Three years later, in the Shadowcrest Castle library.
"I finally completed it, the Compendium of the Basic Water Element!" Nero shouted happily.
Ever since reading that trash book on the Basic Water Ball spell, Nero had vowed to revise it to perfection.
Thinking of using the Heavenly System to correct all the flaws in the book, Nero quickly sprang into action.
Crawling through every collection of water-element books, Nero made a horrifying discovery.
All the tier 0 books he found were full of loopholes—so much so that he became sick for several days.
If not for his father healing him with unknown methods, he might have been plagued by nightmares from then on.
Stepping out of the shadows, Nero vowed never to read a book again until he could scan all the water-element books into the Heavenly System.
Seeing imperfections and not being able to fix them felt like torture.
Soon, after years of hard work, a few months ago, he had finally scanned all the tier 0 water-element books into the Heavenly System.
After months of sleepless nights, Nero compiled the perfect Tier 0 Compendium of Basic Water Elements.
Now, even if he read a trash tier 0 water-element book, as long as he fixed its errors in time, he would no longer suffer an adverse reaction.
Eager to show off his work, Nero called for his father.
"Dad, I completed it!"
"What did you complete?"
"Here! See if there are any faults!" Nero said confidently.
Interested, Maximus opened the thick book, examining the Tier 0 Compendium of Basic Water Element.
From curiosity to a frown, from a frown to excitement.
Reading through the work done by his son, Maximus felt like he had found a gold mine.
"How is it, Dad? Is it good?" Nero asked impatiently, seeing his father frozen in thought.
"Hah~ It's more than good. I didn't expect you to perfect it to this extent," Maximus sighed.
He finally understood the difference between perfection and ultimate.
His understanding of the basic elements was undoubtedly at the ultimate level—the peak of what the Aeon Plane could achieve.
However, the book compiled by Nero was on another level.
Though basic, it pointed directly to the fundamental rules of the plane, in other words, the plane origin.
Looking at his son, he knew this was the work of the Heavenly System.
It seemed that while the Heavenly System only used books scanned by Nero to generate answers, it still relied on data from its other subsystems.
With the knowledge gathered from multiple planes, how could it not produce results that even he found astonishing?
If Nero perfected all these underlying principles, he could improve the Aeon Plane to a tier 13 realm ahead of schedule!
"If Dad is satisfied, can you give me a reward?" Nero asked, noticing his father finally smile.
"Father, how about unlocking my limiter? Just enough to become a Tier 9 Apex Sovereign!" Nero asked longingly.
The Heavenly System was tied to his strength.
At Tier 1, he could only scan books of the same level.
Even the scanning time and method were inefficient.
First, he had to touch the book. Then, at his current strength, it would take a full second to upload.
In three years, he had only managed to scan 50 million books.
Fortunately, he didn't need every single tier 0 water-element book to compile the Tier 0 Compendium of Water Element.
Otherwise, with his small body, it would take thousands and thousands of years to complete.
"This is not possible." Maximus hurriedly shook his head.
As the son of two Tier 11 Absolutes, nurtured by their essence for ten thousand years, Nero should have been a naturally born Tier 9 being.
However, not wanting his son to have an unstable foundation, Maximus sealed his strength.
No matter how much Nero cultivated, his strength would remain stagnant, only growing slowly over time.
At his current growth rate, it would take another ten years to advance to the Tier 2 realm.
Setting such a limit ensured that Nero could fully consolidate his foundation.
Furthermore, Maximus was still somewhat wary of the Heavenly System.
Without fully understanding its true nature, it wasn't wise to let Nero grow too quickly.
Meanwhile, realizing he couldn't get his wish, Nero wilted.
The joy of creating the perfect Tier 0 Compendium of Basic Water Element was instantly extinguished.
With such weak strength, who cared if he had perfect control over the water element?
Tier 0 was merely introductory—party tricks that only a child would perform.
"What are you worrying about at such a young age? Get up!" Maximus smiled, picking up little Nero.
Taking him into his arms, he couldn't help but pinch his cheeks.
"Do you want something else?"
"No, I don't want anything…" Nero thought for a while before shaking his head.
Born into the Shadowcrest Family, Nero already had everything he could wish for.
At a single call, his pampering siblings would pluck the moon and stars for him.
If he wanted to eat something, his mother, Erica, would cook the most delicious meals.
If he wanted to act grown-up, his older nephews and nieces would indulge him.
His life was perfect; the only thing missing was his strength.
"How can you be so listless at such a young age?" Maximus chuckled, ruffling his hair.
"Isn't this fine? Brother Neo is lazier than me."
If Nero still had the motivation to work in the library, his brother, Neo, only slept or flirted with his wife.
Growing into a powerhouse by eating and sleeping was the life Nero aspired to.
If not for that Basic Water Ball spell ruining his life, he might already be imitating his brother.
Fortunately, it was already over.
He could finally have the perfect life he desired.
"No! This isn't good! You can't turn into a lazy pig like your brother!" Maximus scolded.
There were too many imperfections in this world.
If Nero didn't explore and learn to deal with them, he would die an early death.
Thinking about this, Maximus suddenly had an idea.
"Just right. You're already three years old. In a few months, there will be a unified test."
"What about it?" Nero rolled his eyes lazily, lying in his father's arms.
"Hmph! You, Nero, will be participating in this grand event to enroll in the Etherium Academy and graduate in a thousand years!"
"To make it a real challenge, you'll use an incognito identity and all your treasures will be stripped away."
"NO! This is unfair!"
"Hahaha, good luck!" Maximus laughed heartily.