Chapter 317: Rejection

Inside the Secret World, Priam focused once again. A new Creation Seed was quickly shaped within a few minutes, since he had more experience with it now.

The seed sank into the asteroid and, within minutes, hundreds of energy roots burst forth, branching throughout the stellar core...

Priam was stunned. The process now flowed with bewildering ease.

He was like a fish freely swimming through a gentle current. Every energy fit together with surgical precision, without the slightest resistance.

He had been right! Inside his Secret World, he was the Emperor.

Every energy and everything inside reacted to his will without the slightest conflict!

Three hours passed in silence.

’I DID IT!’

The moment the final root solidified within the heart of the rock, the entire asteroid erupted in an overwhelming magical radiance.

As the anchoring was completed, something unprecedented began happening in the outside world.

Within the primordial layers of the Ur-World, the World Laws themselves erupted into a frenzy. An invisible force, hidden beyond the tapestry of reality, was usurping and draining the world’s conceptual energy without asking for permission!

"!"

In different locations, the Six Sovereigns opened their eyes simultaneously.

A wave of alarm and shock swept through their immortal consciousnesses.

Their supreme senses swept across the cosmos in search of the anomaly, desperately trying to find whoever was responsible for that theft of power...

But they found absolutely nothing!

Priam’s portal to the Secret World was sealed by the System itself, making it completely invisible and unreachable, even to the Sovereigns.

Back inside the sealed world, the energy usurped from the World Laws was condensed and purified by the Creation Seed.

The asteroid’s roots began to work, giving birth to the legendary Essence of Creation—the supreme and ultimate energy of Sages.

---

In the silent hall of the Celestial Sanctuary, Priam’s physical body rested in meditation.

*Hummmmm—!*

A muffled sound, yet terribly sharp and vibrating like the ringing of a bell, echoed from inside Priam’s chest.

The Elder in charge of the hall widened his eyes in alarm.

Before the old Sage could even process what was happening, Priam’s body erupted in a devastating light.

A fluorescent Celestial Blue aura exploded from his pores, flooding the room with a suffocating magical density. Every element and energy across the entire planet began to vibrate and resonate in a frenzy.

The disturbance caused by that breakthrough was felt throughout the entire territory of the 11th Branch, like an invisible storm.

Across the sect, reclusive Sages opened their eyes in shock, feeling the branch’s atmosphere being shaken from top to bottom.

Perplexity seized everyone. They knew what it meant: a new Sage had just been born!

However, what they were witnessing was the difference between heaven and earth compared to conventional breakthroughs.

When an ordinary Mage became a Sage, the event generated only a subtle disturbance in the surrounding energy—similar to a small stone being thrown into the calm waters of a lake.

But Priam’s breakthrough... was as if a colossal mountain had been ripped away by force and thrown into the middle of the ocean, triggering a devastating tsunami.

---

At the center of the hall, Priam opened his eyes.

Two radiant golden flames, blazing like a pair of newly born stars, erupted from his irises.

An absolutely overwhelming pressure crashed down upon the surroundings.

The Elder in the corner was pushed against the wall, losing his breath.

Priam had finally broken through the mortal bottleneck. He was now officially a Celestial Sage, belonging to the Enlightened Rank, but he was only at the Elemental Level.

At this initial level, it was common for the new energy to temporarily flow in a chaotic and uncontrolled manner, overflowing into the surroundings.

That Elder himself was a Sage at the exact same Enlightened Rank, at Level 6.

Theoretically, his power should have been far above that of someone who had just crossed the boundary. However...

...when bathed in Priam’s aura, he felt his body tremble as if a divine hammer were about to crush him.

Terror took over his mind. He became absolutely certain: that newly awakened figure before him could defeat him as easily as crushing an insignificant ant!

Cold sweat trickled down the old Sage’s forehead. What kind of monstrosity had just been born before his eyes?

It took several seconds for his mind to start reasoning properly again under the effects of that shock.

’An Innate Celestial...’ He remembered the fact, which had already been widely publicized within the sect.

In the current era of the sect, ninety-nine percent of the few "Celestials" were Mages of ordinary classes who received a blessing and acquired this new class. But Priam was different; he had already come from the mortal plane, naturally belonging to this supreme class.

Only in the legendary era, when the Sovereign Goddess was still alive, were there solid records of Innate Celestials walking throughout the sect.

After her death, however, the sect went through bloody purges, and entire libraries were destroyed.

Nowadays, no one alive knew the true extent or limits of an Innate Celestial’s power. This kind of power and knowledge was restricted to the greatest sects in the universe.

’Could this level of abnormality actually be the standard for Celestials?’ the Elder wondered, utterly stunned.

After a minute, the blue and golden luminescence around Priam began to recede, being drawn back and absorbed.

The overwhelming pressure in the hall finally diminished until it disappeared completely.

Priam blinked, adjusting his vision, and turned his head toward the pale, frozen Elder in the corner of the hall.

"I actually got lucky and managed to do it..." Priam said, letting out a long sigh.

"Good work. I’ll personally inform the Elder Leader... the birth of a new Sage is always cause for great celebration," the Elder replied, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath to fully regain his composure. "From today onward, you’ll enjoy an elevated status and receive all the support necessary to aim for the position of an internal disciple in the future."

Priam gave a brief nod. With a wave of his hand, the Elder completely deactivated the inscription in the hall. He then looked at Priam with an extremely serious expression.

"For now, return to your quarters and rest. Your meridians need time to acclimate to the Essence of Creation. This new power is nothing like Ether; channeling it recklessly at this early stage can cause irreversible internal damage."

The old Sage took a step forward, maintaining his solemn tone.

"Unlike your time as a Mage, advancement to the Sage realm depends very little on external resources. The main obstacle we face from this point onward is *time*."

"Technically, if you have enough skill, you can try to subjugate new celestial bodies immediately and level up extremely quickly. However... with every new level you reach, the physical body requires a long period to absorb and adapt to the additional energy."

"The Essence of Creation is a power that a Mortal was never meant to possess. Sages, on the other hand, have to fight against this nature, forcing their bodies to endure it. The slightest recklessness can result in a gruesome death."

The Elder paused briefly, and the look on his aged face became distant and melancholy.

"There is no shortage of tragic examples. In every generation, countless talented and impatient Sages have died miserably because they ignored the protocol. I myself witnessed a close companion from my generation being consumed from the inside out because of it."

He sighed, returning his focus to Priam.

"No other Sage can say precisely when your body will truly be adapted; that’s a perception that belongs solely to you. That’s why the Sanctuary’s doors will remain open whenever you wish to try again. Some take only a few years to feel ready, while others take centuries between one level and the next—there is no fixed pattern. There is a vast amount of literature available in the branch’s archives to help you better understand this process."

Priam listened to the advice carefully and nodded silently.

As the old man spoke, Priam could already feel a subtle turbulence inside himself. The tiny fraction of Essence of Creation now circulating through his meridians felt far too dense and heavy.

He felt a subtle uneasiness and discomfort. It was as if his body were rejecting that power.

The Elder’s warning was real: he needed time to consolidate his foundation. After that, each level would require a long period of adaptation.

At least, that’s how it worked for normal people.

"Thank you for the warning. I’ll withdraw and stabilize the first level," Priam said gratefully.

He made a respectful gesture, turned around, and calmly walked toward the Sanctuary’s exit, leaving the silent hall and the Elder behind.