Umbra Family estate.

Stretches of towering mountains, deep lakes and roaring rivers are commonplace within the vast land where Umbra Family, one of the five founding families, resides in the ancestral planet. The land is filled with all sorts of exotic beasts and plants while natural wonders are found in abundance.

Deep in the estate, a plain bare mountain that pierces the clouds, five figures could be seen standing outside a cave. At the altitude where even clouds were below them the five individuals were discussing something with great interest.

"It's beginning."

"Now, there's no way to turn back. Only by succeeding can you survive. Hey, has he made full preparation?"

"Yeah. I had already cautioned him about it. Don't worry, I also checked to make sure of it earlier."

"Then that's good. It would be a great pity if an accident happens at the last moment."

"Stop, stop. Don't jinx it! Your crow's mouth is infamous in the empire."

"What! How dare you!?"

"Don't be angry. He is just stating facts."

"You!!"

All of a sudden, a fierce quarrel broke out. Their topic seemed to have derailed midway.

These five figures have radiant light shining all over them which obscures their body. A brilliant circular halo containing many terrifying truths and mysteries is floating behind each of their heads. They seemed to be in harmony with the surroundings.

Obviously, they are of transcendent status and if any imperial citizen had seen them here then undoubtedly they would shout in disbelief, "The five Saints!?" Yes, they are the existence standing at the apex of the empire's hierarchy.

Unknowingly, they had gathered in this particular place today because of a certain occasion. Their bickering stopped abruptly as a palpable fluctuation appeared in the space. A faint roar of gushing water could be heard which was very mysterious and strange.

An illusory river appeared in the sky and along with it came a terrifying pressure that impacts the very fabric of reality. This river was unending and its water was in the form of moving scenes that seemed to portray all peoples and places. Covering the past, present and future of everything that exists.

The River of Time.

As soon as it appeared ripples in the river water followed suit. It soon covered the entire horizon and beyond causing the entire river to become turbulent. In the center of the ripple a vague shadow was surfacing and in parallel, the pressure on the surrounding space was increasing by leaps and bounds.

"Goodness! Is it so exaggerated?"

"I can faintly feel that the River of Time is desperately trying to prevent him from surfacing."

"Uh? An accident still happened?"

"Sure enough, your family's brat is too against heaven."

"Damn it! Xar, you must hold on!!"

Amidst their exclamation and concern the river bulged exaggeratedly as if a gigantic being was coming out. The vague shadow started to solidify unhindered and a humanoid head appeared in their astonished vision.

It was just a simple outline of a human head but it was so massive that it had already blocked the sunlight on the sky. This wasn't all! A pair of enormous arms, that stretched to the horizon, also surfaced above the water and the shadow calmly pushed the water away.

The rest of the body started surfacing with this push and soon the entire body had managed to stand above the River of Time like in solid ground. The upper body can no longer be seen because of the enormity!

It was an incredible scene. The pressure was so terrifying during the process that the space had long since cracked like broken glass. It was still increasing just a bit ago but all of it had failed in dragging the shadow underwater thus ending the amplification.

A deep resonance of cosmic rules spread throughout the universe.

Crazy!!

This was the unanimous thought that went through the head of the five Saints as they watched the entire process in shock. According to their calculation, the initial pressure right from the beginning was comparable to what they withstood at the final moment in their attempt back then and as it kept increasing any one of them would have definitely failed. For him, the final pressure that burst out was a hundred times the initial one!

Yet, the one in front of them succeeded. It even seemed that the guy had enough energy to spare while dealing with it.

"What a monster!"

"Hahaha, I knew he would succeed. This brat has always exceeded our expectations."

"As expected of my family's heir. The future is very bright and the momentum is unparalleled!"

"Good, good. The crow's mouth has been overturned today. A great cause of celebration!!"

"... Is this the main point for you?"

They continued after regaining their composure as the River of Time started fading away along with the enormous shadowy figure that stood tall atop it. They could even hear a faint roar of gushing water that was a bit different from the initial appearance, as if it was very unwilling and angry to have failed to keep the shadow underneath it.

They waited for about an hour before someone appeared out of the cave.

He was a young man in his twenties. A tall figure with adequate muscles. He had short silver hair and ink-black irises. A very handsome face in casual clothes. He walked out unhurriedly before bowing slightly in greetings,

"Xar Umbra greets the five Saints."

"Well, well. A splendid lad! You have made this old man proud."

"Thankfully, I was able to live up to everyone's expectations. It was all due to the blessings of my granduncle."

"No way! Don't be humble, brat. You have shocked us today. I am afraid that even me back then might have failed if placed in your position today."

