Tribulation

Countless runes appeared from thin air and surrounded the tiny bolt before completely isolating it and forming a runic prison.

The runes couldn't last long as they were already being destroyed by the bolt's havoc and chaotic force.

The runes on Lucius's body got even more powerful as he activated the Constitution he had just awakened.

The constitution he had awakened was a peak sage rank, the highest rank for physiques possible, constitution called "Supreme Unity Under the Heavens", placed 2nd on the sage rankings.

All sage rank constitutions affected the soul, body, and mind. Apart from their individual specializations, they all gave an exorbitant boost in purely physical and soul strength. Sage constitutions allowed cultivators to skip 5 grand realms when paired with the right cultivation techniques.

The physique Lucius had awakened was one of the most powerful but also one of the most mysterious as barely anyone within the heavens and beyond had ever obtained it.

From the little of what was recorded, this physique allowed ultimate and absolute adaptation and evolution to everything no matter its nature or effect, and also allowed for perfect and absolute absorption/assimilation. There was much more to this physique but all of its users either disappeared when they reached the 9th grand realm or died during their awakening.

Sage rank constitutions could also grow and evolve over time with their users which made every holder of this constitution different as they could focus on different aspects of this constitution.

If a user of this physique got hit with a power that could erase their existence they would simply adapt and become sentinels of Nihility, effectively rendering the power that attacked them useless. Their adaptation and absorption had no limit.

These were only some of the early stage abilities of this constitution as Lucius would discover more of its wonders over time.

—

Back to his current predicament.

Due to the True awakening spell he had used all his pillars, and aspects evolved and mutated beyond their normal limit, meaning the constitution he held, which was still in its infancy, could probably compare to a fully nurtured version of the regular physique.

'I'll take the risk. He needs a special form of lightning anyway.'

With a wry smile, Lucius decided to take the risk and brought the runic prison, that held the bolt, within his hand.

This bolt was as dark as night and emanated a pressure so powerful that even he had trouble breathing. If it wasn't for his extensive runic knowledge and spell artillery, the whole plane would've been torn to shreds already.

He wasn't powerful enough to understand what exactly was this bolt but his eyes, which had evolved and mutated as well, had become so powerful they could give him a glimpse of what its true nature was.

'Divinity of The lightning God laced with the Authority of… a judge? Argh!'

His eyes started bleeding and he let out a groan as he had just gazed at secrets no mortal should ever witness.

His pupils which should've been weakened, instead brimmed with even more power as his constitution worked in perfect tandem with it to allow its adaptation to the truths it was looking at.

'wow…I didn't think they'd be able to work in such a symbiotic manner. Anyways, let's get to it.'

The blackhole reappeared and it devoured the bolt.

He immediately deployed a cocoon made of Heavenly Qi around him to protect himself during the assimilation.

The process was excruciating, to say the least.

Every second was more brutal and violent than the precedent. His soul, body, pillars, and very existence were constantly being shredded to pieces as he was brought back by his constitution and pupils every time.

It seemed like he was in a never-ending loop of suffering and darkness as he repeatedly embraced the sweet and calming arms of death just to be reawakened by the viciousness of the bolt's power.

He could feel the strange divinity and Authority constantly destroy him, piece by piece but his will stayed strong.

Every time he was turned to ashes and brought back, his pillars came back even stronger than before and his will was tempered even more.

To make the pain bearable he just saw this as training.

——

Outside of the cocoon of Heavenly essence, the damages the bolt had done to Genesis were still visible but the two individuals that stood in front of it didn't seem to care.

"Extremely good seed we have found here. He's at least an Origin genius. Should we intervene now?" Asked inspector Raksha, one of the people sent by the Divine Temple of Light.

"I still don't get how he's able to bear the brunt of a divine attack. Talent doesn't explain the ability to do such things."

"Oh dear Comu, you have no idea. These geniuses are in a completely different realm of understanding. Just last week we had a new mortal kid from here that managed to awaken a divinity and kill an 11th grand realm expert. I think his name was Ao something. The point is, Logic doesn't apply to them."

Comu narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth in frustration and envy of these geniuses but she quickly calmed down and gained her cool back.

Before Comu could respond, they felt a strange aura emanating from the cocoon.

"This kid…did he just-"

BOOOOOMM!!

The cocoon exploded and tendrils of destructive dark lightning spread through the whole of Genesis.

Lucius came out of the explosion intact. Strange dark lightning danced around him as it seemed to be under his control.

His aura had completely shifted and his eyes seemed even sharper than before.

'Now that my foundation is this monstrous, it's gonna be a pain in the ass the get past the first realm but it's worth it.' He thought as his eyes regained their normal hue, not noticing that something had just possessed him.

He didn't pay attention to the two inspectors but instead inspected his body.

He tried gauging his strength and new pillar ranks but he couldn't. Unless he went back to the royal house and used a scanner he wouldn't be able to determine his strength.

"*cough*"

Raksha who saw Lucius lost in his own thoughts tried to get his attention by coughing.

"Oh, my apologies I didn't see you guys. Can I help you?"

"Yes. We are inspectors of the Divine Temple of light. Our job is to find talented individuals within these barren lands and today is your lucky day. Would you like to join the Divine academy of light and be set on a path of unbound glory ?"