After Law and Wyg returned to the sect with the unconscious Gilgamesh in tow, they took him to his abode and decided to stay there for a while.
Hours passed before Gilgamesh showed any signs of waking though, and by then they had already left.
Stirring in his bed, Gilgamesh opened his eyes with a yawn.
The Obscure Spark had never stopped working to replenish his energy, so not only did he feel exhausted, he also felt hungry and thirsty.
Luckily, he had a number of servants that were extremely grateful to him, and they provided him with exactly what he needed.
Before long, Gilgamesh was fed, wearing clean clothes and circulating his energy with an ecstatic expression.
He went to his backyard and prepared to continue cultivating, but he heard someone transferring thoughts to his mind.
It was Hunter.
'Gilgamesh. Can we talk?'
Looking around, he saw Hunter levitating in the night sky above his house. With a nod, Hunter descended into Gilgamesh's backyard.
"The Temple of the Slithering Vine was destroyed not too long ago, and there seem to be no survivors. What happened?"
Gilgamesh chuckled as he adjusted his sitting position to get more comfortable.
"Well, I uncovered a scheme against my life. In an act of self defense, I slaughtered everyone."
Hunter's eyes widened, but he shut them just as abruptly.
"Although his injuries were extremely severe, Aerial survived. He's already entered seclusion in his residence."
Hearing this, Gilgamesh flashed an amused smirk. "Good. I think I'll finish the job my underlings started."
"Your... underlings?" Hunter voice faltered for a moment.
"Yes. They did a good job of bashing the little guy, but it looks like I'll have to take it from here and clip his wings." Gilgamesh stated this nonchalantly, as though it were a casual task on his to-do list.
Hunter cleared his throat, "Anyway, the real reason I'm here is because the Old Patriarch wishes to speak with you. I'll take you to him when you're re-"
"Na." Gilgamesh shook his head as he got into a meditative position.
Hunter paused before he reassessed what Gilgamesh had said. "You said... na?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna be real busy from now on, so if he wants to speak to me he can come speak to me. My time is too valuable for me to go out of my way like that."
Hunter was taken aback, and he suddenly felt like Gilgamesh had come into his own even more.
He didn't feel like this was something Gilgamesh would have done a few days ago.
With no words to say, Hunter opened his mouth but stood there dumbly.
"If that's all, Hunter, then give me my spirit stones and be on your way." With closed eyes, Gilgamesh began cultivating and proceeded to completely ignore Hunter's existence.
Was this arrogance? Was this cockiness? Was it some kind of kingly act, meant to make himself seem like something he was not?
As Hunter wracked his brains, he subconsciously complied to Gilgamesh's orders and produced his allowance of spirit stones.
As he did so, Hunter realized what he was doing and gasped.
In that split second, he realized.
This was Gilgamesh. That was all it was.
Not an act; he did not have to act like Gilgamesh- he was Gilgamesh.
There was no arrogance. Gilgamesh firmly believed that he alone had the right to act that way.
So, he was just being himself, wasn't he?
Hunter massaged his temples before placing the entire void ring next to Gilgamesh. In it were the spirit stones that he was supposed to receive, plus some extra from the Old Patriarch.
Hunter swiftly departed after that.
As Gilgamesh employed the energy gathering method in conjuction with the Obscure Spark, he was amazed by the increased speed.
His true energy was rising at least three times as fast, and as he further refined his second meridian, he could actually feel himself approaching the limit.
After the 140,000th cycle, he could no longer continue to refine his second meridian. At the same time, he sensed the location of the third meridian.
Massaging his neck a bit, Gilgamesh stood up and walked out into the open, gazing up into the sky.
As he did this, his aura was slowly released, like a torrent of slightly red fog. His eyes glowed bright red, and glared at the heavens.
Then, he directed his true energy toward the third meridian, and started to perform the first refinement.
The clear night sky instantly morphed into a storm of epic proportions. Immense clouds materialized and swirled as blinding light flashed and thunder boomed.
