Neo had lived 33 lives, but he only remembered 32 lives.
The unknown life must be where he reached the peak of Stage-3.
"My point is, you shouldn't devour more unless you rank up. You won't gain anything since you are already at your Existence level limit," Yaleth concluded. "You might even start losing your memories if you forcefully try to devour them and keep whatever you get from them."
"So the only problem is that my existence is already full, and it can't store more?"
"Yes, but that's not a small problem-"
Neo grabbed Yaleth's hand, and began transferring techniques.
He had countless techniques. However, they were useless to him at his current rank.
Neo could've given away the memories (memories of others' people he gained after devouring them) to free up the space inside his container (existence), but memories were something Neo refused to give up.
Each memory was a part of himself, of what he had been through, and whom he had met.
He would never let go of the memories.
"Doing this won't help much. Weak techniques take less space. So by giving them to me, you aren't creating much space-"
Yaleth's mouth clamped shut when he realized the sheer numbers of techniques Neo was giving to him.
No, the techniques were in trillions, or perhaps even more.
'This… He shouldn't be able to store this much within himself.'
'Even a Stage-3 can't have this much inside his existence.'
'Was he really Stage-3 in his previous life?'
After Neo felt he had given away sufficient things, he stopped.
"Don't throw away those techniques or give them to someone else," he told Yaleth.
"Because I will take them back later. I need them to create my Path of Ascension."
"…?" Yaleth blinked. He tilted his head. "Maybe I heard it wrong, but did you just say… Path of Ascension? That's something only a Heavenbreaker can create."
"Yeah, I'm a Heavenbreaker."
Yaleth's composure suddenly disappeared.
"There is no way you are a Heavenbreaker! You are a demigod! A demigod who can use Concepts and techniques, and Elementals!
"Heavenbreakers can only walk on their own Path of Ascension or else it would be a contradiction-"
Yaleth suddenly stopped when Neo grinned and placed his hand on Obitus' hilt. The sword hummed in response.
"Harmonization," Neo said.
Yaleth didn't respond immediately.
He kept staring at Obitus, then suddenly he shouted and threw his hands in the air as he laughed.
"Yes! It works! The true soul weapons work!"
Yaleth laughed like a maniac.
"It works Kevin! You lost the bet, hahaha!"
Neo, instead of waiting for Yaleth to calm down, tested his Divinities.
[Deep Silence] allowed him to make others shut up. They wouldn't be able to use Incantations, or talk with telepathy.
[Erasure] was instant devour.
When he used it on Mars, the planet disappeared as if a giant maw of an invisible beast had instantly eaten it.
Neo suddenly felt something wrong.
To test his doubt, he used Time Dissonance Spell to rewind the time of devoured Mars.
The planet was brought back.
"I see, since Divinities are energies that are on their way of becoming an Element, it means the effect of elements and Divinities aren't shared completely.
"Erasure still devours things, and I gain everything from what I devour – this is an effect of True Darkness that appears on Erasure since Erasure was built on Darkness element, and thus my Concept works on it partially.
"But unlike True Darkness, things that are devoured can be brought back by reversing time.
"And when this is done, I lose the things I gained by using Erasure."
Neo analyzed his abilities.
"This means True Darkness is superior to Erasure."
He felt a sense of satisfaction and pride from within himself.
They were not his feelings, and came from something else within him.
"Wait, wait!" Yaleth suddenly called out to him. "Did you just use someone else's Divinity!?"
"Yeah, I did. Any problem?"
Yaleth opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, unable to form words.
Gaining Divinity was impossible just like you couldn't gain affinities.
This was why people prepared Spells to erase their memories and techniques, but not Divinities.
"Are you the…. Nevermind." Yaleth sighed and shook his head.
Neo seemed to be an anomaly but there was no way he was the Loved One of Darkness.
After all, unlike other elements, there never had been a Loved One of Darkness.
"Why did you stop talking?"
Neo didn't press the issue.
He devoured the other three Outer Gods.
"Why are you devouring them? Their Divinities aren't even that strong. They are just common rarity. Your elemental Concepts are stronger than them. Not to mention those weird Divinities of yours that are even more powerful."
"I get the stats from them."
"Stats? Why do you need stats?"
Neo shrugged instead of replying.
At their level, it was better to use a technique instead of focusing on pure physical might.
It was easier, and they wouldn't need to divide focus between training in Divinities and training physical bodies.
But Neo was different.
He wanted to see the limits of physical might.
How strong could he become if he continued to increase his strength? Could he destroy a Supergiant with a punch?
How fast could he run without using any technique? Could he outrun light?
What if he used techniques along with that overwhelming physical ability?
It would make him invincible.
Just as Neo completed devouring the Outer Gods, a screen appeared before his eyes.
[Connection to Universal Codex System is now online.]
[Would you like to establish the connection?]
"I got the Universal Codex System message," Neo said.
"Good, now establish the connection, and you will be able to see your stats.
"The system screen of Universal Codex System is much better than your Akashic Records, and it will also give you access to Path of Ascension Cole Calloway created."
Neo didn't move immediately.
Seeing his hesitation, Yelath spoke, "What is wrong?"