"Go out into the universe, fight in isolated places where even the weakest beings exist in high realms, live a bit away from the wings of your father, have your own experiences, seek a purpose for your life," Kayden said to Matheus, looking directly into his eyes.
These words were exactly what Kayden would say to everyone he mentored. There was no use in having strength without purpose. Even Kayden, who was entirely controversial, had a purpose. Living without direction was utterly depressing.
A few hundred years later, Amanda managed to ascend to divinity, becoming the second false goddess to turn into a true god. Her strength was insane, although not as overwhelming as Yan’s. In the end, she was strong, but only enough to be considered a high-level god, not a unique god like Yan.
At the moment she reached divinity, Kayden received a promise from Yan in front of the heavens, a vow that he would be treated like a son by the god until the end of his days; Yan’s gratitude would be eternal.
Kayden’s world finally reached a point where he no longer needed to interfere every hour to ensure progress. The world had become self-sustaining, moving toward progress on its own.
The worlds and empires were now firmly established; it was no longer so easy to overthrow their leaders, though not impossible either. Kayden arranged it this way so that even those at the bottom could rise to the top, but only after significant effort.
There was a step-by-step path in this world that could not be skipped. First, someone had to conquer small cities, then medium, then large ones. After that, they would conquer states in the same progression, then countries. Beyond that came empires and, finally, worlds. It was a long and arduous journey to power, and no one could skip stages—at best, someone might leap over a few cities or countries if they were exceptionally talented.
However, this talent had to be monstrous, as eight-ray mages weren’t uncommon, and many were among the leaders of countries and kingdoms. To make such power leaps, one had to be exceptionally strong.
One aspect that remained consistent throughout this world was the public libraries. Kayden forbade any form of restriction on knowledge, ensuring it was accessible to all. In every corner of the planet, people had equal access to high-level techniques.
Time passed quickly. Kayden went on several excursions and related ventures, but nothing overly extensive or special. The universe was undergoing radical changes in its organizational structure. The gods increasingly distanced themselves from universal politics, leaving mortals to organize themselves.
Many organizations simply collapsed due to internal wars. External wars were nearly non-existent, as all the major organizations fought to decide who would dominate the top of their chains of command. Most lacked someone strong enough to subdue everyone else; there were always at least two high-level mages in each organization, with the largest organizations holding dozens.
Matheus never returned from his journey; he had truly taken Kayden’s words to heart and disappeared into the universe to find himself. Jasmine took over the leadership of the false gods. The woman had grown in strength to the point of ranking just behind Matheus in terms of power, logically excluding Athena and Atlas.
Since most divine-level false gods were required to accompany Yan to the other universe, only low- and mid-level false gods participated in the power dynamics. Given their small number, Jasmine found it easy to gain absolute control over the organization, especially considering she had the support of her siblings, all high-level mages.
Kayden’s world continued to grow silently, taking a generous share in the power dynamics. They had no internal conflicts and held a phenomenal amount of resources. Kayden continued his soul sessions, accumulating resources, and within a few hundred thousand years, he gathered enough to rank among the thousand largest organizations in the universe.
Being in the top thousand might seem like a high ranking, but in reality, it was utterly insane, as no organization at that level was younger than 10 million years. Additionally, all of them possessed a wide variety of mages and enormous territories.
Kayden owned only a single S-class planet, but this planet had been elevated to the absolute peak of what could be achieved in a single world. His people were honed to the perfect limits possible. He invested heavily in mages specializing in runes and artifacts, making his world one of the main traders of magical equipment and runes.
After a few million years, the universal dynamics shifted once again. This time, a strange peace spread across the universe as everyone awaited the gods’ departure. By this point, everyone knew what was going to happen; it was just the calm before the storm.
Matheus returned, far stronger than when he had left. At this point, Atlas could no longer suppress him with ease, as Matheus had surpassed the seventh realm and reached the eighth, with an insane level of power.
A few centuries earlier:
"Are you sure about this?" Athena asked for the tenth time. Atlas had finally reached the point of receiving approval to attempt the challenge with ten rays. All his siblings, including Matheus, were on the farm to witness this event.
After Yan explained the significance of a ten-ray mage, they all understood that this was a unique phenomenon in the entire universe. None of them had ever seen, and would probably never again see, the ascension of a ten-ray mage. Even Yan wasn’t a ten-ray mage.
What allowed Atlas to reach this level were numerous factors. The first was his nearly divine talent, shared by all his siblings. The second was his inheritance of the false god genes. The third was becoming a monarch. The fourth was having his soul purified and his talent elevated to the absolute mortal limits. The fifth was the resources he received. Yan, as the peak of the gods, had no resources beyond his reach for his son. All these factors combined created this monstrous figure.