Reisen Riou took the Gnosis casually, not thinking much of it.
He chatted with Raiden Ei, the Raiden Shogun, and Miyushi Chiyo about how to distinguish the identical duo in the future.
Then he touched the pocket dimension gate behind Narukami's office.
In a flash, Reisen was teleported to the Testing Ground Dimension.
Once a monster execution site, the dimension now lacked monster sources due to its ascent, turning it into a breeding zone. Thunder Sakura, Cryo Regisvine, Pyro Regisvine, and cleaning Slimes lived here.
The former breeding and warehouse areas were now living quarters.
Raiden Makoto spent her days here.
"Sister Makoto, what's up?" Reisen asked, curious why she'd summoned him.
Nothing recent seemed worth her attention. Was it Ei splitting into two?
But shouldn't she discuss that with Ei?
And what did the Gnosis have to do with it?
"Hand over the Gnosis," Makoto said.
Reisen passed it to her. Makoto held it, chuckling wryly. "Ei probably sees the Gnosis as just a power booster and a link to Celestia."
"Tell me, Reisen, do you know what the Gnosis really is?" she asked.
"A higher-grade external elemental organ than a Vision," Reisen replied.
Makoto nodded approvingly. "Exactly. That's its core function. Power boosts, divine insight, even Celestia's connection—these are just side effects."
"As a superior elemental organ, it has all a Vision's functions."
"Like spatial abilities."
Makoto reached into the Gnosis, pulling out a pitch-black mass.
The instant Reisen saw it, his eyes narrowed. His body craved it intensely.
Makoto smiled. "You can see it, huh? This was bestowed by Celestia, tied to you."
"Only when you merge with it fully can you be called a Descender, able to rewrite Teyvat's fate. Normal people or youkai can't see it."
"They say you're locked now. Let this help you break through."
"It's been cleansed by the Sustainer, leaving only its essence and some stubborn impurities. It holds knowledge from beyond Teyvat—taboo to Teyvat's people, mostly useless. Since you've reached this point, it's yours. It's only useful to you."
…
The Source, born in the void.
Matter and energy flow from it, forming diverse worlds.
Worlds differ in rules and scale.
The Irminsul System is a vast world system.
But it's not unique. The void has birthed far larger systems. Worlds and their systems are infinite.
The System came from a place called the "System World."
Despite claiming to be the "Strongest Life-Crafting System," it was just one of many mass-produced models, version 7.10.2.11.6, code 7102116746224.
Unremarkable among systems, it wasn't even powered by a sentient AI, just a mildly trained weak AI capable of basic judgment.
In that sense, it paled compared to Reisen's One Mind, Ten Thousand Wits and Revival, which were sentient.
Through a government agency, the System fished a decently talented soul from the void, dragging along its body, and entered the Irminsul System's multiverse, landing in an eggshell-sealed universe.
Then it ended. The host died, the weak AI found a world gate, and got curb-stomped.
But the System wasn't weak. Reisen's gleaned knowledge showed it had high growth potential, strengthening with its host.
Had Wang Sheng's body reached LV50, a thrice-evolved System could've helped him escape the Sustainer.
Sadly, it never evolved, staying a blank slate, shattered by the Sustainer, world boss of Teyvat.
Cleansed and tossed into Narukami's Gnosis space, it gathered dust.
The System, sentient enough, refused to die. In its final moments, it hid its info, hidden functions, and spirituality in the data.
A slim chance at survival. Another host might've sent it back to the System World for reforging.
With the right host, it could've revived.
But that chance was gone. Even the System couldn't predict its weakling host would resurrect.
If sentient, it'd curse the training program's "stop-loss" nonsense.
Its host revived, and the System's remnants, plus some bizarre system, devoured its surviving spirituality and data.
What a mess.
As the System's residue vanished in Reisen's hand, Makoto smiled, satisfied.
"Mmm," Reisen hummed, feeling his body's fulfillment. His soul strengthened, completing itself. Chains of laws snapped rapidly, and countless arcane knowledges and laws appeared before him.
His grasp of laws deepened swiftly.
He broke past LV80, hitting LV80+, one step from plucking his Fate Star to join Teyvat's elite below Archons and their kin—truly a big shot.
"How's it feel? Any unexpected gains to share?" Makoto asked, curious.
"Besides power, I got a ton," Reisen said. "The info's messy. Give me time to sort it."