The steps involving achieving Soul Divinity were to use the [Knowledge Ring] around the soul flame as a carrier for his Willpower and rules before fusing it with the soul. Edward already had experience in the fusion, but he still needed trial and error to nourish Willpower and rules.
So, he first started with his Willpower. The study of Haki has greatly increased the development and understanding of willpower throughout the Empire, so the process was easier than anticipated. Edward finished the fusion after a few trials and errors, and his soul flame changed.
A light gold flame is required to reach Tier 9, and during the previous breakthrough, his soul reached gold after absorbing enough energy from the Soul Stone. Now, after the fusion of his willpower, the gold was deepened, probably heading to the level required to become Tier 11 – deep gold.
The next step in this process was the addition of rules, and Edward was in a small bind. He did not meet the requirement to wield the rules of this universe. Luckily, he was prepared for such a situation and created Law Weapons, containing all the laws he could wield, except for the soul and the mind, because he only achieved these laws in the Nasuverse and did not have the opportunity to create a weapon for them.
He summoned the items from his personal dimension and began fusing them with his Soul Flame. He watched in wonder as his soul flame turned deep golden before heading toward dark gold. However, the process stopped because the Soul Gem could not provide enough energy to complete it.
'This is a problem,' thought Edward; he guessed he could continue the Soul Divinity now and upgrade it later, but he would rather have his soul flame reach the limit before the fusion. However, it seems the energy needed for the process is not something even the Soul Gem could provide.
He paused briefly to think of possible solutions.
Edward's first thought was to use the same spell in the DC Universe when dealing with Darkseid. He summoned Soul Gems from a different moment in time, increasing their numbers and providing him with more energy.
'This won't work since the Ancient One warned me about using my Time Magic. So, this plan might only work after she hands over the Time Stone,' concluded Edward, who thought of his second plan: the Doubling Charm.
This spell is a Wandcraft Spell that allows him to double items. Once he becomes Tier 10, copying the Soul Gems should be no problem. Although he deduced they wouldn't exist for more than thirty minutes, they could still give him ample energy.
'The best option would be to link the Soul Gem to all its counterparts in the Multiverse. This would provide me with more than enough energy for the process, but I don't have such a spell.'
Then, an idea suddenly popped into his mind. 'The Darkhold might contain such a spell.' The Darkhold was written by the first demon, Chthon, and that demon is definitely a Tier 11 entity. And since the book will try to lure its owner by their deepest desires, it's possible to show Edward the spell he needs.
'That is an alternative, but let's not rush to dealing with such entities yet,' thought Edward. He temporarily stopped the Soul Divinity transformation to focus on reaching Tier 10. After a few days, Edward's body reached the requirement to enter Tier 9. Then, something expected occurred before he even started. An unknown force grabbed him out of nowhere, sending him flying backward. He passed through a film, and his surroundings changed.
'What the fuck?' thought Edward as he looked around. He was in this dark space with a red moon and purple sky. The atmosphere was eerie, and after a few seconds, a creature walked before him. It was over three meters tall with horns, red skin, and a mouth so large that it went from his left ear to the right.
"Your soul is interesting; you should be a delicious meal." Edward did not understand this creature's words, but the meaning directly entered his mind, indicating a form of soul or psychic communication.
"Who are you?"
"Huh? Can you communicate with the soul? I guess that makes sense. This lord is the Great Malakai, the Soul Eater, and today, you will have the honor of being my dinner."
'A dimensional overlord?' thought Edward.
Malakai opened his mouth to release a terrifying swallowing power. Edward's defensive abilities activated, but they were useless.
'Damn it; he's at least Tier 10.'
Edward did not hesitate to activate his Green Lantern Ring, releasing a green energy shield to protect him. His action was correct—his shield stopped the swallowing force.
"What an interesting artifact," commented Malakai. He raised his hand to shoot a powerful purple beam full of the power of a corrupted soul. Edward fired back with a green beam of concentrated willpower. Their concentration released intense universal-scale shockwaves, but nothing in the surroundings was destroyed.
'He has absolute control over this dimension. I need to leave as soon as possible,' analyzed Edward after observing around. Malakai snapped his finger, and millions of winged creatures appeared behind him. Edward responded in kind by creating the Empire's Imperial Navy Fleet to annihilate these creatures.
He forced the armada to focus on Malakai to buy him enough time to use the ring to tear through this dimension and escape. Malakai roared, and the entire dimension seemed to come alive, trying to prevent Edward's escape. However, he used that tiny hole he made to cast a spell to travel to another dimension he could sense. He did not stop there; he jumped a dozen dimensions before not sensing anyone following. Then, he finally returned to his previous location.
"What the hell just happened?"
He was baffled. If not for the ring, he might have been a goner. A sense of urgency rushed into his mind, so Edward took the planet to another location. He added a few million more enchantments to block the void and used the green lantern ring as a power source.
Finally, he focused on the task at hand. He converted the soul energy from the stone into mana before absorbing it into his Supersolid Aether Cores in his Magic Core and Soul Dimension.
After reaching Tier 9 Galaxy Level, he felt a sublimation of his body and soul; even his willpower slightly increased. However, this was not Edward's endgame, and he continued his work. He tempered his body before absorbing enough energy to become a Tier 10 Universal Entity. The process was not simple because a galaxy was tiny compared to a universe.
So, he had to reach the level of Super Galaxy, Multiple Galaxies, and Galaxies Clusters before he could achieve Tier 10. Luckily for him, the Infinity Stones were all Tier 10 objects with plenty of energy.
Edward felt the power coursing through his veins. Although it was not the first time he'd controlled this level of mana, the feeling was different than before when it was his own power.
Edward looked into the distance; the universe felt frail to him as he could do terrible catastrophes with one thought. His mind rushed to every corner of the universe, seeing every planet, star, and galaxy. There were a few places that his intuition told him not to check, and he listened.
'As expected, this world is hiding so many terrors,' thought Edward. Despite reaching Tier 10, he knew he was not the only entity capable of affecting the universe on such a scale. However, the others seemed low-key, and he guessed there might be consequences for doing so.
'Regardless, we've made it so far, and that's what matters,' thought Edward. Now, he must focus on reaching the next level: Tier 11.
"Boss, you look handsome."
"Morgana? You're awakened?"
"Yeah, it's been a while, but you were in intense focus mode, and I didn't want to bother you," replied the purple-haired elf, who was wearing a magic robe as an outfit today.
"I'm glad you're alright," said Edward with a smile. "I'm going to use Malakai as a training partner to adapt to my newfound strength. Let's catch up while I deal with him."
"Alright."