More knowledge continued to unfold within Marcus' mind, no longer in fragments but in a steady stream of understanding.
In the Origin Universe, race determined one's starting point. This was due to the core of the race; also called Bloodline.
Bloodline purity was the foundation of divine potential.
Distinction existed from the very first step. Bloodline determined the starting potential of different races while at the same time potential determined initial Rank of the race.
And finally the initial Rank determined the size of the planet/ domain granted at awakening.
Races were divided into three tiers.
Low Tier races--- These possessed thin, diluted bloodlines. Humans belonged here. Alongside them were goblins, minor beast kin, burrowing insects, small hive species, and countless physically weak or short-lived races. Their divine essence was faint.
Low-tier races began at an Initial rank of Demi-Gods. Their starting planets/domains ranged from 5 to 10 kilometers at most.
{N/B{Divine Ranks: Demi-God, Planet God, Solar God, Domain God, True God, Galactic God, Cosmic God, Universal God, Celestial God and Supreme God.}
Marcus looked across his five-kilometer world and understood. It was not random.
....
Mid Tier races--- Theses included; Elves, elemental spirits, stone born, certain high beast kin clans. Their bloodlines carried clearer traces of ancient power or divinity. Their bodies were stronger, more stable vessels for divine energy.
Mid-tier races typically began as Planet Gods. Their initial domains ranged from 15 to 30 kilometers. This implied; Larger ecosystems. More resources. Greater starting authority.
Then there were the Top Tier races--- This included Angels, Dragons, Ancient Beasts such as the Phoenix. Leviathans born in primordial seas. Star-forged titans.....
Their bloodlines were nearly pure, close to their primordial origins. Their bodies could withstand immense divine pressure from the moment of awakening. Many began as Planet Gods, and some even as Solar Gods. Their starting territories ranged from 30 to 50 kilometers, sometimes entire small systems if their rank justified it.
The logic was direct.
The stronger the body, the greater the potential.
The purer the bloodline, the higher the starting rank.
From the outset, humans were limited by their race.
Marcus felt no anger at the conclusion. It was structural, not personal. Humans were not physically powerful. Their bloodlines were thin. That thinness restricted the divine force they could safely channel at awakening.
But there's one fact that puts human race at a better starting point than other low tier races---That is Intelligence and Adaptability.
....
He put those depressing thoughts aside and continued to sift through the information.
When humans transmigrated, they still have a chance to awaken their Bloodline, a hereditary divine essence. 99% can only awaken the standard Human Bloodline, classified as F-Rank. Weak. Basic. Dependent on environment/Elemental.
Each bloodline carried an Innate Talent that is Passive and Planet/Domain-dependent.
For example, a human bound to a desert planet might gain mild heat resistance or sand affinity. One bound to an oceanic world might possess improved healing or water manipulation. On a forest world, minor plant affinity. On stone terrain, enhanced endurance.
Innate Talents scaled slowly with bloodline rank. They strengthened with experience, refinement and purity of bloodline. At F-Rank, the effects were minor. Like Slight elemental affinity, small physical enhancements, marginally improved Faith generation.....
Compared to high tier races like dragons or angels, it was almost negligible.
But bloodlines were not fixed.
They could be purified with certain methods....
Marcus absorbed the methods with careful focus; Sacrificial Faith Rituals, Artifact Imbuement and Celestial Trials. This were the three main methods to Purify their bloodline and raise its rank.
The process was brutally difficult. Most gods remained at F to D Rank even after centuries. Advancement beyond B-Rank was rare. Advancement beyond A-Rank was legendary.
Bloodline ranks stretched far beyond what humans normally imagined. These Ranks were; F. E. D. C. B. A. S. SS. SSS. EX(Unique).
At higher tiers, bloodline alone could influence planets, systems, galaxies. At the highest ranks, it could rewrite universal constants.
Planet/Domain synergy also mattered. A fire-aligned bloodline thrived on volcanic terrain. An ocean affinity flourished on water worlds and so forth....
Although Humans began at a disadvantage; their starting planets were small, their bloodlines thin, and their initial authority limited, their minds and Intelligence is more and far superior to other races especially beasts. And within a universe governed by growth, Intelligence and adaptability carried its own weight.
....
As Marcus continued absorbing the flow of information, a sudden realization struck him. His own domain—his planet—was not like the idealized worlds he had glimpsed in the Universal Will's instructions.
There were two kinds of planets: Life Planets and Barren Planets.
Life Planets possessed the basic conditions necessary for life survival. Water. Atmosphere. Soil. Cycles of temperature. Some even contained primitive vegetation, small beasts, or developing intelligent races. These worlds were fertile foundations. A newly awakened god could guide early life, protect tribes, grant minor miracles, and in return harvest Faith.
Faith was the currency of ascension. Without it, divine power stagnated.
With it, a Demi-God could accumulate authority, expand territory, and eventually advance into a true Planet God.
