Void Monster Kaelan lies suspended within the roaring void current, his colossal form drifting as though asleep, yet his consciousness remains sharp.
He reviews the memories of his first clone.
Every detail passes through him—choices made, paths taken, laws comprehended. When the review ends, Kaelan does not move. He sinks into deep contemplation.
After sending his second clone into the Second World, Kaelan had pushed the application of his inherent Void Monster Law to its absolute limit. He refined instinct into mastery, dominance into precision. Yet once that peak was reached, progress stopped.
No matter how he strained, his strength no longer increased.
The reason was simple.
He had no cultivation technique.
As a Void Monster, his growth relied almost entirely on instinct and devouring. He could still grow stronger by deepening his comprehension of his Law—but his Void Monster Law had already reached the Moon Stage. Beyond this point, advancement was no longer straightforward.
At the Moon Stage, laws are divided into seven distinct levels.
Reflecting Moon is the lowest. Like an ordinary moon, it borrows light from a sun. Laws at this level are tightly bound to their native world and can only display their full power there.
Pale Moon laws can exert their full strength outside their native world, but only within a limited distance. They must remain close, like a tethered satellite.
Silver Moon laws can project their influence into foreign worlds while still maintaining a connection to their origin.
Shining Moon laws are fully independent. They can act freely within the Void without reliance on any world.
Full Moon marks a qualitative leap. The Law reaches maximum density and surface area, no longer merely existing in the Void but dominating it. Such a Law exerts a gravitational pull, drawing in stray energies or even other laws.
Eclipse Moon is the stage where a Law begins to overlap with reality itself. It develops an internal space—an atmosphere—laying the groundwork for an ecosystem.
World Moon is the final form. At this level, the Law becomes a world in its own right, capable of giving birth to life. A Law at this stage is also known as a Creator.
Kaelan's Void Monster Law rests at the Pale Moon level.
It is deeply connected to the Great Avenue of the Void Demon, an immense law-path stretching across the Void itself. Advancement along this avenue is brutally simple.
Devour worlds.
There is no alternative path. No shortcut. No refinement technique.
Yet Kaelan now possesses something new.
The Ether Lawwas obtained from his first clone in the First World.
That Law offers him a different possibility.
Unlike the Void Monster Law, Ether Law does not demand endless destruction. It provides structure, transformation, and refinement. More importantly, it offers a path to increase his overall strength without relying solely on devouring worlds.
But there is a problem.
To truly enhance his power through Ether Law, that Law must reach at least the Silver Moon level.
At present, his Ether Law has only just stepped into Pale Moon.
And a Law cannot grow without support.
Kaelan understands this principle intimately.
His Void Monster Law is supported by his body itself—his flesh, his existence, his monstrous form. But that same body is already fully occupied. It cannot simultaneously support a second Law of similar magnitude.
Without a foundation, the Ether Law remains stagnant.
And so Kaelan reaches an unavoidable conclusion.
He needs another base.
A separate cultivation foundation capable of supporting Ether Law independently of his Void Monster body.
He searches through his memories.
Only one suitable method exists.
The Wizard Path, developed and practised by his first clone.
Kaelan does not hesitate.
He begins to modify that cultivation system—originally designed for a humanoid body—so that it can function within his true Void Monster form.
The void current around him surges violently as his body reacts.
Deep within his massive form, space twists and compresses. Gradually, an internal cavity opens—artificial yet stable—forming something akin to a dantian. Void matter condenses around it, reinforcing its boundaries.
Then, one by one, magic circuits appear.
They are not carved or etched but grown—lines of structured energy weaving themselves through his flesh. They spread relentlessly, linking every particle of his body, threading through muscle, bone, soul, and finally reaching his True Spirit.
The circuits interlock, forming a vast internal network.
For the first time, Void Monster Kaelan possesses the framework of a true cultivation system.
A new foundation is born.
And with it, the path for the Ether Law to rise beyond the Pale Moon level finally opens.
