Divine Path System

Varian slipped up without intending to. The formations were terrible at letting him speak his thoughts.

Elder Aion froze and looked at him for a few seconds like someone staring at an extinct creature that suddenly came to life.

The stare made him uncomfortable and fearful. He didn't care whether they believed him or not. What he was concerned about was whether they'd get angry after verifying the truth and kill him out of uncontrollable emotions.

Heaven tribe was particularly arrogant, viewing everyone beneath them. Even from the short period of interaction, he could tell they didn't take Neveah or Vita or for that matter any of the tribes seriously.

What would their reaction be after finding out they were slaughtered to extinction by Neveah? And that their defeat was so clean and so easy that even to this day, the worst losers were called as descendants of Heaven tribe?

Would these arrogant pricks be humble enough to accept the truth or self-reflect? Or would they lash out at the messenger?

Probably the latter.

As Varian wondered if he should use the slivers and make a desperate attempt, Elder Aion made a sudden movement.

Throwing his head back, the old man laughed. Slamming the floor with his fist as his shoulders shook, the powerhouse didn't even bother to wipe away the tears in the corner of his eyes.

"…You think this is funny?" Varian asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Or what?" Elder Aion smiled at him. He seemed to be in a good mood after hearing a hearty joke.

"I am from the fut—"

"You can't travel back to the past." Elder Aion raised his finger and declared with confidence. "Heaven tribe is the inheritor of Time path. We have tried to travel to the past more than anyone else."

Varian pursed his lips. He agreed with the reasoning but then what to make of the reality he's in?

"To go back in time for an isolated world is easy. We've accomplished it long ago."

It's something he agreed with. Fabricator's Paradise had plenty of those worlds that travelled back in time. But it's only possible because they were isolated enough.

"If you want to travel to a past time of an open system like the universe or even a limited open space like Eden, you'll have to swim against the entire univere's timeflow." Aion's shoulders sank and he sighed inaudibly. "But we found a way even then. We just tried sending our memories or bits of power—it's easier than a full body or a full soul. It should be possible, all our calculations stated it so…"

Perhaps because he was certain that Varian could not escape, Aion even stated some of the principles and calculations involved in that travel.

Initially, Varian just dismissed his claim as an intimidation tactic where the coercing party would inflate their power to put pressure on the coerced.

But the more he listened to Aion's speech, the more his eyes widened. He clenched his jaw lest these nasty formations let him slip out his thoughts again and express his awe.

Even though he's reached rank 2 in time path, he gave up the thought of travelling to past after encountering the wall. It seemed impossible to swim back against the universe's tide.

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Yet, these guys figured out a way? And billions of years ago? This was far beyond what other tribes were doing at this time. Then, why they hell were they extinct?

"Anyway, I didn't think expect you to have some chronos humor bones in you, throwing time travel jokes like that. If Nodon is not dead and you spit out his information, I'll give you a chance to live. We need some experiment pieces. It's not the best mercy but you could survive if you're lucky."

Varian's lips twitched. 'I'm sorry I can't accept your kindness, you bunch of evil scientists.'

"Why are you staring at me like that? Did you accept to be let off after sneaking into our territory and doing something as foolish as impersonating one of us?" Aion crossed his arms. "It's because we're a civilized that I'm talking to you. If it's one of those barbarian tribes, they'd have cut you into pieces and cooked you for their god."

Varian pressed against the wall, his knuckles pale. This guy was slowly relaxing his guard while letting the formations lower his mental defenses.

It's a very disturbing method and far more efficient than straight up torture. If it's some other divine ranker, their thought process and mental defenses would be so manipulated that they'd confess everything within half a day.

"How did you even find me?" Varian asked. It's the first time his diguise was pierced when he kept a low profile.

"Barbarians like you won't understand." Aion shook his head, throwing a gaze full of contempt while he stroked his beard with pride.

'These guys are very prideful, bragging about being civilized and calling the rest barbarians.'

"If you can't even explain to a barbarian, then you're not very civilized."

It was a stab to his pride. The elder was visibly pissed as his brows frowned and jaw clenched.

If it's modern day and age, such provocations would never work. But because Heaven was calling everyone savages, he bet that these guys would be arrogant enough to tell him.

Because why would you guard your secret formulas against barbarians who can't even build a basic formation? They wouldn't understand no matter how hard they try.

As expected, Aion pointed to the tattoos over his brows and smirked. "We have tapped into the power beyond the restrictions of divine paths."

Varian tilted his head, confusion visible on his face.

