Chapter 507: Path Simulation
The room was entirely white, but he could swiftly change the terrain or background as he saw fit. For starters, he materialized a simple starry sky setup and initiated a simulation clone. He uploaded the Aether Evolutionary Path into the clone’s mind and made it cultivate directly to the 5th rank.
This was just the pure base. With no traits, no buffs, and no external factors, he gave the clone the most average talent possible. Soon, the clone reached the first Aether Cell. He made it stop and summoned a simulated beast. The beast was at the 5th rank, 6th level.
The clone and the beast began to fight fiercely. Soon enough, the clone emerged victorious.
[Combat Score: 5th Rank, Level 8]
"Good." Grey nodded approvingly. This meant that at the peak of the Source Cell realm, a person could fight an Origin Seed realm expert at level one or two.
But that was not what he primarily wanted to know. He wanted to push the absolute limits of the Frequential Helix realm.
He swiftly made the clone cultivate to the Frequential Helix realm and adjusted the talent setting to heaven-defying genius. In this mode, the clone could form as many helices as it needed.
Boom!
In an instant, twenty-five helices sprang up within the Nexus Cell, filling it to the brim. The clone’s aura had already increased by leaps and bounds.
[Combat Index: 16S, 16D, 16A]
"Not bad," Grey commented as he moved on. He made twenty-five helices appear on every singular cell. Soon, with a total of 150 of them, the combat score drastically changed.
[Combat Level: 7th Rank, Level 3]
Grey immediately became excited seeing these results.
If this was the base calculation of a genius, then that would mean his own strength should also easily reach the 7th rank by the end of this stage without much trouble. In fact, he believed he might reach it with just the first two fillings of the cells.
Now this... this was true power.
Grey could not hide his excitement. If he could reach this much raw power from the 5th rank alone, then by the time he entered the 6th rank, would he not easily match up with the 8th-ranking experts?
It was an incredibly impressive prospect.
But he did not let the excitement completely get to his head. At the end of the day, there were still existences known as the Primordial Paths. He was highly curious as to what they actually were and how they fared against his own path. The name "Primordial" alone suggested terrifying capabilities; they must be ancient paths forged during the time the endless reality was first created by the fragmented Nexus Core.
"But now it is time to see what happens after the source undergoes the sixth metamorphosis."
With the Creator Space’s path simulation, testing it was very easy. He just needed to artificially add in the required power.
Soon, the clone reached the absolute peak of the Singularity Realm. The Singularity Realm’s peak meant all the cells and cosmic meridians collapsing entirely into a singularity, which would then elevate the source to a whole new dimension of power.
The source rapidly turned illusory as the clone forcefully broke through the shackles of the sixth genetic limiter. Instantly, boundless power surged into its source, sublimating it in the profound aura of metamorphosis and raising its fundamental structure to 4D.
However, the instant the source achieved 4D status, the frequential power around it began to go violently out of control.
Boom!
Instantly, the clone collapsed and exploded, completely dead.
Grey faced the digital explosion with his hand resting on his chin, appearing entirely serious and thoughtful.
"Instability, optimization, realizing the reality." Grey repeated those crucial words to himself.
The source was destroyed because its controller was, in fact, not a true 6th rank being that had organically achieved higher dimensionality. If this were a reincarnated being who was historically at the 7th rank or above, reaching this state would not have made it nearly so unstable.
However, stability would still inevitably become an issue in the long run, as with reincarnation, one’s previous dimensionality loses its lingering effect.
"The source needs something to anchor onto." Grey came to a firm conclusion while still deep in thought. "The explosion happened due to pure instability. Even if I correct it somehow, it will just explode at the second stage. But that chain reaction can be prevented if I give the source something solid to hold onto."
"An axis." Grey spoke, his expression slowly turning excited. "If I give it a central axis, then it can safely bypass the instability and successfully achieve optimization." Grey nodded with a serious look on his face.
[Your comprehension defies the heavens! By observing the explosion of the source, your understanding of the 6th rank has been greatly strengthened.]
"But the sixth rank is not just about forging an axis. There is also the mandatory process of optimization. If optimization is not achieved, then there is no longer any point to it, as even the toughest axis might eventually crack under extreme internal disorder."
"There is also the matter of encompassing reality as a 6th rank, effectively making the cultivator a true transcendental being."
"A stabilizer, an optimizer, and a reality field."
"The 6th rank must contain all three." Grey nodded firmly.
For the stabilizer, he had already formulated a rough plan: the axis. But he did not know how exactly he was going to forge one from scratch.
"No, how and where do I even place this axis?" Grey’s lips twitched as a dull headache began to throb in his mind.
Forging a new path was always difficult and always would be. But the hardships now would be rewarded with absolute power in the future when he personally ascended to the 6th rank.
It was all worth it in the end.
But the lingering thought remained. What material or concept could he possibly use to forge an axis?
He first and foremost decided to test a theory out on the clone. He made it undergo the violent metamorphosis once again. As soon as the source reached 4D, he made the clone use the metamorphosis power to create something akin to an Event Horizon. Maybe it would suck away the instability?
Boom!
However, the very next moment, the clone exploded right in his face. Grey sighed bitterly, waving away the digital smoke.
But then, a new thought struck him.