Ash floated alone, cross-legged in the boundless void of his inner cosmosâa realm of infinite rose-pink expanse where galaxies swirled in silent harmony, nebulae blooming like living thoughts, and the distant hum of creation itself pulsed like a quiet heartbeat.
After mentioning the Lower Dimension, he had done well by explaining all he knew.
One, the Lower Dimension was what held all Universes like a houseâvast, containing, yet merely a foundation.
Two, Cosmic Overlord was not the peak nor was being a progenitorâthe words lingering in memory as he sent them away, their auras fading into the cosmos like departing stars.
Of course, they would become his and so would their clans... Who in their right mind would deny such things.
They wouldâve been sold on him even without him being desire perhaps... just cause his strengthâthe raw, indefinable pull that bent wills without force.
It was obvious he held power above them, something they all dreaded which was just icing on top compared to the man himselfâthe warmth in his smile, the paradox in his gaze that made eternity feel intimate.
Before coming here, he took time to be with each of his women individually, something long overdueâmemories warmed him.
Quiet nights under the stars with Niaâs intense embraces...
Vaeloriaâs gentle surrender melting into his touch, Serisâs playful defiance giving way to devotion, Yonnaâs teasing bites softening into tenderness.
Sonnaâs soothing melodies calming his soul, Ravenâs eerie whispers claiming him forever, and Katherine and Summerâs laid-back warmth turning into quiet passion, along with a few others, all stayed vivid in his mind.
After hanging out with Thalion and the Twins for a whileâstrategic talks mixed with brotherly banter, storms, and calculations shaping future plansâhe made his way here.
He didnât give them any orders or anything like that; their freedom was total, his trust in their paths unwavering.
By now, they were more than capable of setting off on their own, something Ash would never stop them from doingâin fact, he encouraged it.
After all, how dull would it be to miss out on the wonders of the multiverse?
The thought brought a faint smile as he steadied himself.
Heâd just learned who would be receiving their reward firstâand it was Sonna.
The news caught him off guard; heâd honestly expected Nia to fight tooth and nail for the spot. But she wasnât ready to give her love to anyone but Ash.
As for the others, they knew their conquest was far from over. They preferred to keep spilling blood and carving their own paths, the fire in their eyes promising legends yet to be written.
That left Sonna, perhaps the gentlest and sweetest of them allâher calm harmony a soft contrast to the storm.
She had no love for war, conquest, or fighting, only stepping into it for Ashâs sake, something he understood well.
So, she chose to bear the first heir to Originat and Primavus, though only after Ash emerged from seclusion.
Yet for countless reasons, it was something he had long dreaded.
The main issue was that heâd be out of commission for quite some time. Even though he had methods to speed up his cultivation, there were just some things that couldnât be rushed.
"Boohoo, letâs get started already." Elysia said as she appeared in front of him in her full form.
"And start with me first, Iâve been dying to try these new abilities."
Ash chuckled, shaking his head, the sound warm in the quiet void.
"As you say, my lovely spirit.~"
He pulled up his status, now filled with an impressive array of new functionsâthe interface unfolding in rose-gold script before his eyes, vast and intricate.
The first change was the Nexus Fusion Forge.
Before, he could only fuse talents... but now? He could fuse anything, with no limits or restrictions.
Next was the Resource Fountain, capable of generating anything he or the user desired.
While not particularly useful for him, it would be invaluable to those around him and his clanâthe thought bringing a quiet satisfaction for their growth.
He could place an infinite number of these fountains, each producing whatever was wished for.
Of course, there was still caution; creating something for instant maximum power could cause one to implode. There were workarounds, though... ones that might or might not be discovered.
The other additions felt âminorâ to him. Anyone connected to the Sub nexus would have their growth multiplied by 200 and shared with him. Elysia could also now shift into multiple forms.... The list was full of subtle yet impactful enhancements.
Perhaps the most overpowered, however, was the Omni Potential Mapâan evolved version of the Map of Existence.
It let them map out every possibilityâevery future, past, and "what if" within his mana sense. The sheer scope was overwhelming, even offering fleeting glimpses of higher dimensions if he chose to look.
For now, it was limited to the range of his mana senseâa restriction he planned to overcome soon.
In the end, she had become even more irreplaceable and overpowered, which in turn made Ash the sameâtheir bond stronger than words could express.
"Itâs actually perfect that I can combine anything now. Itâll make it easier for everyone to attain true conceptual existences."
Currently they all were indeed conceptual existences, but they were many parts of different concepts.
Something that the Nexuses and Elysia had already marked as a red flag... However, if he combined them, he could truly create a new existence for them.
He turned his attention inward, having perhaps undergone the most profound change of all.
At this point, neither he nor Elysia could find the right words to define him.
They only knew he was far beyond a mere Conceptual Existenceâhe had long surpassed that stage.
Desire had already been on the path toward Wantlessness, then stepped beyond Hollowness along that same road. Now, in this moment, he carried the conceptual essence of every lover and companion, from Vaeloriaâs Sword to Thalionâs Mind.
