MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 997: Apexus

While every individual present, excluding Altheria and Veronica, commanded planetary-level combat strength, the younger cultivators—Aura Nova, Lucian Darkheart, and Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos—had not yet ascended to the supreme cultivation stage that bestowed such dominating battle might: the Apexus Mana Rank, embodying the ultimate zenith of their Galaxy cultivation path.

In that instant, solely Null Anthony along with the elder generation had brushed against this Mana Rank. Yet despite the elders having grazed this level, they paled in comparison to the youth who hadn't, these prodigies being freakish outliers of an entirely superior magnitude, their advancement and promise shattering all reason and tradition.

Aaaninja, lost in a trance, sensed his Mana Rank surging skyward like a bolt loosed from a drawn bow, surging forth relentlessly and surpassing ordinary boundaries.

Ascendant Mana Rank Level Five... Level Seven... Level Nine.

In the following moment, mana erupted in a devastating surge that ripped through space as if it were mere thin parchment, the nearby void unable to bear the ferocious influx. Yet the advancement refused to halt merely upon cresting the summit of Aaaninja’s present Mana Rank; rather, it pressed on with horrifying velocity.

The divide separating the Ascendant Mana Rank from the subsequent tier fractured at once, fissures spiderwebbing over its unseen frame, before it crumbled utterly as the breakthrough forged ahead unhindered and unchallenged.

Dominion Mana Rank; Level One... Level Three... Level Six... Level Nine.

Aaaninja perceived vast quantities of mana flooding into him through every pore on his skin, his mana core morphing into a voracious void poised to consume all energy sources in its path without mercy.

Aaaninja experienced the metamorphosis unfolding live, his muscles swelling and compacting at the same time, their compactness and weight multiplying rapidly, his bones toughening and purifying to an elevated degree, his blood growing denser with might, his veins fortifying while his heart drove blood with colossal vigor, his consciousness broadening as if acquiring sharper insight, vigilance, and senses right then and there.

Aaaninja sensed his bodily might skyrocketing to extremes where, should he clash with his pre-breakthrough self, one effortless swat from him would obliterate that past version into oblivion with no strain.

However, that wasn't the sole shift; he also detected a deeper alteration stirring in his Soul, something profoundly more essential than the bodily evolutions.

His Soul appeared to glow brighter and intensify in vibrancy, as if it had likewise been fortified, polished, and raised to a superior plane of being—and truly, it had received a total renewal and amplification.

During any breakthrough, should a person bear physical or ethereal wounds, such as damage to the Soul, the Heavens would instinctively mend the individual and restore peak condition as a tribute and salute to attaining a loftier realm.

Naturally, this mechanism excluded curses, since those were foreign burdens tied outside basic mending, thus for any irreparable harm, one merely needed to advance to the next Major Mana Rank for full automatic recovery. And obviously, this applied not to minor Mana Ranks from Level One to Level Nine, but solely to Major Mana Ranks and Realms.

Previously, in Aaaninja’s duel against Lucian, he had offered a fragment of his Soul to form a True Soul Clone capable of deceiving Lucian flawlessly, thereby rendering his Soul partial and splintered. He remained unconcerned, possessing methods to mend and reunite his Soul later, yet now such efforts proved unnecessary—the Heavens handled it, fully repairing his Soul and making it more integral than ever.

Once the Physical and Soul evolutions concluded, Aaaninja’s form started quaking fiercely as if wracked by colossal duress, the mana influx into the planet densifying to unheard-of thickness, the world beneath them creaking under the unbearable load before it detonated inward with ruinous force, caving in savagely—yet this failed to disrupt the continuing... ascension.

"Don’t tell me..." Lucian’s eyes bulged in astonishment as he gazed at the shuddering Aaaninja, his tone scarcely audible.

"He is stepping into the Apexus Mana Rank," with those words escaping Klaus’ mouth, the essence of reality itself appeared to affirm it, the cosmic weave responding in kind.

The very next heartbeat, the sector of the Galaxy encompassing them flared into a dazzling, otherworldly azure and silver as Aaaninja’s figure seemed to dissolve from all views entirely, though he lingered, his presence palpable yet elusive, with mana still thundering toward him without cease.

Aaaninja felt like his core genetic code was undergoing a total overhaul. His form disintegrated in the moment and reconstructed over and over, his Eyes Of Genesis burst into shards of sacred radiance before reforming in a vastly enhanced version, his heart detonated in a gruesome spray of gore and tissue, only for a new one to sprout immediately. For every limb and vital that perished, a replacement emerged immeasurably tougher, more resilient, and beyond all prior limits.

The process persisted as if the Heavens were stripping Aaaninja of his mortal frailties, remaking him into a flawless entity fit for the stature he claimed, one nearer to godhood.

His mana core quivered wildly inside him, then swelled ceaselessly while absorbing mana boundlessly, until it hit a critical point, halted suddenly, then released a searing flash of mana upon breaching into the superior realm.

The Apexus Mana Rank.

The Apexus Mana Rank lacked sub-levels; it stood as a unified and unchallenged condition. Here, no traditional cultivation leaps occurred further. Power gains stemmed entirely from personal honing, expertise, and prowess sharpening, much like Null Michael, the Sword Saint, who forged a sublime leap post his clash with the Eleven Winged Angel dubbed the Sword Origin.

The radiant silver and azure glow faded the instant Aaaninja fully entered the Apexus Mana Rank. His form reemerged into sight, his white locks now radiating with a subtle, exalted luster, his Eyes Of Genesis appearing more spectral and captivating, as if language crumbled before their splendor and command.

Aaaninja brimmed with colossal vitality coursing through him, infinite and limitless; before, he wielded the fighting force of Apexus Mana Rank holders, but hadn't truly joined them—now he had, and all sensations rang... flawless, unified, and supreme.

His frame overflowed with might beyond his current measure, his mana blazed without end as if genuinely boundless now. Bodily harms ceased to matter, for only strikes at his core essence could truly harm him henceforth.

His gaze swept serenely across the scene, revealing he now drifted in the Galaxy, the prior planet having exploded into stellar rubble. He uttered no words, merely conceived and commanded in silence, and abruptly, Time flickered and rewound, fate yielding to his intent, restoring him and all others to the planet as if the catastrophe never transpired.

The mana toll for inverting an entire planet’s timeline? Utterly trivial, beyond any calculation.