He pondered for a few hours before he came to a decision.
"You called me, sir?" calmly said Ancestor Lumium who had just appeared on the floating platform.
"Do you have some strands of Origin-grade energy to spare ?"
Ancestor Lumium raised an eyebrow in surprise as he immediately knew what Lucius wanted to do. The issue of his relatively slow progression was a problem the ancestors had been debating about to find a solution.
Energy was divided into multiple grades and each grade was further divided into classes.
There were 9 grades, the lowest being categorized to as just energy while the highest was referred to as Exior. To give a scale, essence was the second grade after energy and Quintessence was the third grade.
Each grade was divided into classes. They were the same as the ranking used for the pillars.
Mortal->Earth->Sky->Heaven->Saint->Immortal->Divine->celestial->sage.
The 8 essences Lucius had awakened were innate sage class essences of the second grade. As he advanced in his path they would naturally evolve until they reached the 9th grade.
Though most cultivators just called their energy Qi.
Now that the context had been set one had to know the Origin Grade was the 8th grade, the penultimate form of energy.
Even a tiny molecule or speck of this energy grade was potent enough to destroy entire firmaments and their varying timelines, with no effort whatsoever.
If Lucius's body came into contact with origin-grade energy let alone of the sage class, he would immediately implode and his existence would be erased, never to be seen again. His constitution wasn't developed enough to bear the weight of such energies yet.
"This is suicide, sir." Firmly said Ancestor Lumium. He wouldn't let their spark of hope die such a stupid death.
"It is death, but If you all collectively fuse your domains and focus it on me, it should work." He responded as he stood up and stretched.
"How many spare strands do you have ?"
Ancestor gritted his teeth and cursed at his patriarch's extensive knowledge. Even though what Lucius said was true, the shock it would cause to his soul could very well leave him debilitated.
"A lot of our members have been using the available resources for their breakthrough due to the effects of the new age but we have an abundant amount of Erudite energy of the Origin grade."
"Even better, I'll be able to fuse it with the Dragon blood Quintessence and Ethereal spiritual Quintessence. Let's go." He said as he vanished.
Ancestor Lumium heavily sighed before he followed Lucius.
——
Within the grand metallic chambers of ancestor Lumium, multiple holograms depicting the fluctuating stability of the strands of erudite energy were shown to the 27 ancestors.
Lucius used a spell and created a small platform then went to sit on it in a lotus position. He waved his hands and the strands of erudite energy that were contained within a tube covered in powerful formations appeared within his hand.
All the ancestors had already tried multiple times to convince Lucius otherwise but he wouldn't listen.
They took a circular formation around Lucius and activated their domains.
Their domains worked in perfect harmony and the laws between heaven and earth that shaped their reality were erased. Their domains imposed their laws and the fundamentals of logic bent.
All their souls exploded in power and solidified the new Law of reality they had created within their domain.
Lucius who was at the center felt the drastic changes within his environment. He felt like the concepts of death and destruction as well as finality had been completely sealed off from their domains. He felt like even if he tried he wouldn't be able to kill himself.
"Thank you, ancestors. I'll try to make this as quick as possible."
All the hearts he had gathered split open and a massive wave of blood poured over him. Simultaneously he crushed the Ethereal cores ancestor Layla had brought him.
He unsealed the strands of erudite energy and used his will to fuse it within the Dragon blood Quintessence and Ethereal spiritual Quintessence to elevate their grades.
The two essences exploded in power and immediately shot through the scales, directly reaching the origin grade.
Just being close to it caused Lucius's whole being to constantly explode and be brought back. This cycle continued for an undefined amount of time but every time his existence was recreated he took more time to be destroyed, his constitution was adapting.
'So that was the plan? What a madman…' thought ancestor Okesh.
Even with the immortality the domain granted him, if he couldn't stay alive for even a second to absorb and temper his body using this energy then there was no point. So he was forcefully going to push his already monstrous constitution to its next level.
This arduous process took 5 months. 5 months of constant death and revival.
To the ancestors, 5 months might as well have been less than a second but to Lucius, this felt like a trillion years spent being tortured within the deepest pits of hell. Being constantly destroyed by origin-grade energies of the sage class was something no mortal was ever created to bear. If it wasn't for his stupidly powerful will and ego, he would've gone mad.
He calmly sat on the platform, naked and covered in blood. The two energies danced around his skin but they didn't seem to be able to harm him anymore. He had fully adapted and currently his body was undergoing the absorption process.
"Too slow." His powerful but tired voice echoed within the room.
His terrifying will descended and the two rowdy energies were immediately tamed.
Without wasting time he immediately started going through the tempering process. He was simultaneously tempering his body and soul to maximize his efficiency.
——
4 months later.
It had been 10 months since had received the admission letter from Inspector Raksha and 9 months since he had started his cultivation journey. He only had 2 years and 2 months left to reach the goal he had set for himself, reach the peak of the first great realm.
BOOOOMMM!!
A massive explosion occurred within one of the floating platforms within the skies of the Underground Reizon House.
Five massive Bloodline auras descended upon the House. Their auras were Noble and unrestrained as they raged out in all directions.
At the source of the explosion, Lucius stood unbothered. His long white-silvery hair that now reached his lower back danced within the winds created by the explosion as he stretched.
After spending 4 months cultivating nonstop he had finally unsealed all his bloodlines and triggered his evolution.
He sliced the air with his arm and the world split in two. From the fracture, deep abyssal darkness invaded the houses and consumed all of them. The darkness consumed everything present within the underground space. Space-time, concepts, energy, and anything present.
Using the same arm he sliced the air again and massive multicolored strings appeared within the darkness.
The number of strings gradually increased until it covered the whole abyssal space. From the canvas of multicolored strings, the previously destroyed space was reconstructed and got back to normal as if nothing had ever happened.
Ancestors Layla appeared behind him with a large smile.
"Your bloodline abilities are already this powerful?"
The two abilities he had just used were called "Abyssal Descent" from his abyssal god bloodline and "Origin canvas" from his origin god bloodline
"My blood purity was already very high, the tempering only accentuated that. Hence the potency."
Ancestor Layla noticed the emptiness within his gaze.
"Going through such intense training for extended periods of time must've been really taxing on you, Patriarch. Enduring the destructive might of origin-grade energies this early is no small feat." she said in a tone full of attention and care.
Lucius didn't seem to have heard her words as his vision blurred and and he passed out.