To avoid an unsteady foundation, Alexander decided to recover his existence before going further in cultivation than necessary at this stage. Therefore, he crippled himself.

.

.

.

Steadily breaking through the Origin Realm's peak, Alexander followed through his plan, forming an endless sea of clones inside of him. They soon departed, exploring his own world with mortal eyes.

In the meantime, Aurora told him some of Marguerite's teachings.

"Very interesting... never cared about that, but I should." Stroking his chin while gazing at the black sky, Alexander heard something quite novel, not in theory, but execution.

Tempered Goddess Marguerite was a body cultivator first and foremost. Her prowess in that regard was surprisingly high, with body cultivation being often forgotten with the lack of manuals to learn from.

Being immersed in this domain, she would of course be granted great understanding after some time. Immortal cultivation defied mortal logic. What felt natural to most was a man with a giant burly frame and great control being the perfect body cultivator.

But that was a misconception on the miracles of energies.

A man was less flexible by design. Not only so, but they also lacked a real need for pushing themselves. People often believed men to have a higher potential with their bodies, but with immortal cultivation, this was only a head start, not a higher finish line.

Taller bodies, sometimes way less flexible and with a lower speed depending on the build. After all, cultivation did not hinder speed based on frame. Taller beings are faster, but only for mortal standards. For divine standards, it was only a matter of cultivation.

Everything relied on it, therefore Alexander learned something very important from Aurora's recollections.

Because, opposite to a man's body, a woman's was shorter with more flexibility. And even with less mass, they still had a proper finish line. One that could very well be higher.

In that sense, Marguerite taught men to focus on internal cultivation, while recommending women to focus on external cultivation.

Comparing the two, the woman would be just as powerful with less surface to hit and more advantages to dodge or strike. A man on the other hand would have the same strength with sometimes less opportunities to dodge or strike while being much easier to hit.

On the other side of the coin, women's internal cultivation would be the same as men's but with less room for error in battle. A bigger body meant more space for meridians to wreck into without breaking or escaping.

'So, instead of wasting time going for a bit of both, men and women should focus on a single one based on a simple list comparing the benefits and deficits. Simple, and honestly quite peculiar. Personally, I only really focused on internal.'

Some would also say to do both meticulously. The only issue with it was time. An average talent may not have enough lifespan to perfect both, while someone with talent would obviously rush to the finish line as to avoid an untimely death.

It was simple on paper to train both, even if it took forever, but not everyone was as gutsy as Alexander in that regard. Training both meant having a lower cultivation as to avoid an imbalance by doing one fully and then the other afterward.

'Basically, I'm doing fine, but I'm sort of crazy and fearless. Aurora then should try body cultivation, but clearly she already does. But is her way truly the best? If we are easier to hit, shouldn't we actually train defenses? I guess internal is more than enough for that role. I truly get her methods, and I'm impressed by her dedication, but can she even pull it off? Even I don't know more than two external arts for the Ethereal Spirit Realm! Even weaklings as low as Dimensional Dominators don't have body cultivation methods available!'

"Hum... master."

Turning around, Alexander was all ears.

"I... Will you make me go back inside?"

Blinking a few times, he was not really sure about her meaning.

"Inside my internal world? Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I... I don't... can I not go back? Can't I stay here?"

"..." Putting his hand on her shoulder, Alexander gazed into her eyes.

She felt a warm current flow through her before he spoke.

"Aurora. What are you?"

"Huh..?" Quite confused, she still answered truthfully.

"I am your Guardian of Ascendency, master."

Seeing him nod, she then heard freezing words.

"Then you must act as one. Do you understand?"

"..."

"....."

Frankly, it was not what she expected him to say.

"I... understand..."

"Good. But why ask something so obvious? Are you scared of death? Worried that my internal world would be destroyed again?"

"No..."

"...Oh. Then what? Why ask this?"

Nibbling her lips, she faintly replied.

"Reasons..."

Pausing on her answer, Alexander slowly turned back around.

"... Alright."

'Master, even if you want me to return, I will stay by your side shoulder to shoulder. Can you really make me go back? What if I cultivate a bit higher? With teacher's methods, I can breakthrough a few times already! Even if you are a bit fearless, are you stupid?'

In the meantime, Alexander was curiously glancing around.

'The metallic floating pillar thingy is quite far... How long did Azvon run for? Couldn't he be so fast when Ahrgan attacked him? Anyways... I feel like playing around a bit. Should I run to vent or maybe try painting? I still draw stick figures at my age, I feel like trying it out to be worth a shot.' Humming as he walked through the dense forest, Alexander played with his hands behind his back, his fingers making various shapes, sometimes moving according to his rhythm.

