At the age of 1,351 (again), Ian began to train his body, mind, and soul with new focus. He no longer cared about the loops. He had escaped. Now, he only wanted to grow strong enough to never be caught again.
At the age of 1,354, he climbed the Fire Peaks of Goro and sat in burning winds for one hundred days. The pain helped him sharpen his control. His energy began to move smoother, like a calm river under heat.
At the age of 1,360, he dove into the Sea of Cold Stars. There, he learned to hold divine energy without moving. The water taught him stillness. His mind grew harder to break.
At the age of 1,370, Ian began to use two forms of power at once—divine ki and body force. It was hard. His muscles bled. His soul shook. But he kept going.
At the age of 1,400, Ian trained inside the heart of a falling moon. It pushed his limits. Time around him slowed. He struck each breath with power, shaping his body to match his growing strength.
At the age of 1,420, he fought three young gods without using his full power. They lost. Ian didn’t kill them. He only wanted to test how far he had come.
At the age of 1,450, Ian stopped speaking for ten years. He stayed inside a black cave under the earth. There, he trained his thoughts. One wrong idea, and he would explode. He did not explode.
At the age of 1,500, his divine ki reached the peak of True God level. But he didn’t stop. He wanted more. He wanted to rise beyond even Devils.
At the age of 1,551, Ian found an old temple that no longer had a name. Inside, he saw strange shapes that made him feel both heavy and light. He stayed there for years, learning from silence.
At the age of 1,600, he began training in battle forms lost in time. Each move took one year to learn. He mastered twelve.
At the age of 1,700, he trained his blood. He forced it to change by placing himself inside an old star with slow time. His blood turned silver-white for ten days. When it returned to red, it was stronger.
At the age of 1,800, he broke his limits. For the first time, he felt the power of the weakest Devil level fully open in him. It didn’t scare him. It excited him. Although his base form had reached the power-level equal to the weakest devils, now his divine ki and every aspects had truly reached this step.
At the age of 1,850, Ian looked at his past and saw how far he had come. He knew he had touched a place above gods. But there was still more.
At the age of 1,900, he felt something new growing inside him. His Nether Divine Ki began to twist and turn in strange ways. It started to glow with colors he had never seen before.
At the age of 2,000, Ian closed his eyes and saw a road inside his soul. It was not the same as before. It was sharper. It was clearer.
He had begun to walk the True Paths Ki.
At the age of 2,001, Ian took his first step on the True Paths. He did not know where it would lead, but he followed it. Since his Bloodline had become True Paths, he hadn’t spent time developing it. Now, it was time to start.
’I’m so fucking old now...’ Ian sighed. He was rarely with Adam now after he had reached the strength of Devil. As for where Adam was assigned by the Grand Devil now? He didn’t know.
At the age of 2,010, he helped a small world stop breaking apart. He fixed the sky using his ki. The people there called him "the quiet god."
At the age of 2,023, Ian sat by a river for seven days. The sound helped him clear his mind. He saw a spark in his ki. It moved like a slow flame.
At the age of 2,050, he walked through a war between two god clans. He did not fight. He only watched. Later, he left a small stone with power behind. It grew into a shield that saved one side.
At the age of 2,100, Ian challenged True Gods Zephir’s Devil attendant. He was strong, very strong. He called himself Rain Breaker. They fought. Ian lost in three moves. He was thrown off a hill.
At the age of 2,150, Ian met a girl with no soul. She followed him for five years. One day, she vanished. Ian found her shoes by a tree. He never learned her name.
At the age of 2,201, Ian helped a dying god pass his power to a young one. The young god called Ian his teacher, though Ian had said no words.
At the age of 2,250, Ian fought his second Devil. He lost again, but this time, he stood longer. Seven moves.
At the age of 2,300, Ian joined a large fight between three realms. He held back a Strong Devil for an hour, long enough for people to escape.
At the age of 2,401, he fought two Devils at once. He lost badly. One of them said, "You’re just a God, but you have such power. Go back." Ian did not answer.
At the age of 2,500, he stopped a mountain from falling onto a town. No one knew it was him.
At the age of 2,750, he wrote a book with one word per page. The book had no title. The last page said, "Look again."
At the age of 3,000, Ian fought a Devil and won. It was a small win, but it was real. The Devil bowed after the fight and said, "You are on the path now."
At the age of 3,150, he trained with a being made of wind. The wind never spoke, but it taught him how to move without being seen.