The sight before me stopped me cold.
This…
Was not what I had expected.
A vast field stretched endlessly beneath a warm, golden sun.
Green grass swayed gently in the breeze, spreading toward a distant horizon that seemed to have no end. The air was pure, rich with energy, and strangely alive.
It was as though every breath nourished my body.
At the center of this world stood a structure.
Massive.
Ancient.
And radiating a power that made even my instincts hesitate.
I narrowed my eyes.
"...This place."
I extended my senses, allowing them to spread across the field.
Nothing.
No living creatures.
No hidden presences.
No detectable movement beyond the gentle sway of the grass.
Only energy.
Dense.
Refined.
And so abundant that even the air seemed saturated with it.
I examined the surrounding space.
The area I could estimate from my current position was enormous, easily exceeding ten football fields. Yet the horizon stretched far beyond what my senses could measure.
This was no ordinary chamber.
I had entered a hidden world.
A sealed domain.
And whoever had created it possessed power far beyond anything an ordinary cultivator could achieve.
My shoulders relaxed slightly.
The moment I drew another breath, warmth spread through my body. The energy entered my system naturally, nourishing my muscles and strengthening my blood.
I could practically feel my body absorbing it without conscious effort.
"...A cultivation paradise."
That explained the atmosphere.
It did not explain who had created this place.
Nor why it had been hidden beneath the Elder Hall.
I began walking toward the distant structure.
As I crossed the field, something caught my attention.
Herbs.
Rare plants.
Natural treasures.
They grew freely across the grass, some surrounded by faint auras, others radiating energy dense enough to catch my attention even from a distance.
And none of them had been harvested.
No protective formations.
No barriers.
No guards.
Just treasures lying in the open.
I slowed down.
"...Unbelievable."
Either the creator had been extraordinarily careless…
Or nothing in this world was capable of threatening what belonged here.
I glanced toward the structure.
Considering the power radiating from it, I suspected the latter.
I continued forward.
With every step, the building grew clearer.
Its architecture was strangely familiar.
The overall design resembled the structures of my clan, yet everything about it was more refined. Its proportions were precise, its walls engraved with ancient patterns, and its foundations radiated a presence that made the surrounding space feel insignificant.
It was as though the architecture itself had been elevated beyond its original form.
Eventually, I reached the entrance.
A golden door stood before me.
Its surface was covered in intricate carvings, ancient runes, and symbols I could not immediately recognize.
Yet one detail drew my attention.
At the center of the door was a carved figure.
A humanoid white tiger stood within a sea of azure flames.
Its posture was upright.
Its expression was unreadable.
The flames surrounding it did not appear to burn its body. Instead, they seemed to obey its presence, curling around its figure like loyal servants.
There was no trace of fear in its stance.
No hesitation.
Only absolute dominance.
I stared at the carving for several seconds.
Something about it disturbed me.
Not because it looked threatening.
But because it felt familiar.
I could not explain why.
"...Who are you?"
The figure remained silent.
Of course.
It was a carving.
Still, I could not shake the feeling that I was looking at something more than an artistic representation.
I raised my hand and placed my palm against the golden door.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A deep vibration passed through the structure.
Golden runes illuminated across its surface, one after another, until the entire entrance shone with brilliant light.
Then the door opened.
Instantly.
Without resistance.
I stared at the widening entrance.
"...It was waiting."
For me?
Or for someone who carried something within their blood?
I withdrew my hand and stepped inside.
The moment I crossed the threshold, I froze.
Shelves.
Endless rows of shelves.
They stretched into the distance, disappearing beyond my immediate field of vision. Ancient books filled them, alongside scrolls, engraved tablets, and strange objects whose purposes I could not identify.
Some records were bound in ordinary-looking covers.
Others were sealed within transparent barriers.
A few floated above their shelves, surrounded by faint formations that had continued operating for who knew how long.
The entire structure was filled with knowledge.
Techniques.
Historical records.
Cultivation methods.
Law comprehension.
And things whose very existence I could barely begin to imagine.
I slowly turned my head.
"...A library?"
No.
That description was insufficient.
This was not merely a place where someone stored books.
It was a legacy vault.
A repository of knowledge accumulated by a being whose existence might have preceded the history of my clan.
I walked forward carefully.
My eyes scanned the shelves, searching for anything that might explain this place.
Yet before I could examine a single book, I felt something beneath my feet.
I stopped.
Looking down, I discovered a formation engraved into the floor.
Its markings were so intricate that several layers seemed to overlap, each connected to the others by thin lines of energy.
The formation was not dormant.
It was alive.
A faint azure glow pulsed beneath my feet.
"...What?"
I instinctively shifted backward.
Too late.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Azure light erupted from the floor.
Runes ignited across the walls, racing along the shelves and spreading throughout the entire building.
The formation beneath me activated completely.
Before I could react, a beam of azure light shot upward.
It struck my forehead.
Everything went white.
Then the knowledge came.
Not information.
Not words I could read or memories I could examine.
A flood.
Techniques poured into my consciousness.
Histories unfolded before my mind.
Laws revealed their structures, their relationships, and the principles governing their existence.
I felt countless concepts collide inside my head.
Some were incomprehensible.
Others seemed familiar, as though I had encountered their foundations before without ever understanding what they truly meant.
My mind shook beneath the pressure.
My vision blurred.
My body locked in place.
"...Too much!"
The flood continued.
I could not stop it.
I could not organize it.
For the first time in a long while, I felt my own consciousness approaching its limit.
Then—
Darkness.
---
I opened my eyes.
The blue sky greeted me.
Green grass swayed around my body.
The warm sunlight rested against my face.
I remained motionless for several seconds, trying to understand what had happened.
Then I sat up.
The building was gone.
The golden door.
The endless shelves.
