Core Realm

Standing alone within endless darkness, a white gateway radiated an unquestionable aura of stability as it pulsed rhythmically. Its passageway was veiled behind an ethereal film of white, with spectral chains caging down this massive regal gateway within the darkness. Directly below the gateway stood an enormous plaza wrapped in a beautiful sky-blue barrier, the interior undiscernible behind the mystical energy barrier.

Alex slowly recovered his sight. Looking around him he noticed to his absolute confusion that he was floating, suspended within an infinite darkness. A darkness that seemed to be alive Alex could clearly feel the darkness inhaling and exhaling. As though constantly growing, like an ancient tree that stood unmoved within the forest.

In contrast to the darkness within the region where Alex was suspended, all else was still, void of all objects of reference and with gravity nonexistent. Alex could not tell his left from the right, or the top from below. Alex began to feel weird as he floated. He could feel that his body was breaking down at a gradually increasing pace.

Not knowing what to do to salvage it he took a deep breath and tried to connect with his soul. And as though waiting for a connection to form, a beautiful deep sea blue flame lit up on his body burning off the eroding force in an instant.

"What are you?" Alex said as he examined the warm flame flowing excitedly around him

However, there was no response. After observing for a moment Alex began to gather his thoughts

The World Rebirth plan worked. I'm sure that asshole cupbearer never expected I would end the trial by directly blowing up that entire reality. Alex was well aware from his various experiments that his soul was not strong enough to complete the second phase of the trial without taking any extraordinary measures.

So using the knowledge he recovered from his memories, he generated Antimatter and disguised it as a new power source. At the right moment after rigging the entire total of 66 completed Antimatter plants. He set them to go critical at just the right moment and within 2 minutes the entire planet self-destructed due to the fierce and aggressive spontaneous chain reaction of critical stage Antimatter.

To Alex's shock, he finally realised why the HDA banned all uncensored experiments using Antimatter. The reaction once it goes critical is so unstoppable it is capable of wiping away all signs of existence within a massive range no matter how small.

"Travis huh? Not bad not bad at all." Alex said to himself as he discovered that although the people within the trial were not real, but were a simple simulation of their existence created from the aura of their souls. Seeing as the test was constructed using 21st-century Earth as a reference, those with prominent existence within the trail must also have a prominent soul within the Earth realm.

With his only guide being the soul flame, Alex began to feel for any reactions from the flames. Soon to his delight, there was one as the soul flame drew him in a particular direction.

After what seemed like weeks of flying in the darkness, a flashing light appeared in the distance pulsating rhythmically alongside the darkness. His soul flame was drawn clearly towards the light in the distance.

He knew that was his way out. Floating within the darkness and pushed forward by pure soul strength he flew right towards the goal. Although mentally taxing he knew he had to keep moving regardless.

Meanwhile, in the Temple of Origin, the massive gateway had abruptly stopped dimming. The air within the Temple became still as the Temple Guard watched closely, bewildered at how a young human could constantly upgrade his soul flame with only the obstacles of the trial of determination.

"Could it be that his soul is a reincarnation of some expert in the past and he is just recultivating it?" the guard muttered puzzled at the unnatural occurrence.

"But his soul does not have a single trace of reincarnation or rebirth for that matter. This is getting more mysterious but let's keep watching."

While all this was going on, the now deep sea blue flame within Alex's chest had begun to spread, growing in intensity and gradually engulfing Alex's body without burning him. Alex began to float in the air gliding with the flame towards the massive gateway.

"What is going on and why is Alex still approaching the gateway?" the woman asked Felix

"I don't know why. However, it can't be a bad thing as the gateway has stopped dimming."

The both of them were unable to do anything just watching their emotions on a crazy rollercoaster.

Alex continued to float towards the light source and soon he could make out the nature of the light. A giant gateway stood behind a sphere of white light. The sphere looked familiar and he soon remembered seeing it at the last moment before he entered phase two of the trial.

Finally arriving at the gateway, Alex with his soul flame was stunned by the sight of a massive waterfall falling into the sphere from the gateway behind the sphere. It was more fog than actual water. Taking a closer look at the gateway he realised that this was the actual gateway of Ago, the true core of the trial realm.

It stood like a peerless giant chained down in darkness, still and unmoving. It stood undaunted emitting an awe-inducing aura. Spewing out what on close examination turned out to be a compressed soul essence borne from the aura of the will of all intelligent life in the myriad realms. This soul essence streamed into the white barrier unhindered.