While the main body continues its cultivation deep within the Void, the first clone awakens. He does not rise immediately, remaining still upon the hard rock bed, letting the aftereffects of exhaustion settle.
Kaelan has already reached the Fourth Stage of Transcendence. The next step is the Fifth Stage.
His true body exists at the Fifth Stage by birth alone—he was born a fifth-stage transcendent—but birth does not equal mastery. Even so, Kaelan possesses a general understanding of the path forward. To truly step into the Fifth Stage, he must bridge the qualitative difference between the Fourth and the Fifth.
At the Fifth Stage, body energy and soul energy merge.
Body energy can transform into soul energy, and soul energy can transform into body energy, with mana—cultivation energy—as the bridge between them. This fusion is the defining mark of the Fifth Stage.
To reach it properly, Kaelan must first push his cultivation to the absolute peak of the Fourth Stage, and only then begin the merging process.
For that, he must establish the Fourth Stage of Wizard Cultivation.
And that presents a problem.
Kaelan turns his attention inward, examining his mana.
It is already refined to perfection.
There is no impurity. No imbalance. No roughness left to polish away.
To continue refining mana at the Fourth Stage, it must first be made imperfect, so that it can once again be refined, condensed, and elevated. But Kaelan immediately understands the paradox.
He can't break the perfection of his mana.
His mana, soul, and body form a perfectly stable triangle. Each supports the other two. None can overpower the others to force change.
Mana cannot disrupt the soul.
Soul cannot disrupt the body.
The body cannot disrupt mana.
Together, they complete a closed cycle.
Kaelan considers the structure carefully.
The power of this triangle is not additive.
It is not one plus one plus one.
It is multiplicative.
The three together amplify each other, raising his overall stability and strength to more than ten times that of any single component. To break the perfection of one using another would require a force greater than the combined strength of all three.
That is impossible.
Unless—
Kaelan's thoughts slow.
A fourth factor.
"My True Spirit," he murmurs inwardly.
Upon advancing to the Fourth Stage, a new actor has entered the system. The True Spirit now exists as an independent pillar of his being.
But even as the thought arises, Kaelan dismisses it.
"I cannot destroy the perfection of my mana with my True Spirit."
The reason is clear.
His True Spirit was only recently awakened. Its power is not yet equal to his mana, soul, or body—let alone greater. And even if it were equal, it would still not be enough.
Because of the triangular cycle, the combined strength of mana, body, and soul is far greater than their individual sums. To break their balance, the True Spirit would need power more than ten times greater than any one of them.
Kaelan exhales slowly.
He needs to strengthen his True Spirit.
The solution comes to him almost immediately.
A Law is the foundation of a True Spirit.
His True Spirit is like a heaven suspended within the demi-world formed by his Law inside his spirit space—no, not merely a spirit space anymore, but a Spirit World.
To strengthen his True Spirit, he must strengthen his Law.
But here, he encounters another limitation.
He cannot raise the level of his Ether Law within this world.
He has already fully comprehended every path and subsidiary law that comprises it. Introducing foreign laws would not improve Ether—it would dilute it.
And advancing a Law at the Moon Stage, even by a single level, is notoriously difficult. Many never succeed at all. Those who do often spend centuries—sometimes thousands of years—before achieving even marginal progress.
Kaelan's gaze sharpens.
Then the conclusion becomes obvious.
If advancing the Law itself is too slow, then the alternative is clear.
Increase cultivation.
At higher realms, comprehension accelerates. What is impossible at one stage becomes achievable at the next.
Raising cultivation will allow his True Spirit to grow stronger, and once his True Spirit surpasses the triangular balance, it will be able to shatter the perfection of his mana—allowing refinement to continue.
Kaelan sits up.
He crosses his legs and enters deep meditation.
Within him, threads of consciousness branch outward, precise and orderly, beginning to function like a vast computational array.
He starts to design a new cultivation technique.