The Law of Brutal Rebirth was not merely a Law of healing. Its deepest concept was transformation through adversity. The closer one approached destruction, the greater the rebirth. The closer one approached death, the greater the return.

Eventually, that understanding gave birth to Beginning's Domain which also happened to be a very rare type of Domain. A Trial Domain.

Unlike most domains, Beginning's did not necessarily require a hidden layer in the second layer of the void to manifest. It could become a world, but it did not have to. More importantly, it did not care about physical bodies. What mattered were souls and essence.

As long as Beginning possessed even the slightest advantage over an opponent, he could forcibly drag their soul and essence into his Trial Domain.

The Trial Domain was essentially a death battle. A brutal contest between two souls. The winner devoured. The loser was devoured. Simple. Cruel. Absolute.

If Beginning won, the opponent's soul and essence would become nourishment for his rebirth. If Beginning lost, he would become nourishment instead. The victor would inherit everything. Strength. Potential. Essence. It was direct and brutal strengthening.

This was the rebirth Beginning had discovered within his Law back in Hell.

It was also precisely because of this new plan that he had allowed the Scroll Sovereign to injure him so heavily.

Back in Hell, using this Law Domain had carried somewhat less risk since Rank 4 beings had been suppressed there. Here, things were different. One mistake could kill him. If the gap between him and his opponent was too small, activating the Trial Domain would be gambling with his own existence.

A slight advantage was not enough. Beginning wanted certainty. He wanted overwhelming superiority.

So he endured. And endured. And endured.

Every wound increased his strength. That was why he had not healed. Everything had been deliberate preparation. Everything had been leading to this moment.

The Scroll Sovereign, however, knew none of this. All he knew was that the monster before him continued growing stronger. The more damage he dealt, the stronger Beginning became.

Beginning stared silently at the struggling old man in his palm, then lowered his gaze toward the countless injuries covering his own body. For the first time, Beginning seemed satisfied.

There was no point continuing. The Scroll Sovereign had already reached his limit.

More importantly, Beginning had reached the limit of what he was willing to risk. The Law of Brutal Rebirth was powerful, extremely powerful, but there was a limit. The closer he approached death, the stronger the return. However, if he truly died before that return arrived, then everything would become meaningless.

Even Beginning understood that.

A moment later, he stopped suppressing his healing.

The entire domain shook violently. The Scroll Sovereign's eyes widened.

Beginning's wounds began healing with terrifying speed. The flesh around the gigantic hole in his chest grew visibly before the eye. Broken bones twisted back into place. Missing organs regenerated. Cracks throughout his body disappeared one after another. The arm that had been completely torn off rapidly reformed.

At the same time, his aura exploded upward. A terrifying shockwave swept across the scroll world. Countless burning scrolls were torn apart. The rivers of parchment below erupted into the sky.

The Scroll Sovereign's face turned even paler. He wanted to escape. Unfortunately, he could not. Beginning was still holding him. The old man could feel his bones creaking.

"What… what are you?"

The Scroll Sovereign's voice trembled. Beginning did not answer. He simply continued healing and growing stronger. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

If Michael had been present, he would have immediately noticed something shocking. Before the High Drake's recent evolution, the current Beginning was no weaker than the High Drake had been. In fact, he might have been stronger.

Then the Scroll Sovereign felt a chill spread throughout his soul. A chill unlike anything he had experienced before.

A dark aura began spreading from Beginning and quickly covered him entirely.

This was Beginning's domain, and yes, it could be activated even within another's domain. This was not entirely unheard of. Cultivators with great control and understanding over their domain could create partial manifestations, like certain half-step Rank 4 experts, and use some of their domain abilities inside another's territory.

The only difference between that and Beginning was that for him it was entirely natural.

The Trial Domain did not require territory. It did not require a world of space, because its battlefield had never been physical to begin with. Its battlefield was the soul and essence of the parties involved.

The moment the dark aura completely covered him, the Scroll Sovereign suddenly lost control of his body. Everything froze. Even Beginning himself. Everything became motionless.

The old man looked around in confusion. Then he noticed something horrifying. His body had become translucent.

Was this his soul? No. Something even deeper than that. It was a mixture of his soul and essence condensed together, a representation of his very existence.

Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, another figure appeared in the darkness opposite him.

Beginning.

The giant no longer possessed a physical body. Yet his presence felt infinitely heavier. The countless injuries that had covered him earlier were gone. Though only essence mattered here, Beginning's essence was terrifying.

The Scroll Sovereign immediately tried to retreat. Unfortunately, he was too slow.

Putting aside whether he could even escape this domain, Beginning was no longer the weakened opponent from the start of their battle.

The darkness exploded. Beginning appeared before him instantly.

The Scroll Sovereign's eyes widened. "No!"

The old man unleashed every technique he possessed. Countless scripture runes erupted around him. Golden scrolls appeared. Thousands of symbols flooded the darkness.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. Or rather, everything happened too slowly.

Beginning simply reached forward. His gigantic hand closed around the old man's soul.

The Scroll Sovereign screamed. "Wait! WAIT! I surrender!"

Unfortunately, Beginning did not understand mercy. Nor did his Domain possess such a concept. The Trial Domain had only two outcomes. Victory or defeat. Devour or be devoured. Nothing else.

Before the Scroll Sovereign could react further, Beginning pulled him closer. The giant opened his mouth.

The Scroll Sovereign struggled desperately, but Beginning's hand remained unmoving. He was brought closer and closer to the giant's mouth.

"No…"

His voice became weaker. "No…"

Regret appeared in his eyes. It was unclear whether it was for personal reasons or whether he simply hated that he was dying for something like the empire.

Amidst his thoughts and screams, Beginning swallowed him.

GULP.