---

Long ago, in the northern seas, men sailed the Baltic on longships, navigating between ice and waves. Among the rough waves of the Baltic, there was a ship making its way.

This ship, traveling from Strabenher to Aarhus, carried passengers who, instead of lounging in their cabins or gazing at the sea as usual, were inexplicably gathered at the stern, staring intently at something.

Murmurs filled the air.

“Wait, is that person walking on water? Is that for real…?”

“What kind of spell is that? I heard the Walking on Water Spell was too advanced to be developed yet?”

“His feet aren’t sinking! How is he doing that with the waves crashing nonstop?”

Their eyes were fixed on something truly remarkable. After all, it’s not every day you see three people casually strolling across the waves.

“Good job, Conra, Maria, keep it up.”

Following the ship, walking on water, were none other than Sophia, Conra, and Maria.

At this point, Conra had already mastered the Heart-Generating Qi Method, reaching a new level of understanding. Maria, too, had grown significantly after fending off a demon attack in Strabenher, gaining insights that propelled her forward.

Not to mention, Maria had recently been granted the authority to command Wisps by Setanta and Kaliastra in Ogma’s Forest.

Both disciples were steadily building their foundations, learning what they could and couldn’t do. Sophia, as their mentor, was determined to guide them properly.

So, why were they walking on water? Simply put, there was no better way to solidify their newfound skills than by facing the ever-changing, chaotic flow of the sea.

For Conra, this was a test of his newly awakened Heart-Generating Qi Method, relying solely on his willpower to walk on water without using any internal energy techniques. Maria, on the other hand, used her refined Sphere Exercises, supplemented by the Wisps she had recently gained control over, to compensate for her still-limited internal energy.

Even the spirits contracted with Conra were both baffled and intrigued by Sophia’s training methods. They were unorthodox but undeniably effective.

As the disciples’ energy or stamina waned, Sophia would use Void Manipulation to pluck them from the water before they could fall, dropping them onto the ship’s deck to recover. Once rested, they’d dive back into the sea to continue their training, with Sophia offering guidance along the way.

But it wasn’t just Conra and Maria who were fully immersed in their training.

Near the ship’s bow, Karl was practicing Shadow Sparring (心想論劍). The formless sword energy emanating from him grew stronger, eventually enveloping him like a cocoon.

His combat senses had reached their peak, his foresight sharp as a blade, allowing him to read countless possibilities in an instant. In his current state, Karl could draw the most appropriate sword technique for any situation without hesitation.

Soon, when the cocoon-like sword energy fully merged, Karl would transcend his current level and reach the realm of Will Thought Martial Arts, just as Conra had.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the ship, Brantley Somz, the northern skald, was deeply engrossed in spell research.

Having hit a plateau with his Reverse Brain Method and spell development, he found new inspiration in the basics of Qi Men Dun Jia taught by Sophia and the Druid’s Poetics he had learned in Ogma’s Forest. Like adding fuel to a dying fire, his passion for spellcraft reignited, reminiscent of his youthful fervor.

With the journey to the Jutland Peninsula being entirely by sea, Brantley had the luxury of immersing himself in his studies without distraction.

However, even such intense training couldn’t last forever. Conra, Maria, Karl, and Brantley were, after all, human. They needed time to eat, rest, and reflect.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Everyone, return to the ship and rest. Reflect on what you’ve learned.”

“Ugh, thank you, Master!”

After allowing her disciples to board the ship, Sophia took some time for herself. While guiding her students was important, neglecting her own training would be counterproductive. To continue being an effective mentor, she too had to keep pushing her limits.

But that wasn’t all.

Sophia hadn’t forgotten the declaration made by the Great Demon through the witch’s body in Agnon.

“One day, when I set foot on the Old Continent, it will experience unprecedented despair. At that time, only you will stand in my way. I will defeat you and finally fulfill the long-held dream of our Demon Clan. And as proof, I will send you a sign.”

Of course, Sophia had grown immensely since then, steadily recovering her past life’s power. Restoring the traces etched into her soul and reigniting the dormant stars within her was far easier than building everything from scratch.

But was that enough?

The power of her past life, Lee Beom-seok, was undeniably immense. It was so great that even the gods of heaven and earth couldn’t ignore him, and he could delay his inevitable death indefinitely.

So much so that the gods of death from various mythologies formed an alliance to raid him. Yet, in the end, he chose his own demise and performed the Reincarnation Great Technique.

If Sophia fully regained that power, she would undoubtedly stand unrivaled in this life as well.

“But that’s just the starting point.”

Sophia didn’t know the full extent of the Great Demon’s power. It might be far greater than she anticipated, or it might fall short. Regardless, she remembered one thing: even Lee Beom-seok’s seemingly invincible power had its limits.

If he had truly been an invincible transcendent, there would have been no need for him to perform the Reincarnation Great Technique. He could have simply blown away the gods’ raid and continued his meditative practice.

Thus, Sophia’s goal wasn’t just to regain her past life’s power but to transcend it, reaching an even higher realm.

Breathing in harmony with the heavens, her mind sometimes vague like longing, sometimes clear like a mirror, Sophia discarded all artificial desires and focused on the purest intent, observing the chaotic flow around her.

Sitting cross-legged in the air above the waves, following the ship, Sophia divided her consciousness, sending one part deep into her inner self.