Gilgamesh stared at the tribulation slowly being formed; the incomplete image appeared in his sea of energy.
"Sit the fuck down!"
With just his eyes, Gilgamesh's intent was empowered by his inherent nature, and travelled over to the true energy nature present within the tribulation.
The Nature of Heaven- the Heavenly Daos functioning in this world- were instantly suppressed to the point where they could no longer support the formation of a tribulation.
Immediately, the tribulation fell apart and scattered.
As that was happening, he had officially entered the Third Level of the Condensation stage.
Gilgamesh did not celebrate or take a moment to jump in joy or excitement. Instead, he frowned disdainfully at the heavens before returning to the pavillion.
His second meridian had been refined by 140,000 cycles of true energy, and he wanted to see how much his third meridian would require.
He quickly pushed it to the 140,000 cycle mark before beginning to raise his total true energy further.
180,000 cycles...
200,000 cycles...
260,000 cycles...
Finally, he reached the 280,000th cycle and was able to sense his fourth meridian.
"Ah..." Gilgamesh sighed with emotion. "It feels so good to advance in cultivation. I'm such a badass."
Once again, he stepped out from under the pavilion and summoned the power of his inherent nature.
This time, a single massive cloud appeared, consisting of 12 colors and generating a pressure that forced Gilgamesh to use his full power to resist.
At the same time, bolts of lightning streaked across the sky in crackling arcs, shaking the very fabric of reality and causing the atmosohere to tremble.
The world resonated with that pressure, and Gilgamesh felt himself come under a crushing weight, as though he was holding up heaven and earth.
"This is new..." He smirked, and his red eyes glowed with bright red wrath.
"Don't fuck with me, ya piece of shit heaven! You aren't worthy! Go get fucked!"
Gilgamesh stood proud and tall under that 12-colored cloud, and though the bolts of lightning threatened to break the shackles of time and space, they were ultimately suppressed by Gilgamesh.
However, the cloud did not disperse. Instead, it was parted in the middle and warm golden light descended, revealing the world of light beyond the cloud.
It looked nothing like the sky Gilgamesh had grown used to. His intuition told him that he was looking into the heavens- or a space that did not exist on the mortal plane.
Then, two figures tore through space, sending shattered spatial fragments out in every direction that slowly vanished into thin air.
Gilgamesh recognized one of the men to be Lord Cloud.
The other he did not recognize. What he did recognize, though, was the unbridled killing intent that they both exuded as they flew toward him.
Gilgamesh instantly broke through to the Fourth Level and started refining his fourth meridian.
As his true energy was pushed to a higher level of quality and power, his body was also beginning to reach a higher state.
With just a few minutes, he would be able to, at least, refine his fourth meridian 280,000 times.
Lord Cloud and the Heavenly Master saw Gilgamesh in his backyard staring up at them, and they exchanged glances.
"So that's him?"
Lord cloud nodded, "Yeah. That's him."
"He really is just a Condensation stage mortal. How could he have summoned a World Tribulation at such a level? Is he some kind of Fiendgod?" The Heavenly Master looked down at Gilgamesh with a wary gaze.
Lord Cloud shook his head, "I have no idea what he is. The Lady just now didn't seem to know for sure either."
The Heavenly Master sighed, "That lady was the Sovereign of our Universe, Queen Andromeda."
Lord Cloud seemed to realize something, and he looked at Gilgamesh again, seeing him in a new light. "So that's why she wants to put him to the test."
"She wants to produce the next Divine Champion." The Heavenly Master said solemnly, and he suddenly felt as though he wasn't approaching a mortal, but a supreme being.
"She sees so much potential in him?" Lord Cloud gulped.
The Heavenly Master said nothing, and they continued to approach.
Regardless of how they felt, they were tasked with killing Gilgamesh by the Sovereign herself. Their only choices were to succeed or flee.
Meanwhile, at the cabin overlooking the valley, the Old Patriarch stood up from the floor and dusted himself off.
His ancient eyes were trained on the 12-colored cloud in the sky, and the two people that were descending from it.
"So, it's already begun."