"Hey, don't flatter yourself. You would have absolutely failed."

"... Can you at least give me some face in front of the younger generation?"

Their conversation continued and they talked in detail about Xar's experience. Finally, the Saint from the Umbra Family, Saint Luskey asked with a deep meaning, "You have now become the youngest Grandmaster in the history of Cosmic Sea. If the news spreads that a twenty year old had reached the Grandmaster realm in the empire then other forces, including their Saints, would try all means to eliminate you. Not necessarily shying away from an all-out war. Will you still continue on your journey?"

Upon hearing this, Xar became silent for a moment. In fact, his evolution progress was kept confidential by the Umbra Family as early as when he had just shown his potential.

At the age of five he started his journey of evolution. Just after half a year of effort, he had reached the final stage of Level 1, shocking his parents out of their wits. At the age of six he had reached Level 2.

Thus as an outstanding evolver who has terrifying comprehension talent along with a perfect-grade Cosmium aptitude, he was hurriedly sent to the main lineage of Umbra Family for protection. He was originally from a distant planet of a branch lineage but thanks to his huge potential his parents were able to move to the ancestral planet of the main lineage. If not for him it was impossible for them to ever be allowed here in their lifetime.

At the age of seven he reached Level 3 and after that it was a steady rhythm of one level per year, breaking the main lineage's worldview and alarming the Saint Luskey himself. After he appeared in front of the Saint's attention the resources tilted towards him were enough to make many clansmen jealous.

Fortunately, he was wholeheartedly devoted to practice thus rarely went outside the estate or else he might have faced crazy attacks and intrigues by the jealous people in his own family.

Thanks to the Saint's attention he was able to practice in safety and by the age of thirteen he had reached Level 9, the endpoint where evolvers can no longer progress without a certain epiphany. When he had reached the final stage of Level 9 the so-called epiphany, as expected, came to him naturally.

Others would look for opportunities, go through bloody battles, remain wounded all year long and experience many joys and sorrows for spiritual tempering to finally grasp that chance but Xar never had to face such hassles. It was smooth sailing all the way and his progress remained unhindered despite being a homebody.

At fourteen he reached the Master Realm.

A record he made that will remain unknown to many. It was also at this time that Saint Luskey decided to inform the other four Saints. Originally, he wanted to make some arrangements for Xar so he could safely break through the Master Realm without facing assassination from higher realms sent by enemies but it turned out that he had still underestimated Xar's abnormality.

So, the teenage Xar met the four Saints of Sol, Asterisk, Stellar and Zenith Family. With this all five Saints of the empire have been collected! That aside, he had taken six years to finally reach the Grandmaster Realm under the five Saints' guidance.

From Master to Grandmaster, it is a qualitative change. All lives below Grandmaster are under the River of Time, shackled by lifespan, a mortal being. No matter how terrifying your strength, wealth and status are you would still die after reaching the end of your lifespan. Only by leaping out of the river can you become an immortal existence no longer bound by the concept of lifespan.

An evolver goes through nine levels and three realms of evolution while each segment is divided into four stages of completion which are the initial, intermediate, late and final stage. Level 1 to 9 and then Master, Grandmaster and ultimately the Saint Realm.

This is the journey of evolution.

Of course, the time spent, the resources needed and the efforts put on this journey is enormous as the progress continues. So much so that only one percent of all evolvers in the entire empire can finally reach Master Realm while Grandmaster is even more rare.

It is said that only one out of ten Masters can successfully leap out of the River of Time. As for those who fail, there is no way to save their lives even if a Saint takes action. This is also the reason why many Masters dare not try the final leap even when they are very sure of themselves.

A moment of cowardice leads to endless decadence.

This is the dividing line of mortals and immortals. An uncrossable chasm. There are many unfortunate cases where evolvers had reached the final stage of Master Realm for a long time but ended up exhausting their lifespan without ever daring to take the leap.

"Granduncle, I am aware that I can become the trigger for a tragic war but even so I must continue. I personally think that only by reaching the Saint Realm can all risk factors be eliminated. After all, Saints are undying existences. What else is there to be afraid of?"

Xar said resolutely after some thought. He has always been a decisive person. Exactly because of risks, he must reach the Saint Realm. After he becomes a Saint, which enemy could kill him just because they are scared of his talent?

If Grandmaster represents immortality then Saint is the existence who's undying.

Immortality doesn't mean that one can never die. Its essence is that one doesn't have a fixed lifespan anymore. If they encounter a strong enemy who can kill them then they will still die, regardless. Saints, however, can't die even if they're destroyed in body and soul.

