"Lord God, also called God Space, Reincarnation Hall, or Samsara Temple. There are two forms of Lord God: a species or an object. The species is born in the void and have the innate ability to travel to the Omniverse.
"By disturbing a world's plot or set destiny, they can draw a bit of the world's source to increase their power. As such, Lord Gods usually capture ordinary people and send them to different universes with missions and rewards.
"Because of Primordial Earth, there are many projections of Earth across the Omniverse. The Lord God usually picked people from these projected Earths because some have high potential because of the connection to Primordial Earth and their knowledge of the plot.
"When it comes to the object of Lord God, they also like to choose people from Earth as their owner–albeit this rule is not absolute."
Edward read the information, and much of the information was things he had already theorized and could finally have concrete proof. For example, he learned all God Space had the ability to steal a timeline and hide from the Universe's Will.
However, there is a difference between powerful and weak ones. Powerful Lord Gods will reset the timeline after stealing from the World Source and repeat the process; they're like leeches who will not give up after taking a bite.
Meanwhile, weaker Lord Gods cannot reset the timeline, so they have to steal another timeline once they mess up the plot of one.
Edward squinted his eyes as he remembered a story he had read during his light novel phase. It was about a young man who discovered a God Space Artifact and used it to become a supreme being.
Because of his weak strength, that young man could not completely use the artifact's power, so he had to participate in missions like everybody else to reach the top. Of course, he had many advantaged that others had since he was essentially the boss. Furthermore, the other "reincarnators" he chose to help were gathering World Source for him without them knowing.
And as that person gets more powerful, he gains more and more control of the artifact.
Edward sent Rowena and Luna on a mission across the multiverse to search for a weak Lord God, and the watch they discovered is another sign of a weak Lord God. Powerful Lord God will eliminate anyone who spies on their "reincarnator" and will not leave any proof connecting to them.
Edward plans to send a clone into the God Space and become a reincarnator. Then, from the inside, plan a way to steal the artifact and become its master. With it, Omniversal Travel will become easier. He won't have to rely on the Akashic Record; he can acquire World Source and study the Artifact to recreate it on his own.
"World Source," he muttered. As the name implies, it is the source of energy of the universe. It's why life exists, why planets and other celestial bodies can be formed, or even the rules can exist. The amount of World Source determined the universe's size, its space's stability, and the highest Tier any creature can reach. It's also one of the factors determining the Willpower level required for an Archmage to wield the power of rules.
'There should be Lord God in one of the parallel timelines of this universe. If I plan correctly, I might be able to pick at their secrets and even get my hands on some world source.'
He interacted with World Source two times in his journey: the first was when he took the rules of Space-Time and Death from the Full Metal Alchemist World. By then, he caught a small part of World Source, which was fused with the Time and Death Staff. Regrettably, he knew nothing about it back then, so most of it dissipated and returned to the world.
The second was when he stole an entire timeline from the Black Clover World and took a small portion of World Source. Since then, he has been studying this strange and all-encompassing power. Based on preliminary data, this power can do everything: increase mana, aura, and all forms of energy he knew. It could heal the hidden damage of Rowena's Void Experiments and increase talent.
Edward suspects its power can break the limit of the soul, but he has not done enough research yet to determine the validity of this conjecture. However, if it is true, he has a way of dealing with the soul limitation. His plan is for arcanists to help the universe in some simple form, and Cronai will grant them some World Source to break their limit.
'Although this method has a high chance of success, it's only applicable as long as we have a good relationship with Cronai. Once things become sour, the entire Arcane Civilization will suffer. So, let's label it as Solution B for now.'
He still needed to find a way to break the Soul Limit, and hopefully, something in this world will help. Otherwise, he can only deal with the problem after going to the next world: Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Edward has no plan to go to the Marvel Comic Universe until he is Tier 12. And even then, he will be extremely cautious.
'Let's prepare to find the stolen timelines.'
Rowena and Luna have data on doing such a thing, but the problem is finding the correct timeline with a weak Lord God. This will require some time and effort.
"Before then, let's test my new power.'
He disappeared and instantly teleported to another galaxy hundred of thousand light years away.
'This is not my limit,' he thought as he teleported again, traveling more than five galaxies away. Edward controlled the Rules of Time and continued to teleport further and further.
"I have always wanted to see the end of time but was very restrained in my universe. Let's try in this place.'
Edward pushed the boundary of his powers and traveled to the end of the universe where there was no time, no space, no matter–only him.
"What a beautiful yet horrifying sight," he muttered as he watched it happen. His understanding of the universe increased, including its rules and machination, space-time, death, and even destruction and rebirth.
The experience was both a spiritual awakening and a learning experience. His soul sublimated, and his spiritual energy drastically increased, reaching close to the limit of Tier 8.
On instinct, Edward went to the time of this universe's birth, completing this spiritual awakening. His spiritual energy finally reached its limit.
Edward sighed before returning to the lab. Because of the wonder he experienced and the sudden increase, his spiritual energy leaked, alerting the others to rush to his lab, thinking something had gone wrong.
"What happens? Are you alright?" asked Tsunade.
"Sorry, I was mesmerized, so I lost control."
"Mesmerize? Which women can make you lose control? I would love to see her."
"What woman? I just experienced the birth and death of the universe."
"Birth and death? Are you saying you travel forward and backward in time to see how our universe was born and died?" asked Tobirama.
"Time is not linear, but you can understand it as such."
Tobirama was speechless. Every time he thinks he has grasped this man's power, something shows him all his overestimation still underestimates this man.
"So, how did our universe end?" asked Orochimaru. "Is it natural or man-made?"
"Both. The Otsutsuki God tried to swallow the universe to achieve ultimate power and transcendence. However, he failed and died due to the backlash. However, his actions also destroyed most of the universe, accelerating its natural death.
"Less than a million years after his action, the universe died."
While traveling the river of time, he saw many things.
"Wait, doesn't that mean the universe will end soon?" asked Tsunade. She had heard of this so-called God from Edward and knew he was alive.
"Not for another 3.7 billion years. By then, the Otsutsuki's plans would be complete, and they will try."
"Why do I feel that's not a long time?"
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not," replied Edward. "Alright, I need some space to calm down."
