Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas immediately got to work, feeling that the entire process of breaking through to the Emperor Rank was consuming too much time. ‘I need to break down and transform my Domain…’ His mind returned to the explanation Eliomor had given everyone regarding the later stages of the breakthrough.

To transform an Astral Domain into a Second Self, a cultivator first needed to break it down into its fundamental structure before reconstructing it in a form that reflected their own existence.

However, the process required sharing a small portion of one’s soul with the transformed Domain, something Atlas wasn’t entirely comfortable with. ‘Is it like how Luberion kept a small part of his soul?’ He remembered how Luberion’s soul fragment had eventually become a catalyst in killing Orivian, making him wonder whether the process of creating a Second Self carried similar implications.

After thinking about it for a moment, Atlas shook his head, deciding that the two situations were probably different, ‘Hmm, my Second Self… First, let’s break down the Domain. The rest of the process can follow on its own.’

With that decision, Atlas extended his hand, and his Domain of Nothingness immediately emerged around him. This time, however, he deliberately kept its size small instead of allowing it to spread across an enormous area, since he didn’t need to use it for combat or erase anything around him.

He only needed to form the Domain and break it down into its fundamental structure, so expanding it would serve no purpose.

Atlas looked around inside the Domain and noticed that the Aether energy within its boundaries had once again been erased, just as it had during his previous experiments, ‘Now to break it down. I need to force my will upon it.’

He closed his eyes while keeping his hand extended in front of him, preparing to impose his will upon the entire structure of the Domain. The familiar white, translucent aura immediately surrounded his body as his will began responding to his intentions.

The Domain started bending under its influence, and Atlas gradually increased the pressure until his expression became serious, forcing his will deeper into its very structure. He wasn’t attempting to make the Domain disappear through ordinary means. Instead, he wanted to dismantle it completely, beginning with its innermost structure and working outward.

The moment he increased the pressure further, a cracking sound suddenly spread through the surrounding space.

CRACK! CRACK!

Atlas watched as fractures appeared throughout his Domain, causing it to collapse like a shattered glass structure. He didn’t stop the process or attempt to stabilize it, instead increasing the intensity of his will as the cracks continued spreading in every direction.

Within an instant, the entire Domain collapsed, breaking apart into countless dark fragments that resembled pieces of shattered glass made from Nothingness.

However, Atlas didn’t allow those fragments to scatter into the surrounding space. The moment the Domain broke apart, he forced his will upon every piece, causing them to shoot toward him with tremendous force, tearing through the very fabric of space as they converged on his position.

The fragments stopped directly in front of him, gathering into a dense mass that remained suspended in the empty space.

Without hesitation, Atlas covered the broken fragments with the white aura radiating from his body. Under the influence of his will, the fragments began joining together, although their structure no longer resembled any conventional state of matter, whether solid, liquid, gas, or plasma.

As they continued merging, their overall shape gradually began changing until the forming structure started resembling Atlas himself.

Atlas didn’t appear confused or surprised by the development because he already understood why it was happening, ‘My will is now one with the broken Domain, so its no surprise it looks like me…’ He suddenly clenched his extended hand, and the entire structure of the fragments began swirling rapidly before finally settling into a complete humanoid form identical to his own.

However, there was one significant difference between Atlas and the figure that now stood before him. The figure’s entire body was composed of a darkness far deeper than anything that could ordinarily be seen, with its face, limbs, abdomen, and every other part of its form completely covered in Nothingness.

Atlas examined the figure for a moment before giving a slight nod, ‘Well, the Domain was the Domain of Nothingness.’

Having completed the first stage, Atlas shifted his attention toward the next objective, ‘Share a part of my soul…’

His expression became thoughtful as he considered how to accomplish that part of the process. After exhaling slowly, Atlas closed his eyes again and placed his extended palm against the chest of the transformed Domain, directing his awareness toward the deepest part of his own existence.

In the next instant, his consciousness entered that familiar inner space, where his soul form could be found.

Without hesitation, Atlas willed his soul form to create a clone of itself.

Yes…he was attempting to duplicate his own soul form, something that should have been impossible through any conventional or unconventional method. If anyone had witnessed what he was doing, they would either have been so shocked by his absurdity that they would scratch their head feeling crazy or something or…

Some might have dismissed the attempt as complete madness, because no one in the history of the Primartia Galaxy had ever attempted such a thing and survived. In fact, no one had even considered the possibility of creating a second soul form through their own will.

However, Atlas didn’t care whether anyone else had attempted it before or whether others would consider it impossible. Even if he had known how absurd the attempt was supposed to be, he would still have proceeded because he had no intention of limiting himself to conventional methods.

With that determination, he successfully formed a clone of his soul form without encountering any significant difficulty.

Immediately afterward, he sent the newly created soul clone into the transformed Domain. The moment it entered the figure, Atlas’s eyes snapped open, returning his consciousness to his physical body in outer space, where his Second Self now stood directly in front of him. Blackish Nothingness continued flowing from its body as its dark, pupil-less eyes opened, and Atlas stared into them for a brief moment before speaking.

“You already know what needs to be done, don’t you?”

The Second Self didn’t need to respond verbally, as the connection between them was already established. Atlas immediately willed it to enter the Inner World contained within the black swirl, allowing it to take its position within the existence that had replaced his Astral Core.

The moment it entered, Atlas felt his heartbeat accelerate immensely before suddenly coming to a complete stop.

THUMP!

His eyes widened for a brief moment as the connection between his Second Self and Inner World was established. An enormous burst of Aether immediately erupted from Atlas, spreading through the surrounding space like an invisible wave.

Asteroids were reduced to nothing but dust as nearby planets experienced sudden fluctuations in their Aether currents, while cracks spread across their surfaces under the pressure of the disturbance, and even worlds several light-years away felt the energy passing through them.

Across the entire Primartia Galaxy, every powerful cultivator, no matter what they were doing at that moment left it at a pause and turned toward the source of the disturbance. Recognizing the absurd disturbance throughout the whole galaxy as an emergence of an anomalous Emperor rank.