The First Barrier
Three days after birth—
He stopped crying.
Not because he was comfortable.
But because he was thinking.
A Mortal Stage 1 body is fragile.
Ten base stats.
Muscle fibers underdeveloped.Meridians thin as spider silk.Soul untempered.
Yet inside him—
There was something vast.
Not active.
Not usable.
But present.
The Origin did not grant power.
It granted capacity.
And capacity meant nothing without structure.
The Sovereign Palace was wrapped in layered concealment arrays.
Even Stage 9 Gods could not peer through.
The Artificial Origin Faction had eyes everywhere.
They harvested prodigies.
Extracted bloodlines.
Dissected souls.
Compatibility research required corpses.
His father would burn worlds before allowing that.
Inside a cradle carved from Law Crystal, the child breathed slowly.
Each inhale absorbed Mortal Qi from the God World's atmosphere.
Even diluted God World qi was catastrophic to ordinary mortals.
But his body did not rupture.
It adapted.
Origin-assisted recalibration.
Energy conversion efficiency: 100%.
Waste: 0%.
Stats rose rapidly.
Not explosively.
Controlled.
+1 per circulation cycle.
No multiplier.
No technique.
Pure baseline refinement.
By the end of the third day:
STR: 9VIT: 9AGI: 9INT: 9WIL: 9SOUL: 9ENERGY: 9LAW RES: 9
Total: 72
He was nearing the Mortal Stage 1 ceiling.
But here lay the truth—
Stage advancement is not math.
It is law.
On the fourth day—
His stats reached equilibrium.
10 across all primary categories.
The body could endure more.
The Origin could absorb more.
But something pressed down.
Invisible.
Heavy.
A ceiling.
[System Notification]
Mortal Stage 1 Limit Reached.
Law Alignment Required for Breakthrough.
Stats cannot override Realm Barrier.
The infant's eyes opened.
He felt it clearly now.
A membrane across reality.
A thin film of authority.
To advance to Mortal Stage 2—
He needed comprehension.
Not strength.
Outside his chamber, two maids whispered.
Both Ascendant Realm.
Both capable of crushing mountains in lower worlds.
Yet inside this Rank 1 God World—
They were servants.
Hierarchy was absolute.
"His aura feels… different."
"It's only Mortal Qi."
"No. Beneath it."
They shivered.
Back in the cradle—
He focused inward.
Mortal Stage 1 Law:
Foundation.
The Law of Self-Awareness.
Every cultivator at Stage 1 exists in instinct.
To reach Stage 2—
One must consciously perceive qi circulation.
Not feel.
Perceive.
Control begins with recognition.
He turned his awareness toward his breath.
Inhale.
Qi entered through pores.
Exhale.
Impurities dissolved.
He mapped the path.
Nasal cavity.
Lung meridians.
Heart junction.
Dantian core.
The loop became visible.
Clear.
Structured.
A circuit.
Something clicked.
Not in his body.
In his understanding.
He was no longer breathing unconsciously.
He was refining deliberately.
The membrane trembled.
[Law Alignment: Mortal Stage 2 – Initiated]Comprehension Milestone Achieved.Origin Synchronization: 0.0001%
Breakthrough Authorized.
It was not explosive.
It was smooth.
Like sliding through silk.
The pressure vanished.
The membrane dissolved.
His meridians doubled in capacity.
Stat ceiling recalculated.
Mortal Stage 2 Baseline: ×2 of Stage 1.
Energy surged.
But not chaotically.
Because Realm governs structure.
Stats fill the structure.
Never the reverse.
His body warmed.
Bones strengthened.
Muscle density increased.
Neural speed accelerated.
His soul stabilized further.
By sunset—
All primary stats stabilized at 10 under the new stage structure.
Total: 80.
But this time—
There was space.
Room to grow.
Across the Sovereign Palace—
His father's eyes snapped open mid-meditation.
"He broke through."
The mother smiled softly.
"At four days old."
Silence followed.
Not pride.
Concern.
Fast growth attracts attention.
In the depths of a forbidden continent—
A masked figure opened a black tome.
A page turned by itself.
Ink rearranged.
A single new line appeared.
Origin Signal: Detected.
The figure froze.
Then laughed quietly.
"So it begins."
Back in the cradle—
The child felt none of it.
He was studying something else.
Law Resistance.
It had grown with the breakthrough.
Why?
Because every realm advancement increases existential weight slightly.
And existence weight draws attention.
To survive future suppression—
He would need resistance.
Not to break authority.
That is impossible.
But to endure beneath it.
His tiny hand clenched.
He could now consciously circulate qi without instinct.
Control had begun.
And control—
Is the first step toward dominion.
He closed his eyes again.
Not to sleep.
To refine.
Slow.
Steady.
Correct.
The staircase was long.
Ten stages in Mortal.
Then Ascendant.
Then Demigod.
Then God.
Each realm cubing baseline authority.
Each stage doubling structure.
He would not rush.
Because rushed foundations crack.
And cracks attract hunters.
In the silent cradle of the highest world—
A being with infinite capacity began climbing.
Properly.
And the Laws—
Watched