Why so? Xar doesn't know yet but thanks to the many hints given by the five Saints he is aware of this fact. That's why he is so eager to reach that realm. Including the present, only six generations of Saints have appeared in the five founding families since the incalculable years of the empire's existence. These thirty Saints are the renowned foundation on which the empire stands as a top force in the Cosmic Sea.

One can imagine the vast gap between an immortal existence and an undying existence because of this simple fact.

"Well said! If you suddenly shrink back then it would be a huge loss of your talent. Only by becoming a Saint can you travel unhindered in the Cosmic Sea. Then it's time for you to know about the requirements for the next stage."

"I will be attentive."

"Now you have reached the initial stage of Grandmaster Realm, leaping out of the River of Time and standing atop it. The intermediate stage is achieved when you can go to the shore of the River of Time. In order to go to the shore you have to walk step by step atop the River of Time while enduring the final burst of pressure you experienced previously for each single step you take. The problem is that in order to take a step towards the shoreline you need to have a profound realization about yourself. After having a hundred realizations and taking a hundred steps you will reach the shore."

Saint Luskey patiently explained the process. He however didn't let him ponder about it further but added, "Considering that you would probably go into seclusion after learning this I should remind you that any amount of practice is useless at this point. Only by deeply observing the lives under the River of Time can you achieve realizations about yourself through comparison. We have already seen the enormity of your shadow during the leap. This actually represents the foundation of yourself as an existence. I have to say that among all the Grandmasters I have witnessed, including my past self, yours can be considered the most solid and of highest quality. This is both a blessing and a disaster for you."

Other Saints also nodded along. In fact, none of those present here could match Xar's existential foundation. They even suspect that he might be the only such case in the vast Cosmic Sea.

"Granduncle, what do you mean by disaster?"

Xar asked with a frown of concern. In his opinion, the description of the so-called profound realization might be out of reach even if he was willing to pay the price. Yes, he has his own secrets that even the Saints don't know. This was also his biggest confidence.

His natural talent in comprehension and perfect-grade Cosmium aptitude superimposed with that secret has brought about the unprecedented twenty year old Grandmaster. He could have easy breakthroughs without going outside taking risks largely because of that secret.

"The more robust an existential foundation is, the longer it takes to have a realization. Because you're only twenty and not to mention a complete homebody it wouldn't be wrong to say that you haven't experienced the world yet. The difficulty for you should be very high. The longer it takes for you to make progress the more variables will surely appear that could threaten you. Of course, we will protect you as much as we can."

"In that case, I wonder if Granduncle has any suggestions?"

Xar noticed that Saint Luskey was very talkative. From his experience he knew that there must be some arrangements made for him so he took the initiative to ask.

"Hmm. Recently, we have found a secret realm within the territory of the empire. It is a very strange place where Saint Realm methods for probing are ineffective and forced entry will cause it to enter self-destruction mode. Only those below Saint Realm can enter. There's another interesting point, after entry, all those above the final stage of Level 1 will be suppressed to the point of ordinary state before the evolution journey. It is of course just temporary and upon exit the suppression effect is automatically lifted. "

Xar was very surprised after hearing this. There's actually a secret realm that can even elude a Saint. You should know that Saints are those undying existences at the apex of the Cosmic Sea. How could there be something like this that can even render a Saint helpless!?

"Could there be… a conspiracy?"

This was the first question he asked after he learned of it. After all, this was too incredible.

"Fortunately, no. We have already used all the relevant Guardian Treasures to verify this. After the third Big Rip, this secret realm became the entrance connected to a pseudo-universe. Previously, it was still hidden because of various cosmic rules entanglement but about three weeks ago we found the coordinates."

"Does Granduncle want me to head over there for practice?"

"Well, that's the plan. All secret realms have a different time flow rate than our universe. While this one is the most exaggerated. One day here is equal to a hundred days over there. With this difference and coupled with your talent you should be able to make great progress."

"Alright. I will follow Granduncle's arrangement."

"Don't worry. We have already sent people over to investigate the interior. Though there's a suppression effect, natives aren't too troublesome to deal with. Let's leave it for now. I will debrief you at a later date. Be sure to head to this coordinate in Galaxy-QY889 of Crocodile Supercluster in three days."

After the arrangement, Xar bid farewell and headed back to his parents place after a long time.

Five Saints watched as he teleported away. After he left, the Saint of Asterisk Family, Saint Rudolph, couldn't help but say: "What a young man! If not for the fact that he is our Pangaea Empire's genius I would have been anxious day and night after learning of such an evildoer's existence."

"Indeed. A great era is coming as the fifth Big Rip approaches. Geniuses are in abundance and peerless ones like him might really appear in other forces. It is a bit of a pity for my Zenith Family. I did find a good one who's extremely gifted in combat but unlike the stable Xar that guy is a restless one who only knows how to make trouble everyday."

