Chapter 79: Limit Breaker

The Eternal Serpent chuckled, it was a low, vast sound that rolled across the cosmos like distant thunder.

​It wasn’t mocking. If anything, it sounded genuinely amused.

​"Do not look so defeated, Cassian Voss. Not all hope is lost."

​Cassian’s sky-blue eyes immediately lit up with intense focus.

​The Eternal Serpent was momentarily taken aback. One second the mortal looked as though the heavens had collapsed upon him, and the next, he was staring up at the ancient entity with enough raw anticipation to rival a starving man being promised a feast.

​The serpent’s amusement deepened. "You truly are an interesting one."

​Cassian ignored the comment, his sharp gaze practically begging the entity to elaborate.

​The serpent laughed again. "There may be a way to surpass me, however it is not a guaranteed method... You will have to find the Tomb of the Limit Breaker."

​The words echoed solemnly through the sea of stars:

​"The resting place of the Father of Mana... Primus Vangelion."

​Cassian froze.

​Father of Mana? Limit Breaker?

​Those were titles that should belong only to ancient myths, to primordial beings spoken of in forgotten legends.

Yet despite his memories across two lifetimes, he had never heard those names before. Not once.

​The Eternal Serpent seemed to notice his immediate confusion. "It is understandable that you do not know of him. His followers ensured that every trace of his history was thoroughly buried."

​Cassian blinked, even more perplexed.

​Why would followers go out of their way to erase the history of the figure they served? Shouldn’t they be singing his praises until the stars themselves grew weary of hearing his name?

​The Eternal Serpent stared at him, then let out a soft sigh.

​The reaction was so startlingly human that it felt surreal.

​The serpent had existed since the dawn of the Lord’s Domain. Over countless ages, most who had the honor of standing before it were arrogance-filled Heaven’s Chosen, sons and daughters of destiny so aloof and stoic that holding a conversation with them felt like speaking to a carved statue.

​Cassian was proud as well; the serpent could see that clearly. But unlike the others, there remained a surprisingly pragmatic, ordinary human hidden beneath all that ruthless ambition.

​The contrast amused the ancient entity.

​Shaking off the thought, the Eternal Serpent answered his unspoken question:

​"They hid his history for one single reason."

​Its golden eyes narrowed into blazing slits.

​"Because Primus Vangelion was the only mortal to ever go beyond Transcendence."

The Eternal Serpent continued:

​"Mana has always existed within the Lord’s Domain, it has existed since the very moment of creation itself."

​"The native races of the Lord’s Domain were always capable of utilizing mana. However, their control was crude, primitive, more akin to instinctive beastial techniques than true cultivation. The most powerful among them could only reach the Third Realm: what is now known as the Circuit Realm, though it possessed no name in that ancient era."

​Cassian listened attentively, committing every detail to memory.

​"Yet there existed another problem," the serpent continued, the surrounding stars dimming slightly as its tone darkened. "Mana Beasts. Creatures born with an affinity to mana so profound that merely growing older increased their power. They did not require cultivation, and they did not require enlightenment, they simply lived, and in living, they grew stronger."

​"The intelligent races of the Lord’s Domain faced endless oppression beneath their shadow. Entire civilizations rose and fell beneath the claws and fangs of Mana Beasts; kingdoms were trampled, cities were devoured, and countless races existed merely as prey."

​Then, the serpent smiled faintly.

​"That is... until Primus was born."

​Cassian straightened slightly.

​"He was born the son of a king," the Eternal Serpent explained. "His mother was a concubine, and he possessed many older siblings. Unlike them, he showed little interest in politics, succession, or power."

​The serpent paused briefly. "However, Primus was autistic."

​Cassian blinked. "Do you mean eccentric?"

​The Eternal Serpent slowly shook its colossal head. "I mean autistic."

​Its voice held no trace of mockery, only absolute fact.

​"His mind simply worked differently. While others obsessed over status, political alliances, and warfare, Primus became obsessed with Mana Beasts. He studied them relentlessly, observed them, dissected them, recorded them, and questioned everything about them."

​"He accompanied hunting parties whenever he could. Though the soldiers accompanying him could only challenge lesser beasts, while the truly terrifying creatures remained far beyond their reach."

​"Years of obsessive observation led Primus to a revelation," the serpent continued, the stars around them brightening in response. "A discovery that would change the Lord’s Domain forever: he discovered the secret of Mana Circuits, the hidden pathways through which mana naturally flowed inside Mana Beasts. And for the first time in history, that knowledge was replicated within intelligent races."

​"Thus began the Age of Cultivation, an era of endless growth, an era where the weak could challenge the strong, and an era where mortals could climb toward the heavens."

​Cassian felt a strange sense of awe.

​One man. One discovery. And the entire history of the Lord’s Domain had been rewritten.

​"The intelligent races expanded rapidly," the Eternal Serpent said. "Their strength increased with each passing generation as the dominance of Mana Beasts weakened. Civilizations flourished, kingdoms became empires, and empires became dynasties."

​The serpent’s expression then became strange, almost nostalgic.

​"Yet Primus was unsatisfied."

​Cassian wasn’t surprised; every legendary story about a peerless genius eventually reached that exact inflection point.

​The serpent nodded in agreement. "The strongest Mana Beasts had always possessed an absolute limit: the Eleventh Realm, the [Eternal Meridian Realm].

As Mana Circuit Cultivation was derived directly from Mana Beasts, logic dictated that cultivators should share that exact same limit. The entire world accepted this truth. Everyone... except Primus."

​The serpent laughed softly. "He believed there was more. He believed existence itself was incomplete."

​"By that point, his kingdom had already become a holy land of cultivation, a sacred destination sought by countless seekers of the Dao. Yet Primus abandoned it all: his wealth, his status, his influence, his legacy... everything."

​"He ventured alone into the Infinite Peaks, a mountain range so vast that even continents appeared insignificant beside it. And there, he sought to break the limit imposed upon all living things."

​The Eternal Serpent fell silent.

​Cassian waited in quiet anticipation.

​However, the ultimate outcome was obvious, after all, no one would ever be remembered as the Limit Breaker if they had failed.