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Upon the high platform—

"Did he just cross that threshold?" Shion's heart stirred as he saw this scene. His expression showed surprise, but soon gave way to a gentle smile. Thinking for a moment, he decided to project his voice directly toward the distant arena.

"Atoms are the fundamental building blocks of this world, from the tiniest blade of grass to the galaxies in the universe, all are composed of atoms. The biggest difference between a Saint Seiya and an ordinary person lies in the Cosmos! The Cosmos is the very source of Saint Seiya's power."

"Legend says that at the beginning of the universe, everything existed as a single infinitely dense point. After countless explosions, it gradually expanded into what we know today..."

"From a microscopic perspective, a person, a dog, a blade of grass, even a lump of dung, a single cell, is like an independent universe. The abilities of Saint Seiya are said to originate from the explosions of these internal universes. By igniting the universe within, they unleash world-shattering power, capable of punching through the heavens and stomping cracks into the earth."

Amidst the void, Jiang Chen trembled in awe as a calm yet ancient voice rose. It seemed like an explanation, or perhaps a teaching. At the same time, a power from the unseen realms began to pull him, weaving him into the fabric of the starry sky.

Jiang Chen's heart moved. He instantly understood what was happening. It was clearly Shion's voice, guiding him into comprehending the power of the Cosmos.

He didn't resist, instead, he followed Shion's power and let himself spread across the vast starry sky.

The Milky Way stretched through the void. One star after another shone across the heavens, dreamlike and surreal.

Jiang Chen's consciousness seemed to completely merge with this starry expanse.

Here, there was no time, no space—

Nothing.

Only the eternal starry sky.

"Search for that feeling. Let your power gather and recreate the Big Bang."

Amidst his comprehension, Shion's gentle voice came again.

"Search for the feeling?" Jiang Chen pondered silently as his awareness reached out to the entire cosmic expanse.

Time continued to pass unnoticed.

In the outside world—

Jiang Chen's body was moving purely on instinct now.

"Boom!"

Another figure was blasted backward. The next fallen opponent made the rest hesitate, they dared not take a single step forward.

Jiang Chen then sat cross-legged.

He was completely immersed.

…

Meanwhile—

On the other arenas, the combat only grew fiercer.

Arena Number Eight.

Shaka's aura soared. In that moment, the Cosmos around him began to burn rapidly. The massive galaxies within his body started spinning violently under the influence of his terrifying willpower, unleashing a flood of immense energy.

"Boom!"

The sky seemed to turn pitch black.

A powerful Cosmos engulfed the entire sky.

And behind Shaka, a vast illusory constellation slowly began to take form, the Virgo constellation, formed by countless stars.

At the same time, high in the heavens beneath the pitch-black sky, an even larger Virgo constellation appeared slowly, reflecting it.

At the peak of the Sacred Mountain in the Sanctuary, the Virgo Temple.

"Boom!"

The Golden Sacred Cloth burst with a blinding golden light, instantly piercing the sky, resonating with the Cosmos radiating from Shaka's body. Golden light blazed brilliantly, covering more than half of the starry sky, gentle yet carrying an edge too sharp to gaze upon directly.

On the high platform—

Seeing this scene—

Pope Shion and Aris both couldn't help but brighten up.

"Your Holiness, it seems the Sanctuary is about to give birth to a new Gold Saint ahead of schedule."

A warm smile spread across Aris' gentle face. For the Sanctuary, the ascension of each Gold Saint undoubtedly meant a leap in its overall power. And this wasn't even the beginning of the main plot. Even in the previous era, or the one before that, the significance of a Gold Saint had always been tremendous.

"Aris, that's not just one Gold Saint," Pope Shion chuckled softly, his gaze drifting toward two other arenas not far away.

"Not just one?" Aris looked puzzled, but instinctively followed his gaze—

And in the next instant, his pupils widened sharply.

Because right then—

The starry sky changed again.

This time, it was Sage and Aiolos.

In the midst of battle, the Cosmos around both of them also began to transform. Their Cosmos burned brightly, triggering a resonance with the constellations. They began to respond in unison.

Two more golden beams of light erupted almost simultaneously, illuminating the entire galaxy, forming a tripod with the Virgo constellation.

