At the same time, in the Hall of the God-King.
Odin sat upright upon his throne, and the endless profundity of the Secret Codex of Divine Power Refinement still echoed in his mind.
Suddenly—!
His eyes snapped open.
Boom!
In that instant, Odin's divine power inside his body completely lost control, rampaging like boiling magma. A powerful resonance—like it came from the same origin—surged from the direction of the treasury, tugging at every trace of godly power within him.
Especially the core of Odin's divine might—the Authority of the God-King—which grew so active it was nearly about to burst out of his body.
"This… what is happening?!"
Odin rose in shock. Astonishment and disbelief flooded his eye as he stared toward the treasury.
The Eternal Spear!
It was the Eternal Spear resonating!
No—more than the Eternal Spear!
Someone was there… someone had touched the core of the Authority of the God-King, and had even gained the spear's… acknowledgment.
And the one in the treasury right now…
Lucci!
It couldn't be wrong.
Absolutely couldn't be wrong.
It was Lucci!
Other than him, there was no second person capable of accomplishing something so outrageous.
In Odin's mind, scenes from after he met Lucci flashed one after another—
Before he was even born, he could ignite ten thousand fires for the royal line.
Beneath the World Tree, he resonated with the cosmos.
In a single night, he read the Ten-Thousand-Year Collection and mastered all its knowledge.
He casually drew the Runic Comprehensive Diagram and defeated a Grandmaster.
At a glance he saw through the origin of an illusion and crushed Loki.
In the Grand Arena, he created the Secret Codex of Divine Power Refinement, enough to change the fate of all Asgard…
All of it kept pushing the upper limit of what the word "genius" could possibly mean.
And now…
He had only just entered the treasury, and he directly comprehended what even Thor had never touched—the Royal Authority?
Worse—he was being actively acknowledged by the Eternal Spear.
This…
Wasn't this simply absurd?
Odin felt his thoughts spiral into utter chaos.
He had already been prepared to entrust Asgard's future to Lucci.
But now, it felt as if that "future" had arrived…
A little too fast?
A ridiculous yet strangely real thought galloped wildly through his mind like an untamed horse.
"This child… how old is he?"
"The next step… could it be…"
"He wants to directly inherit my position as God-King?!"
At that thought, Odin's expression turned indescribably strange.
He was still sitting on the throne, and hadn't even thought about making an abdication speech—
And that "successor" over there had already completed the Eternal Spear?
Isn't this a bit… off?
"Isn't it far too disrespectful to me, the current God-King?!"
And yet, that conflicted feeling was quickly replaced by something stronger and hotter—
Pride.
No—expectation.
Inheriting the throne?
Fine!
Excellent!
Odin even wished Lucci would inherit it immediately.
With Lucci's comprehension and terrifying growth speed, what kind of dazzling future would Asgard move toward under his rule?
All-Father?
That would only be the starting point.
Single-universe level?
Conceptual?
Even Odin felt that perhaps even those words could not define Lucci's future achievements.
Asgard's future was no longer merely "stable."
It was taking off.
Soaring toward an unprecedented supreme realm—even Odin could only look up to it and imagine it!
"Haha… hahaha…!"
Thinking this, Odin could no longer contain his ecstasy and excitement. He burst into booming laughter that shook the entire Hall of the God-King.
He sat back upon the throne, staring toward the treasury, his eye shining with an unprecedented brilliance.
"Go on, Lucci Odinson."
"Explore and comprehend to your heart's content."
"Show me where your limits are!"
"The whole of Asgard… will be the foundation for your takeoff."
…
Inside Odin's Vault.
When Lucci released his hand, the restless Eternal Spear finally calmed down.
Everything that had happened was witnessed in full by Loki, who had been hiding nearby.
His mouth hung open wide enough to swallow a goose egg. His eyes were dull, empty…
Unbelievable.
When the aura of the Royal Authority erupted just now, Loki felt as if his soul was going to be crushed by that majesty.
He had watched a supreme divine artifact—one even his father had to treat seriously—
Become as obedient as a kitten in Lucci's hands.
"A monster… he's a monster…"
Loki hid behind a pillar, trembling all over, and never again dared to think of opposing Lucci.
Lucci calmly glanced at Loki's hiding place and ignored him.
Comprehending the Royal Authority was, in the long road of cultivation, nothing more than a small wave casually picked up—an added "application method" in his power system. It didn't stir his emotions much.
His gaze left the Eternal Spear and fell upon another corner of the treasury.
There, a box emitting frigid air rested quietly on an obsidian pedestal.
The Casket of Ancient Winters.
A sacred relic from Jotunheim, land of the Frost Giants, containing an ultimate icy power capable of freezing an entire realm.
"The opposite of fire…"
"Interesting."
Lucci stepped forward and reached out, directly lifting the silver box into his hand.
Click—
The moment he picked it up, thick frost condensed across its surface, and a terrifying cold rushed at his face—cold enough to freeze a soul and stop time itself.
It was tyrannical, as if it meant to drag everything around into eternal deathly silence and absolute zero.
But the instant that cold touched Lucci's body, the Origin True Fire Marvelous Art within him began to operate on its own.
A golden breath of true flame—representing "burning" and "light"—seeped out from his body.
That domineering cold immediately became docile, like a mouse seeing a cat. All violence and dead silence vanished, leaving only the purest "cold" attribute behind.
Lucci toyed with the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hand, and comprehension unfolded again.
[You are observing the "Casket of Ancient Winters"…]
[You begin analyzing the essence of the Law of "Absolute Ice"]
[You comprehend the essence of "Low Temperature": the slowing and stopping of molecular motion.]
[You comprehend the essence of "Condensation": orderly transformation of matter's form.]
[You comprehend the essence of "Extinction": the end of energetic activity and reduction of entropy.]
[You are observing the concept of "Absolute Zero"…]
Lucci's consciousness entered a world of pure white.
Here, there was no motion, no energy, no time.
Everything existed in absolute, eternal stillness.
This was another ultimate form of the universe—thermal death.
In contrast to fire's "release of energy" and "creation of light," ice represented "convergence of energy" and "absolute stasis."
They were two sides of the cosmos.
Two original laws that could restrain each other—and also transform into each other.
[Congratulations! Your comprehension defies the heavens—you have insight into the essence of the "Law of Ice"!]
Lucci opened his eyes.
He raised his left hand. With a thought, pure white cold—carrying absolute stillness—appeared at his fingertips.
He raised his right hand. Golden true flame—carrying eternal burning and light—also ignited at his fingertips.
Fire and ice.
Creation and extinction.
At this moment, two utterly opposite primal forces appeared calmly and harmoniously above his fingertips, forming a perfect, inviolable micro-cycle—like a tiny Supreme Ultimate.
He was mastering both opposing forces at once.
…