Collision

The level of condensation and the abundance of energy used during fusion would affect the quality of the core formed in the end.

This knowledge was one Alex acquired after several years of reading various forms of technique books and tales of different experts' cultivation journeys.

Patiently, Alex endured the building pressure of the trial as he calmly injected his will into the gathering core. Although his will was not inexhaustible and relied on the soul core to be produced, the amount he could apply to a single object was limited, as his soul core needed a lot of soul essence to generate more will.

This was not a problem for Alex, as he was not thinking of anything else and focused his entire attention on the beautiful core.

At this point in the fusion, the core had become similar to an egg floating in the ocean with a purple ethereal yolk and milky white-like sectors.

Soon, Alex noticed his focus was fading like a mist had flooded his mind clouding his thoughts. Strangely, Alex noticed that the larger the milky white-like area around the purple yolk of the core grew, the more clouded his mind became.

'Could it be...'

Alex thought. However, the procedure for fusion had already begun and could not be stopped midway. The mental energy surrounding the core had interfered with the clarity of Alex's consciousness causing him to zone out and enter a state of unawareness.

Strangely, the condensation process began speeding up, as he became unconscious.

The inner 'yolk' seemed to gain a spirit and began to pulse as it sped around the barrier, absorbing the compressed mental energy from it.

Taking in more and more mental energy, the core spun around the barrier, drawing closer to the barrier like a planet on a collision course with its star.

Although the core had not yet turned comet-like, the speed of its rotation under the influence of Alex's will was greatly increased.

Slowly the milky white layer became thicker, as it drained the energy from the barrier and compressed it under the influence of the infused will.

Like a chain reaction, the process went on with a sense of inevitability, similar to the start of an avalanche.

From needing constant inputting of will, the core began to take the initiative by drawing in the will as the core formation process reached its critical moment.

Sucking in mental energy and will while spinning at unfathomable speeds. Step by step the core drew closer to the barrier of the sea of consciousness.

An entire hour had passed in the outside world. However, it seemed like a whole year had passed within the inner realm of Alex's mind.

The core was still spinning around the barrier, but there were now many visible changes to both of them.

The barrier which was previously a vibrant deep-sea blue colour, was now a pale blue similar to its initial state before it absorbed the abundant mental energy in the previous Ascension corridor.

As for the core itself, the milky white area was now a pale yellow jelly-like covering for the purple inner area.

The speed of rotation and the centrifugal force around the core had only grown higher, drawing the core dangerously closer to the barrier while increasing the density of the core under constant compression.

Closer and closer, the core drew to the barrier, which grew paler and paler as the suction of the core became more aggressive the closer it became.

Boom

With a loud, echoing boom within the inner space. The core in a bid to complete the highest level of fusion possible slammed into the barrier chasing the source of the will it needed into the Sea of Consciousness.

Breaking into the Sea of Consciousness like a meteor, the core streaked violently across the sky of the frozen sea, charging unerringly at the massive pillar of ice in the middle of the sea.

Crash

Within the same second it entered the sea, like a baseball shot from the fingers of a pro player, the core slammed violently onto the central glacier heading for the soul core embedded in the Cup of Wills and thereby breaking the entire ice encasing it.

The moment the ice was shattered, the entire sea trembled violently as the cup of wills escaped the ice seal.

A dazzling soul flame appeared from within the Cup and began to melt the entire massive central glacier, releasing streams and streams of pure soul essence which was vigorously refined into will by the soul core embedded in the Cup of Wills.

Meanwhile, the core still aiming for a perfect fusion, released its attractive force trying to draw the soul core from the cup's hold and fuse with it.

And so a strange contest began between the newly formed, unsolidified mind core and the soul core embedded in a powerful origin treasure.

With one drawing in every last drop of mental energy and will from the entire surrounding like an all-devouring dragon.

And the other consumed the massive ice blocks of the compressed soul essence converting it into wills, as it fought back from the midst of fire and ice like an ancient mythical god of elementals.

Sadly, Alex could not witness this miraculous primal scene as his consciousness was sealed into the mind core.

The battle continued for a while, as the core continued to absorb the will the soul core and Cup of Wills released in resistance.

Even while the mind core drew in the mental energy from the surrounding space, draining the barrier slowly to the point that it had turned transparent leaving faint nearly nonexistent shadows of hexes as its only proof of its presence.

Soon the free-floating mental energy was completely consumed, at which point the tides of the battle began to turn in favour of the soul core as the soul flame continued to melt the compressed soul essences.

Gradually, the attraction force from the mind core on the soul core began to fade away, reducing the resistive force of will from the Cup of Wills housing the soul core.

With the mental energy running out, the core compression and final condensation began.

Within the mind core, the purple yolk area began to contract strongly, trying to pull together the voluminous pale yellow-white-like area.

However, the contraction did not appear to be enough and after trying several times to no avail, it seemed the core formation process would fail and in the worst case, Alex's consciousness would be sealed within the inner area forever.

So like a mother nursing her newborn who just bit her nipple, the soul core began to release vast amounts of will pressing it towards the entire mind core firmly.

All the while the soul flame continued to release the pure soul essence for the soul core to convert into will, and even the Cup of Wills began to release a calming white light aiding the soul core.

Under the all-encompassing will, the condensation continued amidst the inner area's contractions.

Slowly, the massive core began shrinking from a 36-meter-wide jelly-like form to a 12-meter-wide clear yellow soft rock, then quickly to a 2-meter-wide amber-like hard stone.

At this moment, the purple inner core trembled violently and imploded instantly like a singularity forming a purple light that streamed out from that single point. Spreading its light all around the sea and beyond it. Extending into the outer space of the mental realm in a beautiful shock wave.

The core had condensed successfully.

*************************************************************

Far up in the clouds, the crimson mist-cloaked figure stood proudly. Relief and shock showed vividly on his face, no longer masking his amazement at the mortal trial challenger seated before the stone hex door in the Tower of Babel below.

"Indeed, no matter what methods one has, it is impossible to treat the greatest discovery of intelligent species like child's play. Hexes are notorious for their brain-numbing difficulty to understand."

"There is no way anyone could quickly integrate so many hexes without consequence."

He had panicked for a bit when he saw Alex speedily clearing the final doorway on the fourth floor. Even the speed at which he activated the first door on the fifth floor had alarmed him greatly.

Seeing Alex stop suddenly gave him a bit of relief, but he felt a little disappointed as he observed Alex, who sat there despondent.

"He should not have given up out of frustration. Right?"

The figure pondered as he observed the challenger below, the very one who had awoken hope within him.

Suddenly he was shocked as he failed to sense any life from Alex's body.

Alex was dead.