Back in his own room, Ankit lay on his bed and calmly sorted through the changes brought by his breakthrough to Stage 2, Substage 4.
He already had a clear read on his new parameters:
- Strength: roughly 200 tons of lifting and striking power.
- Defence: able to endure impact up to about 40 megajoules before serious damage.
- Destructive force: around 35 megajoules in a focused strike.
- Speed: up to 6,000 km/h when pushing himself.
- Sensing range: a sphere with a radius of 100 kilometres.
- Lifespan: extended to approximately 4,000 years.
He didn't bother testing his jumping ability. Jumping was meaningless now; he could simply float and fly at will.
The dramatic boost in defence and attack came directly from the Root Core awakening its earth nature and having its pathways fully filled. Earth brought resilience and solidity; when matched with Solar and Sacral support, his body had become a fortress.
His lifespan increase was a side effect of that same enduring earth nature, quietly reinforcing every cell. His speed, meanwhile, came less from muscle strength and more from his new gravity control—flying by rewriting how the world pulled on him.
His thoughts drifted from raw stats to the "professions" his clones had developed while he was shut away.
Those clones truly were efficient. They not only explored new elements and forged techniques for him, they were also building entirely new occupational paths, with many uses and functions.
Judging purely by current usefulness, he ranked them in his mind:
1. Vyuha Architect – unquestionably first. The fortress, the defensive arrays, the resource fields, the training grounds—everything ran because of formations designed and refined by Solar Clone.
2. Rasa Maker – second. Sacral's pills and elixirs were already accelerating his family's growth and recovery.
3. Vyuha Puppet-crafter – third. Puppets handled scouting, labour, and covert missions, from Asura assassins to domestic caretakers like Gyu.
4. Astra forger / Weapon Refiner – fourth. Weapons, tools, and array cores were becoming more refined with each experiment.
5. Sacred Beast Tamer – fifth for now. The path was still young, with only a cow and a few tests underway, but its potential was enormous.
He was satisfied with all of them.
With those thoughts drifting lazily through his mind, Ankit allowed himself to relax. It wasn't physical exhaustion that pushed him to sleep; his body could continue for far longer. He simply didn't need to stay awake. Rest would let his new state settle more smoothly.
***
The next morning, he woke refreshed, washed up, and stepped out of his room—only to notice that his parents' quarters were empty. Sanya, however, still snored softly in hers.
He went in, shook her awake, and half‑dragged, half‑guided the grumbling girl out into the corridor. A message from Sacral Clone pulsed in his mind, directing him to the garden; their parents were waiting there.
This time, he didn't summon puppets or use external constructs.
Instead, Ankit let his feet leave the floor.
A gentle twist of his internal field lifted both him and Sanya into the air. They glided down the hallway, hovering a handspan above the stone, moving toward the garden entrance while Ankit used his powers to carry Sanya alongside him like a floating passenger.
Sanya blinked fully awake when she realised they were no longer walking.
"Brother, why are you flying?" she demanded. "You always said you hate flying."
Ankit smiled. "I said I don't like flying using my powers."
He offered no further explanation.
At first, Sanya just frowned. Then her eyes flickered between his relaxed posture and the silent, effortless glide. There were no wind wings, no visible Vyuha—just her brother drifting forward as if gravity had forgotten him.
Her mouth fell open. "Wait… so you're not using your normal powers to fly?" she asked slowly. "But you are flying. So that means… you're doing it naturally?"
As they neared the garden, the realisation finally clicked and she blurted out, loud enough to echo off the walls, "You're flying without any support at all?!"
Ankit, amused that his "dumb" little sister had pieced it together at last, nodded. "More or less."
Excitement lit up Sanya's face. Ankit had told her before that there was a huge difference between forcing flight with external powers and flying as easily as breathing. Seeing him glide without visible effort made that distinction crystal clear.
Her joy, however, quickly shifted into a quiet longing.
When will it be my turn? Even if her speed and strength already surpassed normal humans by many times, she knew she still couldn't stand beside a true cultivator—especially not this version of her brother.
Ankit noticed the way her expression dimmed and knew exactly what she was thinking. His heart softened, but his decision didn't change.
He looked away, pretending not to see.
It wasn't that he wanted to deny her cultivation. The real reason was simpler and harsher: his system was still incomplete. Until the human path of Essence Flow Ascendancy was perfected, and until he could guarantee a rock‑solid foundation with minimal risks, he refused to gamble with his family's futures.
One day, he would guide them onto the path properly.
But not yet.