Chapter 2683: Reaching the Fourth Realm

"Analyzing Task: Beyond the Apex!"

The next few seconds would become the most important moment of Cain’s life.

His decision to rely on the Absolute Life Form System to fuse his two bodies and break beyond the limits of the Apex Race was nothing more than a gamble.

A gamble in which failure meant death.

Over the past few years, Cain had experienced wonders and horrors that would have been enough to define an entire lifetime.

He had ended the war in the Crimson World.

He had overcome the invaders from the Emptiness.

He had marched into an entirely new universe, conquered one of its layers, become its master, and defeated an Incarnation of one of its mightiest rulers.

Every one of those events had forged an enormous amount of Destiny Force.

The power his destiny had accumulated throughout those experiences was undoubtedly astronomical.

Yet what Cain was asking from the Absolute Life Form System was something equally incredible, perhaps even more so.

He was asking it to help him transcend the Apex Realm itself.

To evolve beyond the natural limits of his race.

To cross a boundary that even monsters like the Samsara Lord had struggled to surpass.

There was no guarantee that the system could accomplish such a feat.

If it failed...

Everything would end.

Then, finally, the robotic voice of the Absolute Life Form System echoed inside Cain’s mind.

"Task can be achieved with the current SDF. Triggering evolution."

Cain’s eyes widened.

Pure joy and excitement exploded within them.

He had succeeded.

"Evolution of the Gluttony Module to Maximum Level completed."

"Evolution of the Genetic Coder Module to Maximum Level completed."

"Evolution of the Enhancement Module to Maximum Level completed."

"Triggering genetic adjustment."

"Triggering soul enhancement."

"Triggering..."

More and more notifications echoed through Cain’s mind.

But he could no longer hear them.

The evolution of the Modules struck his consciousness like a tidal wave, overwhelming his mind and forcing him into darkness.

Under normal circumstances, losing consciousness in his current condition would have been equivalent to suicide.

His body was already collapsing.

His soul force was unstable.

Yet Cain did not need to worry.

The Absolute Life Form System had already taken control of everything.

While a storm raged inside Cain’s mind, the physical world suddenly became still.

The grotesque mass of flesh created by the rushed fusion of the Arch-Nephilim Body and Primordial Body froze.

For a single instant, nothing moved.

Then—

The entire mass imploded.

It collapsed inward, devouring itself before disappearing completely.

What remained was a scarlet crystal cocoon.

The Incarnation of the Samsara Lord, which had been patiently waiting for the Scarlet King’s death, suddenly trembled.

Its battle instincts screamed.

That cocoon...

It resembled the cocoon from which it itself had emerged.

An overwhelming sense of danger surged through the Incarnation’s existence.

Without hesitation, it raised its hand.

The Samsara Sun floating in the void suddenly moved.

It descended toward the Fallen Empyrean World like a shooting star.

The Incarnation no longer cared about the consequences.

If the cocoon contained the Scarlet King, then it would destroy the entire world alongside him.

The Samsara Sun crossed the void.

One heartbeat.

That was all it needed.

The massive purple sun reached the Fallen Empyrean World and descended toward its surface.

Yet just before impact—

It stopped.

A few meters above the ground, the Samsara Sun froze!

Shock appeared on the faces of the warriors of the Six Sacred Races.

Even the Curse Eaters were stunned.

They could not understand what they were seeing.

Then something even more shocking happened.

The Samsara Sun began to twist.

Its immense energy started revolving inward, forming a vortex that rapidly devoured the purple flames.

The entire Samsara Sun was being absorbed.

In the blink of an eye, the celestial body vanished.

Every ounce of its terrifying power disappeared into two fingers.

A middle finger.

An index finger.

A man stood beneath the fading radiance.

He was tall, with a perfectly proportioned body sculpted as if perfection itself had been given form.

His hair was pitch black.

Scarlet and golden plasma coursed through every artery and vein within his body, radiating such immense physical pressure that space-time twisted around him.

From the right side of his back extended a single massive wing forged from dark crystalline feathers.

Scarlet and golden stars floated between those feathers, each one carrying an indescribable power.

From the left side of his back emerged radiant red chains.

Some wrapped around his body.

Others extended through his left arm, moving as if they were alive.

The Incarnation of the Samsara Lord stared at him, genuine shock appearing in its eyes.

Samsara Force was not something that could simply be absorbed.

Allowing such power into one’s body was equivalent to inviting destruction.

To absorb the Samsara Sun required more than Fourth Realm battle power.

It required an existence that had truly stepped into that level.

The transformation of the Scarlet King was obvious.

But there was something else that drew the Incarnation’s attention.

His eyes.

Three eyes occupied Cain’s face.

His right eye was a blazing scarlet, carrying the all-encompassing power of Chaos.

His left eye was golden and radiant, containing the endless Flow.

And the eye on his forehead, that was blacker than night.

That eye carried a bloodline power that did not fall behind the Samsara Eye!

Entropy.

Nihility.

Quietus.

Yet even those words were insufficient to describe it.

It was not merely the combination of those powers.

It was their evolution.

Their sublimation.

A new level of existence.

A power that belonged solely to the Scarlet King!

The moment Cain absorbed the last remnants of the Samsara Sun, his third eye glowed.

Space disappeared.

Time disappeared.

Even the concept of distance ceased to exist.

In the next instant, Cain appeared directly in front of the Incarnation.

The Incarnation’s eyes widened.

It had not even sensed his approach.

Cain’s fist was already moving.

"Boom."

The punch struck the Incarnation directly in the face.

There was no massive explosion.

No collapsing reality.

No shockwave.

Every ounce of power had been concentrated into a single point.

The Incarnation’s body was blasted backward.

It rolled through the void before finally colliding with something powerful enough to halt its momentum.

The Empyrean Wall.

Its body became embedded within the immense barrier surrounding this section of the universe.

The Incarnation had not even managed to extract itself before Cain appeared before it again.

The Scarlet King unleashed a barrage of punches.

Every strike drove the Incarnation deeper into the Empyrean Wall.

The Samsara Force within its body erupted, attempting to defend against the assault, but Cain’s fists continued to fall.

Then Cain’s right fist began to glow.

Scarlet.

Golden.

Brilliant.

The energy he had absorbed from the Samsara Sun gathered within his arm, compressing until it resembled a miniature scarlet-golden star.

Cain’s eyes burned with absolute confidence.

He had crossed the boundary.

He had surpassed the limits of an Apex Race and stepped into the Fourth Realm in the process.

"ARGHHHHHH!"

With a thunderous battle roar, the Scarlet King finally released everything.

The energy erupted from his fist.

It pierced through the Incarnation’s defenses and struck directly into its chest.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!"

The Incarnation’s body was blasted through the Empyrean Wall!