Saint Amber said in a somewhat tired tone. It seems that she is very troubled about certain someone's behavior.

"Hehe, I wouldn't lie but I think I have also found a good seedling in my Stellar Family. Wherever she goes all sorts of treasures and exotic goods are her everyday encounters. She could even find an expert randomly who is very eager to let her be the chosen inheritor after she accidentally shows off her talent. Secret realms could be found one after another. Though she tried to hide it, the recent one we talked about was also her doing."

"Eh? No wonder I couldn't find the discoverer. I was wondering which Saint covered it up."

Saint Rudolph was indeed curious about this matter and now with this confession from Saint Velveeta the perpetrator is clear.

"Hmph, Rudolph, your Asterisk Family also has a good one. She was born with the Exquisite Hundred Beasts Heart at birth and various visions of heaven and earth appeared that year. As one of the top ten physiques in Cosmic Sea she is bound to be an extraordinary evolver as long as she doesn't die prematurely."

"Ahem! She is indeed talented but you know the slow accumulation speed of that particular physique. She could only lag behind for now. Anyways, why don't you reveal your genius? Surely there's someone eye-catching in this generation. Don't keep hiding it at this point."

With Saint Rudolph diverting the topic other Saints could only roll their eyes and curse this guy for showing off. Who doesn't know that the possessor of that physique is guaranteed to be a Saint as long as it is evolved properly.

As it would have it the current patriarch's second daughter is the lucky one. By relation she is actually his granddaughter. One could imagine this guy's glee.

Of course, this matter is only known to Saints and the few involved people of Asterisk Family's main lineage. Otherwise she would have faced endless assassination by enemy forces even if she is a Saint's granddaughter.

Saint Rudolph treats her as the apple of his eye from a very early age. Thankfully, she didn't develop a pampered mindset but was a steadfast person.

Saint Ferdinand of the Sol Family was very envious. Only his family seemed to be devoid of such bonafide talents.

"It's not that I don't want to reveal it but compared to those four I can only say he is very… weird. He is obsessed with miscellaneous things. I don't know what he's on about but at least he makes the most progress among the younger generation of my Sol Family."

It is not that Saint Ferdinand hates that genius, it's just that he had never dealt with such a confusing creature who progresses by doing unconventional things. He couldn't help but worry that the future might be unstable for such a guy who's filled with weirdness.

So, the sun set quietly as the Saints were left with their own thoughts.

Xar arrived in front of his parents house.

He took in the view and couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. Ever since he reached Master Realm and met the other four Saints, he went to that mountain for practice. As a blessed land of the Umbra Family with high resonance to the River of Time that mountain could only be entered if Saint Luskey permits so.

It wasn't a coincidence that he broke through that particular cave.

Xar sent a telepathic message to the couple inside the grand villa as he walked in. The villa was made of the highest quality building material available in the empire. Many drones and robots were busy all over the place. There is also a super AI directing the daily operation.

To deal with everyday chores and daily maintenance of such a huge villa the amount of housekeeper-type droids are equally numerous. As for security, Level 9 evolvers are always stationed nearby.

As the heir of the Umbra Family personally appointed by Saint himself, his parents naturally were subjected to preferential treatments. Though the three of them are from a very distant branch lineage, the five founding families never had any rigid family rule that said only the main lineage is qualified to inherit top positions every generation.

As long as the clansman is talented enough the family will always pamper them and protect them from wind and rain regardless of their distant relation. Of course, being the same blood of the family is the prerequisite. Outsiders will always be isolated and there's no alternative to it.

In the empire, only the Five Founding Families are the supreme existence. Anyone who is not of their blood will be excluded from the top notch resources and technologies. A chasm in that fact made it so that the empire is still a class-based society till this day without having been swept away by commoners who had extreme talent and luck.

The Saints bloodline from one generation to another which continuously produced strongmen above Level 9 is the main key reason along with their clan-bound policies.

After having a pleasant conversation and startling the old couple again Xar proudly went back to his private residence. It was a three-storey tall house devoid of any creature around it. There is neither an ant nor a small bird in the surrounding area. Of course, droids are also absent.

Only simple trees and plants are present.

Xar entered his room and saw that it was still the same as he had left it six years ago. Not a single amount of dust has gathered nor any cobwebs were formed. The whole place, both inside and outside the house, is actually static because of his interference.

In the Master Realm, time rule is the main focus so utilizing it after some comprehension isn't that rare.

After settling down, he used his extrasensory perception habitually. Finding everything in order, he decided on his next move.