Chapter 1652: Origin Sap "Why does learning have to hurt?" Rowan growled internally, but he was aware that this occurred only because the Obsidian Abyss had been corrupted by the death of Reality and the touch of the Primordials. As if acknowledging his thoughts, the voice of Reality, which was growing more animated, spoke to him, teaching him about this layer of the void. "My children were beautiful and free, until they brought hunger into my domain." Surprised by these words, Rowan began to ask questions, but he never got any more answers, only more knowledge. However, this was good because the answer he was seeking would be revealed in time, as long as he digested all there was to know about this layer of the void. Once more, time stood still, and forever and a moment became one. Rowan sank into learning, disregarding the pain that came with this process. He could handle the pain better because he was aware that the opportunity for him to grasp the origin of the void was fleeting, and the only reason the process was going relatively smoothly was due to the negligence of the Primordials. As Rowan had come to observe, the Primordials were simply borrowing the mechanisms of Creation and were doing nothing to improve it or make it better. Every evolution, every growth of any species in Reality had already been written by Eosah, and the Primordials had just taken the glory for all to it, even calling her Essence their own. For a long time, this had served them well; they were destroyers, after all, not creators. However, if only they had taken the time to learn and improve on Eosah’s creations, then they would have instantaneously seen through Rowan’s plans, especially when it came to the matter of Origin. This did not make what he was doing any less dangerous. If he were caught, he would be ganged up on by all the Primordials, and this time, they would make sure he was dead because what he was doing was many times more terrible than the creation of a New Light that was directly challenging the domain of Primordial Light. There must be a price for negligence, and the Primordials had failed here only because they could never have believed that there might be someone who could be able to touch the origin of a concept without them being at the Primordial level. At this time, Rowan’s dimensional flesh had become filled with countless numbers of these Hollow Titans, but he was here for knowledge, and he did not fight against their invasion. He was rapidly reaching his limits, but his knowledge base was growing faster than his limitations. As he knew more about the Obsidian Abyss, his dimensional flesh grew to reflect those changes. This trend continued until Rowan crossed a threshold in his understanding, and the Hollow Titans feasting on his flesh paused, and the first of them that entered his body held its head and screamed before it exploded into enriching essence that flooded Rowan’s veins. This was just the beginning. As the second Hollow Titan exploded, and then the second and then the third, before long, a storm was born in Rowan’s veins as countless Titans began to shatter, and their essence filled Rowan. For the barest of moments, Rowan’s body was filled with the essence of the Hollow Titans, which were toxic to him because they were filled with the aura of Eosah, a dead reality. But then a spark ignited inside Rowan’s dimensional flesh, and this dead essence was like fuel that had been hit by a spark, and fire was born in his veins. In the darkness, Rowan became the only light. ® Long before the first heartbeat, before veins carried life in crimson rivers, there existed Primordial Sap. It was not merely a biological substance but a metaphysical current, the raw essence of creation itself, pulsing through the arteries of Reality, and from it came the Essence that the Primordials had fed upon. This sap was now flowing in the Obsidian Abyss, stripped of light and life, and the home of the Hollow Titans, but in Rowan, a living dimension, the Primordial Sap exploded to life, transforming into streams of iridescent fluid that course through every part of his dimensional flesh and seamlessly merged with his dimensional soul. He knew that if he introduced this power to his Origin Land, it would also seamlessly integrate with it. Rowan could not help it. He let out a long roar as he took dominion of this Primordial Sap and claimed it for himself, calling it Origin Sap. Like moths attracted to a flame, the Hollow Titans rushed into Rowan’s body. After twelve Major Eras of swimming in the crushing cold darkness, they saw the light, and they gave up their lonely existence and baptized themselves in the furious flame that was the Origin Sap. Rowan collected every single Hollow Titan in the Obsidian Abyss, and when they were all part of his Origin Sap, a new round of creation burst out of him, and the Hollw Titans were reborn inside of the Origin Sap, but they were no longer statues made from onyx shells but beings of light and fire. A burst of life force exploded from his body, so potent that he had to hold it back from rushing across Reality and changing the nature of existence. "So, this is the true blood of Reality." This inheritance was the sort of knowledge and power that had been denied to Rowan from the beginning. He was not utilizing his full potential from the start, and his dimensional flesh was not complete. Only now was he building a proper foundation that would aid him in his conquest. Rowan brought his right arm to his face and opened his palm, and he let out a drop of his new blood. The drop was almost colorless yet burned like gold; it shivered and rapidly changed its state. It could exist as both liquid and mist, as solid crystal and ethereal vapor, and in that single drop alone were ten thousand Titans! Hearing their nascent cries, Rowan could not help but smile. Once again, his blood was now sentient, and now the mysteries they contained had only deepened, for he could murmur of the past from their strong beating heart; these were fragments of thoughts from beings long extinct, and they would be his teacher. Unlike the Ether that came from his Origin Land, the Sap now flowing in his veins did not consume; instead, it was highly mutagenic. If introduced to Reality or combined with Aether, it would not sustain life or consume the Aether; instead, it would reshape it. Absorbing the drop of Sap into his body, Rowan looked around this layer of the void for the last time. He felt the flow of the Obsidian Abyss and knew that it had grown thin after the Primordials had harvested nearly all of it. When Eosah was at her peak, Rowan doubted he would be able to stand in a single spot like this before the current in her raging veins blew him away. This thought humbled Rowan, and the thrills of getting closer to the origin of space were tempered with caution. Yet he was not stopping here, bowing one last time towards the abyss, Rowan plunged deeper into the void.