The ancient records.
Everything had vanished.
Only the vast field remained.
"...What?"
I raised both hands to my head.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
Sharp.
Violent.
As though someone had driven a blade through my skull and begun twisting it.
I clenched my teeth.
"What the hell did that thing do to me?"
Before I could think further, a familiar blue screen appeared before my eyes.
«[Downloading...]
[Progress: 1%...]
[5%...]
[20%...]
[50%...]
[100%...]»
The pain vanished.
Instantly.
I blinked.
The sudden relief was so complete that I almost wondered whether the pain had ever existed.
Another notification appeared.
«[Download Complete.]»
I stared at the screen.
"...Download?"
Before I could question it, a second wave of knowledge flowed through my consciousness.
This time, there was no overwhelming pressure.
No chaotic flood.
Everything was organized.
Separated.
Connected.
I could understand what I was receiving.
The knowledge settled into my mind as though it had finally found the proper place to exist.
I closed my eyes.
And searched through it.
Techniques.
Cultivation methods.
Laws.
Historical records.
Countless pieces of knowledge, preserved and transferred into my consciousness.
Yet one concept stood above the rest.
One word.
"...Authority."
The moment I thought of it, everything else seemed to recede.
I could not explain why.
I simply knew that this was what I had been searching for.
Not a technique.
Not an ordinary law.
Something greater.
The knowledge surfaced.
Not as a definition to be memorized.
But as a truth to be understood.
«[Authority]
A law that proves all laws.
A law that breaks all laws.
A law that declares:
Strength is law.»
My eyes remained closed.
The words settled into my consciousness.
More followed.
«[The Law Above Laws]
The origin of order.
The destroyer of limits.»
My breathing slowed.
I could feel the difference between understanding the words and comprehending the principle behind them.
One was knowledge.
The other demanded something from my very existence.
The screen continued.
«[The First Law]
From which all laws are born.
Before which all laws kneel.»
My pupils contracted.
The First Law.
The words carried a weight that no ordinary cultivation technique could possess.
I had witnessed laws before.
I had learned that the path to godhood required their comprehension.
I had even begun to understand something beyond the conventional boundaries of law.
But this…
This was different.
It was not simply another law to comprehend.
It stood above the very principles that defined other laws.
A Sovereign Law.
An axiom of strength.
The Overlaw.
I slowly opened my eyes.
"...So this is it."
Authority.
A law that governed laws.
A power that challenged limitations rather than merely operating within them.
But as the knowledge settled deeper, another truth surfaced.
Something far older.
Something that made even the First Law seem like only the beginning of a much larger mystery.
My pupils shrank.
"...The origin?"
A name appeared in my mind.
«The Nameless One.»
Silence descended.
Not the ordinary silence of an empty field.
Something heavier.
Something ancient.
I stared into the distance as fragments of the library's knowledge arranged themselves within my consciousness.
There was no recorded appearance.
No face.
No confirmed identity.
No description that could explain what the Nameless One truly was.
Only a truth.
Before time.
Before existence.
Before creation and destruction had meaning—
There was only the Nameless One.
From it, all things emerged.
Creation.
Destruction.
Balance.
Chaos.
The foundations of existence itself.
I absorbed the information in silence.
Then another revelation appeared.
Two realms.
Born from the same origin.
Yet following opposing paths.
Zeraphyx.
A realm of peace.
Order.
Evolution.
A place where life could develop, civilizations could flourish, and power could grow through stability.
And its opposite—
The Infernal Dominion.
A realm of war.
Power.
Survival.
A place where conflict shaped existence and strength determined who endured.
Two opposing realms.
Two different paths.
Yet neither could exist independently of the other.
They were opposites.
But they were also bound together.
I lowered my gaze.
"...So everything..."
I paused.
"...comes from it."
The Nameless One.
The origin behind both realms.
The source of principles that had shaped existence itself.
Yet the records ended there.
No explanation of its nature.
No account of what had happened after the two realms emerged.
No indication of whether the Nameless One still existed.
Nothing.
The knowledge simply stopped.
As though the library had reached a boundary it could not cross.
Or one it had been forbidden to reveal.
My expression grew serious.
"...Why hide it?"
The field offered no answer.
The blue sky remained unchanged.
The grass continued swaying beneath the gentle breeze.
Yet something around me had shifted.
I felt it before I could identify it.
The energy in the air moved.
Not violently.
Not even noticeably to an ordinary cultivator.
But I felt the change.
The laws surrounding me seemed to stir, their subtle movements brushing against my senses.
For a brief moment, it felt as though the world had become aware of me.
Or, more precisely—
Aware of what I now knew.
I slowly raised my hand and examined my palm.
Nothing had changed on the surface.
My body remained the same.
My strength had not suddenly multiplied.
No overwhelming aura erupted from me.
Yet the knowledge inside my consciousness felt different from anything I had acquired before.
It was no longer merely something I had learned.
It had become part of how I understood existence.
I lowered my hand.
My mind returned to the revelations.
Authority.
The First Law.
The Nameless One.
And the declaration that had remained at the heart of everything.
Strength is law.
A faint smile appeared on my face.
For most cultivators, power meant becoming stronger than their enemies.
For others, it meant comprehending laws, mastering domains, or ascending beyond the limits of their worlds.
But Authority suggested something different.
Something that challenged the very boundaries those paths accepted.
I did not yet understand its full meaning.
I did not know how far it could reach.
And I certainly did not know why the ancient library had chosen to reveal this knowledge to me.
But I intended to find out.
I turned toward the distant horizon.
The hidden world remained silent.
Its secrets remained buried.
And somewhere beyond my understanding, the truth about the Nameless One waited.
I smiled faintly.
"...Then let's see."
My eyes narrowed.
"...How far this law can go."