Luminera smiled, happy that Zion managed to overcome this trial. She waved her hand and transported everyone to a meditation chamber.
"Your mind and body have been molded into a divine being. Or at least it’s strong enough to become one. Now, the next process is simple, yet very, very difficult."
Erebosa took the lead. "You’ll have to completely merge the divine energies with your being, forcing a transformation into a daemon, or demigod, whatever. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Divine energy is an authority, and authorities overrule mana."
Luminera spoke back up. "This means that the divine energy will try to remove the mana, holy power, and demonic energy you’ve gathered up to this point. Your first instinct will be to fight it off, DON’T! You want the authority to overrun your body, forcing all the other energies out. Technically, they will be absorbed, not forced out."
"Okay, so what’s the problem?" Zion asked
"The problem is that even with preparations, your body still might not be able to handle how powerful authorities are. Your body could break, your soul could burst, and your mind could collapse." Erebosa informed him
"This is why I wanted you to get all the ancient relics first. That way, I could have used them as a catalyst to trigger your demigodhood safely by pouring our energy into them instead of you. But, honestly, after hearing what Willow told you, I thought it would be best to get this part over as soon as possible."
"Welp, since that’s off the table right now, tell me how I need to do this."
"Do you remember the feeling when you first started cultivating?" Luminera asked him
"Yup. I can never forget that feeling."
She nodded. "It’s the same thing here. You’ll feel the divine energies in you, and you need to cultivate them like you normally do. You can use your Mana method to make things easier, but please remember to let the energy flow and don’t fight against it."
"Good, we’ll be right here if anything goes wrong."
Zion did like he normally does when he cultivates. He sat in the lotus position and delved into his body. He felt his power like he normally would, but now, he could see and feel a raging storm inside him.
Luminera’s divine energy and Erebosa’s devil energy were in a brutal battle against Zion’s mana, holy power, and demonic energy. It was tearing his body apart from the inside.
He focused, feeling not only his power but the divine energies, and started controlling them.
The moment he gained control of them, his body was hit with an overwhelming pressure that almost forced Zion out of his mental world. It was strong, oppressive, wild, chaotic, and it was painful.
He could feel the divine energies ripping apart everything he had done up to this point. All his hard work, progress, trials, blood, sweat, and tears were washed away during this moment. The only thing that remained the same was his mana method.
’Fuck! My head! It feels like it’s going to explode! Even thinking hurts!’
He knew he couldn’t waste any time, so he powered through the pain, allowing the divine energies to rage wild while he controlled the path they took.
The first stop was his core, his main core, the one in his heart. He concluded that if he allowed the divine energies to settle there, it would have an easier time flowing through his body.
What he didn’t take into consideration was the amount of pain he would be in after allowing the energies to absorb his mana there.
’Aghhhhhh!!!!!’ He screamed in his head.
On the outside, blood was dripping from his nose, and his body was shaking.
"Shit! He’s hurt!" Luminera wanted to stop him, but her sister grabbed her arm before she could do anything.
"Calm down. Have faith in your champion. Trust the process."
Reluctantly, she agreed.
Zion had successfully allowed the energies to flow through all of his meridians and cores. He could already feel the changes in his body, and the pain subsided slightly.
Still, he wasn’t done.
’Now for my dantians.’
He took a deep breath before continuing, trying his best to clear his mind.
He concentrated the energy in his lower abdomen. The pain was unreal. It was as if he ate a bunch of spicy food and his stomach didn’t agree with his choices, but times one hundred.
It burned, it hurt, and he could feel tears of pain running down his cheek. But he pressed on.
In his middle dantian, he had the most painful case of heartburn a person could ever have. His heart literally stopped, but that wasn’t enough to kill him. After the energy settled, his heart started beating again.
And finally, his upper dantian was left.
Because of how painful this process was, Zion shut off his mind, allowing instinct to take over. He didn’t think, he didn’t act, he simply allowed his body to do the work for him, shielding him from pain he would have experienced if he hadn’t done this.
After that was completed, Zion only had one more step: his chakras.
With his chakra, because of the channels that allow for direct energy flow, the moment he concentrated divine energy in one chakra, it instantly poured into the others.
His body collapsed, his mind went blank, and he started convulsing.
"We have to stop him! He’s dying!" Luminera rushed to him, but again she was stopped by her sister.
"What are you doing?!" She yelled in anger and worry. "He’ll die! I have to help him!"
"Believe in him." Erebosa was also worried, but she believed in Zion.
"Don’t give me that shit! You know that unless a demigod is born, becoming one is nearly impossible!"
Erebosa sighed, "Lumi, have faith. Please. We can’t interfere with this process."
Luminera growled, then turned her attention back to Zion.
He stopped convulsing, and the raging energy in his body settled down, but then he started floating.
"I-It’s...It’s happening!" They said in awe.
Zion’s body glowed golden and purple as he continued to float in the air. His skin cracked, and the light from his body escaped. The calm energy started to rage. At first, it wasn’t dangerous, but then the energy got more and more intense.
Finally, once his body couldn’t take it anymore, it exploded.
A person’s first reaction would be shock, but to the goddesses, they had an expression of awe.
Zion’s soul was in the same position as his body, filled with divine and devil energy. Then, his exploded body morphed, transforming into something different, something divine.
And as if the world rewound time, Zion’s body was put back together like an explosion going backward.
The moment his body was back together, his entire being radiated divine energy, sending a wave of intense power throughout the room.
By the time the energy settled, Zion woke up. He was alive, he wasn’t in pain, and most importantly, he was now a demigod.