With infinite resources at his disposal, Mike reached the Immortal King realm in what seemed like no time at all—it only took about 2 million years, which is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Although 2 million years is relatively short, Mike had expected to reach the Immortal King realm in less than a million years, perhaps even sooner. The reason for the delay only became clear to him once he finally broke through.
The Immortal King realm corresponds to Rank 11, which is characterized by a vast disparity in power between newly promoted immortals and older ones. For example, an immortal with just two complete laws is classified as Rank 11, while another with a trillion complete laws is also Rank 11. The power difference within Rank 11 far surpasses that of Rank 10.
To understand how realms and the differences of power among them work, one can use a simple analogy. Being in the same realm means having the same basics; a Rank 9 facing a Rank 10 is akin to an ant facing the sun. The two are not the same at all; they are completely different life forms. When two of the same rank face each other, it is akin to two beings of the same kind, such as two ants or two stars facing each other.
However, there can be a lot of differences even between beings of the same kind. For example, a star may be tiny, while the other is massive. A human may be a beggar, while another may be an emperor. Even though they are on the same general level, there can be a lot of power differential between powerhouses of the same realm.
This difference is steeper in some realms and shallow in others. For example, two innate martial arts masters are on the same overall level; even if they have a difference in power, it wouldn’t be to a crushing level. An early innate martial practitioner can at least run away from a peak innate master.
However, in Rank 11, the disparity in power is immense. The strength of a Rank 11 being with a trillion complete laws is so far beyond that of a newly promoted Rank 11 with only a few complete laws that they might as well belong to entirely different realms. Though technically the same rank, it’s akin to comparing a frail newborn baby to a powerful, world-conquering king with countless soldiers, palaces, and servants.
When someone advances in rank, they typically start at the initial stages. However, Mike has just broken through to the Immortal King realm, and his power already far surpasses that of an immortal with just two complete laws. His strength is so immense that he can't even measure it. He has skipped the weaker initial stages of Rank 11 entirely and now rivals a Rank 11 with billions, or perhaps even trillions, of complete laws. The exact value remains beyond his comprehension.
"I can destroy a world without trouble," Mike closed his eyes and felt the strength, intoxicated by it. He had never felt so powerful.
"Now I should get another loan!" Mike stood up and teleported away. Despite his growing strength, he remains confined to the Southern Continent, unable to leave its boundaries. He longs to escape from this world, or at least explore beyond the Southern Continent, but he cannot because Lana is far more powerful, making it impossible for him to break free despite his recent surge in power.
As for having fun and testing his strength, with Lana standing there, there is nothing more urgent than at least reaching the Immortal Emperor realm. Having fun can wait; he has an infinite lifespan and can have all the fun in the universe, that is, if he can get out of this prison Lana made for him.
...
Rachel read the test results and said to Luther, "The infinite characteristics of the Gray Realm are clearly present and growing in the Infinite Body. As expected, when we cooperate, it achieves the best result."
The many Rachel incarnations had long had conflicts about whether to have closer cooperation or to compete with each other. Only recently did the balance tip in favor of closer cooperation.
Luther said, "Exactly; it’s going as planned. A few other Infinite Bodies also broke through Rank 10; we can expect a lot of valuable data from those."
""Alright, let's see how it progresses. The testing phase should take no more than a few trillion years," she said as if it were of no consequence.
For Rachel, time is meaningless. If she wants, she can quickly travel in time to the future or even the past. There is very little a Rank 14 being couldn’t do. The only fixed points are paradoxes that gave birth to Rank 14 beings; those are protected and cannot be seen or changed. Aside from those, everything else is like drawings in sand and can easily be modified or wiped out by Rank 14 beings. Although, according to convention, Rank 14 beings never interfere with each other; each has defined territories that they alone rule.
The Creation is infinite; there are limitless charges of reality. As such, each and every Rank 14 being can have infinite charges of reality under their charge. The space and resources are infinite; therefore, there are no conflicts among Rank 14 beings.
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Why do people fight? The underlying reason, the mother of all wars, is the lack of resources. Land, natural resources, food, water, oxygen, etc., are not endless. Each side wants more, and to get more, they must fight. If resources were infinite, they could simply expand and take over ownerless resources and land, avoiding conflict altogether.
The Creation, however, for all intents and purposes, has endless resources; therefore, no Rank 14 civilization has to fight over anything.
Technically speaking, the Creation is not a true Rank 15. It is proven that it is only quasi-Rank 15; however, that distinction makes no difference. Even though it’s quasi-Rank 15, it still has endless resources.
The reason the Creation is considered quasi-Rank 15 is simple: the Gray Realm. To be Rank 15, one must be encompassing of all there is and all there isn’t; the future, past, and present of everything must fit inside the Creation if it is to be a true Rank 15. However, the Gray Realm is obviously separate and outside the Creation, which means the Creation doesn’t encompass everything, which means it is not a true Rank 15.
