Against The True Gods

Caine remained silent, hearing these words, waiting to see where Francis was going.

"Here," Francis materialized a hexagonal token and threw it toward Caine. Before he could grab it, though, the token immediately stored itself in his spatial ring.

"You've decided to walk the Heaven path of the Spark Realm, yes?"

Caine nodded.

"Have you found a manual yet?"

Caine nodded again.

One of the many gifts he had received from Fate was an Ascension Manual of the Heaven Spark path, perfectly tailored to him.

"Good," Francis said as dozens manuals appeared from thin air, immediately vanishing into Caine's ring again. "Make sure you complete these techniques before you reach the Fifth Heaven stage, yes?"

Caine's lip twitched in slight annoyance at Francis' behavior, but in the end, he nodded.

As shameless as the man seemed to be, Caine could tell he was relatively trustworthy.

"Alright, follow me. We don't have much time."

Francis stood up from his throne and exited the hall without further delay.

***

The room they entered was almost identical to the previous one, with the only difference being two mats placed where Francis' throne had been.

Without halting their steps, they moved to the mats and sat down cross-legged.

Immediately, Francis began.

"Talent, Foundation, and True Will—these are the factors that separate the elite from the rest. I don't have much time, so I'll focus on True Will."

"True Will, the most important of them, is also the most complex due to its endless possibilities. As you've seen, your True Will has evolved to become a True Royal Will, which has allowed you to gain an aura."

"Though your aura is of the God standard of royalty, your True Will is still at the lowest stages of royalty. Obviously, that's fine, but I bring this up to show you how different each person's Will can be configured."

"For example, your Holy and Demonic Wills are rare beyond belief, even among those with innate circles like you or those who come from lineages like ours."

Francis paused for a moment.

"On that front, I won't need to help you since I suppose you have your own plans regarding your royalty, demonic, and holy Wills. What I'm going to focus on is your Will Core and Will Nature."

Caine's attention reached an unprecedented state.

"I'll be brief," Francis continued. "The goal of the forgery path is to create a True Will and then use that True Will to form a Dao Heart."

"You may or may not know this, but eventually, all cultivators are led to create a Dao Heart. It is what will eventually house their souls."

"When that happens, regardless of talent and effort, all will gain something known as a Dao Will. That little death wraith that injured you, for example, used his Dao Will to empower his attack."

"Now, as I was saying, the true forgery path allows you not only to form a True Will, but it also allows you to form a Dao Heart much earlier than anyone else."

"Why is that important? Apart from the simple abilities you've gained before—your royalty, demonic, and holy Wills—it mainly allows you to structure your Will in itself."

"It allows you to forge and create a True Will Core, in which your royalty, demonic, and holy traits and other abilities can take eternal root. But it also allows you to awaken something known as your Will Nature."

"You've met Elder Larisse, yes?" Francis asked.

Caine nodded.

"How did her Will feel to you?"

Hearing the question, Caine remained quiet in contemplation for a few moments.

"She has a True Will, of royal trait, though it seemed a bit weak. The most interesting thing is her Will felt… alive. It almost felt like… I don't know… an element?"

Francis grinned, nodding in affirmation.

"That was her Will Nature. Her Will Nature is gravity, and her Will Core was directly forged by the very kernel of her darkness affinity. Together, they birthed the oddities you saw, along with an almost endless array of abilities… terrifying abilities."

Francis laughed, practically able to see the gears in Caine's mind spinning at breakneck speed.

"Once you've completed this and practiced the techniques I've given you, you'll be set and ready. From there on, your True Will progression will be directly linked to your cultivation base."

Francis stood up just as Caine closed his eyes and fell into a deep state of meditation.

"Good luck."

He vanished.

***

Caine immediately knew what to do, and the process unfolded with such speed, smoothness, and ease that, had Francis been present, even he would have been shocked.

With Caine's Star Fusion, his egregiously tempered Will, and his horrifying mastery of True Will, along with the many theories he had previously formulated—it was as if his entire existence had been primed for this moment.

In turn, it seemed as though his Velios bloodline had been waiting for this exact moment.

WHOOOOSH!

At that moment, his Bond Space shook and duplicated—once, then twice.

The two perfect copies of his Bond Space shot through his body, burrowing into his Dao Hearts as two loud BANGS! echoed within him, like a pair of primordial explosions.

The dimensions within his two hearts solidified and stabilized in an instant. They contained the exact same things—his stars, his Crown and Halos, his Bloodline Avatar—everything, twice over. The only exception was his summons, which remained in his Bond Space.

'Interesting…'
Enjoy new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Now, due to some strange mutation caused by his Velios bloodline, he had two Demonic Wills, two Holy Wills, twice as many stars, two crowns, twice as many halos, and… two Gaia Runes, each containing the terrifying power Lady Gaia had sealed to protect him.

WHOOOSH!

His Bond Space trembled as his bloodline whirred to life once more, burning everything within—except his summons—into a cloud of pure essence.

This was the perfect spark needed for what he sought to accomplish.

If it had been before, perhaps Caine would have cared to ponder how his bloodline could perform such feats, but now, he truly didn't care.

Zao had already confirmed to him that its mutations were positive, so he had no intention of wasting any time doubting him.