Zatiel took a deep breath before unleashing the full might of his Mind Force. A pure pink aura emerged from his body and extended for hundreds of kilometers.
After a few seconds, the Mind Force began to condense and form hundreds of different runes that carried the power of Life and Death Essence.
The runes began to connect and after a few days, what appeared in front of Zatiel was an immense glowing pink furnace, covered with all kinds of powerful formations.
This furnace wasn't a simple creation made with Law Essence and Mind Force, but a technique that combined runes crafting and cultivation.
Demonic Realm Refinement Furnace was the name of the technique, and the word realm in it was not an exaggeration since the creator once used it to refine an entire High World and the trillions of lives in it.
The creator was a great evil that once terrified the universe, but one day he just vanished.
He was one of the many entities that disappeared when the Incarnation of Death and Destruction wandered the universe after seizing Dis.
The rune formation Zatiel planned to engrave in the bone dagger would be something unique that would fit perfectly with his battle style and enhance every aspect of his power.
Dozens of components needed to be combined into a pure and unique essence that Zatiel will use to inscribe runes in the bone daggers.
Physical matter and energy were easy to blend, but souls were much harder. That is why the Neo-Demon used the Demonic Realm Refinement Furnace.
He sent all the rune materials along with the Nether Crow and Undying Leviathan into the furnace but did not stop there. Streams of blood containing fragments of the Rebirth Eclipse Bloodline, pieces of his Dream Dimension, and bits of his True Soul also went into the furnace.
The process weakened him, but the damage was minimal and would heal on its own in a matter of weeks.
Once everything was ready, he positioned himself beneath the furnace and unleashed a torrent of flaming Rebirth Force upward.
As the fire ignited the furnace, the runes that formed it glowed and increased the heat inside. The power of Life and Death Essence worked in conjunction to stop any form of degradation of the materials while these fused into one pure substance.
Zatiel's Rebirth Force heated the furnace for five straight weeks. If it weren't for the All-Devouring Domain providing him with oceans of energy, he would have lasted a few days maximum.
A smile appeared in the Neo-Demon when he saw how the incarnations, True Soul's pieces, Rebirth Eclipse Bloodline's fragments, and everything else vanished.
After the refinement was over, the only thing left was a bluish-pink plasma.
'If I could use the true power of the Demonic Realm Refinement Furnace, I could arouse the power of heavenly bodies, but my mastery over the technique is too weak. I can barely use the first level with my current strength.' Zatiel did not overthink about the furnace power and waved his hand, making it disappear.
He rested for a day before beginning to inscribe the runes in the eighty-one bone daggers.
Another five months went by like that, and when he finished, every dagger had a majestic rune inscribed in them. By their own, the runes were at Rank 5, but by working together, the power they could unleash would be spectacular.
Not even with the All-Devouring Domain could Zatiel activate eighty-one Rank 5 artifacts, each carrying a Rank 5 rune. That is why he told Hades to make an energy pool for every weapon.
The Rebirth Eye glowed and absorbed the daggers. A Rank 5 Animus' Dream Dimension could store certain weapons and nurture them.
An artifact like the bone sword would not benefit from that, but the daggers worked with Mind Force and Elemental Chaos, so staying in the dimension would strengthen Zatiel's connection with them.
Zatiel spent a week in the void, making sure his body, energy, and soul were at their peak before teleporting to the World Gate and leaving the Neo-Demon Realm.
A few minutes later, the Neo-Demon found himself in front of an asteroid field in an extremely remote corner of the Prima Universe.
Trying to reach this place by using a World Gate was extremely hard. However, dozens of portals appeared every few hundred years around the universe and teleported those with an immense destiny here.
The asteroids in front of Zatiel moved so fast and with such power that even a Rank 8 life form would find it hard to move through it.
Luckily, after the Neo-Demon appeared, the asteroids diminished their power and speed. The next second, a green portal with a majestic and holy aura appeared in the center.
'Son of the Prima Universe, enter the portal if your heart is righteous and seeks peace. If you are a monster who only wants power and destruction but is willing to make an oath to defend your home, you also may enter.'
Zatiel heard those words in his mind, and the ancientness in them surpassed even his own.
The portal began to close after the voice finished speaking.
The Neo-Demon could see that the power in the asteroids was enough to harm a Rank 6 life form, and even a genius Rank 5 at the 1st Engraving Stage would find it impossible to reach the portal in time.
It would need a once-in-a-generation supreme genius to reach the portal. Someone capable of expressing a battle power an entire Rank above his current cultivation.
And even then, that person would have to use everything they had to reach the portal before the asteroids crush them. They would have to be ready to bet their life and sustain grave wounds.
Zatiel walked to the border of the asteroid field before his eyes glowed, and he used the energy stored in the All-Devouring Domain to activate the Rank 6 Shooting Star End.
He took out the bone sword, fused with his Law Avatar, initiated Doomsday Incarnation, activated the Tree of Massacre's Symbiotic Armor, and pushed the All-Devouring Domain's protective force field to the limit before flashing forward.
A black flash moved through the asteroid field, creating hundreds of bluish-purple fire explosions before reaching the green portal.
The test that would have threatened the life of an extraordinary genius did not harm the Neo-Demon's Ancestor at all.
'I guess I passed the first trial.' There was no excitement on Zatiel's face, only calmness. He deactivated his power-ups before going through the portal.
The next moment, a blinding light struck Zatiel, and he heard the ancient voice again.
'Congratulations, Prima Universe's son. Luck and destiny brought you to this place, but it was your perseverance and courage that allowed you to enter my home. I give you a formal welcome to the World Tree's Abode, where the trial to gain the title of Prima Universe's Champion takes place. If you prove yourself worthy, I, one of the first life forms to be born in this Epoch, will guide you to become the most incredible being in existence and show you a way to the all-powerful Rank 10!'
Those words would make anyone feel awe and have difficulty controlling their emotions, but the only thing they provoked in Zatiel was a smirk.
