Returning to the large door, Ethan stood quietly in place, continuously observing his surroundings.
When he returned last time, what he saw had been completely different from when he first entered. Now that his strength and realm had advanced another level, what he saw had changed again.
At his current level, even without the "key," this door could no longer hold him back.
On the other hand, if he had not completed the "key" task and dramatically increased his strength, he would not have been able to reach this realm so quickly.
Ignoring the doorknob, he simply reached out and pushed the door. It was as if the door had not been locked at all, and Ethan opened it with a gentle push.
Nothing could be seen inside the open door, only a soft white light.
Ethan did not linger to observe. He stepped through the door, and as if passing through a curtain of water, when he could see his surroundings clearly again, he had completely left the seemingly endless staircase.
He glanced back, but there was no door behind him. At this moment, he stood in a wondrous place.
There was no ground. All around him were various energies and fundamental forces. He felt as if he were in an ocean of energy, and he sensed that even if he did nothing but stare quietly, his power would continue to increase.
"Is this the Source Sea?"
He looked at Eugene, who had appeared beside him at some point, recalling the words Eugene had spoken back then: Anyone could do it, as long as they could help him enter the depths of the Source Sea.
"This is the middle layer of the Source Sea. Further ahead is the core region of the Source Sea."
He pointed ahead. Although the surroundings seemed similar, the area Eugene pointed to had a clear distinction. The energy concentration there was higher, almost tangible.
Simply put, it was like a wall formed from pure energy, and even Eugene could not break through this wall.
Ethan glanced around a few times but did not ask any further questions about the Source Sea. He needed to resolve another issue first.
"Where is Abraham?"
According to the rules set before, once either he or Abraham successfully left the Tower of Babel, the other would also leave the Tower of Babel at the same time, bringing their feud to an end.
"Now, you can easily pull him before you."
Eugene did not seem to care about Ethan's attitude, nor did he care that his son was about to be killed by Ethan. Perhaps in his eyes, a useless son was the same as having no son at all.
Ethan closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. When he opened them again, he reached out as if lightly stroking an invisible rope, then gently tapped to the side. Immediately after, he grabbed something and pulled hard. A figure was yanked out of the void by him.
A chain suddenly appeared in his empty hand, with the other end bound to Abraham. The latter recovered from his initial daze and immediately understood what was happening after seeing his surroundings clearly.
"You've already come out of the tower?"
Abraham had originally thought his performance in the Tower of Babel was excellent. His strength had been steadily increasing, and he had now touched the threshold of a higher realm. He did not believe Ethan could progress faster than him.
He had felt certain of victory and was just about to "cross" that threshold when he was suddenly pulled out of the Tower of Babel.
Ethan did not answer him. He only looked at him with cold indifference. Abraham frowned and looked at Ethan, then at his father beside him. The two distinctly different yet equally cold faces made him understand.
"It seems you've successfully reached that level..."
He wanted to say more, but Ethan had no interest in listening further. He had pulled Abraham out of the Tower of Babel to end their feud, not to listen to his lengthy speech.
With a slight flick of his hand, a peculiar energy flowed along the chain. The next second, Abraham, entangled by the chain, vanished into nothingness along with the chain that had appeared out of thin air.
Abraham, who had given Ethan countless headaches in the past and whom he could only fight to a draw even when going all out, could now be killed with a single thought.
Ethan felt no triumph, nor did he let out a sigh of relief. Nothing could cause his emotions to fluctuate now. His mind felt unprecedentedly calm, as if nothing existed that could make his emotions waver.
After dealing with Abraham, Ethan turned to look at Eugene. The latter stood quietly to the side, seemingly having been waiting for Ethan.
"You should have sensed it. At our level, there isn't much left to pursue."
"..."
Ethan did not speak, but that seemed normal. Eugene continued.
"But don't think you've reached the peak, because the true peak is in here!" Eugene pointed to the "wall" beside them. "Only by entering the core of the Source Sea can you access true power! Only by mastering that power can you truly stand at the pinnacle!"
"So, what should we do?"
Ethan calmly glanced at the man, his eyes fixed on the area in front of him where the energy concentration was so high it resembled a wall.
