But since he planned on pushing himself to his limits, he naturally didn't stop, instead just pushing further, watching as the space soon reached two meters, already within the realm of geniuses.
By this point, he could already feel a slight strain on the walls of his Inner Heaven, his body's instinctually signal to him that it was about time to stop.
However, he ignored his body's warning, just pushing more energy inside as the space got even larger.
With the size expanding, the straining sensation naturally got stronger, as if a heavy stone had been dropped into his stomach, constantly pulling against him in an attempt to escape.
Once he reached five meters, he already knew he was only a few steps from destruction, but it fueled him even more.
From what he knew, Inner Heaven cultivators who failed to breakthrough would sometimes explode, their bodies turning into extremely destructive bombs.
Naturally, the bigger the Inner Heaven when this happens, the bigger the explosion, so Minos secretly hoped he could kill Lilia in the explosion.
Of course, he knew such a thought was unrealistic and unlikely, but a man could dream, so he may as well see what happens.
By the time he reached 8 meters, his Inner Heaven walls were paper thin, the pain at his core reaching a horrific high as his body tried its hardest to get him to stop.
But as if he was a masochist, the incredible pain only motivated him further, causing him to let out a loud demonic laugh, much to Lilia's skepticism
Despite Minos feeling like death was only a step away, it seemed Minos's body was incredibly stubborn, unceasingly fighting off death in his stead.
By the time he reached 9 meters, his Inner Heaven began expanding extremely slowly, losing the momentum from just a moment ago, seemingly refusing to reach 10 meters, as if that was some untouchable limit.
Soon he reached 9.99 meters, and by this point, the expansion came to a complete halt, but Minos didn't care, still pouring the green liquid down his throat without a care.
Without the walls expanding, the energy just gathered in his Inner Heaven, expanding it like a balloon filling with water.
But just like the balloon, once his Inner Heaven was pushed too much, a 'pop' was inevitable.
"I hope you like fireworks." Minos laughed, as he looked up at Lilia and stared straight into her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Lilia couldn't help but ask, but Minos ignored her, refocusing on his Inner Heaven that was about to explode.
'Goodbye Tinka, goodbye everyone, sorry for my weakness, and sorry mom, dad, and Mister Uklend, I guess I couldn't keep you guys alive in my memories…'
'As for my parents I never met, goodbye to you as well. I don't know why you abandoned me, but I like to imagine you had no other choice, so thank you for giving me a chance at all, a chance to see this brilliant world…'
'Cheers to another life!'
With a final smile, Minos pushed the last bit of energy into his Inner Heaven, a crack finally forming, spreading across at a rapid speed.
Just as he was waiting for the energy to tear apart his body and reduce him to bits, a miracle suddenly happened.
The Inner Heaven expanded again, only by 0.01 meters, but it was a crucial difference, the difference between 9 meters and 10.
Minos had no idea what 10 meters meant, but if he did, he would be shocked, because such a thing wasn't meant to be possible!
9.99 meters was the limit, this was an undeniable fact, all cultivators agreeing that 9 represented the extreme, whereas 10 represented completion, or rather, it meant perfection!
Perfection was impossible, no matter how talented or disciplined one was, this was simply an unreachable realm, but Minos did the impossible today, and he didn't even know it.
Instead, he saw the direct effects of this impossibility, watching in shock as the cracks on his Inner Heaven quickly healed, gluing themselves back together as if nothing had happened.
More than that, his originally white Inner Heaven took on a yellow hue as it quickly transformed into what seemed to be gold.
The new golden Inner Heaven gave off a feeling of invincibility and eternity, as if it wasn't meant for cultivators to touch, and just by giving it a glance, Minos knew he had done something extraordinary.
Minos initially thought the miracle was over, but as the golden Inner Heaven healed back to perfection, Minos's soul was suddenly pulled into darkness before reappearing in another world.
This place was like the vast expanses of space, the only illumination being the glimmer of stars that seemed to be countless light years away.
Minos was floating in the void of space, but he could feel the stars calling to him, each one whispering in a tongue he didn't understand, but was filled with a mystical charm.
"Don't be fooled, the only thing you can trust is yourself." A voice suddenly spoke, shocking Minos awake from the lulls of the star's murmurings.
Turning to his side, Minos saw a middle-aged man with a forlorn look on his face as he looked out at the stars, as if reminiscing about something.
"Who are you?" Minos asked.
"Who am I? Who else could I be other than you?" The man laughed.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Minos replied, not understanding what the man was implying.
"You'll understand in time, but for now, heed my advice. Those stars may look tempting, but they are all external."
"If you truly want to achieve brilliance, remember, always trust your own heart above everything else." The man said as he turned to Minos with a gentle smile on his face.
Under Minos's confused eyes, the man reached out and delicately tapped his finger against Minos's chest, right where his heart was.
"This, this is your real strength, so focus on it, and let it unfold in its infinite potential!" The man said, as he again reached up and used two fingers to shut Minos's eyes.
Minos still had no idea who the man was, but his heart was telling him he was a friend, not an enemy, so he didn't fight against him, instead doing as he said and focusing on his heart.
As his mind and soul gathered towards his chest, he could feel his heart pounding at an ever accelerating speed.
As he got closer to it, it pounded faster and faster, as if it was about to explode out of his chest, but despite his discomfort, he forced the final steps, strenuously pushing his mind and soul into his heart.
As he finally entered, it was like his heart couldn't take it anymore, exploding into the luminosity of a million dying stars, immediately engulfing all the stars in the sky and drowning them out in its own radiance.
"Congrats, you've taken the first step. May you continue to be blessed with such success." The man said with an incredibly joyous laugh.
The strange man's laugh was the last thing Minos heard before he opened his eyes back in the real world, the previous events so dream-like that he couldn't help but wonder if he had accidentally fallen asleep.
But seeing the golden Inner Heaven, he knew it was no dream, and that the man from before was certainly real, though who he was or where he came from would probably be a mystery for a long time to come.
Knowing that he wouldn't receive any answers for the time being, Minos decided to focus on the immediate, still curious about what that explosion was about, and more so, about his Aptus.
He had a feeling those stars were probably Aptus's, but with the man's advice he ignored them all, instead choosing his own heart, which made him wonder if he even awakened an Aptus or not.
Before Minos could even check, a phrase suddenly began appearing in his mind, as if it was always there, only being revealed now.
'Omniscient Eyes - All knowing, All Seeing.'
The phrase was short but incredibly powerful, Minos not doubting at all that if he grew strong enough, his Aptus would truly reach such a height.
For now though, it was naturally impossible to be that strong, so it was important to activate it and see where its limits lied, so without further ado, Minos triggered his Aptus.
His eyes quickly changed color, from their previous coal-black into a deep icy blue, like the water from a frozen lake.
The first thing he looked towards was Lilia, who was still looking at him with confusion, even more surprised now that his eyes had suddenly taken on a completely different color.
Quickly, a dense list formed in front of Minos's eyes, pretty much giving him every piece of information about Lilia, from her favorite food, to the cultivation technique she used, and even the color of her underwear.
To say the information was comprehensive was an understatement, and from a single glance, Minos seemed to understand Lilia in completion.
Most horrifying was that he was even capable of directly reading her mind, seeing every thought she was having at the current moment, even going so far as being able to see all her past memories.
Of course, his ability still had limits, and when it came to memories beyond his level, they were reduced to mist, making it impossible for him to see clearly.
It seemed that if he wanted to see these memories as well, he needed to increase his own strength, otherwise it would remain hidden.