Supremo let out a low chuckle. "That's a lot of questions at once. Let's start with me. I'm currently at the eighth turn of the nine true peak-turns, fifteen times stronger than others of my level, and comparable to calamitous beings capable of reaching the ninth and final turn.
"The desolate god is a fifth-turn special lifeform, ten thousand times stronger than an ordinary being of the peak-turns level. The forsaken god sits at the fourth turn — but his body is that of a calamitous lifeform, twelve thousand times stronger than his peers, which makes him stronger even than the desolate god. Calamitous lifeforms are rarely merciful, yet he has always held himself back. That restraint is why I respect him above all others — why I gifted him the entirety of my progress through the true peak-turns to comprehend. Even then, he's only allowed himself to grasp a handful of them. Comprehend more than three and his cultivation would surge to the fifth turn overnight, exposing his calamitous nature to the world and forcing him beyond the boundary realm, just as I was."
Supremo's tone shifted, growing more contemplative. "The Levian progenitor is a different matter. From what I've deduced, he's the second body of an immensely powerful calamitous lifeform on the verge of breaking through to the ninth turn. This body alone is a special lifeform twenty thousand times stronger than ordinary beings, currently at the third turn. I've never laid eyes on his true form — but I'm certain he's the one pulling the strings behind the calamitous and malevolent factions. Understand this: not every calamitous being is a calamitous lifeform. Only their kings and leaders carry that distinction. The rank and file are merely special lifeforms who've reached the ceiling of their life power."
He continued, turning to the subject of the half-step beings. "Half step peak-turn beings are those who sensed the peak-turns within their own consciousness, attempted the breakthrough, and failed. The name itself marks that failure — they reached, and they fell short. Still, the attempt alone multiplies their strength, the degree depending on their type of lifeform.
"For immortal god lifeforms — what we'd call ordinary beings — reaching half step peak-turn status makes them five times more powerful than a saint emperor transcendent entity. Special lifeforms fare better: twice as strong as a half step peak-turn immortal god, and ten times stronger than a saint emperor transcendent entity. Higher lifeforms — source-defying or calamitous alike — are granted three times the power of a half step peak-turn immortal god, and fifteen times that of a saint emperor transcendent entity. The reasoning is simple: only true peak-turn beings can wield the full power of their lifeform.
"But certain true peak-turn techniques and artifacts can narrow that gap, suppressing the lifeform's natural limitations. That's why the forsaken god took the source-severing blade from you. Its essence — the flames — was something I created. Wielded by a mere saint emperor transcendent entity, its power is enough to slay a true peak-turn being at the first, second, or even third turn. That kind of power in untrained hands is dangerous. I told him to hold it until you became a true peak-turn being yourself."
Solanky frowned. "Why?"
"Because I want you to master your own body first," Supremo said. "It already rivals a powerful special lifeform, even if you haven't unlocked its true potential. I don't want you leaning on borrowed strength. You forged that blade with your own hands, yes — but I was the one who allowed it to exist. I vouched for its creation, and in doing so, bound its power to the growth of your lifeform. The stronger you become, the more terrifying it grows."
Understanding settled over Solanky like a weight lifting. He'd always assumed the blade made no difference against powerful opponents — now he knew the truth. It had been tied to his own progression all along.
He asked about the halos he'd seen crowning the three elders' heads the instant they reached for the blade.
Supremo laughed. "Ah — that's called a shallow turn mark. An incomplete peak-turn. Every half step peak-turn being who survives their first attempt is granted one. It stores the power of the breakthrough they failed to complete. To try again, they must use the halo to connect to the peak summits, or to the peak-turn reincarnation portal, which lets them reincarnate within a cave world.
"In dire circumstances, a being can fully absorb the halo to force their power up to the first turn of the true peak-turns — but the cost is steep. They're either killed on the spot, or the backlash from that unstable surge shatters their cultivation, dropping them well below the peak entity level. That's the fate awaiting powerful special lifeforms and above. For ordinary beings with an immortal god lifeform, the fall is worse still — they can drop below the entity level entirely, collapsing into a deep slumber or a comatose state. A dangerous gamble, since an enemy could simply finish them off while they lie helpless."
Supremo's voice grew weightier. "Once you fully fuse with the source-defying body armor, you'll ascend to a transcendent entity. Combine your domain with the velvet world of contamination and the flames together, and you'll wield the single most terrifying domain in the entire god realm."
Solanky asked how Supremo knew of the velvet world of contamination — whether it came through their consciousness link.
"No," Supremo replied. "I exist outside the boundary realm. Nothing that happens within it, or in any world or realm beneath it, escapes my perception."
The revelation struck Solanky like a physical blow. Supremo could see — could sense — the worlds of every true peak-turn being below the eighth turn.
"You must break the bottleneck of your spiritual body and reach ten trillion light-years before you can begin merging fully with the armor," Supremo continued. "Ten trillion light-years is the absolute ceiling for any being's body — even for peak-turn beings themselves. The only difference is this: true peak-turn beings possess a solid manifestation of their spiritual body, identical in form to their physical one. Everyone else carries a colorized spiritual body, one nearly impossible to distinguish from their physical form.
"The instant your spiritual body breaks through to the half step peak-turn level, your physical bottleneck lifts entirely. As a transcendent entity, your physical body alone will rival a half step peak-turn being. And at the transcendent entity level, that same body will be comparable to the primordial ancient dragon empress — letting you skip the intermediate stages entirely and reach the very peak.
"You already know that elevating your spiritual power means slaying the spiritual beings sealed within this golden statue, and the eight others waiting for you across the forsaken realm, to reach the true peak-turns level. The moment you slay the last of them, you'll be qualified to challenge the peak summits, and your spiritual body will unlock the full potential of your source-defying lifeform."
His voice hardened. "Tell no one of the eight statues in the forsaken realm — or of your bond with me. The moment you do, I will sever that bond without hesitation. And no matter how powerful you become afterward, you will perish at the hands of the Levian progenitor's true body, and become nothing more than his pawn."
Then, as suddenly as it had come, Supremo's voice vanished from Solanky's consciousness.
He rose to his feet, the weight of everything he'd just learned settling into his bones. For the first time, the path to becoming a being like Supremo felt clear — tangible, within reach.
He extended his spiritual sense outward and found the others had returned, carrying the essences of malevolent spiritual beings they'd hunted down, now refining them in silence. His gaze drifted toward the mysterious woman, seated cross-legged nearby, absorbing a spiritual essence noticeably more potent than anything he'd seen from the others.
Solanky made his decision. He would head beyond the safe zone to hunt malevolent spirits himself, sharpening his spiritual body while mastering the golden statue's ultimate technique — the Devouring Heart Technique. It was the very technique the desolate god had unknowingly triggered the moment he stepped onto the battlefield of the true peak-turns beings, its energies drawn in and absorbed by the statue itself.
He vanished into the darkness where the malevolent spirits waited.
The instant he disappeared, the mysterious woman's eyes snapped open. She coughed up a mouthful of spiritual essence blood — the price of a battle against a malevolent spirit comparable to a half step peak-turn being. Only her special wings, carrying her at speeds surpassing countless saint emperor transcendent entities, had let her escape at all.