Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The subsequent transactions became smoother after the first. Aleph used information exclusive to his world to trade with Han Xiao's samples of five Supers Systems. That includes some equipment used at varying levels before Transcendent Grade, energy samples, and the likes.

Aleph emptied out more than half of his current knowledge bank in exchange for these things.

It was a losing deal at first glance. Information can only be traded once while items are not.

'Might as well give him more…'

Even Han Xiao thought it would be better to concede slightly more items to Aleph. He viewed this information as far more valuable than any material thing.

Who knows, perhaps the answer to their universe's never-ending iterations lies in it?

It wasn't just that. If Aleph met with the other people of his world, they would become even more desperate the moment they hear the information about gods. They could sell off their precious Universal Treasures for the sake of it.

"Oh. I have a blueprint of the Evolution Cube you asked for. Consider it a bonus."

Aleph looked at him in surprise before nodding.

"That's right." Han Xiao was about to bid farewell when he remembered a crucial thing. "Do be considerate of the people you might meet here."

"That's no problem."

The next moment, he completely disappeared in Aleph's sight.

"He really left…"

{Result. No traces of existence were detected in the surroundings.}

Metatron's voice rang in his ears.

"I should take my time, then."

Aleph began readying himself to binge the knowledge brought by countless civilizations.

*****

"Is that person…"

"He's not from the three universal civilizations or the five-pointed alliance of the real universe."

"Then..!"

The girl beside Han Xiao could only stare blankly at the void. The speed of their ship moved fast enough to move a hundred light years every ten minutes.

"Will there be another war?" She asked concernedly.

"There won't be one. Not now, at least."

She visibly calmed down when she heard these words.

"His world has more than a dozen Transcendent Grades. I can deal with most of them... hopefully."

The reason why Han Xiao was so open about trading information was to partly send a message to Aleph—that their world wasn't that easy to be trifled with. It was for such a reason he revealed some crucial information about his advancements, particularly his ability to manipulate most things within his universe.

For a hundred years, Han Xiao's "level" kept growing. By the sixtieth year, he felt that he could do changes that span the entire universe. The remaining forty years consolidated that feeling.

This was also where the feeling reminiscent of Terminus came from.

Han Xiao is, in the most literal sense, the universe itself.

He is the first Transcendent Grade that carried the weight of an entire universe. The succeeding Transcendent Grades will not be able to achieve anything similar to that.

At the very least, not in the foreseeable future.

"Dad…"

The girl's words jolted him awake.

The last thing he heard these words was more than eighty years ago.

"All we need is a universal-scale war…"

It was a long time since she called him Dad. Han Xiao did not expect that a universal-scale war could prompt her to do it again.

Han Xiao's daughter seemingly overheard that mutter. She wanted to scold him for being like that, but the concern of her father leading a war of such magnitude overwhelmed it.

"Ahem. That guy might not be the type to start one."

He began to explain how a war wasn't likely to happen. He included some of his speculations, which included Aleph's authority. The two he revealed were all about Time and Dimensions. If it was something related to war or destruction, Han Xiao would have been more wary.

Nevertheless, his basic vigilance remained.

"We'll see how things go. If nothing happens after a while, there's no need to worry."

*****

For three days, Aleph spent his time cycling between spending time with the two and reading the vast knowledge within the Sanctum. He started right at the bottom before gradually making his way up. It resulted in his basic knowledge of the five Supers System to become more exquisite.

A set of lights emerged atop his palm. The five colors of gold, red, blue, green, and white circled around each other. They represented the energies characterized by each of the five Supers, namely: Mechanics, Espers, Psychics, Mages, and Pugilists.

'Embryonic Power System. I understand now…'

Way back then, Aleph used the Embryonic Power System crudely. Aside from the four cursed techniques that came with it, the only other function was to switch between varying energies.

Now that he inadvertently evolved it into an authority, World, he understood its entire purpose.

Simply put, it was to create a power system that could adapt and apply all sorts of power systems from different worlds. This power system grows stronger as it assimilates other power systems to itself.

Once a sufficiently strong power system was created, the creation of a world comes naturally.

'Han Xiao… He carried an entire universe… no. It's not just that.'

Aleph was genuinely surprised by the things done in Han Xiao's world.

They suffered from a cycle.

Their universe comes to an end after a hundred trillion years. Nothing could escape that fate. Even the strongest civilizations fell after the universe's end.

Though, their struggle was not for nothing.

One of the earliest civilizations created the Sanctum, a special place that transcends the universe's cycle. Even if it comes to an end, the Sanctum will remain unaffected. This place was then used to pass on information from one iteration to another.

The more this accumulation of knowledge deepens, the greater the chances of a certain universe's iteration to escape the end.

This dream was fulfilled by Han Xiao. In their previous iteration, a civilization succeeded in utilizing a treasure made by the second previous iteration. They turned their universe "virtual", existing under a shadow of the current iteration's universe.

With Han Xiao's initiative, this "virtual" universe successfully merged with the actual universe, in turn fulfilling the dreams of countless civilizations that fell before them.

A hundred years have passed since Han Xiao's success.

'Universe… Is this the key to their strength?'

Aleph saw a common point.

Both Han Xiao and Terminus are beings seemingly unaffected by the world they were in. The former was able to change the rules of the world, while the latter literally existed in the future, bringing the end to everything in this world. he could tell that Terminus is the complete version while Han Xiao is the incomplete version.

'Was this the purpose of my trial..?'

Unfortunately, he could not grasp things after that. It was as if he was missing a key information to make correct judgements.

For now, Aleph was certain that the [World] is helpful to his future progress.

"Aleph! There's someone wanting to see your presence!"

Senti's shout from the front gate broke his immersion.

"I'm not the Heavenly Emperor."

"Okay, okay."

Senti did not listen to his words. He ended up heaving a sigh to clear some of the shame he felt.

"Let her in. We'll need her help to open up your dojo."

Aleph's words implied that Senti should treat the visitor properly.

Although bewildered, the latter gave an affirming shout before opening the gate.

"Ah."

"Hm..?"

Their visitor instinctively straightened her back. She nearly went into a salute, which was barely prevented by her remaining sanity.

Senti sent an inquiring gaze to the tall blonde woman in front of her, but to no avail.

"Marshal…"

Seeing Xuanquan's reaction, an urge to mess around rose up in Senti's mind.

'So this is why…'

With Aleph's words, she pressed down that mischievous urge and welcomed the visitor properly.