While the "Main Body" of Austin waded through the sensory-shattering chaos of the Inter-Floor Void, his Myriad Avatar was a violet comet of destruction across the standard levels.
By the time the Avatar reached Floor 20, the Tower's announcement system was stuttering. Every few minutes, a global notification shook the staging areas, informing the thousands of bewildered climbers that the "Floor Clearing Record" had been shattered once again.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: FLOOR 19 CLEARED IN 42 SECONDS.]
[ESTABLISHED RANK: GOD-TIER.]
In the Tower Administration Office, High Administrator Vahn was no longer shouting. He was staring at two different monitors in a cold, catatonic sweat.
"Explain this," Vahn whispered, his voice trembling. "On monitor one, we have the target destroying the Floor 20 Boss—the Frost-Giant King—with a single slap. On monitor two... we have a massive energy spike in the Sub-Space Void that is consuming 15% of the Tower's total mana reserves. How can he be in the Glades and the Void simultaneously?"
"Sir, the sensors suggest..." a technician swallowed hard, "the entity in the Void is the source. The one on Floor 20 is a manifestation. But the manifestation has 100% of the original's combat stats. It's not a shadow clone. It's a... localized duplication of existence."
Vahn's eyes widened. "That's impossible. That's a Primordial-level feat. If he hits Level 50, the Milestone Evolution will trigger an Authority. If he gets an Authority while inside the Tower's Sub-Space, he won't just be a climber. He'll be a co-owner."
"Send the System Virus," Vahn commanded, his face hardening. "The 'White-Screen Executioner.' If we can't scan him, we delete the sector he's standing in."
Inside the Inter-Floor Void
Austin moved through a landscape of shifting geometric shapes and raw, unformatted data. Here, the air was made of "Experience" and the ground was "Logic." Every breath he took felt like a thousand years of cultivation.
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 47]
[CULTIVATION: QI REFINEMENT STAGE 8/9]
"Close," Austin murmured. He could feel his Manual of the Eternal Beginning reaching its limit for the Qi Refinement stage. His dantian was no longer a pool of energy; it was a swirling nebula of Primordial Chaos.
Suddenly, the shifting colors of the void vanished, replaced by a blinding, sterile white. The raw data around him froze.
A figure emerged from the whiteness. It had no face, no clothes, and no features—just a humanoid silhouette made of flickering static and "Delete" commands. This was the System Virus, the Tower's ultimate immune response.
[ENTITY: WHITE-SCREEN EXECUTIONER]
[LEVEL: ???]
[TASK: CONCEPTUAL DELETION OF ANOMALY #001]
The Executioner didn't attack with a sword. It simply pointed a finger at Austin, and the space he occupied began to turn into white "Nothingness." His HP bar didn't drop; it began to vanish, as if it had never existed.
"Conceptual Deletion?" Austin let out a short, cold laugh. "You're trying to delete the Source with a sub-routine?"
Austin didn't use Reality Flip. Instead, he channeled the raw, unrefined energy he had been devouring from the Void. He activated the Manual of the Eternal Beginning: Second Art—The Primordial Script.
He reached out and grabbed the Executioner's extended finger.
"You are a program," Austin said, his eyes glowing with the violet light of Omniscience. "And I am the one who wrote the language you are coded in."
[ACTIVE SKILL TRIGGERED: JUDGMENT OF THE FOUNDER]
Austin didn't delete the Virus. He re-wrote it.
Under his touch, the white static of the Executioner began to turn violet. The "Delete" commands were inverted into "Grant XP" commands. The Virus shivered, its form collapsing into a massive, concentrated sphere of pure, high-density Experience.
"Consume," Austin commanded.
He crushed the sphere. The energy hit him like a physical blow.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[WARNING: LEVEL 50 REACHED.]
[MILESTONE EVOLUTION TRIGGERED.]
Back on Floor 20, the Myriad Avatar suddenly stopped mid-stride. It looked up at the ceiling of the Tower as a pillar of obsidian light—darker than the void and older than the stars—descended from the highest heavens.
The entire Tower of Ascension groaned. The "Global Law" was being rewritten.
[ORIGIN WILL ANNOUNCEMENT: THE FIRST PRIMORDIAL MILESTONE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.]
[EVALUATING SOUL POTENTIAL... UNMEASURABLE.]
[GRANTING CLASS-SPECIFIC AUTHORITY...]
Austin stood in the center of the void, his body levitating as his Qi Refinement stage shattered, propelling him instantly through Stage 9 and into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
[AUTHORITY GRANTED: THE LAWLESS SOVEREIGN]
DESCRIPTION: As a Primordial, the System is your servant, not your master.
EFFECT: You may now ignore one 'Universal Law' of the Tower or the System per day. (Example: Ignore Death, Ignore Level Requirements, Ignore Distance).
Austin opened his eyes. The white void cracked under the pressure of his new status.
"Level 50," he whispered. "The tutorial is finally over."
[STATUS REFRESH]
NAME: Austin Zenith
LEVEL: 50
REALM: Foundation Establishment (Early Stage)
AUTHORITY: Lawless Sovereign
CLASS: Primordial Chaos Overlord
"Now," Austin smirked, "let's see how the 'Geniuses' handle a Sovereign."