Prime Originator

"You're only at the first stage of Transcendence, the Preliminary Accession stage? Are you sure?" the tree spirit gave Leon a doubtful glance before it said, "But your soul quality has definitely reached the level of a Celestial Warrior."

"What's the difference between soul strength and soul quality, Senior?" Leon asked, feeling a little confused.

He was definitely incapable of exerting strength at the Celestial Realm.

"Soul strength naturally determines how much strength that can be exerted by the soul, while soul quality determines your ability to commute and comprehend higher laws," the tree spirit explained patiently.

"Soul quality is the most important aspect for any Awakener. It determines the height of their achievements. Without high soul quality, no matter how long an Awakener cultivates, they will never be able to awaken their Divine Soul and achieve Divinity."

"I see… So, that is how it works…" Leon uttered with surprise before performing a fist-palm salute and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you for enlightening this junior, Senior."

They have not talked for long, but Leon had already learned a lot. The knowledge he obtained from the tree spirit would not only save him a lot of time but also help him avoid roadblocks in his cultivation.

"Un," the tree spirit acknowledged Leon's salute before it calmly asked, "Is there anything else you would like to know?"

"There's actually quite a lot this junior would like to know, Senior." Leon scratched his head awkwardly before asking, "How strong is a Celestial Warrior? What's the difference between a Celestial Ruler and a Celestial Conqueror?"

"What's a Divine Soul? Also, Senior did not answer junior's previous question regarding the sealed world. Why did Senior call this place a sealed world?"

Leon fired his question one after another.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" the tree spirit's eye twitched slightly.

Shortly after, the tree spirit sighed and said, "Alright, let's start with your question on the sealed world. When this Saint mentioned this sealed world, this Saint was not talking about this core region but the entire planet we are situated on."

"Since you claimed to have reached the first stage of Transcendence, you should have at least flown in the sky and felt its suppressive force, no? You will eventually hit a wall once you reach a certain altitude."

"The entire force of suppression is a seal laid down by a Celestial Conqueror, and it is only the first layer of sealing. Should you manage to breach the first layer, you will find yourself in airspace devoid of gravity and wonder why that is so."

"That is because there is a second layer of sealing even further up in altitude and also far more powerful than the first layer of sealing. These two layers of sealing are the reason for a zero-gravity zone to exist in between."

"But why did a Celestial Conqueror seal this world?" Leon was confused.

"The seal is naturally to contain everything from leaving the world but also to protected," the tree spirit was not bothered by Leon's interruption and continued to explain patiently.

"A fierce battle between Celestials and Demons once broke out a few thousand years ago, which nearly destroyed the world. The current world you see today was not this big in the past but have been inflated by the shattering world—only to be forcibly contained by the Celestial Conqueror's powerful law of sealing, thereafter."

"Celestial Rulers are Celestials who have fused with a single Celestial Body, sharing their life and fate together with it like the stone golem you've seen outside. That is Celestial Earthshaker, Gaialia. Over time, Gaialia has completely abandoned her mortal body, becoming something akin to an Earth Elemental."

"And Celestial Conquerors?" Leon asked.

"Celestial Conquerors are Awakeners who have reached the apex of the Celestial Realm, the Celestial Emperor Realm, before binding Celestial Bodies. However, Celestial Emperors can bind entire Star Realms and draw power from all Celestial Bodies within the said Star Realm, unlike Celestial Rulers who are only limited to one."

After hearing this, Leon was astonished.

"Truly worthy of a being called a conqueror. To think such a thing was possible…" Leon muttered incredulously before his eyes flickered with a thought.

"Does that mean at higher realm, it is possible for Awakeners to bind Star Fields, Star Cluster, or the entire Primal Chaos?"

"It might be," the tree spirit answered vaguely before shaking his head, "Unfortunate, this Saint is not privy to the realms of Divinity and beyond to give you a definite answer."

"Senior does not need to be upset about this. Junior has learned a lot," Leon said politely before he continued to seek knowledge from the tree spirit, nevertheless.

"What is the Divine Soul?" he asked.

However, the tree spirit did not answer immediately.

Instead, the tree spirit began recounting a story, "Supposedly in the distant past of Gods and Devils, a great war between the two, and the destruction war was so great it destroyed both races."

"However, the fleshly bodies and shattered soul seas of both Gods and Devils gathered in one place and formed what is known as the current starry field of today and gave birth to all life within."

"Of the ten aspects that the soul is comprised of, at least one of them is a Divine Soul, whether it belongs to a God or a Devil. And thus, the true path of Awakeners is the path of awakening the Divine Soul, returning to Divinity, and reigniting the brilliant era of primordial times. That is why an Awakener is called an Awakener," the tree spirit explained.

Boom…

It was as if an explosion had gone off in Leon's head as he was mindblown by the tree spirit's revelation.

He never really thought about why Awakeners were called Awakeners. But now that he knows, the sheer astonishment and surprise written on his face could be imagined.

Suddenly, he understood why all life was capable of gaining sentience, even if they were just plants.

"Senior, does that mean that you have awakened your Divine Soul...? You…" Leon mentioned with a surprised look.

The tree spirit's expression quickly turned sorrowful.

"Haiz…." The tree spirit sighed and said despondently, "I was a God-Emperor in the distant past, but now, I am a goddamn tree! What can be more frustrating than this?"