Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

"That's enough, Leoz." Hobbs nodded, "In fact, your adherence to justice makes things easier for me."

"A bottom line is a bottom line; it shouldn't be bent for personal relationships."

Li Aozi shook Hobbs' hand:

"As for the specifics of the judgment, we'll have to see the judicial ruling—Lucite, I'm preparing to leave. Will you go with me, or stay with Hobbs to catch up?"

"I'll see you off, Li Aozi. It's been too long since I've met with Hobbs."

Lucite stood up, still noticeably shorter than Li Aozi. Li Aozi pressed his hand on Lucite's shoulder, and in the next moment, they leaped through time to appear outside the Star Harbor.

"...You've become strong, and more efficient too."

Lucite watched the lines of flights passing by and communicated in the vacuum using magic:

"Leoz, you're now taller, wealthier, and more beautiful. I don't know how to put it, but the distance between us is already..."

"Estranged?" Li Aozi said.

"You're no longer like us, dear brother."

Lucite smiled, looking up and down at the porcelain-like skin and intricately crafted armor, the profound shock lingering in his heart for a long time.

—Yes, Leoz was no longer in the same hierarchy as them; it was hard even to say he was "human" anymore.

After a long silence, Lucite finally spoke:

"I hope we can be brothers for life."

"We will be friends," Li Aozi said, "That's how it is."

"You're excellent, Leoz. Having been your partner is a great fortune for me, but I believe the partners you need shouldn't be ordinary people like us without grand ambitions."

Lucite raised his hand to pat Li Aozi's shoulder but could only reach his ribs with a tiptoe.

This once-strong and tall academic star of the Catfish Tribe couldn't even reach Li Aozi's waist now—and this was only one of Li Aozi's smaller forms.

If in the complete form of the Scorching Sun Monarch, Lucite would have been vaporized at this distance.

Li Aozi knew this, and Lucite somewhat guessed it too.

Lucite lowered his hand, looked at Li Aozi, and after a brief silence, said:

"The pathway is not merely about strength; it is a transformational journey to ascend to godhood. What I yearn for is a world full of human warmth and being with people. Although Hobbs hasn't said it, you can tell from his demeanor that he's a person full of emotions."

"I understand."

"How should I put it, Leoz, I'm considerably older than you now and want to share some advice—although this road is one to leave behind human form and embrace divinity, I still hope you find your bonds to support each other along the way."

Lucite said, glancing at the television in the distance, which was airing Dialan's speech:

"Dialan is quite good, long-lived, ambitious; perhaps you could try being with her."

"Dialan has her mission," Li Aozi said indifferently, "As for descendants and family, don't worry. In a hundred years, my children will form a nation; they will all be my kin, my tools, my soldiers."

"That's too cold, Leoz. You should embrace better things—you know, you don't have to be so tense. Happiness, like love, friendship, and being moved, you deserve it all, you are worthy of it."

Lucite encouraged:

"Even if Dialan is not suitable, there's that crocodile girl by your side—uh, maybe not, she's a bit frightening. Or find others, look for friends and partners who can journey and progress together."

"Lucite," Li Aozi said, "most of my friends are dead. The few of you still around are on a different path from mine."

He paused and said:

"Honestly, once you all left me, I no longer had friends."

Though the content was chilling, Li Aozi's tone was exceedingly calm.

Lucite knew that no matter how hard Leoz tried, he could not hide the overly prominent divinity beneath his persona.

—Such is the pathway.

Mortal, beast, alien, or machine, choosing to ascend the path is a process of gradually shedding humanity to evolve into deities.

No matter how full of life and emotion one may be, once choosing to become a god, willing or not, they become highly divine.

The myths created by mortal artists are ultimately for mortals; hence, emotional drama unfolds. In reality, among the Starry Abyssal Spirits, there's nothing interesting, only cold-blade clashes, deception, and betrayal.

It's said that only the purest of Starry Abyssal Spirits can possess a rich emotional life. But now, where are there any of the Starry Abyss Divine Race left?

Once someone ascends, they become severed from humanity.

Yet Lucite did not wish for his good brother to tread the same road.

"I know this; listen—if you think you're doomed to solitude under an ominous star, that's utterly wrong."

Lucite said:

"Leoz, you're not living for anyone else. You should have your partners, and you don't have to fear them dying—everyone dies, but making new friends is just like raising pets. As long as you gain friendship, love, or passion, why care so much?"

"I can't just watch you all inevitably leave me..."

"See, I knew it—you must think that we're both going to die, so you deliberately sent us away."

Lucite laughed:

"You do seem more like a god, Leoz. But still far from a true deity."

"I won't deny it," Li Aozi shrugged, "to be honest, I'm indeed afraid you two would be too passionate and go with me."

"Relax, we never aspired for the Starry Abyss and godhood."

Lucite was much relieved:

"Leoz, frankly, compared to the Speaker, I have nothing substantial to offer you, but regarding the pathway, I do have an important suggestion."

"Please go on," Li Aozi said.

"I learned from reading... When you enter the Border Abyss, your pathway will undergo significant changes. Former knowledge, strength, and species will, under lower-tier Starry Abyss power intervention, be further consolidated. Typically, they say this adaptation process takes a long time, about 200 to 300 years."

"That is said."

Li Aozi understood his point.

In "Starry Abyss," this is indeed an unstable further sublimation phase, where every sublimation transforms former skills and specialties from fixed skills into instinctual reflexes.

In essence, this is the fusion of the pathway with oneself.

Put more mystically, it goes something like: I am the path, there is no me without the path, and outside of me, there is no path. The path is unique to myself.

Completely integrating past memories, abilities, and experiences into one's divinity, letting the cosmic system replace the body to operate, with boundless strength.

Once the integration is complete, personal power will grow at a geometric progression.

To put it simply, it transforms one's steady-point accumulation growth into a bottomless pit-like numerical beast!

This process is long—lasting over four versions!

300 years?

Xides played the [Meteor Fall Master] to level 300, and he only then completed the path foundation and self-integration!

That's not just three hundred years; it cumulates to nearly a thousand years.

"I know; there's just one way to shorten this process to less than 50 years."

Lucite raised his hand and took out a scroll from the magical space:

"Try not to share this, Leoz. This is as much as I can help you..."