Reaching the meditation room triggered some of the most profound relief that he had ever felt in his life. As he settled down in meditation, he entered the inner world of his Dao and soul.There, the state of his body did not matter. A galaxy of insights swirled around his mind from his battle and his Dao upgrade.
As he went through them, he began to build a cohesive picture of who he was, and what he wanted to be. He was a defender, an avenger, an arbiter. But first and foremost, he was a warrior. His path was one of blood. He had known that from the very start. However, even beyond that, his path was that of the Dao. It was his future, the entire reason for his existence. Without his Dao Heritage, he truly would be nothing.
Hours passed like minutes as he fully encapsulated what he was within his mind. His Dao resonated with his insights, and he felt his soul and body coming closer to unification. As this happened, he focused on the image of his body, whole and unbroken, that he had possessed before the battle with Jakoss. His mind slowly began to build a perfect form of himself into reality as he channeled his entire being into the Tiering process.
There were three parts to this process. To reach enlightenment, he needed to find out what exactly his body, mind and soul meant to him, and how they fitted together. His body was the easiest. His body was that of a warrior, honed through countless battles. It was the body of a relentless fighter, battling to achieve his destiny. It was marked by the scars of a millennia of war, but as fresh as the day he had been born. Of course, these images were a bit exaggerated, but the more he could tie in his future with his present, the better his overall journey would be.
Next came his mind. His mind was the seat of his mental faculties, the home of his mana and elemental power. It was where he communed with the elemental building blocks of the universe. Despite being a warrior, he had the mind of a mage.
Finally was his soul. It was the connection between him and the Dao, and his most important aspect. The body and mind were finite, but the soul was infinite. His soul was an encapsulation of who he was and where he would go in life. As the Dao Incarnation of Existence, his soul was perhaps the greatest in the Multiverse.
As the hours passed by, energy started to swirl around him creating a vortex of Dao insights and mana. His body began to rise from the ground, hovering above his meditation mat. Within though, he was far removed from reality. His body, mind and soul were undergoing an apotheosis as the trifecta began to merge into one.
Cells started to join with those beside them, turning into a substrate of mana enhanced flesh that retained all of the advantages of mortal flesh, but none of the downsides. Nubs of skin, muscle and bone began to grow from the stumps of his legs, extending downwards, before fusing into perfection as the Tiering process caught up. Block by block, cell by cell, his body was being rebuilt into something better.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Now however, was where the hard part started. His mind vanished into an infinite expanse of blackness, populated only by three figures. One shone with a ruddy red glow, representing his body. The next was a pure white in color, the representation of his mind. Finally, a rainbow colored apparition represented his soul. All three were separated by what seemed to be miles. It was up to him to connect them.
His will slammed down on the three shapes, forcing them together. They slid as if on rails, with barely any resistance. Sam raised an eyebrow, and then remembered the book saying that most people achieved the second level. Going by that logic, the lowest stage of ascension was all but guaranteed if you had even a modicum of talent.
A second later, the three figures touched, sending shockwaves through his entire being.
You have reached E Rank Ascension: Flawed!
Sam snarled at the notification and continued to push, leveraging his will onto the three figures. Slowly, they joined hands, fusing their forms.
You have reached E Rank Ascension: Average!
Sam gritted his teeth, and continued to push. As he did so, pressure began to build around him. It felt like a mountain was slowly being lowered onto his head. His breaths came shorter now, and he began to grunt as pain tore through his body. The merged hands slid further and further, until each figure was fused up to their shoulders. At this point, Sam was fighting to concentrate, but he was far from done.
You have reached E Rank Ascension: Greater!
He knew that he could continue going, and so he did. The weight of a mountain turned into that of something beyond the scope of mortals, something akin to an entire tectonic plate pressing down on his body, mind and soul. The weight was staggering, and the pain immense. As the multicolored hue of fusion continued, he felt his body back in the real world beginning to come apart. Blood ran freely from his orifices, painting his clothes red. By the time he had connected the figures to the point that all three were able to touch one another, his flesh began to tear.
You have reached E Rank Ascension: Profound!
At this point, he was butting up against the limits of his mortal willpower. The weight of planets crushed him into the ground like he was a speck of dust, as if he was challenging the universe itself to a fight. Slowly, his being began to crumble. First his flesh, hairline cracks spreading across it. Those cracks widened, and with a symphony of pops and wet squelches, his entire body came apart. He could finish now, and have an ascension worthy of legend. However, he knew that he lay somewhere beyond that.
His Mantra cast its cerulean hue throughout his being, allowing him to draw upon its power. As the last few inches of space disappeared, the three figures slotted together into one cohesive whole. The longer he held it, the worse the pain got. If not for his thresholds and stats, his body simply would have given out long ago. Then a surge of energy rushed through his being, and he grinned.
You have reached E Rank Ascension: Perfect!
He began to shine with a brilliant light as his last few cells joined as one. His legs extended fully, and at that moment, he became one with himself. Transcendent insight raked across his mind, but unlike with thresholds, it was euphoric rather than painful. For the briefest of moments, he felt like a part of the universe.
A nova of energy exploded outwards, passing through the walls of his house and out into the city. His eyes snapped open, blazing like stars in the night sky. He had become something more than mortal. Now, he was Enlightened.