex's soul sea again, this time with more focus. Lex's soulsea was vast, endless, and deeper than anything it had ever encountered. "This isn't possible."
It had taken possession of countless souls, creatures from powerful universes even beings that once stood on the verge of Dao grandmaster. Yet none of them—not one—had a soul sea that felt this boundless.
A creeping thought took root, one so absurd that it nearly dismissed it outright.
"It's like he is—????"