Without it, progress was slow or impossible.
Barren Planets/Dead planets were different. They were incomplete. Rock, dust, unstable terrain, thin or chaotic atmospheres. No water cycle. No plants. No beasts. No microorganisms.
He probed his own planet/domain carefully, extending his divine perception to every corner.
Five kilometers.
That was the diameter of his domain. The absolute minimum granted to low-tier races. A small sphere of stone suspended in the vastness of the Origin Universe. The surface was uneven and dry. Cracked plains stretched between jagged ridges of dark rock. There was no wind shaped by forests, no movement beneath the soil, no pulse of any biological activity.
He probed again not believing. Nothing moved. Nothing stirred. No trace of vegetation, no primitive animals, no microorganisms. Dust and rock stretched across the five-kilometer sphere. Not a single heartbeat responded to his presence.
He confirmed it with indifferent clarity.
His starting domain was a Barren Planet! also called a dead planet!
The thought hit him like a physical blow.
He recoiled mentally, his thoughts spinning. Five kilometers of barren land and atmosphere. No signs of life at all.
This translated to an impossible start. Gaining followers was impossible here. Faith could not flow where there's no life. Without Faith, he could not grow, could not refine his bloodline, could not advance beyond Demi-God.
A wave of panic rose in his chest. He imagined the billions of other humans, the angels, dragons, ancient beasts, and elves, each awakening to fertile worlds teeming with creatures to cultivate and harvest faith. While they built influence, refined bloodlines, and claimed territory, he was stranded on a silent dead domain.
He pressed his perception deeper into the stone, hoping for some hidden spark of life, some dormant fragment that could respond to his will. Nothing answered.
The weight of the situation became unbearable. His divine core, still fragile as a newly awakened Demi-God, quivered under the pressure of his panic. Tiny cracks spread across the rock beneath his feet as his uncontrolled anxiety rippled through his domain. Even the minimal five kilometers of stone seemed to mock him!
He imagined the others moving forward; guiding primitive civilizations, harvesting devotion, refining bloodlines, expanding into solar systems and galaxies. And he? He had nothing that could even perceive his presence.
The loop repeated relentlessly in his mind. No life → No Faith → No growth.
Without growth, he could not advance. Without rank advancement meant he could not survive in this dog-eat-dog Universe.
For the first time since arriving in the Origin Universe, Marcus felt the stark, unrelenting weight of being truly unprepared. His planet was empty. His power, though newly granted, was meaningless without something to direct it toward.
He was at the lowest possible starting point. Five kilometers of barren stone. A Demi-God with no followers, no believers, no path forward except the impossible task of creating life from nothing.
The universe did not forgive weakness, and he had drawn the worst possible beginning.
...
Marcus' panic had deepened as the truth settled in. Even if he wanted to create life, he could not simply will it into being.
The torrent of information from the Universal Will clarified the layers of divine economy—how power flowed and was consumed.
Faith was the most basic form of divine energy generated by believers, it allowed a divine being to conduct minor miracles, small blessings, and the most important was the maintenance of a god's domain. To be precise, Faith was necessary for even the simplest tasks!
1000 Faith Points(Faith) can be condensed into a single Divine Crystal. Thus 1000 faith = 1 divine crystal. This was the first step toward meaningful creation and transformation.
Divine Crystals were Faith refined, condensed and stabilized; a materialization of devotion into something tangible. They could be used to expand territory, reinforce the laws of a planet, forge weapons and other artifacts, or strengthen followers.
But to reach true creation—to sculpt life itself, or bend planetary laws—required something more precious→ Divinity.
10,000 Divine Crystals could be condensed into a single unit of Divinity. Thus 1 Divinity = 10,000 Divine Crystals.
Divinity was the high-order essence a god needed to break through limits, create laws, ignite stars, and advance in rank. It was the raw core that allowed a Demi-God to reach Planet God, a Planet God to reach Solar God, and beyond. Without Divinity, life could not be formed, ecosystems could not be stabilized, and advancement was impossible.
And most importantly it could not be converted back into Faith or Divine crystals. Once spent, it was gone.
N/B {1 Divinity = 10,000 Divine Crystals = 10,000,000 Faith Points.}
....
Marcus felt the weight of the truth pressing down on him even more. His planet was barren. He had no life to generate Faith. No Faith meant no Divine Crystals. No Divine Crystals meant no Divinity. No Divinity meant no life creation, no rank advancement, no growth. The system was absolute and inescapable.
He was trapped at the bottom. Not merely disadvantaged, but restricted by the very rules that governed the universe. Any progress he wanted to make would require accumulating Divinity he could not yet produce. He could not shortcut the process, could not invent a workaround without stepping into unknown violation of cosmic law.
Even with all the knowledge the Universal Will had granted, the bare truth remained: a barren planet with no believers was not just a setback. It was an obstacle that threatened to stall a god before he could even begin.