Vaan's great mind was a continuous whirlpool of doubts and chaos. He sought answers but would only get more questions in their place instead. Even if he had confidence in his speculations, they would remain unsolved mysteries without proof or evidence to validate them.

No matter how much Vaan demanded the answers, they would remain unanswered. He was aware of that, and he also knew his distracting thoughts affected his session of law comprehension.

As such, he quickly emptied his mind and focused on his meditation again.

After Vaan's Law of Space reached 5% comprehension, the same as his Law of Fire in the past, he knew he had reached another bottleneck. Despite his heaven-defying affinity to space, he was still halted at this step.

The law comprehension of 5% wasn't just a number – it represented the pinnacle of power a Demigod could muster.

It was the wall dividing mortals and the divine.

Vaan's comprehension of the Law of Fire only managed to break through this 5% bottleneck due to a stroke of luck. That said, Vaan had no intention of stopping his comprehension session on the Law of Space.

Since he had broken through the bottleneck once, the second time would be easier. Even so, the second time would undoubtedly be different from the first time.

The trace of divinity Vaan acquired from his dual practice with Henrietta was, in truth, a glimpse of Empyrean Scarletsea's soul fragment.

It had taken him time to understand the structure of Empyrean Scarletsea's soul fragment. However, the moment he did, he understood many things, and the path to the Divine became clear.

The relationship between a normal human soul and the body was like a small cloud of mist trapped within a glass jar. On the other hand, a Peak Demigod's soul would be like liquified cloud mists that had completely filled the glass jar, leaving no further room for any addition.

The quantity of cloud mist would not increase unless the glass jar became bigger or the cloud mist was condensed.

The secret to becoming a Divine Being lay in condensing the soul into something denser. A Divine Soul was one that would not scatter in the event of the body's destruction.

Whether it was the soul of a normal human or Peak Demigod, they would both experience death from the scattering of their souls once the body accommodating them was destroyed.

Only a Divine Soul would not.

Although Vaan had no idea how long it would take him to achieve such a solid state of the soul like Empyrean Scarletsea's soul fragment, he figured he only needed to reach a semi-solid, malleable state of the soul for it to be considered a Divine Soul.

Nevertheless, condensing the soul was easier said than done.

According to Lord Narvim, Soul Masters weren't extremely rare for a reason. Even in Chaos, there must be very few who could manipulate the world with a thought and cultivate the soul in the truest sense.

Although Vaan had been suspected of being a Soul Master, he wasn't one--or at least not yet. He didn't have the ability to influence the world with his thoughts alone.

The strengthening of his soul was all due to his Heaven-Swallowing Space.

As such, even he had limited direct means of condensing his soul. He could only rely on external forces to assist him. Borrowing the suppressive force of the Black Mountain to condense his soul was one such choice.

To perceive the Law of Space and condense his Divine Soul simultaneously was killing two birds with one stone.

Alas, the gravitational force of the Black Mountain was very effective on his body but had little effect on his Peak Demigod soul.

Even so, little effect was still something.

'I need greater pressure,' Vaan thought.

Having spent half a day on the 450th step, Vaan finally decided to ascend to a higher step to bear greater gravitational pressure.

Many warriors weren't bored enough to stick around to watch Vaan meditate for so long and had long left to do other things. However, there were still a few rare exceptions that actually did.

"That guy is finally moving again…!"lightsnovel

"Who? The newcomer? Haa… He should have been on the 450th step for around twelve hours now. This is very impressive for a newcomer, but I guess he has finally hit his limit and is forced to descend—"

"He is climbing to higher steps!"

"What?!"

Within a short time, a commotion erupted at the foot of the Black Mountain. After catching the news, dozens of warriors quickly returned to observe the situation.

Nevertheless, regardless of who stayed and came, they were all dumbfounded by Vaan's progress.

"This is… impossible!"

"How can this newcomer improve so quickly?! He hasn't even come down from the Black Mountain to restore his condition before challenging the higher steps!"

lightsnοvεl

"Maybe… Maybe the 450th step wasn't his limit, and he was only taking it easy until now…?"

Several warriors felt the corners of their lips twitch when they heard the latest guess.

From the 460th step onwards, there were no more than two dozen people on the Black Mountain. Moreover, they were all members of the older generations, having lived more than eighty years.

Some were even over 150 years old!

After all, above the 460th step were only Peak Rank 4 Body Refiners or stronger. Anyone weaker wouldn't be able to endure the tremendous gravitational pressure. This was especially so above the 490th step.

Of course, it was still possible for one with lower strength to reach such heights if their internal organs were firmly consolidated, but such a capable genius was nonexistent.

At the very least, the Great Ratholos Empire didn't have such a genius body refiner.

When Vaan ascended to the 490th step, he almost gave a few old fogies a heart attack when they saw how young he looked.

Nevertheless, Vaan ignored their shock and focused on himself.

'The pressure on this step is much better. It indeed has a better effect for condensing my Divine Soul, but this effect is still minimal,' Vaan noted.

After some calculations, he figured even if he ascended to the top, the powerful pressure at the peak still wouldn't be enough to help him form his Divine Soul. Instead, his feat would only alarm the entire empire.

The Black Mountain's gravitational pressure was only supplementary; it alone couldn't help him form the Divine Soul.

Vaan needed another method to use alongside it.

'Should I use the Concept of Cosmic Flow?' Vaan contemplated with some hesitation.

To use the power of spatial compression to condense his Divine Soul was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous and risky move. After all, the slightest mistake would kill him.

For that reason, Vaan wasn't too eager to attempt it.

'It's too early to form the Divine Soul… I should at least become proficient with the Concept of Cosmic Flow to boost my confidence,' Vaan sighed.

The path to becoming Divine was revealed but still out of reach.

Even so, it was only a matter of time.