“So close,” muttered Edward after finishing reading Chris’ paper on the link between the Soul Flame and the human’s subconscious. Over the years, he has developed a few methods to deal with the Soul Flame Limit.

For example, Divine Energy. He created an enchantment that converted mana into Divine Energy. However, this method was flawed, requiring a medium, primarily Divine Blood. Although he only needs a few milliliters as the medium.

He had Guzznad’s body as an experiment along with what remained of Herpo. However, Edward did not like this method since it relied too much on Divinity or even foreign aid.

The second method he created was to overwhelm the soul with too much soul energy. As long as a soul absorbs enough soul energy, an arcanist can break the limit and reach a higher tier. Unfortunately, this method also had a few flaws.

The first of which was the low success rate. An arcanist needs absolute control over his soul to succeed in this endeavor, and their soul also needs a certain level of innate toughness. The control needed for this method was too high, rendering large-scale usability impossible.

As for the innate toughness? Many people have special soul talents, and Edward created a potion to help in the endeavor. Regardless, he eliminated this method.

The other method used was a rare material discovered after the war called Soul Essence Orb. The thing allowed any race or species to break the limitations of their souls. Sadly, this resource was scarce and not enough for the entire Empire.

Edward and the Empire tried to artificially create it and 3-D print it, but they failed.

The fourth method he found was the result of his student Chloe’s research. She found a special energy in the Dream Plane that could help with the limit. Unfortunately, the final result was the same.

This energy was rare and could not be excavated in large numbers. Edward tried Energy Conversion to convert mana and other forms of energy into Dream Nether Energy, and the result was unsatisfactory.

The soul limit of 99% of humans was Tier 6. However, to create the Dream Nether Energy required for a single arcanist to break the limit and reach Tier 7, Edward had to convert the equivalent of an entire galaxy (Tier 9) worth of mana.

The Empire was already dealing with an energy shortage, relying mostly on the Dark Multiverse for their needs. So, it was not cost-effective to use Dream Nether Energy to allow people to reach Tier 7, let alone higher levels.

Edward’s fifth attempt at solving this problem involved the Multiverse. He conducted a dark experiment where an alchemist fused his soul with his counterparts in the Multiverse.

This experiment was fascinating to him. At first, there were complications with test subjects as they became crazy. However, after figuring out that the memories and experiences of the variants were different, he changed the experiment.

The souls of the variants will be purified, removing their memories, will, and consciousness before fusing with the prime variant. At first, this experiment showed positive signs that he would succeed.

Unfortunately, the Soul Flame will turn dark purple at the last moment, giving out a feeling of corruption. To this day, he does not know the cause of this change, but he also understands this might be the main issue he will face after trying to reach Tier 11.

Edward’s sixt experiment was on forcing the soul to become divine. He was not referring to Godhood or faith but more to ascending or evolution of the soul to a higher state.

In the Xianxia novels he read, the Nascent Soul would turn into the Divine Soul before eventually turning into the Immortal Soul. Mana can evolve and turn into Aether. With this idea as a foundation, he tried to do the same for his soul, which would, in turn, affect the Soul Flame.

Sadly, his method failed. He could not purify the soul like he did with mana, so his ascension method failed. He tried to nourish a soul with the power of specific rules or [Authority]. There were some changes, but nothing he could detect or observe.

According to the conclusion he came up with, the rules did not belong to him, so he could not properly use them to elevate his soul to a higher state. Ultimately, he had to stop Project Soul Divinity to return to it later.

Edward’s seventh attempt was both successful and a failure. After observing Charles’ Soul Flame and its unique time ring, he had an idea to create something similar, but not with Time Energy but with the power of Knowledge.

It’s a commonly known fact that knowledge nourishes the soul and allows arcanists to reach a higher tier. So, he thought of a method to condense everybody’s knowledge into a ring that served as burning fuel for the Soul Flame, allowing it to sublimate and break the limitations.

The research in that direction was not easy, but luckily, Edward discovered the [Wisdom Authority] he once stole from Truth in the FullMetal Alchemist Universe was very helpful.

So, after countless trials and errors, he succeeded in creating the Knowledge Ring and even made a universal method that any alchemist could use after reaching Tier 6. However, he was soon disappointed.

The Knowledge Ring did nourish the Soul Flame and allowed it to evolve to a higher level; in other words, it did break the soul limitation. Unfortunately, the process was excruciatingly slow.

After this failure, Edward was not discouraged as he saw another path to success: the relationship between the soul and the flame. They are connected, but the flame is the main source of life.

Edward tried to use the connection between them, forming a deep enough connection that would allow an arcanist to use soul energy from the soul to nourish the Knowledge Ring and accelerate the speed at which the Soul Flame evolves.

Sadly, he always felt he was missing one last link for this project to succeed. Chris’ research gave him another hint, but he still felt he was missing a few things.

“Morgana, what do you think?”

“I have nothing to say,” shrugged the little elf. She has been running millions of calculations every day with no success.

“Alright. Send Chris’ research to the History Council to see if they can do something. What’s next on my schedule?”

“You have to oversee the process of opening our borders and quickly check the Bone Council. Then, we can depart on our journey.”

“That’s good.”

Edward did not immediately leave as he had one last thing to check–whether Chris’s Will Tempering Method would work for him. He entered a secluded room in his lab before entering a state of meditation.

The process of controlling the subconscious was not a pleasant experience. Edward was forced to control the deepest part of himself, his deepest desires, the good, the bad, and the extremely evil and disgusting.

He had to accept who he was as a person and decide whether to change, whether he could even change. His subconscious also revealed many things to him.

For example, some mild experiences that do not seem important have formed his personality's core aspects.

‘I definitely had some psychotic tendencies when I was in Primordial Earth. And after coming to this world and acquiring power, they were magnified,’ he summarized as he opened his eyes and exhaled.

“How is it?” asked Morgana.

“It should allow my Willpower to finally reach 9.”

“That’s good news.”