"Working together, we can open a passage to the core region."
Eugene then explained his idea, which was not difficult to understand.
He had tried countless times. With his strength alone, he could only barely open a path, and it could not be maintained long enough for him to pass through this area and enter the core.
"But if our powers are combined, it will be enough."
Ethan did not speak. Instead, he asked another question.
"This place is called the Source Sea. What if the energy concentration gets higher the closer you get to the core region? How do you know the energy concentration in the absolute core region won't be even higher than this area in front of us that looks like a wall?"
In that case, even if they temporarily opened a passage and entered the core, all that would await them would be an even more solid wall. They might even become trapped inside. In a more serious scenario, they could only watch as they were "crushed" by the immense energy.
"I can be certain that only this area in front of us has an extremely high energy concentration. The core region is not like this."
"Why are you so certain?"
"The core region of the Source Sea is primarily composed of various 'rules.'"
Ethan did not press further. Eugene's meaning was clear. The core region of the Source Sea was dominated not by this "tangible" energy, but by the more ethereal power of rules. Therefore, there was no need to worry about being crushed by vast, high-quality energy.
"Then let's begin!"
Ethan nodded, indicating that he had no objection.
The two stood together before the energy wall and began to mobilize all their power. As their energy was continuously released, a passage slowly appeared in the wall before them.
What they needed to do was create an area ahead with a relatively weaker energy concentration and continuously extend it forward. Simply put, they were digging a tunnel.
Everything proceeded smoothly, but since Ethan had not been at this realm for long, a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Just then, Eugene glanced at Ethan, and countless chains suddenly shot out from his body, binding Ethan and rendering him immobile.
"What are you doing?"
Ethan remained very calm, as if this sudden situation had nothing to do with him. He calmly looked down at the chains and could even slowly analyze which fundamental forces were used in them.
"Fusion? Transformation?"
Other forces like "binding," "imprisonment," and "tenacity" were not strange, but the fusion power contained within surprised Ethan. However, in just a second, he understood what Eugene wanted to do.
"You want to seize my power?"
"That's right!"
"To enter the core of the Source Sea?"
"That's right!"
"This was your original plan, wasn't it?"
"Yes!"
Eugene had always appeared indifferent to everything. Only the matter of entering the core of the Source Sea could cause significant emotional fluctuations in him.
Perhaps for this reason, Eugene spoke much more than usual, including why he was doing this.
The core of the Source Sea was not as he had described earlier. Although it contained a large amount of fundamental forces, the tangible pure energy was also immense, and its concentration far exceeded the area they were currently trying to "excavate" in front of them.
In other words, the method of digging a tunnel was completely unfeasible.
"With the power of a single person, even going all out, we could at most maintain a state where we wouldn't be crushed to death by that immense energy. In that case, even if we entered the core of the Source Sea, we would merely be 'sealed' within it and unable to do anything."
Eugene wanted to enter the core of the Source Sea to comprehend and master its miraculous power, not to be trapped inside. Therefore, he racked his brain and came up with a solution.
A person at his realm could not move freely, but what if there was "another person" to help him withstand the immense pressure?
"So, you want to turn me into a piece of armor capable of resisting immense energy pressure, so you can have enough energy left to do what you want in the core of the Source Sea."
"That's right!" Eugene acknowledged it, while also revealing a smile he had never shown before. "Don't try to escape. Did you think I didn't notice your little movements?"
"..."
"It's impossible for you to escape now. From the moment you entered the Tower of Babel, it was destined that your divine body would become my armor, helping me reach the ultimate peak!"
The reason Ethan's divine body was being transformed so easily by Eugene was related to what he had experienced in the Tower of Babel. The previous trials were fine. They were indeed meant to help Ethan reach a higher realm.
But the final "exit" task had added many things to his divine body. Those powers and rules were completely under Eugene's control. This caused his divine body to transform at an extremely fast rate. It would not be long before he became Eugene's "armor."
Watching his body slowly twist and change, Ethan still did not panic. He simply flicked his wrist, sending the bracelet made of Infinity Stones flying out.
"It wasn't in vain that I specially prepared a gift for you."
(To be continued.)