After fully completing the lottery draws, Sol Mercer's power had increased tremendously, and his panel had been simplified quite a bit as well.
[FGO Gacha System v1.0—At your service!]
[Host:Sol Mercer]
[Age:22]
[Tier:VIII—Demigod Stage]
[Personal Inventory:Cosmic Cowboy Outfit (Boothill's Replica), Super Cat Treat, Infinite Ammo Enchant Scroll, Ivory and Ebony ×2, Kawasaki H2, Hamburger Set ×2, Snack Pack ×5, Favonius Greatsword (x3), Beastslayer Blood Spear, Spirit Sword, Imperial Thunder Blade, Emperor Armor, Teyvat Egg ×14…]
[Essence:Demigod Soul Lv.8, Demigod Body Lv.8, Electromagnetic Mastery Lv.8, Thermodynamic Mastery Lv.7, Dominion Over All Laws Lv.7, Wisdom of the Stars Lv.7, Life Link Lv.7, Third Perpetual Motion Engine – Stellar Particle]
[Knowledge-Type Skills:Unlimited Blade Works, Reality Marble, Emperor Armor Construction Principle, Lightning-Shadow Hand, Unshakable Vajra Body, Runes of the Æsir, Runic Script, Flying Sword Style…]
[Conceptual Skills:Four Conceptual Fragments of Yàn Shuāngyīng]
Because of the integration of the Golden Dawn and Silver Star systems, Sol had now stepped onto the Kabbalah Tree of Life system, ascending in both dimension and divinity. (TN:Refer to LC/LoR lore here.)
From the mortal limit of the universe at Tier I to VIII, there lay three abysses before the Tier IX [Jesus Christ], and beyond that, the Tier 10[Hidden God]—the source of all worlds and creation.
This system did not aim to become or surpass Jesus, but to use His system as a framework for measurement and reference.
Once this system was established, Sol's abilities began to merge together, and his most significant powers fused into what became known as his inseparable [Essence].
Physical enhancements were classified under Demigod Body, while the strengthening of the soul and will belonged to Demigod Soul.
Other domains—such as electromagnetism, heat, and frost—were each unified into singular cores; future additions of similar powers would raise the level of the entire whole.
These were called Essences, meaning they were indissoluble components of Sol's being, capable of genetic inheritance with randomly determined traits.
As for Innate Skills, these were the knowledge-based abilities Sol had mastered—powers that could theoretically be replicated.
At first glance, it seemed he possessed only twenty-three golden-tier knowledge skills and three hundred thirty-seven purple-tier ones, but given his current Tier and previous foundation, his capabilities had reached a level of near-omnipotent mastery.
For Sol, merely thinking could create a new purple-tier skill—for instance, deriving an entire martial art series based on [Lightning-Shadow Hand], or generating numerous purple derivative skills grounded in electromagnetic theory.
And with the Stellar-Grade Cognitive Computer within the system, even the deduction of new golden-tier skills was just a matter of time.
Henceforth, purple-tier skills were of little value to him, except those with unique research potential or belonging to rare systems.
Through countless draws and integrating advanced rewards, Sol had solidified his path: to take electromagnetism as the core, extend toward the four fundamental cosmic forces, and eventually ascend to the Tier IX [Inverse Principle God], mastering the logic of all existence.
As the saying went—The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.
When the Dao manifests as all things, it still permeates the world—yet no mortal beneath the Dao can fully perceive it anymore.
Thus, by reversing the Dao's process—all things return to Three, Three merges into Two, and Two unites as One—one achieves the Dao itself.
This was a practical and universal path.
Even the Aeons of the Star Rail universe had only crossed one abyss—beings of the ninth Tier, conceptual gods who represented the first step beyond the cosmos, existing in the phase of "All Things Return to Three." The phase of "Three Merging into Two," however, was still a faraway dream.
Their fates strengthened through assimilation and weakened through division—like Harmony merging with Order, Permanence splitting into Propagation and Abundance. These served as the positive and negative examples of the "Three Merging into Two" principle.
Among them, the one who had ventured furthest along this path was IX, the Aeon of Nihility. IX had nearly consumed half of the Star Rail universe and continued to expand.
Once IX devoured both the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea, it would complete the "Three Merging into Two" phase—yet before that, it would likely perish.
Even if IX miraculously succeeded, it would only do so by embracing certain death—to step onto the true multiversal path of Two Uniting as One.
Why must it die?
Because while Nihility might reign supreme within the Star Rail universe, it was merely first-class among the infinite worlds of the multiverse.
Concepts such as Existence, Eternity, Creation, Annihilation, Genesis, Chaos, Emotion, Life… all existed on higher levels—the Aeons of the Star Rail merely represented slices of those supreme truths.
Just as IX, the Aeon of Nihility embodied the concept of nihilism within the Star Rail universe—not that of the entire multiverse.
If the number of worlds was infinite, then unless one was the sole supreme being, there would be infinitely many entities of the first or even top tier.
"What a vast and magnificent world this is."
Sol Mercer murmured softly.
He was thankful he had chosen the [Silver Star System] as his golden reward—its open theoretical framework revealed to him an endless, boundless cosmos.
His power hadn't transformed by this system—it was merely consolidated.
Yet its significance in guiding his path forward was undoubtedly the greatest so far.
After a quiet moment of reflection, Sol stopped his daydreaming.
Those things could wait until he witnessed them himself someday.
Sol's eyes drifted to the new golden skill appearing on his panel—a rather questionable ability called [Life Link].
In short, through intimate contact, the essence of two lifeforms could briefly connect; the stronger one's breath would infuse the weaker, promoting its evolution.
To achieve noticeable results, there had to be a great disparity between the two.
Conveniently, Sol and Nicole—as well as Anby—had an enormous gap in both physical constitution and life essence, meeting the trigger conditions for a major enhancement.
Considering the potential dangers awaiting them in the Star Rail universe, where Nicole and Anby's strength might be far from top-tier, Sol decided it was necessary to help them grow stronger.
Otherwise, if they got hurt when he wasn't around, that would be troublesome.
Determined, he immediately took action.
"Hey! What are you doing so early in the morning?"
Nicole, bleary-eyed, mumbled with irritation.
Anby stirred awake from her dreams, a faint trace of fear flickering in her eyes.
Sol patted both their heads gently and said with a smile, "It's for your own good. Be good—it'll be over soon."
"Nooo!"
Nicole let out a shrill squeak like a startled prairie dog.
She regretted it now—she shouldn't have let Sol into bed last night.
How could this man still have so much energy after they had dealt with him all night!?
Did he really not understand the saying "too much of anything is bad"?
"Mm…"
Anby blushed deeply, yet her eyes didn't miss a single frame of Nicole's suffering.