In the Saint Seiya World, any Gold Saint possesses the power to shatter stars with a single punch.
In ancient times, to prevent planets from being completely destroyed by the residual power of Saint battles, the gods collectively cast the 'Equality of All Beings' divine spell.
This spell, on one hand, strengthened the Saint Seiya planet, and on the other, greatly limited the destructive power of the Saints.
For example, every Gold Saint can use the universal technique, Lightning Speed Fist!
If not for the constraints of the gods' spell, the punch speed of a Gold Saint could truly reach the speed of light!
To give an example, the ultimate technique of the Leo Saint, Aiolia, Lightning Plasma, is to throw one hundred million punches per second at the speed of light!
What kind of concept is this? If calculated by power, the power of each punch is close to one hundred million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy.
One hundred million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy might be hard to understand, so to put it another way, each of Aiolia's punches is equivalent to the energy of a 5-million-ton nuclear bomb explosion!
If the Saints were truly allowed to fight without restraint, the Saint Seiya planet would have already turned into cosmic dust on the night Saga attacked Shion.
What Reincarnation Space, how dare it try to pull me in?
Out of caution, Li Yu did not make a choice immediately, after all, he was in the Sanctuary.
The Athena statue on top of the Holy Mountain was not a mere stone sculpture, but Athena's God Cloth, and it might even conceal Athena's divinity.
His every move in the Sanctuary had to be extra careful.
Moreover, he saw that the invitation from the Reincarnation Space was clearly persistent, always hanging brightly before his eyes until its goal was achieved.
Just in case, before meeting Shion, Li Yu even went to Mr. Mu at the Aries Palace and loitered for a bit.
"Yo, little Mu, the weather is really nice today."
Mr. Mu stopped repairing the Cloth in his hands. He looked up, glanced at the pitch-black night with a puzzled expression, then at Li Yu's handsome face, and finally hummed in agreement.
"Is that so? I also think it's quite good."
After confirming that Mr. Mu, who shared the same origin as Shion, couldn't see the prompt, Li Yu completely relaxed and walked towards the Pope's Main Hall.
Passing through the Twelve Gold Palaces, except for the good-natured Mr. Mu, the other Gold Saints all looked displeased and snorted coldly.
Li Yu's title as the strongest Gold Saint of this era was not for nothing.
It was the formidable reputation he had earned with his own fists and feet over the years!
In these years, except for Shaka of Virgo, who subtly possessed the strength to contend with him, the other Gold Saints had all been 'educated' by him more than once under the guise of sparring.
The opinion of the various Gold Saints regarding Li Yu was this:
Li Yu of Aquarius is very strong, but I am not convinced; even if I can't beat him, I am still not convinced.
Arriving at the Aquarius Palace, Li Yu took off his Gold Cloth. The moment the Aquarius Cloth left his body, it automatically reassembled into a golden human figure holding an amphora and flew into the Cloth Box.
The Gold Cloth significantly boosts a Saint's offensive and defensive capabilities.
The difference in combat power displayed by a Saint with and without a Cloth is very large.
Ever since the incident where Saga assassinated the Pope, Gold Saints have been required to remove their Cloths before meeting the Pope, to prevent anyone from attempting to assassinate the Pope again.
Li Yu's Aquarius Palace was only one palace away from the Pope's Main Hall, which was the Pisces Temple guarded by Aphrodite.
As he walked into the dark Pisces Temple, Aphrodite, clad in the Pisces Gold Cloth, stood in the center of the palace.
Upon seeing Li Yu enter the palace, Aphrodite's golden Cosmo suddenly ignited, illuminating the entire palace!
Li Yu stopped, raised an eyebrow, and asked with a hint of playfulness in his tone.
"What, little Di, so late, do you still want to spar with me?"
Aphrodite clenched his fists and slowly shook his head.
Among this generation of Gold Saints, the Pisces and Cancer Saints were the weakest. They had only just awakened the Seventh Sense and were jokingly referred to as the "Aquatic Duo" by many other Gold Saints.
