Chapter 131: Creating Universal Essence

The five Progenitors left after saying that they would bring extravagant gifts for Victor at his coronation ceremony.

Once the sky cleared, Cristofer led the group directly to the royal elven palace. Cristofer took the central throne without hesitation. The current emperor and every high-ranking minister in the royal court were bowing down low right now, not daring to lift their heads before the ancient progenitor.

Among the crowd, Princess Anastasia was looking at Victor’s handsome face. This young man had now completely shaken the entire universe with his unprecedented feat. She felt deeply complicated inside. Until now, she had thought Victor was just somewhat more talented than her, but now she clearly knew the difference between them was like heaven and earth.

"Alright, prepare the entire Elven Empire for the greatest coronation ceremony in history. I suspect some ancient monsters of the god races might also personally appear," Cristofer said, his voice echoing through the grand hall.

"Master, is it really necessary to make such a grand show out of this?" Victor asked with confusion.

"Do you think those five old fogies came here today just to have fun?" Cristofer scoffed softly. "You have broken a record that stood since the dawn of the universe. Nobody knows the true potential of your summoned beast right now. They are currently staying silent only because I already declared the ceremony. They will use that opportunity to observe you and your beast up close. There is a delicate balance of power in this universe, and your sudden appearance disrupts it."

Victor nodded thoughtfully as he absorbed his master’s explanation.

"Victor, even though Master is one of the most powerful entities in the universe, there are five supreme God Races ruling from the God Realm," Vladimir explained from the side. "They each have one or two Universal Supremes backing them. By holding this grand ceremony, Master is actually inviting them here so they can witness your potential firsthand. If possible, we might even gain a strong backer for the Elven Race. No God Race would ever sit back and let us grow unchecked without monitoring us. Since hiding your existence is impossible, we better take maximum benefits from them instead."

"Senior Brother is absolutely right, Victor," Sofia added with a bright smile. "So during the ceremony, you must try your absolute best to squeeze those greedy God Races dry."

"I understand, Senior Sister," Victor nodded, a slight smirk appearing on his face.

He turned back to his master. "Master, I want to have some quiet time to synchronize properly with my summoned beast before the event. So I will take my leave now."

Cristofer nodded approvingly.

The emperor looked at Anastasia.

"Anastasia, go and lead Young Master Victor directly to the Jade Palace."

"Yes, Father," Anastasia replied, bowing gracefully before turning toward Victor. "Please follow me, Your highness."

As they walked through the grand corridors of the royal compound, silence settled between them. Suddenly, Astrion’s deep voice resonated directly within Victor’s mind.

"Master, your master did not tell you the whole truth about the cultivation realms, or perhaps he simply does not know."

"Oh? What did he miss?" Victor asked inwardly, keeping his face entirely composed as he walked behind Anastasia.

"There are realms above the Universal Supreme Realm," Astrion revealed solemnly. "In this universe, it has not completed even a single Cosmic Era yet, so there are currently only two higher realms above the Universal Supreme Realm. The Immortal Realm and the Cosmic Realm."

"A Cosmic Era? How long is that exactly?" Victor inquired.

"One trillion years is defined as one Cosmic Era. After a universe completes its first Cosmic Era, the supreme laws expand and a new ceiling in the cultivation realm is automatically unlocked."

"And according to what you are saying, there should already be some ancient Cosmic Realm entities living hidden in this universe?" Victor asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"That is correct, Master. Entities that survived or broke through the ancient barriers exist in the darkest depths of reality."

"Then we are not as safe as I thought," Victor sighed internally. "I thought that with you by my side, I could relax a bit until I reached the Universal Supreme Realm myself, but it seems the ceiling has risen once again."

"Master, I will be able to rapidly reach the Cosmic Realm myself if we can find some Universal Essence," Astrion noted.

"Can we create Universal Essence with your innate creation power?" Victor asked casually.

Upon hearing those words, Astrion froze inside the shadow space. The concept had never crossed his mind before.

"Umm... maybe? Actually, Master, I really want to try this out right now. Maybe we truly will be able to create Universal Essence from scratch! I never tried anything like this before because unusual creation takes a massive energy toll on my core. But with your vast energy reserve, Master..." Astrion’s voice began trembling with intense excitement.

Victor could clearly feel through their soul contract that the terrifying, ancient eight-headed hydra dragon was currently excited like a five-year-old child getting a brand new toy remote control car.

"Yeah, yeah. We will try it out as soon as we reach my quarters," Victor said, his own interest thoroughly piqued by the prospect.

Soon, they arrived in front of a magnificent, snow-white palace constructed entirely from shimmering jade and spiritual stone.

