"I don’t have any of the weapons. I don’t have my real body either. How do I win against such an opponent in this condition?" Leon whispered.
"You are strong, I will give you that." Suddenly, the figure spoke again. "You entered the eighth layer. A feat even most of the eternals couldn’t achieve. Being a mortal, you should be content with it. But if you dare to even have imaginations about entering the ninth layer, then you shall die." The figure shot toward Leon’s consciousness, which hovered like a glowing sphere in the air.
Leon was ready to charge forward as well. But suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind. ’The sword is my body. And my body is the sword.’ He mused. And the very next moment, the glowing sphere was enveloped by a destructive layer of aura. Sword aura.
Leon’s consciousness, enveloped by the sword aura, shot toward the incoming figure.
But just as Leon’s consciousness and the figure were 50 metres apart, the figure abruptly stopped, causing a great gust of astral energy to be created. The gust of astral energy struck Leon and sent him flying.
Leon stopped only after covering a thousand metres. But before he could even react or at least think about what to do next, the figure appeared before him, throwing a punch. The fist didn’t slam into Leon’s consciousness and stopped a few metres away. But...
Whoooooosh!
Another gust of energy. And even more dangerous than before. Leon’s consciousness was sent flying again.
The same thing happened again and again. Every time, Leon was brutally defeated. But though the figure had said it would actually kill Leon, it didn’t. It just continued to dominate as if it wanted to demoralize Leon. Make him understand that sometimes, resilience alone wasn’t enough. But Leon, like a madman, wouldn’t stop. He kept attacking relentlessly.
"Why do you seek more strength?" Finally, the figure asked instead of attacking. "If you enter the ninth layer, you will die no matter what. You aren’t strong enough."
Leon, who was already planning how he would dodge and try to land a blow, stopped and looked at the figure.
"I will die if I go there?" Leon asked as a memory flashed in his mind. Ariana’s death, the green Orc’s cruelty. His fist clenched. "But well, isn’t that easy compared to watching someone you love or care about die? You said I was being greedy. Greedy for strength, right? Well, I am really being greedy. So what of it?"
"But the ninth layer isn’t something a mortal like you can endure. Entering the ninth layer will be equivalent to walking down to hell." The figure spoke and waited for Leon’s reply.
"If pain can make me stronger, then I want to suffer." Saying that, Leon again rushed toward the figure. The figure didn’t attack this time. Or didn’t even move. As Leon closed the distance at great speed, the figure’s body started to fade until there was nothing left.
"Huh?" Leon exclaimed. "Where did it go?" Leon looked around, but the figure was nowhere to be found.
"What a strange guy. First, it wouldn’t let me enter the ninth layer no matter what. But now, even though it was surely winning, it suddenly left." Instead of dwelling on the topic, Leon again started soaring high in the sky.
After one or two hours, Leon was hovering in the air, below a barrier. A barrier to enter the Ninth Heaven.
"Finally," Leon uttered. "The last layer."
Leon again started rising up and entered the Ninth Layer.
The moment he did... A dense fog of astral energy enveloped him. This time, there was no pressure. Only the surge of energy that was trying to pour through his body without him even cultivating.
[Congratulations, Host. You have reached the ninth layer of Astral River as the second person in the entire history.]
A system notification chimed in Leon’s mind, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"Only the second person? Don’t tell me even the first person who entered this place was actually me. Or more precisely, my past self."
[Negative, Host. The first person and the only person before you to reach the ninth layer is Alive. He’s the supreme ruler of this universe, the Monarch.]
"The monarch? Like the Frost Monarch?"
[Negative, host. Frost Monarch was just a title. A title to compare him with the true Monarch.]
"I see. Whatever. Let’s just start with the cultivation already." With that, Leon focused on the Mystic Monarch Ascension technique. Instantly, a whirlpool appeared before Leon, a strong current of Astral energy entering his consciousness.
At the same time, the sky in the real world brightened. A beam of azure light descended from the sky and landed on Leon. The light was bright and pure energy. Astral energy.
The consciousness in the ninth layer started to vanish, but a link had already been formed.
The beam of light continued to wash over Leon. The consciousness in the ninth layer vanished completely and returned to the main body. Time ticked by as Leon absorbed astral energy from the beam of light.
Slowly, a glowing sphere appeared behind him. It was just like Leon’s consciousness in the Astral River. But at the moment, it was very tiny.. Leon didn’t open his eyes. He continued to cultivate, absorbing the vast amount of astral energy.
The tiny glow continued to grow bigger. After one hour, the sphere was equal to Leon’s full size. Yet Leon still didn’t stop.
He had enough time before the next phase of the trial.
After another hour, the huge sphere suddenly started growing limbs. Two hands protruded at the side. Legs emerged from the lower side.
A head was also formed.
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully condensed an Astral Avatar’s embryo.]
A notification appeared in the panel before Leon. But he had no time to check. His whole focus was on absorbing the astral energy. The more Leon absorbed astral energy, the bigger and stronger the glowing figure behind him grew.