'I also need to carefully plan my future use of [Transcend]. Firstly, I clearly can't make clones use it, which is a real shame... I feel like crying almost.'

Not only using body and soul as fuel and collateral, [Transcend] also siphoned one's very existence. Because of it, using clones would potentially fatally injure him as well.

The existence of something or someone was exactly what it said. Without it, one would most likely vanish from time and space. And not in a good way.

'Alright~ let's paint, shall we?' Laughing, Alexander flicked his wrist, a new space ring shining. Then, he realized it to be quite empty.

"Ah... fuck."

"I lost my touch... did I even take the saints' space rings? I got so used to not give a shit about resources anymore... what a dumb mistake!"

°Hey brother, by any chance, did you salvage the space rings after the fight?° Obviously asking Azvon in high hopes, Alexander heard his straightforward voice.

°Mmh... Not really, no. I forgot as well. But I think Aurora took some? Go ask her instead.°

Halting his step mid-air, Alexander spun around, facing the meek Aurora silently following him.

"So, Aurora."

"Yes..?" Her brows jumping in worry, she heard heartless words once again.

"I heard you didn't forget to take the space rings? Did you also manage to find Lu Olghun's?"

"..." She could not help a vein from popping near her temple. An eye twitching suspiciously.

"I... did. Yes, I did. Does master-"

"I want them. All of them." Extending his hand, Alexander saw her clench her fists above his palm, slowly opening them with a clear struggle. Falling on his palm were rings of all kinds of colors and appearances. Out of them, there laid a rather big one with clear damage on it.

'Let me see how much this fucker stored in a shitty space ring... logically, it shouldn't be much. Screw me for forgetting his internal world!'

Spying inside, his body jolted for a moment. He worried over some of the things discovered inside.

'If facing a velvet haired woman with white robes and a blue bracelet without understanding why, take these two pills from left to right.'

'...' Reading a note in front of each pill, Alexander frowned.

'Supreme Grade Apex Three Turns Mind Purifying Pill (Half-Fate Tier). Supreme Grade Ten Skies And Eighteen Desolations Absolute Cleansing Pill (Half-Fate Tier).'

'.........'

'I don't like this one bit... This guy was one of the strongest cultivators of Limbo. He was someone capable of stomping on the so called Great World... Yet he is so cautious of someone... This woman probably practices mind arts or something similar to a frightening degree.'

'I'll have to be careful of the other Cave Masters.'

Having digested Lu Shu's memories, Alexander managed to learn a few things more.

The Realms or how this place was also called, Great World, was a realm of multiple continents under the foggy sky. During Lu Olghun's time, the Void Family held a rather prestigious throne within it. Their patriarch at the time was Lu Olghun's father, Lu Elloyn, at the Eleutherian Realm.

After growing up, Lu Olghun claimed to have reached the Dream Dominion Realm before stumbling down into the Half-Supreme Continent. Unluckily, it was exactly during his stay that the Greater Primordial Deity pushed his luck.

Apparently, the cost of naming the continent Half-Supreme Continent was already heavy as it was. The Greater Primordial Deity allegedly lost all four limbs, all senses and was sealed as such for a few quintillion years. Just imagining it caused Alexander to shiver.

A single quintillion years was probably longer than a Dream Dominion Realm newborn's lifespan.

'Why is he so crazy? What's the point of naming a stupid piece of land this? And why were the Heavens so angry? Wait... are they angry? Or...'

'Are they also scared? If the Heavens are so powerful and indifferent, they shouldn't give a damn about some words. My suspicions of an expert enforcing those rules seems to be getting the limelight now. I dismissed this as theory, but this is getting out of hands now.'

Shaking his head vigorously, Alexander cleared his thoughts.

'Not the time. Now, I should relax a bit. After which, I will cultivate without stop until I can at least recover my peak strength. No, I will forcefully cultivate even higher! With my new talent, my old ways from the Celestial Realm and some time... a lot of time... I will destroy Limbo without a care! It's time I stop screwing around!'

"Cultivation above everything!!"

.

.

.

Deep within a sea of darkness, into the abyss of countless corpses, almost inside a new world, a seated figure. Cross-legged amidst the endless skeletons of the past.

A red aura surged slowly. This being's wrath and contempt ravaged the surroundings, turning Primordial Human remains into mere dust. This same dust soon digested inside a red ball of light, formed under a strange art.

"This deity will soon reach you once more. I will not make the mistake of old. Careless from my growth, unable to discern between proper and improper."

"The reign of the Greater Primordial Deity has only just begun!"