Note: Chapter 82 isn’t missing, it’s a placeholder for author notes.

An endless road stretched towards the horizon. Where did it begin? Where did it lead to? Zyrus didn’t know the answer the first time he was here. Now, he could guess what lay at the end of this path: Void.

What he was standing upon was his source of existence and origin, a white crystalline road that showcased his past life like a memory film. He had to admit that he was awed by it the first time, and now it was even more perplexing.

He had no idea about what to do in this place. He did recall some forgotten memories about the second ring, but this place was supposed to be his source of origin. There were better things that he could do here.

Since he didn’t know how to access this place whenever he wished, he had to use every moment here to improve his strength.

‘I don’t even know how long it’s been,’ Zyrus sighed as he walked forward. As much as he wanted to practice his void skills here, he couldn’t.

This was a metaphysical world. Walking, standing, breathing, every action he performed consumed his mental energy. As a mage his mental fortitude far surpassed his current level, but still, even he had his limits.

If he did any strenuous exercise here then he would be kicked out like the last time.

‘Well, it’s a good way to train my willpower,’

That wasn’t the only reason why he kept walking. Was this really an endless road? He didn’t think so. Perhaps it was so far that he couldn’t even see it right now. Just because an ant couldn’t perceive the stars didn’t mean that they didn’t exist. This situation was similar.

‘Feels great to take a breather…’

Zyrus rarely had the leisure to think about such things. Since he had cleared the first ring, he and every player who cleared after him would receive a much-needed vacation.

This was a reward given to the victors of the first ring. For one month, they could eat, sleep, and relax as much as they wanted inside the temple of order.

The temple wasn’t a part of any ring. It was a mysterious region that rewarded players for their efforts. Bloodline evolution, Class upgrades, and many such essential services were given at that place.

‘Even in my past life, I didn’t know much about it.’

As Zyrus walked ahead with deep thoughts, a sudden change took place in his surroundings. There was nothing but endless darkness beside the road.

But now, faint lines emerged on both sides.

‘No, they’re not lines.’

Zyrus stopped moving and looked at the darkness with wide eyes. His blue scales were trembling with excitement as more and more lines appeared in his sight. The scene was both familiar yet unfamiliar.

‘Paths similar to the one I’m walking on…’

The reason he thought 'similar' was because unlike his path that stretched to the horizon, the other paths were broken in the middle.

“Hahaha.. to think that there are so many who embarked on the same journey,” Zyrus was filled with joy at this unexpected encounter.

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What was the source of origin? What was its relation to laws? Zyrus had many such questions after he released the strike against Aiden. He had barely grasped a trace of void laws, and yet, it granted a power that was hard to believe.

He had a guess that shouldn’t be far off from the truth. If what was on the end of this path was the origin of void, then it was logical to think that the further he walked on this path the more powerful he’d become.

It should be the same for the other roads around him. Unfortunately, their paths were broken in the middle. Their paths should be their source of origin, the medium that connected them to the origin of void.

Countless rivers led to the same destination. And just like how many streams converged into a river, the many rivers would converge at the ocean as well.

“Huu..I have a long way to go,” Zyrus plopped down on the path with a sigh.

He knew that long was an understatement in this case. He unconsciously made a breakthrough in his last fight, but even then, he barely understood his own source of origin.

His source, or the path he was walking on, was connected to the origin of void. He had to completely control the source he had before anything else.

‘That aside, could I absorb them?’ Zyrus eyed the broken paths around him with curiosity. He was sure that this place had nothing to do with cube or system. In his eyes this place was like the manifestation of nature’s laws.

And if that was the case and they were going in the same direction, then shouldn’t their paths converge? The path everyone took to reach the origin should be unique, but it didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be an overlap. This also opened a grim possibility: Others more powerful than him might have the ability to plunder his source of origin.

‘Whatever, it’s not like I can do anything about it,’

Instead of worrying about others stealing his power, he might as well ste- Ahem, inherit others' sources.

As if resonating with his desire, the lines around him started to flash with a milky white brilliance. It was in stark contrast against the otherwise dark background.

Numerous will fragments floated towards his path. Zyrus instinctively sensed he could only select one of them. It wasn’t an easy decision as there were more than a hundred paths that responded to his will. His mental energy was limited, so he didn’t have the option to probe them one by one.

‘First of all, let’s ignore the faint and short roads,’

He guessed that the intensity of light should be related to his overlap or compatibility with the source. As for those lines that were shorter than his own source of existence, there wasn’t much he could learn from them. There was a chance that what they learned in their limited lifespan was valuable, but that wasn’t worth the risk.

Only a dozen wills were left after this round of elimination.

Zyrus had no choice but to approach them one by one. This was a golden chance to gain insights on the origin of void. Each and every one of them had their unique comprehension, and if he wanted to reach the end of his road, he couldn’t just copy them.

It was best to take reference from their insights and further improve his knowledge. In a way this encounter was much more useful than getting skills and equipment.

Zyrus probed them one by one and saw fragments of their life. A captain who died after defeating 1000 enemies, an ascetic monk who died of old age, a demonic beast that was killed in a dimensional storm…

He was surprised by how weak some of them were. He once again realized that reaching the origin of void didn’t just depend on strength. He was sure that he could wipe out all 100 of them if he was at his peak. And yet, he didn’t know a thing about laws and concepts before his regression.

‘Only these two are good enough.’

Zyrus gave up on the 10 or so white fragments and held his gaze on two orbs. His mental strength was limited, and it was even more so for these remnant wills since their owners had died long ago.

They would slumber for eternity unless someone resonated with them just like Zyrus did.

‘A sky-swallowing whale and a martial arts cultivator.’

Since he focused more on the two, he could see more of their memories. The sky-swallowing whale was frighteningly powerful. True to its name it could literally swallow the sky itself.

Even a faint memory of it was full of power. It was as if someone had used an eraser in the sky to remove a part of it.

‘Still, I’ll have more chances to obtain traits and skills from monsters.’

Zyrus decided to not use the sky swallowing whale. He observed the martial artists’ memory but compared to the whale, this man was much weaker in comparison.

However, Zyrus was more interested in the systematic knowledge. Monsters used their skills by instinct, whereas most humanoid creatures relied on a gradual learning process. Unless the power gap between them was too high a human would have better comprehension than a monster of the same strength.

Of course, it was a different case for truly powerful creatures.

‘Here goes nothing.’

Zyrus clenched his fists with determination and sank his will into the last orb.