"Password: six octillion one hundred three septillion seven hundred and seventy-two sextillion three hundred and thirty-one quintillion four hundred and forty-eight quadrillion nine hundred and fifty-five trillion three hundred and forty-two billion one hundred thirteen million eight hundred and fifty-three thousand two hundred and eleven"

There was another comment.

"Password? To what?"

John felt like he had discovered a huge secret. He just had no idea what this password was for.

His soul shattered as he scraped away more layers of it.

Since he recorded the entire process using cerebium. He saw that there was actually a hidden message logged in the data.

Not enough authority!

Please enter password:

But there wasn't a place to enter a password. It was just a complicated mesh of data. But John wouldn't give up so easily.

He repeatedly shattered his soul as if the pain was nothing.

Every time he found the same message.

He looked at the recording hundreds of times.

He slowed it down a thousand times. He then found an instant of a input field.

"That's it!"

John scraped the first layer of his soul off. Right when it was about to shatter. He entered '6103772331448955342113853211' as the password.

He missed the timing by a millisecond.

So he tried again.

Again.

Again.

After a thousand attempts, something different happened.

Password accepted!

Admin access granted!

His soul opened up like a flower blooming.

It broke into nine separate layers.

"This is..."

John was shocked.

Ranks are ranked 1-9.

And the 'impossible' rank 10

John looked at the internal logic here. He found that this explained the birth of supreme beings.

Mortals going up the ranks often use brands that point to another existence.

But then you might wonder... where do these existences get their power from? The answer is. They are often born with it.

The key to their power is their law.

But the real key lies in the soul. In their comprehension.

John had found a secret in his soul!

Each layer of his soul could be a rank in itself. There was still a problem. He lacked data on the ranks. He only had data on brands for rank 1 and 2, and fragments of rank 3.

But things were different now. He could maintain the connection between his concept and himself.

John began to edit the properties of his soul.

Soon it became unbreakable and eternal once again.

He also had it be permanently connected to his concept. But it was a hidden connection. Other existences wouldn't be able to trace it back.

His soul was no longer ordinary. He was also able to edit it as easily as breathing. He noticed besides the nine layers of the soul. There was a orb in the middle of the soul.

John checked this orb and recorded it using his device.

"This is some sort of connection object."

John traced back the connection of this orb.

He then found that it connected to his will.

But the connection didn't end here.

He traced it back to the source.

He was shocked to find something even less tangible then 'will'.

It was his existence itself!

A true existence.

Something he had stored in the cosmic order.

"This whole time, I've been doing things wrong. Trying to imitate those supreme beings or the methods they have prepared for other mortals. I am not a mortal. I must not allow myself to fall into such a trap. Even if I modify their methods and make them my own. Even if I point my brands to Emflowcreagen. I am wasting my potential."

John kept looking at the link between his existence and the orb in the center of his soul.

He used his concept to burrow into this orb. He infected his existence with his concept.

Initially, when he fused his concept with his skeletal body. There was resistance.

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There has always been a separation between the skeletal body and the original mind. Even now, the skeletal body remained inside the blue sun.

But as John infected his existence. It was as if he was truly fusing with his concept. It no longer was a weak connection.

But this started to give him some unique ideas...

His attribute panel shifted. The skeletal body also completely dissolved as John became one with his concept.

Now his rank was no longer a 'skill'. It also wasn't tied to his soul.

Name: John Destinatus

Age: 185 (21)

Rank: 0

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 25

Constitution:80

Perception:1000 (100000)

Energy:1000

Skills: ["Lvl3 Iron Finger", "Lvl3 Body Tempering", "Lvl4 Fitness", "Lv4 Meditation", "Lv3 Cultivator"]

He was however rank 0 for now. The brands he had learned weren't worthless. But his existence had been upgraded.

John went from a mortal that created a concept.

To having his existence fused with said concept.

This was a huge difference.

But he was about to do something even more insane.

Although he didn't unlock any new abilities. He had gained a new form of confidence.

He felt that even if he was in front of the rank 9. He wouldn't be seen through.

He didn't need to use runic rings anymore to fake soul. He was more then capable of faking it himself. So he began to update his calamity system. All his skills had been combined together.

Name: John Destinatus

Age: 185 (21)

Rank: 0

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 25

Constitution:80

Perception:1000 (100000)

Energy:1000

Abilities: Aura Body, Respawn, Teleport, Disguise, Detonation, Waypoint

His skills had become a supreme ability.

There wasn't levels to this ability. He retained the characteristics of his fitness level and his body tempering. His organs were constantly shielded with aura. They had also combined together. Even if he lost his heart, he could still stay alive for some time.

