I stared at the Heavenly Violet Pills, the pulsing violet glow reflecting in my eyes.
I gulped slightly, my fingers hovering over the orbs.
A memory surfaced—a conversation with Art from long ago.
"Other than helping you reach a certain level," Art had said, his voice steady, "I also want to leave hints for you for later ranks."
"Why? Can't you just communicate with me like this?" I had asked.
Art had shaken his head.
"No, it doesn't work like that," he said, not explaining further. "Alright. I'll teach you a bit about Radiant-rank—as well as the fallacies in the current mana core system."
I had blinked. "Fallacies?"
Art had exhaled, tilting his head slightly.
"The mana core system is… well, not the best," he admitted.
That had caught my attention.
"Even though Julius Slatemark was a genius among geniuses, there's no way his system is perfect. It's very close, though. I'll admit that much."
"Is the demon system complete, then?" I had asked.
Art had smiled slightly at my question.
"It's a step above ours," he admitted. "But it's also incomplete."
That had relieved me more than I wanted to admit.
"So, how is it incomplete?" I had probed.
Art had nodded, as if expecting that question.
"Alright. Let's disregard everything below Integration-rank, since that part is, honestly, perfect."
I had nodded, waiting.
"Now, consider everything above Integration-rank."
He had folded his arms before continuing.
"We have two body metamorphoses and two soul metamorphoses—each occurring at a boundary, until you finally reach Divine-rank."
"That sounds… correct?" I had replied, slightly unsure.
"It is well-structured," Art had admitted. "But there are three major weaknesses."
He had then turned the question on me.
"What do you think they are?"
I had paused, thinking carefully before answering.
"No natural mind metamorphosis. Disconnection between ranks. And… reaching the level of a demigod at high Radiant-rank?"
Art had blinked, looking slightly surprised. Then, he had smiled.
"You got it fully right."
A part of me had felt absurdly validated in that moment.
"Those three," he had continued, "are the pitfalls of the mana core system. The reason why it's so difficult for low Radiant-rankers to jump to mid Radiant-rank is because the gap is larger than normal due to poor design."
I had nodded slowly, absorbing his words.
"And," he had added, "as you said—our body and soul transform, but the third aspect of the trifecta, the mind, does not. That's why most people can't use True Domains properly."
That had made perfect sense.
"Now," Art had continued, "explain what you meant by disconnection."
I had thought for a moment before responding.
"I'll use swordsmanship as an example."
He had gestured for me to continue.
"Sword Intent at low Integration-rank. Sword Resonance at mid Integration-rank. Sword Heart at low Ascendant-rank. Sword Domain at low Immortal-rank. And Sword Unity at low Radiant-rank."
"I know these five, but… isn't the spacing a bit weird?"
Art had chuckled.
"Actually, that's not a flaw," he had said.
"It's not?"
"No," he had explained. "I just wanted to fix your thinking."
He had leaned back slightly.
"The reason it feels weird is because the jump from Intent to Resonance is much smaller compared to the others."
I had nodded, slowly beginning to understand.
"Anyway," Art continued, his tone thoughtful, "the demon mana management system does it better than ours in some ways. They separate low and mid Radiant-rank as Dukes, and high and peak Radiant-rank as Archdukes."
I frowned. "We don't do that. Why?"
"That's exactly the problem," Art said, nodding. "Why do you think Julius Slatemark designed it that way?"
I shook my head. "I don't know."
"I didn't expect you to," he admitted. "You haven't reached that level yet. But I'll explain."
He leaned back slightly, eyes sharp.
"Both Duke and Archduke are limbo states."
I exhaled slowly. "Limbo states?"
"They exist at the boundary between ranks. The realm of peak, and the realm of going beyond."
"They aren't full realms like Immortal-rank or Divine-rank," Art clarified.
"When Julius encountered this issue, he bundled them together into a single rank—Radiant-rank—in his system."
"And that's the problem."
I clenched my fist. "It makes reaching high Radiant-rank nearly impossible."
Art nodded. "Exactly. There's a reason only one human, Liam Kagu, has ever done it. And even Alyssara Velcroix only managed it because she forced her body to evolve, thus triggering the enlightenment needed to ascend."
He let the words sink in before moving on.
"Anyway," he continued, "the bigger issue is the harmony between body, mind, and soul."
I frowned. "How is that an issue?"
"There should be six total metamorphoses."
"Six?"
"Yes. Two body metamorphoses, two soul metamorphoses, and two mind metamorphoses."
I felt something click in my mind.
"But in the current system on Earth," Art went on, "only abnormal geniuses like Lucifer can naturally undergo mind metamorphosis."
"That's the difference between us and the demon world," he added. "They incorporated this into their system. We did not."
My thoughts began racing.
"If we have six metamorphoses…" I began slowly.
Art smiled. "You're starting to see it, aren't you?"
He folded his arms.
"You may be glimpsing the idea of a complete system."
His gaze locked onto mine, sharp and expectant.
"That's your task in the future, Arthur. To evolve it. To fix the system by creating your own."
That was one of my tasks.
And now, I could finally begin working on it.
By merging it with an archaic mana management system from the past.
For now, though, this system would be unique to me—at least until I had perfected it.
I took one of the Heavenly Violet Pills, rolling it between my fingers before glancing up at Mo.
"Will you give two of the other pills to Sun and Seraphina?"
Mo nodded. "That was the plan."
I hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "About Sun…"
Mo exhaled, his expression shifting slightly.
"I need to talk with him," I said.
Mo's gaze was steady, but I could see understanding flicker behind his eyes.
"I get it," he sighed. "I know he turned nearly the entire sect against me before you made me realize my mistakes. You gave me a wake-up call."
He rubbed his temple before shaking his head. "I don't mind if you want to… talk with him because of Seraphina."
Then, his tone sharpened slightly.
"Just don't kill him."
I raised a brow, allowing a small smile to form. "How would I be capable of that?"
Mo let out a short chuckle.
"Sun may be a genius, but even if you fought barehanded, you'd still beat him easily."
He leaned back slightly. "Do you think the pill will help?"
"It'll stabilize my Unity for now," I nodded.
Mo gestured toward the doors of the great hall. "Do you want to use the Isolation Chamber?"
"Of course," I said, rolling my shoulders. "I'll need between three days to a week."
He gave a small nod. "I'll have it prepared."
"I need to make a few calls before I go in," I added.
"Naturally," Mo said, rising from his seat.
As I stared at the pill in my hand, I took a deep breath.
This was the first step toward truly completing my power.