So just like Orion all those years ago, he created his own runic language based off time and gained the true acknowledgment of the River of time.
Unlike for Orion where after he gained the acknowledgment of the Dream plane, he was left to his own devices, Eli received a tremendous boost in strength, one so exaggerated that his overall power and empyrean ability jumped to the precipice of the Overlord state, his goal all along.
He could finally taste it, he was so close but alas he was still only an Empyrean when the boost ended, albeit being a Pseudo Empyrean Overlord.
Regardless, he wasn't deterred nor discouraged, in fact, he was more excited than he had ever been.
The existence of the trials, opened a number of doors he couldn't care to count.
What were they for? What was the requirement to go through them? Were there more? Was the entity that created them watching him?