The Creation, as an infinity, is much larger than the Gray Realm. After all, some infinities can be smaller, while others can be much bigger, like an infinity only encompassing numbers ending with 13, while another infinity encompasses all numbers except those ending in 13. Without a doubt, one is much larger than the other; but for an infinite concept, being bigger or smaller is only theoretical. In the real world, as long as it’s an infinity, no matter how small in theory, it’s still endless and has no tangible difference from a "big infinity."
The real distinctive factor is that the Gray Realm isn’t part of the Creation. If the Gray Realm were all numbers ending in 13, and the Creation encompassed all numbers, then the Gray Realm would have been subordinate to the Creation, which means it would have been part of the Creation, and not separate at all. In that case, the Creation would have been a true Rank 15.
But, as evidenced by research results of many Rank 14s, the Gray Realm includes an infinity not included in the Creation, which means it has possibilities that are unreachable by the Creation.
The rules of the Creation do not apply in places where it has no reach. That provides an opening for Rachel, who has access to the Gray Realm, to reach quasi-Rank 15.
An infinity can be split into infinite parts and still be infinite. That means Rachel can steal the infinite characteristics of the Gray Realm and use them to reach quasi-Rank 15. Doing so wouldn’t damage the Gray Realm because, as stated above, an infinity would continue to be an infinity no matter how many times one divides it.
There can be an infinite number of quasi-Rank 15s but only one true Rank 15, which means the path to Rank 15 is too difficult. She can only do it if she completely takes over the Creation and merges it into the Gray Realm, thus recombining these two pieces that were probably once the same and were separated and divided for some unknown reason.
For the current Rachel, reaching quasi-Rank 15 is not impossible. As long as the experiment with the Infinite Body succeeds, she and her many incarnations could use it and draw from the divided infinite characteristics of the Gray Realm to officially step into quasi-Rank 15.
Quasi-Rank 15 is the realm of true invincibility; one would literally be unable to die once they reach quasi-Rank 15.
Rank 14 beings, though extremely powerful, can still die. Their weakness is their birth paradoxes; as long as the paradox is revealed, even Rank 14s could only die and disappear. Of course, the Creation itself is also a paradox; it protects the paradoxes with all its might. Therefore, the risk of birth paradox secrets leaking is infinitely small, but there is still at least a theoretical possibility.
However, quasi-Rank 15s are different. They have their own infinite characteristics, unlike Rank 14s, who rely on the infinite characteristics of the Creation or the Gray Realm. Beings with their own infinite characteristics are no longer afraid of their birth paradox exposure. The reason is that, even if they disappear, as long as their infinite characteristic remains, they can make another paradox and come back. In the process, they would have to reset their infinite domain and start all over again, but for quasi-Rank 15s, starting over is easy.
If the origin paradox of the Creation itself is somehow revealed, that wouldn’t mean the disappearance of the Creation itself. It would, however, mean that everything would have to reset, which would include the death of all Rank 14s who rely on the Creation. Only the Rank 14s who rely on the Gray Realm could survive.
But even the reset of the entire the Creation would mean nothing for quasi-Rank 15s. As beings of infinity, they can set up their own realities completely independent of the Creation.
A fight between two quasi-Rank 15s would be unimaginable. Neither side can kill or even seal the other; it would go on until one party gets tired. Of course, if neither gets tired, then it will go on forever.
An infinity cannot be sealed, not even by other infinities. This is because the energy output of infinities, whether a big infinity or a small one, is limitless; with limitless energy, all seals could be broken.
Rank 14s have a limited energy output, but quasi-Rank 15s no longer have that limitation.
For these reasons, as long as Rachel achieves quasi-Rank 15, she can ensure her own survival regardless of the situation with the Creation and the Gray Realm. In one sense, if she reaches quasi Rank 15, there is no need to advance any further.
There is only one risk for a quasi Rank 15, and that is a true Rank 15. A true Rank 15 is an infinity that encompasses and includes all other infinities. In case a true Rank 15 appears, quasi-Rank 15s would fall under its jurisdiction, and even though they cannot be killed, they would be enslaved to the all-encompassing infinity. However, these are only theories; as the Gray Realm's infinity divides further among many Rachel incarnations, putting them all back together to recreate the true Rank 15 the Creation would be harder and harder.
In fact, Rachel is more and more convinced now that true Rank 15 is really impossible. Recently, she has lowered her expectations and would be satisfied with only quasi Rank 15.
She cannot find any way to take over the Creation and become a true Rank 15, not even a theoretical one. It appears to be outright impossible, with no way around it.