026. Past History
In the ancient times, the Star Abyss, which gave birth to the universe and created everything, suddenly noticed three invading dimensional destroyers.
The Star Abyss knew they would bring eternal destruction, so it launched the 'Star Abyss War,' drawing power from existence and shaping gods to fight against the invaders.
In this war against the three great destroyers, countless gods of the Star Abyss died, including the six supreme gods personally nurtured by the Star Abyss.
At first, the gods fought smoothly, keeping the enemies outside of the Star Abyss, in the outermost layer of the universe beyond even the Layer Abyss.
During that time, the gods created their own universes as buffer zones and fortresses, holding off the destroyers for a long time, preventing them from stepping into the true Layer Abyss.
The [Destruction] system god was killed.
The [Craft] system god perished.
The [Eerie] system god was split into three. Two of them almost vanished, abandoning the fight, while the [Origin Abyss Sovereign] remained somewhat active, occasionally issuing mysterious whispers to the [Mutants].
The [Redemption] system god—Lyan Ding, had a very complex situation, and his fate was said to be worse than death.
The [Domination] system god, 'Morphedria,' died completely, and it was rumored that he was devoured early on. Only his substitute—the [God of Reality]—continued to uphold his authority and divine power, fighting until he was overwhelmed by countless [Societies] and eventually exhausted and defeated.
With Leozi's defeat, the last god of the Star Abyss also fell.
As a side note—the name of the [God of Reality] was said to be 'Leozi.'
But Li Aozi knew that due to the widespread tales of Leozi's relentless resistance, people had long regarded 'Leozi' as the 'Interstellar Hero,' the 'Savior Leozi.'
That name had already been secularized, and many people were called by that name.
People lamented Leozi's death in battle, believing that such loyalty and courage in a god were quite precious.
However, this piece of history did not end there.
The myth continues.
The former [Plunder] system god, Red King, took actions completely opposite to Leozi.
He was corrupted by one of the destroyers, the [Gem Dragon King], and betrayed the Star Abyss, which had nurtured and raised him. He became the most despicable traitor, the most loathsome defector, the most shameless beast.
Now, Red King is still alive and well.
Not only that, but narrative-level civilizations like the [United Syndicate] continued to spread his divine name and belief through the dissemination of paths.
The gods who bravely resisted during the same period had mostly vanished and been buried in history, while the sinner of the Star Abyss lived better than anyone.
But Red King's existence was not without meaning.
After all, the era of the destroyers and the gods of the Star Abyss had long passed, but the vacant divine seats they left behind still emitted a maddening radiance.
Times always change, and with each era, people's evaluations of the same individual change as well.
Yesterday's war heroes could now be condemned as war criminals and villains, while once-rare traitors might be seen as peace ambassadors.
Those who once condemned and denounced the traitor of the Star Abyss, 'Red King,' idealists with noble sentiments, lost their voice and support when the Star Abyss entered an era of peace. They were seen as peace-breakers, bastards who only knew killing, and stagnantly rigid.
But Red King, as a living myth of history, the only existing supreme god, who wouldn't want to follow him? Even if they couldn't ascend to the position of a supreme god, at least they would gain benefits.
Past history is past.
Now, mortals only wish to compete for all resources for their own reproduction and survival.
The era of gods protecting mortals is over.
Now, the struggle of mortals for divine thrones has just begun!
Someone like Leozi, an idealistic warrior who died under a despicable ambush, was indeed a pity.
But despite the pity, the world now would rather say: good riddance.
Don't get in the way of making money, ascending to godhood, becoming immortal, and dominating the universe.
With the fall of the era of the supreme gods, the major narrative-level civilizations began competing for the paths, and gradually figured out some rules.
The most important among them was the detailed classification of the 'Path of Divine Ascension,' the individual steps to godhood.
In the Star Abyss, the path to ascension is divided into 24 tiers. Upon successfully advancing through the tiers, an individual's life level also steps into a new realm.
This was decided by narrative-level civilizations, though no one knew why they used such cryptic and mysterious letters.
If translated into player levels, the main class would advance 1 tier for every 20 levels gained.
However, there were exceptions. Most NPCs were different from players—they benefitted from secondary class bonuses, and as long as their total level met the requirement, even if the main class was lower, they could still achieve advancement.
First, the first 10 tiers: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa; (Level 20~200)
Within this range, a competent Kappa-tier individual could already be a key figure capable of determining the outcome of battles in the universe, but advancing to Kappa-tier was an insurmountable barrier for creatures native to the First Layer of the Star Abyss.
All Kappa-tier individuals had descended to the Second Layer of the Star Abyss, received blessings and training from the Abyss, and then returned to the First Layer under the curse of ascension.
Therefore, the first 10 tiers, with Kappa-tier as the dividing line, were also called the 'Curse-Free' zone.
The path revolves around curses and blessings, spiraling upward, and is the true road to godhood.
In the 'Curse-Free' zone, Li Aozi clearly remembered that there were two opportunities for individual racial ascension.
Upon advancing to Epsilon-tier, one could achieve 'Initial Ascension,' optimizing the genetic structure within the body, greatly extending life, and further unlocking potential.
Then, upon advancing to Kappa-tier, one could achieve 'Second Ascension,' where the individual's form would undergo a massive transformation, and their power level would drastically change.
The most notable aspect was the ability to live in the vacuum of space, becoming a 'Cosmic Being' in the truest sense.
As for the remaining 14 tiers, they were further divided into two stages.
From the 11th to the 23rd tiers: Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi; (Level 220~460)
In this range, because of the constant need to descend and ascend the Star Abyss, continually unlocking potential while bearing heavy curses, individuals had to stick together for mutual support, which is why this stage was called the 'Strong Curse' zone.
In the Strong Curse zone, there was no fixed number of ascensions.
One could undergo 'Strengthened Ascension' or 'Complete Ascension,' but at most, they could achieve 'Deep Ascension.'
In his previous life, Li Aozi, at level 300, was a [Starfall Master] at Omicron-tier, and as a top-tier player, had completed 'Deep Ascension.'
But his luck wasn't great, as he endured the ascension curse several times.
Normally, a [Starfall Master] who completed 'Deep Ascension' should have grown over 1 million kilometers tall, but Li Aozi's character only reached 300,000 kilometers.
Even so, completing 'Deep Ascension' was already considered reaching the demigod level in the Star Abyss.
The final stage is the unique 'Omega Tier' (Level 480).
Li Aozi couldn't even imagine what the Omega Tier was like. Their existence is beyond what this universe can sustain, and most of the time they dwell in the deepest layers of the Star Abyss or curl up in the deepest parts of narrative-level civilizations, not daring to move easily.
Their bodies had been tormented by the ascension curse to the point of being unrecognizable. Those Omega-tier individuals still able to move and fight likely numbered less than a hundred, and those who had ascended to godhood and enjoyed the worship of their entire path were fewer than ten.
Besides the universal term Omega Tier, people also referred to this stage and beings above level 480 as the 'Curse-Breaking' zone.
As for whether there's still ascension in the Curse-Breaking zone—that remains unknown.
Different races received different attribute points, talents, and abilities after ascension. The ascension process also served as a gradual selection of the most powerful bloodlines.