Two dazzling golden lights soared straight up from the Gemini and Sagittarius temples within the Sanctuary's sacred mountain, flooding the galaxy with a radiant gold.

"Gemini... and Sagittarius?" Seeing the two new beams of light, the excitement in Aris' expression deepened.

Virgo.

Gemini.

Sagittarius.

All three were among the stronger Gold Saints within the Twelve and now, three top-tier Gold Cloths were responding together. This signified that in the near future, the Sanctuary would give birth to three new Gold Saints.

Three! That meant three Gold Saints.

For the Sanctuary, this was nothing short of monumental.

While Aris was immersed in his excitement—

Shion's gaze passed over the others in different arenas, then landed back on Jiang Chen.

"Still can't trigger Libra's light?" Shion murmured inwardly and then gently shook his head. Jiang Chen, also from China, had given Shion the hope that he might awaken the Libra constellation. Even though the Libra Cloth wasn't currently within the Sanctuary—

Merely triggering a response would have been enough.

But whether it was because Jiang Chen had only just begun to comprehend the Cosmos, or due to some other reason, he had not awakened Libra as Shion had hoped.

Still, Shion merely shook his head. He didn't dwell on it.

There were still more than ten years before the Holy War. There was plenty of time for the Saints to grow stronger.

There was no rush.

The imminent rise of the three Gold Saints was already an incredible boon to the Sanctuary.

But just as he was shaking his head—

"Hm?"

As if sensing something, Shion let out a soft hmm, and his gaze instantly returned to Jiang Chen.

And at that very moment, on the arena—

Jiang Chen remained seated with his eyes closed. But his surroundings had completely changed. Everything around him seemed to dissolve into pure void.

Inside his mind, he was utterly immersed. Shion's words continued to echo repeatedly in his thoughts and within his body, a world-shaking transformation had begun.

First, a singularity emerged—

Then, matter composed of ultra-high-density, high-temperature, and high-pressure properties appeared, uniform and isotropic. This matter immediately began to expand and cool rapidly.

Eventually, amid this expansion and cooling, an explosion occurred.

"BOOM!"

A terrifying roar erupted within his body.

The intense explosion caused the internal temperature and density to drop rapidly. As the temperature cooled, atoms, atomic nuclei, and molecules began to form, then combined into ordinary gas.

The gas began to condense into nebulae, and the nebulae gave birth to all kinds of stars and galaxies. At this moment, Jiang Chen's consciousness began to elevate rapidly.

A brand-new force was now being born within his body—

The power of the Cosmos.

The training of the Cosmos typically had two main stages:

The first stage was creating a Big Bang within one's body, allowing the birth of one's personal Cosmos. Once this was achieved, one had basically comprehended the Cosmos and could be recognized as a candidate Saint.

To become an official Saint, one must go a step further—

That is, to transform the Cosmos within their body into a power linked with their own unique constellation. By building their Cosmos around this Constellation Power, they can then awaken the Sixth Sense.

Once this step is achieved, one is officially recognized as a true Saint.

At this moment, Jiang Chen had already completed the first step—

His inner Cosmos had been born.

Next, he could choose to pause here or continue to comprehend the Cosmos and refine his own constellation. He could use his perception to sense the constellation most aligned with his being.

"Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces…"

Thoughts spun within his mind as Jiang Chen considered which one to choose. Since he had the chance to choose, he naturally preferred to go for one of the Twelve Gold Constellations.

Sure, in the original manga, the Bronze Saints were the main protagonists, but that was a special case, not the norm. The true symbols of mastery were still the Twelve Gold Saints. Just look at Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas for confirmation.

His thoughts flowed.

His perception spread outward ass he tried to sense which constellation he was most naturally attuned to. Although he had his own personal preferences, if the affinity was high, he would prioritize compatibility.

After all, only a high affinity would allow his Cosmos to grow more swiftly and steadily.

Without such compatibility?

Not only would he be unable to gain the approval of the Gold Cloth, but his Cosmos would also struggle to advance.

But in the middle of his perception—

The next moment, his expression showed a flicker of confusion.

"What is this…?"

A strange look appeared in Jiang Chen's consciousness.

—

(End of this chapter)

PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-23)!"