Even without his Cloth, it would only take Li Yu a few minutes to deal with him.
As Li Yu's footsteps faded and he was about to leave the Pisces Temple, Aphrodite suddenly spoke out a warning.
"Be careful, Li Yu, I feel that the Pope has been acting strangely recently."
The palaces guarded by each Gold Saint are their private domains, undetectable by any god, not even Athena.
Aphrodite chose to speak with him in the Pisces Temple, likely because he had observed something unusual.
Li Yu's steps paused slightly, and he smiled faintly.
"Heh, when has that old man ever been normal? Don't worry, I have it handled."
Arriving in front of the Pope's Main Hall, Li Yu said in a clear voice.
"Pope, Aquarius Saint Li Yu requests an audience."
"Come in!"
A man's gentle voice came from inside the hall.
The two Silver Saints guarding the door moved aside, and Li Yu stepped into the hall. The flickering lamplight on the walls cast a swaying shadow of the man seated on the throne.
"You're here?"
Shion, wearing a golden miter and a white robe, slowly rose.
He walked in front of Li Yu, removed his mask, revealing a pair of reddish-purple eyes.
Over 200 years had passed, and Shion, once known as the most handsome Pope, had also become incredibly old, his beautiful face covered in wrinkles.
Shion's eyebrows were very distinctive, two ink-blot-like circles. This was the most prominent feature of the Jamir Tribe!
The Jamir Tribe was the strongest force in the Sanctuary, long-lived, and skilled in repairing Cloths.
Mr. Mu and Shion were both Gold Saints from this tribe.
"Come with me, it's time I told you some things."
Shion slowly moved his feet, leading Li Yu up to the Star Tower located above the Pope's Main Hall.
This was where the Pope observed the stars and interacted with the gods.
Before Athena's reincarnation could grow to accommodate divine power, the Pope could discern the will of the gods from the ethereal realm.
Arriving at the Star Tower, Shion looked out at the brightly lit Sanctuary below, and sighed deeply.
"Li Yu, I am old, and I don't intend to survive this Holy War. If possible, I want to entrust the Sanctuary to you..."
Li Yu quickly declined. Are you kidding? He was trying to escape Athena.
Shion still wanted him to be the person closest to the goddess?
"Pope, I am of limited talent and knowledge, and I feel I am not suitable to be the next Pope. In fact, in my opinion, Mu would be a good choice."
"My relationship with Mu is good, don't worry, I will help Mu manage the Sanctuary."
Shion turned his head, his purple eyes shining like stars.
"Although Mu has good strength, he is too soft-hearted and not suitable to govern the Sanctuary!"
"Saori Kido is already fourteen years old, and the Holy War is about to begin again. I no longer have time for Mu to grow. Over these years, I have been observing you all, and only you can assume the position of Pope."
Li Yu's heart skipped a beat. So Shion knew everything. Then, more than ten years ago, Aiolos escaped the Sanctuary with Athena... Shion seemed to know what Li Yu was thinking, and he nodded slightly.
"That's right, Aiolos escaping the Sanctuary with Athena was my intention, or rather, Athena's own intention..."
"But Aiolos's death was truly not my intention..."
Not your intention, then it must be Athena's intention, right?
To reserve a spare Gold Cloth for Pegasus, poor Aiolos could only choose to die.
Then, for whom was the Aquarius Gold Cloth reserved?
Li Yu scoffed internally. Athena, you really only consider the Bronze Five.
Are we Gold Saints all just meant to die?
At this moment, Li Yu became even more determined to go to the Reincarnation Space to seek a new path for himself.
Repeatedly declining could not change Shion's resolve, so Li Yu could only say he would consider it for now.
He quickly returned to his Aquarius Palace and set up his domain.
After the conversation with Shion, Li Yu no longer had any hesitation in his heart. He did not want to burn himself out for the sake of a so-called god, so there was only one path left.
Li Yu gazed at the golden prompt box in front of him and silently thought.
"Yes!"
The next second, Li Yu only felt light swirling before his eyes...