Chuckling at the reaction every savage would give at those words, the elder continued. "Origin. The origins of everyone in our race are linked. Your disguise is impeccable, even my lord brother wouldn't be able to tell you apart.

But your origin doesn't link with anyone. Your little disguise was over before it even begun. It's also the reason why every single barbarian spy was found."

Varian's jaw dropped, an incredulous look on his face.

The rotting scent in the room was still as bad as ever. But briefly, he forgot the discomfort brought by it and slid himself closer to the powerhouse.

The older man watched him with disinterest and even contempt. "Yeah, yeah. Say it. Call it blasphemy. Studying origin is not blasphemy. It's just something you can't do and tried to ban us from doing. All five tribes put together can't stop us. Origin will lead us to the beyond."

Varian's eyes shook as Isadora's words rang in his mind.

The justification by Neveah tribe for slaughtering Heaven.

||Judgement for an attempt to blaspheme the sacred creation of the Creator||

'Blasphemy.'

This was the blasphemy! Their study of origin!

After exterminating Heaven, Neveah took a while to assimilate Heaven and evolve into the Jai race.

They turned from a racial origin that's aligned only to space to a racial origin that has affinity to both space and time!

It's origin again!

'Neveah stole the research on origin from Heaven and used it to evolve into Jai race.'

Varian's lips trembled as he uncovered the secret buried in history. In a trembling voice, he asked. "Against whom is the study of Origin blasphemy?"

Because Origin did not belong to any of the six gods that these tribes worshipped. And according to their own calendar, those gods themselves were missing for ten million years already, possibly dead.

Why would it matter anyway?

Aion didn't answer immediately. He instead observed Varian with a smirk. "An abandoned tribesman who doesn't even know the basic truths. You took such a big risk and sneaked in here to prove yourself? All for what? Just getting back into the barbarian tribe again?"

Varian paused and looked at Aion with confusion. This old guy had quite an imaginative brain.

His expression seemed to affirm Aion's guess as the old man chortled and said in disdain. "I like you, whether Nodon is dead or alive, I'm honoring you to be my experimental piece. Since we're at that, I might as well inform you that the so-called gods are not gods. Before these six, there were three."

A small gasp was heard in the room and all breathing seemed to still.

'These guys knew about Primordial Gods?'

"And before those three…" Aion's eyes grew hazy as he looked into the distance, as if he was looking past the billions of years that cosmos went through, back to the beginning of everything. "There was one. Maker, Originator, Founder, Numen, Demiurge—many names referring to that entity."

This was never mentioned anywhere in the modern age. Was this a piece of knowledge only the Heaven knew? Then Neveah must know it too. What about the rest of the tribes?

"We were foolish to think the gods who only mastered the paths represented Avenues. And we were foolish still to think avenues by themselves were enough when Origin that bore all those avenues was bare in front of us.

Something that exists above avenues cannot be created by those whose power is

derived from the very avenues. There was someone, something before them, before us, before everything."

Aion's voice was uncharacteristically low, slow and confused.

"Then studying origin is a blasphemy to that being." Varian said, mind still overwhelmed with what he heard.

"It is a blasphemy."

"Then why do you still do it?"

"Why not?" Aion yelled, his face contorting and eyes narrowing.

There was something wrong with that response. Something…

Varian flinched, the formations were doing a great job draining his courage away. A significant part of him did not wish to piss this old man off.

But he pushed back the fear and pressed on. "Why do you blaspheme?"

"Even the best of our best cannot reach rank 3. They'll die one day. We'll all die.

Not because we are incompetent but because some unseen, unknown being long ago decided it so.

Why should we, the tribe of Heaven, with all our wisdom and courage, accept the limitatons set by some arbitary entity?

This prison…this prison called the universe…this should not be it. Divine paths are not it. They are just one more creation. There has to be something higher. They must be."

It was an outrageous claim. To even think that way was something was crazy. And yet, Varian realized this man, no, his entire tribe believed those words.

Aion stood up and waved his hand.

The restrictions on Varian grew tighter, sealing his power all the way to the first rank of celestial boundary.

"I really need to do some research to blow the steam off. Come."

Varian looked at the prison and then the corridor for a moment.

'Logos, can you restore my Origin after this old bastard messes with it?'

[The power of Order and Chaos is capable.]

With a sigh, he walked out of the prison.

The experiments might be terrible but it's his only way to escape.

And he wanted to discover the secrets of this place.

He could feel it vaguely.

A fog covering the truth.

And for some reason, the pair of eyes imprinted in his soul were glowing a little brighter.

(A/N: The story is ending in September. The release rate has slowed down and would be slow in August as well. So, please don't buy priv in August. See you all in September.)