"Not bad," Victor nodded with genuine satisfaction as he took in the luxurious architecture.

"Your Highness, this is the Jade Palace," Anastasia said, speaking in a surprisingly humble tone compared to her usual proud demeanor. "There are trained maids stationed inside the palace at all times. If you need anything at all, just order them directly. If it is something beyond their ability, they will immediately relay the matter to me. There is no need to worry about any disturbances here."

"Ah, you really do not have to call me Young Master, Princess," Victor replied with a warm smile. "Just call me Victor."

Anastasia’s face instantly turned crimson upon seeing his warm smile. She nodded her head quickly, unable to look him directly in the eyes.

"Okay, Victor... Please have a good rest," she stammered before turning around and leaving hurriedly.

A few top-tier elven maids immediately stepped forward, bowing deeply as they guided Victor inside. They led him into the master bedroom, a massive chamber filled with dense spiritual energy and luxurious furnishings. Victor dismissed the maids politely, ensuring the heavy double doors were closed and locked behind them.

"Okay, now let us try and see if you can actually do it," Victor communicated to Astrion the moment they were alone.

Instantly, space shifted as Astrion manifested inside the spacious master bedroom. His massive form was scaled down significantly to fit comfortably inside the grand room, his dark obsidian scales reflecting the soft crystal light of the chamber. He nodded his colossal head solemnly toward Victor.

"Master, I am going to borrow your energy directly. Please do not restrict the soul channel," Astrion instructed carefully.

"Go ahead. Take as much as you need," Victor replied, standing firmly in the center of the room.

Astrion closed his glowing red eyes and began focusing his innate creation laws. Immediately, Victor felt an immense, terrifying pull on his internal mana pool.

At first, it was just a steady stream, but within seconds, the pull accelerated exponentially. The rate at which his energy was being drained became equivalent to the entire mass energy of a burning sun being consumed every single second.

Fortunately, Victor’s Eternal Body cultivation realm had already reached the seventh layer. So this initial drain did not cause him any physical pressure whatsoever.

However, Astrion’s creation process did not stop there. The energy expenditure rapidly surged from the power of a single sun to the equivalent of millions of suns per second, and the rate was still climbing at a mind-boggling speed.

"No wonder Astrion never even thought of attempting something like this before," Victor muttered under his breath, watching the space around the black dragon distort violently under the sheer density of raw power.

Even a true Universal Supreme entity would feel a massive strain on their energy reserves if they were subjected to such a continuous, astronomical drain. Victor sat down cross-legged on the floor, stabilizing his breath as he allowed Astrion to draw freely from his core. He could tell that this process was going to take a long time before any tangible result could be produced.

Hours trickled by in absolute silence. Day turned into night, and night gradually shifted back toward dawn. An entire day and night passed while the energy channel remained wide open between them.

"Damn!" Victor gritted his teeth, his forehead breaking out in a light sweat.

By this point, the sheer amount of energy being consumed per second had scaled up to an absurd level, equivalent to the combined energy output of billions of whole galaxies per second. Even with his monstrous body refinement and infinite reserves, Victor was finally starting to feel the heavy strain of the drain.

Just as Victor was considering whether he should forcefully pause the process, a soft, ethereal glow illuminated the dark bedroom.

A tiny, brilliant white wisp of glowing mist manifested out of thin air right above Astrion’s central head. The white wisp condensed rapidly, transforming into a single, perfectly clear liquid drop that radiated the breathtaking laws of cosmic origin. The liquid drop hovered for a fraction of a second before sinking directly into Astrion’s forehead, merging completely with his soul core.

Astrion opened his glowing crimson eyes, his vast voice filled with uncontrollable excitement and utter shock.

"Master! I succeeded! Oh my god! I actually managed to create it! Though I used an amount of energy equivalent to double my entire peak form just to produce a single drop of Universal Essence!"

Astrion hovered in place, his massive body trembling with raw joy as the single drop of Universal Essence began rapidly restructuring his inner realm and bloodline laws.

Victor let out a long, heavy exhale, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked at the wildly ecstatic ancient beast before him.

"Double your peak energy for just one drop?" Victor chuckled faintly, rubbing his temples as he felt his rapidly recovering core. "Well, at least we proved it is possible. As long as we have time, we can craft as much of it as we need."

Astrion bowed his heads low in deep reverence before his master. "With this method, reaching the peak of existence is no longer just a distant dream, Master. It is only a matter of time."

Victor stood up, adjusting his robes with a calm smirk returning to his face. "Then let us get ready for this grand coronation. I want to see just what those so-called God Races have to offer."