"You donât know?" Lyra asked, her frown deepening before her expression softened as she recalled Maxâs origin from the Lower Domain.
Realizing he might genuinely be unaware of something so fundamental, she slowly nodded and began to explain. "The Divine Path Lotus is a mystical phenomenon that every expert naturally awakens upon stepping into the Master Rank. Itâs not something one trains or forcibly summons. When someone truly enters this realm, the world itself resonates with their breakthrough, and in response, a lotus blooms behind themâglowing, ethereal, and unique to their potential. The number of petals that bloom represents their innate path, their talent, and how far they can go in their journey toward divinity."
She paused, her gaze narrowing slightly in confusion. "But... clearly, your Divine Path Lotus hasnât awakened at all, despite you having stepped into the Master Rank." Her voice carried a hint of disbelief, as if what she was witnessing challenged everything she knew about cultivation itself.
Max remained quiet, the weight of her words sinking in. A phenomenon that everyone experiencedâa universal milestoneâand yet, it hadnât happened to him. No bloom. No light. No lotus. Just... silence.
A strange, hollow feeling filled his chest. If this was something all experts shared, then why had he been excluded? Why had the heavens ignored his breakthrough? Orâworseâwhat if it wasnât the heavens ignoring him... but something else entirely?
"What is the significance of this Divine Path Lotus?" Max asked, his tone filled with genuine curiosity. Now that he knew he had missed something important, something everyone else seemed to experience naturally, he needed to understand its value. He needed to know what he had lost... or perhaps what he still had to gain.
Lyra didnât answer immediately. She fell silent for a few seconds, as if carefully choosing her words. Then she looked up, her expression a mix of awe and uncertainty.
"The Divine Path Lotus is... mysterious," she said slowly. "Even in the Great Ruler Empire, we donât fully understand it. But what we do knowâwhat has been passed down through legends and recorded in ancient scrollsâis that it reflects a personâs destiny. When someone steps into the Master Rank, their soul resonates with the laws of the world, and a real lotusâyes, a true glowing lotusâblooms in the sky above them. The number of petals it blooms is not random. Itâs said to reflect your potential, your talent, and your destiny."
She paused, then added, "The more petals your Divine Path Lotus blooms, the higher your ceiling as an expert. Some people only awaken ten or fifteen petals... others, if theyâre lucky or extremely talented, bloom more . But the legendary talents, the ones who make the heavens tremble with their footsteps, have bloomed more than twenty petals. The most ever recorded in our history was twenty-nine. And itâs said that if someone were to ever bloom thirty-six petals... then they would be someone destined to rewrite the very laws of world itself."
Her voice dropped into a whisper. "But no one has ever seen it. Some even believe thirty-six petals is a myth, a lie woven into ancient times to give people something unreachable to strive for."
She looked at Max, her eyes studying him closely. "But the fact that you broke through without even a single petal blooming... thatâs something Iâve never heard of before. Itâs as if the world didnât respond to your existence. And yet... your power is undeniable. It doesnât make sense."
Max grew thoughtful at her words, his brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the now-empty mana pool, the soft blue glow long devoured by his black flames. But after a few seconds, he exhaled deeply and shrugged it off.
"It seems I havenât awakened it for some reason. Maybe itâll happen when I level up to Champion Rank," he said with a sigh, trying not to let the disappointment sink too deep. Some things were simply out of his hands. He couldnât force the heavens to recognize himâat least not yet.
"I hope so," Lyra responded, her tone lighter but still edged with concern. "The blooming of petals doesnât happen all at once. It takes place in stages. Usually, a few petals bloom at the Master Rank, a few more in Champion Rank, and so on, all the way to the Divine Rank. Every major breakthrough pushes the Divine Path Lotus closer to its full bloom." She glanced at him sideways. "So maybe... yours is just late."
Max nodded slowly, filing the information away. If what she said was true, then he still had chancesâmany, perhaps. He just had to keep climbing, keep evolving.
"Letâs go back to the empire," Lyra finally said, her voice firm but relaxed now, the air of mystery and pressure beginning to fade as the two of them turned to leave the cave.
On the way out of the cave, as they walked under the faint light of the mana crystals that shimmered along the walls, Max couldnât help but glance at Lyra and ask, "Now that Iâm in the Master Rank, can I get the status of a 2-star genius?"
His tone was casual, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He still remembered clearly how it was only through Lyraâs influence that he was granted the title of a 1-star genius in the Great Ruler Empire, even though he hadnât been a Master Rank at that time.
Now that he had finally broken through, he wondered if she could help once more. After all, having the title of a 2-star genius in a place as competitive and prestigious as the Middle Domain was no small matterâit could open doors even strength sometimes couldnât.
But Lyra shook her head gently. "Sadly, no," she said with a soft chuckle, "But you can do it yourself now."
"I can?" Max blinked, a little surprised. He had assumed that being in the Champion Rank was a basic requirement for the 2-star status, and although he felt confident in his new strength, he hadnât imagined it would be enough.