Alex tried to see into the plaza and immediately his soul flame assisted him by igniting within his pupils a blue light that pierced into the barrier revealing a massive kilometre-wide plaza with massive temple pillars that rose from the floor of the plaza and up into the air, going higher and higher beyond what Alex could see, as though they aimed to support the very sky of the universe.

"Stop staring like an idiot." an annoyed voice said and a blue shadow flashed within his vision. A spectral creature with a cute baby face appeared on the barrier blocking Alex's view. Its eyes glowing fiercely however that only made the face look a whole lot cuter

"You can't be here it's restricted from entry," Babyface said.

"You were the one who threw me into that Abyss during my upgrade right?" Alex said looking coldly at Babyface.

"And so what are you gonna do about that, huh? You think you are some hot stuff right? Being the first to pass Phase Two of the trial by luck, huh?" the voice of the creature was simply provoking to listen to.

Alex didn't respond any more as his eyes just grew colder. He lifted his fist in response to the teasing, and as though it could not hold its excitement anymore the soul flame ignited on his fist and Alex punched at the barrier.

"Ehh, what can your puny fist do to this barrier that even Grade 8 Divine Essence Experts can't break easily? You overrate yourself...." Babyface was saying when a loud cracking sound resounded in the space, and the moment Alex's fist touched the barrier it instantly shattered.

Stunned the babyfaced spectre retreated from the barrier looking on in shock at the deep sea blue flame burning on this challenger's fist, trying to still the shock within his heart.

"So fragile," Alex said with an arrogant smile on his face. The face slapping truly felt good even though he also didn't understand what was going on with this so-called soul flame as it seemed to be overpowered.

Walking into the plaza the air turned thicker and richer. Taking a deep breath he felt his soul body being enriched by the abundant soul essence floating within this space. He tried to refine the essence but it was speedily drawn out of him by the massive pillars within the plaza which appeared to function as compressors turning the essence within the plaza solid and adding them in increasing the pillars' height.

Try as he might Alex was unable to retain even a whisp of essence in his body as the attractive force of the pillars was too strong.

"Damn it!" Alex said annoyed. It felt like he was standing in a Treasury filled with powerful equipment that he could not even use. He totally ignored the spectral baby face that was grinning behind him, gloating at his misfortune.

Helpless, Alex looked around the plaza only to notice to his dismay that it was absolutely bare save for the pillars and a small cluster of light in the middle. With no alternatives, Alex walked towards the light.

"There's nothing of interest to you there boy. Get lost already, leave through the gateway and the trial will end." Babyface said trying all it could to distract Alex from the light.

Alex did not waste his attention on the creature and walked steadily to the light as his soul flame became more excited the closer he got to it. Soon he stood before another white barrier. However, this one didn't hinder him and he stepped through it without needing to do anything.

"What!!?" Babyface was shocked, not willing to believe the Origin barrier it could not pass previously was now useless.

Excited, it flew at the barrier thinking it would let it in now. However, it was ruthlessly bounced back. Stunned it could do nothing but look on, as the filthy human bully walked towards the pedestal in the centre of the barrier.

Alex watched in awe and wonder as before him was a pristine white ceramic glazed Chinese tea cup, sitting cool upon the pedestal at the centre of the entire realm. Glowing with soothing white light pulsing rhythmically along with the entire space in the Core Realm.

On the pedestal supporting it Alex saw some text written in a language he didn't know however the next moment the text's meaning was instantly interpreted,

[We drink together, we die together. Determined to see our dreams to the very end. Now raise your glass.]

The words although put together sounded mundane, corny even. Alex could feel the undeniable power of the writer. Drawn in, he walked closer and reached out his hand to pick up the cup. Yet at the moment his finger touched the cup, his soul flame jumped onto the cup and like a fuse lit up the cup.

"Nooo!!" A pained voice tore through the air as Babyface, the guardian spirit of the gateway, screamed and instantly a massive annihilative pressure descended on Alex, threatening to crush him into nothing. This was a direct soul attack. However, the next moment Babyface was struck by severe backlash for directly attacking a challenger, its illusionary body flickering dangerously.

"What have you done!!!!" Babyface screamed with tears of despair and helplessness streaming down his face as he watched Alex from behind the barrier.

Alex puzzled as to the strange reaction from the creature, turned to see that his soul flame had entirely engulfed the cup. The next moment, he was shocked to witness the cup cracking under the effect of the soul flame and before Alex could put his thoughts in order the cup shattered to dust.