Another thing that changed was the template for his respawn. Now that he had a full connection with his concept. He could adjust the data in his 'will'. This meant he could make changes to his body's state upon respawn.

There was one problem though. His newly designed soul was unbreakable. To the point where a brand wouldn't be able to be put in it. So he would have to place the brands on top of it if he wanted to walk that path.

But thanks to John's 'admin' access. He was able to open the soul up like a blooming flower.

He could directly edit his soul. It wasn't so fragile anymore.

All John lacked was data. Emflowcreagen had used up a lot of power to reshape reality. It was regaining its strength because of John and Invulnis. But when John dropped back to rank 0. It caused it to lose another half of its power.

It was impossible now for John's brand to point to his concept besides being an illusion. John knew he was about to lose the chance to modify the external part of his soul soon... so he specifically carved patterns into his soul for the future. He planned for a rather... unique path.

Invulnis however was still connected through the brands. He was using the old system.

You might wonder what the difference between John's soul and Invulnis's soul was?

Think of it this way. There are many ways to have ones rank be a certain level. The most common way to transform the soul.

Just like what happened to the mortals in the trials.

But John had discovered a better method.

It was transforming your existence itself!

Not your soul. Not your will. Not your phantom body. Not your dantian. Not your sea of consciousness.

These were all different methods.

Changing your existence itself is the ultimate path.

This is why John restarted back to rank 0. He didn't plan to follow an orthodox path. He was taking his own way.

The first step to ranking up your existence itself is finding it!

What was an existence? Where was it located? How does it work?

Your existence is just your combined parts.

It is your soul, your mind, your body. All together into one thing.

But that is misleading... It is all of those things, but also none of them.

Think 'True Existence' or 'Global Existence'.

It is your source.

In regards to this. Most gods/mortals/edirtch beings. They lack a true existence.

The only reason John has one is because of his fusion with his concept.

This is something crucial to Paradox's... but is pretty much useless for everyone else.

So now we have solved what an existence is. Where is it located?

John's existence is located in the cosmic order.

He had briefly touched it through his experiments. This is troublesome. Because he needs a way to grow his existence. The cosmic order is untouchable.

He built an artifact in the cosmic order.

So what is John to do now? It is time for him to get serious.

Just like how he opened up a connection with his concept. He now needed his concept to open up a connection with the cosmic order.

Luckily, the cosmic order is a constant across all layers of reality. Even the higher levels where the supernatural doesn't exist.

Emflowcreagen left the calamity realm! It directly appeared in the cosmic order.

This was extremely dangerous. But as the saying goes, risks come hand and hand with rewards.

Emflowcreagen used its last remaining power to grab the artifact in the cosmic order. It was doing something even a rank 10 hadn't dared to do. Creating an artifact in the cosmic order was insane by itself. It set up a foundation for the future of the entity.

But John was essentially throwing away this foundation. He wished to walk a path nobody had ever walked before.

He grabbed his artifact as his existence was shot out of the cosmic order!

He had removed a cornerstone of his power. Emflowcreagen dropped from a concept into a law. It then dropped from a law into nothing.

The blue sun began to dim.

The special artifact was floating in the infinite layer of the calamity realm.

The calamity realm began to collapse.

That's right! Something John had tried to pull off since he started experiencing memory loss after fusing with his concept.

He had successfully destroyed his concept!

Invulnis felt as if he had gotten weaker.

But John's true existence had been transported to the infinite layer of the calamity realm.

His true existence was the artifact from the cosmic order.

As the various layers collapsed... other creatures were like sharks that had smelled blood. The person to absorb the corpse of a concept could likely break through to rank 9! It was unlikely, but who would pass on this chance?

Unfortunately for them. John was a step too fast.

The corpse of Emflowcreagen turned into blue light as it shot into John's true existence.

John had beforehand connected his true existence to his concept. There was no problem at all in absorbing the remains of it.

John was a extremely proud person. He thought he was quite clever. So why should he be comfortable with merely reaching the cosmic order? Who dares limit him to the pinnacle of existence?

No... He planned to go beyond it!

He was going to build a foundation like no other!

Who said concept was the limit?

John had lost the ability to manipulate his calamity system. He could use the abilities he had given himself.

But the rules he had already set in place for his will. They would continue to work.

John burned the remains of his former concept. Opening up a portal.

He saw a tiny flicker of blue flame in the infinite layer of calamity realm. This may not look like much. But it is his true existence!

The incarnation of his artifact!

He grasped it in his hand as the portal closed.

The calamity realm was no more. All creatures that happened to be in it died in an instant. Most had been working on the trials for humanity. But everyone was confused.

Those in chaotic space were safe.

"What happened to the master?"

Meanwhile John held the blue flame in his hands on his planet.

"Let's begin."