Nexus Ascension: My Comprehension Defies the Heaven

Chapter 455: Going for the Tournament

The information about the Heavenly Mandate had already formed in Grey’s mind, and the results were far beyond his expectations.

[Heavenly Mandate] allowed him to enforce the rules of Heaven!

He could disrupt the tribulations of others, making a heavenly trial vastly harder for someone or dispersing it completely. He had become the ultimate gatekeeper of tribulations across the cosmos.

Grey was stunned as a golden panel opened up in his vision.

[System Warning: A tribulation is happening nearby. Please choose a command set:]

[1. Eliminate the target.]

[2. Make it harder.]

[3. Disperse the tribulation.]

[4. Make it weaker.]

[Target: Jason Arclight.]

Grey was baffled seeing this.

More and more golden panels began to pop up across his vision, signaling other distant breakthroughs. But he immediately closed them out and focused solely on Jason Arclight, who was the closest to him.

He could tamper with anyone’s tribulation no matter the physical distance. This was the true terror of the Heavenly Mandate.

”Let us make it harder,” Grey said with a cold blink.

The instant he made his selection, Jason Arclight, his arrogant older brother who was in a separate Breakthrough Bubble not too far away, suddenly had a bleak look on his face.

He was actively gathering light from the void of his Origin Core as an immortal cultivator, trying to reach the next level. However, for some inexplicable reason, the descending tribulation had increasingly become far more dangerous.

Boom! A terrifying lightning dragon shot out from the sky and crashed down toward Jason. He wore a darkened expression. He had multiple sets of defensive shields placed around him, but the instant he felt the raw power radiating from the dragon, he knew he could not block it. He could not run either.

Bzzt! The tribulation violently broke through his shields and cracked Jason’s Origin Core. A painful expression distorted his face as his physical form dematerialized into just a shining core in the void. Cracks formed rapidly around it as it visibly began to lose power. Before the damage became irreversible, Jason forcefully halted his breakthrough.

”Why?! I was just about to reach the eighth level!” Jason began to throw vile curses with a dark, furious look on his face. He was a genius alchemist of the Arclight family and a highly praised cultivator. He had firmly believed he would never fail. But now, he had completely lost.

”But wait, that is not the only thing it can do,” Grey realized.

Whenever he launched an attack, the Heavenly Mandate would take effect and burn the target’s karmic threads. Depending on how he utilized it, a single attack could travel through those invisible threads to reach others. If he set a strict condition stating, ”Everyone affiliated with this target will die,” the Heavenly Mandate would artificially raise the power of the strike, forcefully trace the karmic connections, and eliminate the enemy’s entire bloodline or faction as a result.

Depending on how it was used, he could slaughter trillions with a simple thought.

”My comprehension... it really is heaven-defying,” Grey mumbled. The Chaos Lotus that granted him this capability never failed to shock him every single time it revealed its true functions.

Now he had directly formed the Heavenly Mandate.

And not just that, his elemental transformation at the Golden Integration Nexus Realm was complete. He now utilized the three creational phases: Heavenly Fire, Heavenly Water, and Heavenly Earth.

His Domain Force, which was based on the creational power of the normal three phases, was massively amplified as a result. It was a fifty-fold increment at the very least.

The raw tribulation power was the exact bridge that connected the three heavenly elements, and together their combined abilities formed the Heavenly Mandate he possessed right now.

He had a profound feeling. He was slowly taking direct control over heavenly power. It was almost like he was actively turning into the Heavenly Dao itself.

”But to think I would be able to see the genetic limiter without crossing the Karmic Tribulation.”

But it made total sense. He had no fate, hence no karma, and zero karmic threads. Meaning, he did not need to undergo the Karmic Tribulation at all.

”I should still increase my power a bit more before undergoing the final transition into the 5th Rank.”

Since there was no Karmic Tribulation to overcome, he would simply use external means to raise his base power. With the fifty-fold increment from the heavenly elements’ unified convergence, his foundation was already incredibly high, but he wanted it to be completely failure-proof.

Most importantly, he wanted to comprehend the Chaos Source Codex more thoroughly and then materialize his evolutionary path fully without a single margin for error.

”I will finalize the path starting now.” Grey nodded and sat cross-legged. He would not move an inch from here until he was entirely done.

----

A few days later, a telepathic transmission gently drilled into Grey’s mind. It was the soft voice of his mother, Angela.

”Son, are you done? It is almost time to leave for the tournament.”

”Oh.” Grey’s eyes opened wide. He stood up from the empty air, and with a seamless movement, he warped directly outside the Breakthrough Bubble.

”It is already time, huh?” Grey spoke as he eyed Angela and Juli, who had come to pick him up.

By now, his breakthrough aura had completely dissipated. They could not sense any changes in him at all. They would know once he officially became a Saint either way, so he did not want to needlessly show off to them right now.

Acting like, ”Yeah, look at me, I am so cool, I can see the genetic limiter already,” would be highly embarrassing when his sister had already crossed the 5th Rank by his exact age. In the eyes of the cosmos, he was already lagging behind a lot. He held back a sigh.

”How was your cultivation session?” Angela asked in a warm tone. ”I know that you cultivate a path that is not the immortal path. If you want, we can help you safely convert to the Arclight Immortal path that your grandfather left behind for us.”

”I agree with Mother. You should turn to the Arclight Immortal evolutionary path, brother,” Juli stepped forward and advised. ”This specific path was designed for us by Grandfather. It boosts cultivation speed immensely.”

”I will think about it,” Grey just smiled politely.

A small variation of the original immortal path... that was the Arclight Immortal path. And what they said definitely had some truth to it. This evolutionary route was highly useful to the current generation of main Arclights who carried the potent blood of Wilhelm.

But he was not a true Arclight per se.

He was not genuinely related to anyone. Not even by blood. Being the Fateless One made it a cosmic impossibility to connect him with anyone via bloodline. He merely made it look that way externally, since he could manipulate his own physical structure at will.

By cause and effect, he had zero relation to anyone, nor could they ever form a karmic thread to him. He existed far beyond the rigid concepts of fate and mortal relations. Nothing could ever tie him down.

”We will discuss this later, Mother. For now, let us head to the tournament, watch my sister win it all, and then come back to discuss my evolutionary path.” Grey was quietly curious about it too. He could perhaps take some heavy inspiration from it. One way or another, Wilhelm’s path came directly from a higher world, after all.

Angela nodded. With a gentle wave of her hand, they were instantly teleported into a giant courtyard housing a massive, sleek spaceship. The courtyard was bustling with prominent members of the Arclight family, from both the main house and the side branches.

Anderson was already there, along with Uncle David, Uncle Steven, Elder Rigard, and Elder Joseph. All the cousins were present too, alongside Jeremiah and Jason. Jason, notably, wore an incredibly foul expression across his face.

Seeing them arrive, Anderson coughed lightly, which caused the entire bustling crowd to quiet down immediately.

”Everyone, we will now depart for the Origin Planet, where the grand tournament will take place,” Anderson announced with authority. ”Board the ship, one by one.”

Everyone complied and orderly boarded the grand vessel. The Patriarch, the Matriarch, and their direct offspring, Jeremiah, Jason, Juli, and Grey, were all seated in the same luxurious VIP compartment.

Soon, the massive spaceship shot silently into the starry sky. Their next stop was the Origin Planet.