In the depths of her consciousness, her Spirit Entity, also known as the Infant Body, appeared.

Unlike others’ Spirit Entities or Primordial Spirits, Sophia’s combined the characteristics of both. While most practitioners measured their progress by the number of bindings in their Ethereal Muscles or Spirit Nerves, Sophia’s Infant Body wasn’t bound by such metrics.

Her Infant Body, like a Primordial Spirit, was already complete but still immature, growing over time. It could perform the functions of a Spirit Entity, with Ethereal Muscles and a Spirit Brain, but it grew like a Primordial Spirit, capable of further refinement through training.

Around her Infant Body were vast constellations of stars, each with its own unique aura, temperament, and story.

Some stars shone brightly, while others remained dormant, waiting to awaken. But it was only a matter of time before they too would regain their light.

Among the stars, there were particularly bright clusters that seemed to coordinate their movements.

Three fields of vermilion energy, seven wheels spinning at different speeds, ten sapphire-like points corresponding to different parts of the body.

Behind her Infant Body, over twenty light points formed a constellation, with thirty-two unique symbols (32 Marks) adorning her body. Above her head floated a crown-like mark of the anointed.

From her shoulders flowed the Oaths of Gears, interwoven like a cape, while her monastic robe and the platform she sat on were inscribed with linear characters resembling constellations, forming countless prophecies and epics.

Fully merging her consciousness with her Infant Body, Sophia could sense the four overlapping dimensions around her.

The pinnacle of Energy Manipulation, the Primordial Spirit, allowed one to traverse from the material world to the realms of spirit and soul. Once a practitioner created a Primordial Spirit, they could perceive the four worlds: the Material World (Asiyah), the Mental or Angelic World (Yetsirah), the Creative World (Beriah), and the Infinite or Divine World (Atsilut).

This ability to perceive the four worlds granted complete cognition, allowing one to see the full picture of all phenomena.

Everything in the world, though appearing as a single phenomenon, manifested differently across the four worlds. From the physical laws observed in large and small domains to the mysteries of spell waves born from overlapping vibrations, each phenomenon revealed a different aspect depending on the world.

Only by perceiving all four worlds simultaneously could one grasp the full picture.

Sophia meticulously discerned the states of her three Dantians, seven Chakras, and ten Sephirot, adjusting her training accordingly. She harmonized the 32 Marks of the Universal Monarch, the mark of the anointed, the various Gears, prophecies, and epics singing of great deeds.

Without the complete cognition granted by her Primordial Spirit, none of this would have been possible.

As she assessed the state of her microcosm through complete cognition, Sophia mused to herself.

“In the end, I must transcend.”

Looking at all the radiant principles surrounding her, she felt no particular emotion or sense of accomplishment. Her mind remained calm.

The treasures she had completed in her past life and was now reclaiming were undoubtedly priceless to those who knew of them.

“But treasures are only valuable to those who don’t possess them.”

The grand illusions, shining like stars, arranged in perfect harmony, were undoubtedly noble and majestic.

But for Sophia, who had always possessed them and now sought to transcend them, the feeling was different.

“It’s like a prison. Or perhaps an eggshell?”

What appeared flawless and perfect, like the precise orbits of celestial bodies, was also rigid and stifling.

“Strictly speaking, all these energies are not truly interconnected. They’re separate systems.”

The three fields and meridians, the seven large wheels and their smaller counterparts, the ten sapphire-like points and their 22 interactions, the Gears, marks, and epics attached to her body and soul—all were complete systems in their own right.

Though their algorithms were well-designed to synergize when needed, fundamentally, they were separate systems.

Each one, if fully mastered, would bring one close to perfection in its respective domain. Forcing them into a single framework naturally restricted their freedom.

It was only due to the immense capacity of Lee Beom-seok and Sophia, and the countless optimizations Lee had made through trial and error, that this celestial map could be realized.

“Thinking about it, my past self was an insatiable glutton.”

Never satisfied with mastering just one system, he greedily pursued every bit of knowledge and vision to the extreme. Yet, his vast capacity allowed him to cram it all in.

From a third-person perspective, it was almost laughable how absurd he was. Certainly not someone you’d call dignified or mature.

“But when it comes to greed, I’m no different.”

Even though her world, gender, name, and identity had changed, the nature engraved in her soul wasn’t so easily altered.

Just as Lee Beom-seok had voraciously sought to absorb all mysteries and miracles, Sophia now dreamed of surpassing the achievements of her past life.

But how? Sophia’s foresight offered no clues or certainty, leaving her uneasy.

“I hope I can find a path before things get worse. No, no. Impatience is the enemy of practice. Don’t waste energy on unnecessary worries. Focus on what needs to be done now.”

Calming her restless mind, Sophia focused her consciousness on one of the stars in the sky.

To awaken a dormant star, she needed to concentrate her consciousness and energy, like refining an elixir or forcing a malfunctioning pixel to work by applying a strong current.

Once awakened, the star’s uncontrolled energy would exert a strong influence on its surroundings. Taming it and aligning it with the overall flow required significant mental effort.

Whoosh!

As she ignited another star, Sophia tried to dispel the rising sense of suffocation.

The ship arrived at Aarhus just before dawn, after a night’s journey. It was around that time that the group realized their original plan had become obsolete.

 

---