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Then came the top priority.
The Aeon-larva, stuck halfway, unable to ascend or descend.
He had indeed developed a self-awareness, but there was very little He could actually do. For the most part, He could only gaze through the Path at other Pathstriders scattered across the cosmos. However, He possessed a profound sense of divinity and was exceptionally generous. It was unclear if He acted this way because He was bored from being unable to complete His ascension, or if He was simply that kind of deity.
Zero-I and the other Giants of Light could clearly feel it; they didn't even need to strictly practice the Path's tenets. As long as the understanding and desire for "Hope" in their hearts deepened even slightly, the Path would feed back ten or a hundred times the power. While He hadn't directly elevated them to be His Emanators, at this rate, reaching that level was only a matter of time.
Other Pathstriders didn't have an Aeon personally spoon-feeding them. No matter how resolute they were, it was difficult to reach the scale of an Emanator. But the Giants of Light were different. With an Aeon personally feeding them, they could climb the Path at ten or a hundred times the normal speed. Acquiring power was ten or a hundred times easier for them than for other Pathstriders. Growing into the scale of an Emanator through their own efforts had also become ten or a hundred times simpler. While mass-producing Emanators was still impossible, it was enough to be world-shaking.
Beneath these surface phenomena, there was another shocking reality.
The Aeons of various other Paths had, through some form of shared mechanism, allowed this new Path—which originally couldn't have coalesced—to stabilize.
To put it in plain terms: they neither rejected nor fully agreed with it; instead, they "loaned" part of their traits through a sharing format. Supported collectively by the traits of multiple Paths, the brand-new Path was able to temporarily take shape.
As for the price, naturally, the new Aeon could not truly ascend. His control over the Path was also quite weak, as those traits did not yet truly belong to Him.
This conclusion seemed to further confirm 'Ruan Mei's' hypothesis. These Aeons truly seemed to have reached a consensus, leaving a "seed of a miracle" for the inevitable Finality. This discovery left Herta marvelling. This universe was truly a place where the most ridiculous things could happen.
Because of the joint effort of multiple Aeons, while the Path was somewhat ethereal, its breadth was terrifyingly vast! Although the Path's width would shrink significantly if the other Aeons retracted their "loaned" concepts, fortunately, a Path that has already appeared will never vanish. This fact alone was enough to make 'Ruan Mei' happy.
However, precisely because the Path was currently being held up by other Aeons, the Aeon-larva sealed within the crystal struggled a bit when bestowing blessings. Other Aeons could pour power into an Emanator whenever they wished, but He couldn't be so casual; it was like scooping a spoonful of water but leaking half of it. It was difficult for Him to directly pull someone up to be an Emanator.
That said, 'Ruan Mei' looked at Zero-I and the others. With their current strength, their speed of progress, and their boss's generosity, as long as they didn't stray from the path, reaching the scale of an Emanator in a few hundred years was an absolute certainty.
After conducting a series of experiments and reaching these conclusions, Herta couldn't help but laugh:
"Ha~ I wonder when this Path will be discovered by the rest of the world."
Since the Aeon hadn't been fully born, the universe had no idea what exactly had happened here. At most, they knew something major had occurred in this star sector, and that Aha had started laughing like a maniac for some unknown reason.
Hearing this, 'Ruan Mei' said with a smile:
"Soon. Zero-I and the others won't stay here forever. Once the Light Seeds are finished, they'll be running all over the universe. By then, as new Giants of Light appear one after another, the entire universe will know of their existence."
Ruan Mei, standing by, looked curiously at her other self and asked:
"Do you not plan to lead them?"
"I won't. They are the incarnations of hope and miracles. In their presence, I would only feel ashamed of my own inferiority; how could I speak of leadership? No one is qualified to command how hope and miracles should manifest."
'Ruan Mei' knew very well. The power of the Giants of Light should not be controlled by mortals. As incarnations of hope and miracles, they possessed both divinity and humanity; how could they be commanded by a mere person? They should be independent, beautiful incarnations. At the very least, 'Ruan Mei' didn't think she was qualified.
Herta laughed when she heard this:
"An interesting thought. Though it lacks a bit of confidence, I'm liking you more and more."
This was what Herta liked about Baiming. She knew very well she was only "borrowing" other people's power, so she remained calm and unhurried, simply doing what she wanted to do. This self-awareness, combined with her unique abilities, made Herta very satisfied.
"I feel Madam Herta's words are becoming increasingly explicit. It's making things difficult for me," 'Ruan Mei' replied with a smile.
"What, have you fallen for me? Well, I can understand; after all, my beauty is just that captivating."
Hearing Herta's words, the real Ruan Mei suddenly felt a sense of oddity.
"...Let's talk about the Light Seeds again. Now that we have a real Path, creating these Light Seeds will be much easier."
"Heh~"
Herta chuckled. In all these days, this was the first time she had seen Ruan Mei react like this. It was quite interesting.
But jokes aside, work had to be done. Now that everything was ready, a mere Light Seed was indeed very simple.
"Since we have the Path now, shouldn't the purpose of the Light Seed be changed a bit?"
"For example?" 'Ruan Mei' waited curiously for Herta to continue.
"The purpose of the Light Seed is to lower the threshold so that those in despair can be saved in time. But lowering the threshold means the quality will be inconsistent." Herta tapped the table.
Although she still hadn't figured out why those Aeons had come for a "team-building exercise," she knew one thing for sure: this new Path likely carried some form of expectation from them, and its potential was incredibly high.
Therefore: "I think the Light Seed needs a memetic contamination function. You can't guarantee that everyone who gains power will keep their original heart after peace arrives. How about letting the Light Seed's conviction 'contaminate' the chosen ones?"
Herta's idea was to let those who changed their minds simply "fall into goodness."
But 'Ruan Mei' shook her head:
"But if we truly do that, who sets the standard? Obtaining an incarnation of hope by contaminating the soul... that goes against my expectations."
"Then what do you suggest? Either way, I won't accept anyone with strange motives mixing into the Giants of Light." Herta's attitude was firm. Although she didn't say it out loud, she seemed quite fond of this new species born from her hands, even feeling a bit protective.
"How about adding a detachment mechanism? After overcoming the hardship and welcoming peace, the Light Seed will automatically detach. Those who can still maintain their original heart will naturally step onto this Path and become true Giants of Light."
"You... you're even more ruthless than me." Herta looked at 'Ruan Mei' with a strange expression. This person seemed even more extreme than herself.
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