He was truly an anomaly, yet the perfect embodiment of the Primavus Origin, with the void around him softly resonating in agreement.
Without delay, he beganâthis time, the early part of the process would be brief thanks to the codex, though he understood evolution was not something to be taken lightly.
Summoning the Codex and channeling Authoring Potential, he began to write.
"And so, all conceptual existences that form the Primavus Origin will effortlessly merge, blending into the most favorable outcome."
HUMMMM!
The void reacted in an instantârose-pink energy surged from Ash in radiant waves, lighting the cosmos like dawn shattering endless night, his figure wrapped in a shimmering cocoon of pure potential that formed in the blink of an eye.
Across its surface, visible threads wove together: consuming flames blending with gentle melodies, untamed blades balanced by measured precision, chaotic storms settling into destined starsâall folding inward in a quiet, breathtaking harmony.
THUM!
The cocoon pulsed once, a heartbeat of infinite becomingâthen shattered in an ethereal burst, its fragments dissolving into motes that drifted like falling stars.
Ash appeared more otherworldly than ever, his pale skin glimmering with constellations that drifted like living ideas, hair flowing like streams of indescribable light.
His presence was immense yet personal, the space around him subtly curving in silent respect, as though reality itself recognized his rise.
"Oh?"
Elysia and Ash spoke in perfect unison, their voices blending seamlessly as her eyes lit up with delight. A rush of shared knowledge surged through them, ideas unknown in the Lower Dimension unfolding in their minds like a forbidden sunrise.
"Trans-Conceptual Existences?" Ash murmured, eyes closed as he let the truth sink inâits weight profound, new paths taking shape deep within him.
This wasnât without cause; he had just begun walking the road toward becoming one himself.
He had started down this path the moment he moved beyond mere Conceptual Existence, though at the time he had no idea what he was or what he was becoming.
Back then, all they knew was Wantlessness, without any deeper understanding.
Now, he saw that he wasnât walking just one path, but three.
Wantlessness covered every kind of desire in the Lower Dimension, and maybe even in the Middle.
In this state, wanting simply ceased to ariseânot that he wouldnât desire, but that he was the void into which all striving concepts flowed and lost meaning.
It was a state where he would not "want" anything yet have it.
The second path, Eternal Severance, embodied all his concepts of destruction and ending.
It was a state where all continuance refused to exist, ensuring opponents a true deathâno immortality, no power of equal level, nothing could save them from ceasing entirely.
Lastly came the path of Trans-conceptual Paradoxical Dominionâa state where dominion denied dominion itself. It encompassed concepts of Fate, Truth, Falsehood, Mind, and countless others.
Now normally one would have to actually cultivate these paths and actually change as this was no mere higher state of power... but the complete fundamental change of their existence.
Something Ash, he would soon learn.
Of course, he had no intention of cultivating these things at all... why should he bother?
"And so, the Primavus Origin reached the final stage of each pathâsimultaneously, effortlessly, and without a single mishap."
The void responded with profound silenceâthen a surge.
HUMMMMMM!
Rose-pink essence burst from Ash in cataclysmic waves once again, lighting the cosmos like the dawn of creation itself.
His form was wrapped in a vast cocoon of pure transcendenceâimmense and swirling with layered paradoxes: flames of severance that consumed yet renewed, voids of wantlessness brimming with infinite abundance, and realms of paradox both asserting and denying their own rule.
THUM!
THUM!
The cocoon pulsed in rhythmic heartbeats of fundamental change echoing across the inner cosmos, galaxies trembling in sympathetic resonance, nebulae blooming and fading in cycles of ending and dominion.
This time, things didnât happen in an instantâtime drifted like a slow, steady river.
A thousand years passed within his inner cosmos, and through it all, Ash kept transforming into something the Lower Dimension had truly never witnessed before.
The cocoon shifted through phases: first consuming all desire in a silent void, then cutting off all continuance in waves of absolute finality and finally claiming a paradoxical reign where order and freedom existed side by side in perfect contradiction.
Elysia stood in quiet awe, her form aglow with shared resonance, eyes widening as the cocoonâs surface split with rose-gold light, its essence swelling in a final, perfect harmony.
CRACK!
FWOOM!!!
Then it burst... its fragments fading into timeless motes that scattered to seed new stars in the endless void.
Ash emerged reborn, and if anyone other than Elysia had been near, his presence would have felt both immeasurably vast and deeply intimate.
His form radiated pure ethereal transcendence.
To Elysia and those bonded to him, his true appearance was revealedâalabaster skin alive with shifting constellations, black and rose-pink tattoos sprawled across his torso, and eyes that had shed their dual tones to become the pure white gaze of the first dawn, swirling with essence.
His wings had grown even larger, his height now towering at nine feet, framed by long white hair and his usual striking beauty.
For those unbonded to him, however, his form was far less clearâappearing as a silhouette of pure void, etched with glowing dark purple and pink runes.
In that moment, he was the embodiment of a complete Trans-Conceptual Existence, walking three entirely different paths at once: wantlessness, eternal severance, and paradoxical dominion.