This Ring of Origin would change everything.
Granting his abilities and powers to anyone in an instant was a heaven-defying act.
Imagine a mortal, just by wearing the ring, could become an absolute in an instant.
With enough Rings of Origin, Maximus could create an army.
Unfortunately, seeing how much it cost to make just one ring, mass production was clearly impossible.
"Since it's expensive, then weaken it down," he thought.
He didn't need others to have all his knowledge, ability, and strength.
Just a partial skill was enough to kickstart his plan.
With that thought, he created another Ring of Origin.
But this time, instead of embedding his peak abilities, he only infused it with the power of a tier 10 powerhouse and the peak skills of a tier 10 array master.
After spending a huge amount of origin energy and a few strands of causality, the Ring of Origin successfully formed.
Testing the treasure, it worked beautifully, granting a flood of knowledge that instantly made the wearer a tier 10 array master.
Not only did it work, but the cost was also manageable.
Although it used trillions of units of origin energy and millions of strands of causality, as long as it didn't cost plane origin, it was cheap.
Thinking about mass-producing such a device, Maximus couldn't help but feel excited.
In the Shadow Void Land, 99% of those working for him were tier 9 powerhouses, slaving away for origin coins.
Even with many hands available, without the right skills, their value was worse than a single absolute.
Since they were only in the tier 9 realm, they couldn't even leave the Shadow Void Land, trapped in their tiny corner of existence.
Such a waste of manpower made Maximus feel sorry for such a heaven-given gift.
Although the Aeon Plane was where power reigned supreme, if he could leverage the masses, he could spark a revolution strong enough to overpower an overlord.
This Ring of Origin was the first spark.
A treasure that could equalize the gap in power, skill, and status.
If he could realize this dream, he could create a countless army that even the overlords couldn't stop, that even the dark beast would retreat in fear.
Thinking of this, Maximus wasted no more time and began mass-producing a tiered-down Ring of Origin.
Limiting its power to the tier 10 realm and embedding a peak tier 10 profession, Maximus began to get busy.
Meanwhile, his family started merging another seed of law into the Source of Knowledge.
This time, instead of integrating an absolute law, they chose a seed from the River of Law.
Although it wouldn't grant Maximus another heaven-defying ability, it was faster and could accelerate the progress of the Absolute of Knowledge.
It would also allow them to enhance their abilities much quicker, becoming more skilled at integrating seeds of path into the Source of Knowledge.
Each River of Law took about a thousand years to merge, but once they became more proficient, they could move on to integrating Ocean-level and Absolute of law.
There were also the ultimate treasures.
With the Aeon Plane rules and limitation, it didn't matter how many ultimate treasures Maximus collected, he couldn't use more than three.
To bypass this, he could merge the ultimate treasures directly into the Source of Knowledge.
Not only would this avoid the usage cap, but it would also allow anyone who followed his path of law to gain partial access to the powers of those treasures.
Unfortunately, they didn't have time to spare.
At this stage, integrating seeds of paths into the Source of Knowledge was more cost-effective than using ultimate treasures or materials.
Otherwise, Maximus would've already started collecting ultimate treasures, especially those in the Virtual Tower of Trial, the collection of those overlords, and other scattered top-tier treasures across the Aeon Plane.
With everyone focused on their tasks, time passed quickly.
On the other side of the Aeon Plane, Mira, who had been searching for the spark of hope, was frowning.
Looking at the various inconspicuous cracks across the Aeon Plane, fear and uncertainty filled her eyes.
"The Dark Disaster is closer than I thought!"
Most of the powerhouses in the Aeon Plane, from the overlords and absolutes to even Maximus, believed the Dark Disaster would arrive in a few epochs or one epoch at the earliest.
But after traveling the Aeon Plane and studying these subtle cracks, Mira had come to a different conclusion.
Based on her experience across countless planes destroyed by the Dark Disaster, these quiet, almost invisible cracks were the early omens.
Judging by their number and coverage, the Aeon Plane had at most seven million years left.
Seven million years before the Dark Disaster erupted in full!
Much less the Aeon Plane, even she was not ready for this full-scale invasion.
Thinking of the spark of hope, Mira felt her heart sink; she still had no clue where it was.
If she couldn't find it in time and escape before those seven million years ran out, the entire Planar Chaotic Void Region would be doomed.
"No… I have to find it quickly!"
Steadying herself, Mira's eyes turned firm.
No matter what it took, she had to find that spark of hope before everything collapsed.
Suddenly, she thought of the Shadowcrest Family and Nero. It was time to return to the Etherium Realm.
Searching alone was too inefficient.
Earlier she thought she had billions of years, now that she only had a few million left, she needed to gather every ally she could.
With the Shadowcrest Family's power, her chances of finding the spark of hope would increase.
"I hope Nero still remembers our friendship…"
Thinking of Nero, Mira hesitated.
After the cold shoulder she'd given him, would the Shadowcrest Family even help?
Spending hundreds of thousands of years across the Aeon Plane, she knew well how fiercely the Shadowcrest family protected its own.
Treating Nero like that... she'd be lucky if they didn't cast her out.
Thinking of the fate of the Planar Chaotic Void Region, Mira pushed aside all hesitation and flew toward the Etherium Realm.
No matter what happened, she would face it.
Whatever the cost, she had to find that spark of hope.