Fortunately, the second requirement counted as complete.

Michael figured it was because the requirement only demanded that he reach one of the listed influence levels. It did not require him to continuously increase it afterward.

Otherwise, he suspected the Origin Will would have forced him to climb all the way to Universal before allowing him to advance. And considering how unreasonable the thing already was, Michael was not entirely convinced it would not do exactly that one day.

Still, compared to the first requirement, the influence requirement was practically a gift.

Unfortunately, the third requirement was just as complicated.

Michael's gaze slowly shifted downward.

[Own an Entity on the Level of your Personal Influence. Not Less Than Three Levels Below.]

"…"

The more he looked at it, the more confused he became. "What exactly does that even mean?"

Entity. The word was extremely broad. Did it mean to create an organization? Or was it a guild? Or maybe a kingdom? All of them could technically be classified as entities.

Michael rubbed his forehead.

The requirement became even stranger when paired with the influence levels. His current influence level was Multi-Realmic. The requirement stated that the entity could not be more than three levels below his personal influence. That meant the requirement was effectively demanding he possess an entity operating at either Realmic or Multi-Realmic level.

"Is it because of the word Heir in my title?"

Michael suspected it was. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this requirement, it meant he could only realistically achieve it in the real world, and even that would not be easy. The Land of Origin was not particularly helpful here either. At least from what he knew, the concept of the third layer of the void did not exist there. The Land of Origin was simply an extraordinarily large world, possibly as wide as the universe itself, but contained within a single world.

After the third came the final requirement.

[Have Five Hundred Rank 4 Subjects (4/500)]

It was a familiar sight. Before this advancement, this type of requirement had been the only kind he had faced from Rank 1 to Rank 3, and it was the reason he had achieved so many limit breaks.

Of everything listed, it was arguably the easiest, second only to the already completed influence requirement.

If Michael excluded the second and fourth requirements, the only things standing between him and advancement were the first and third. Creating a complete Domain before advancing, and establishing an entity of sufficient scale.

The latter was confusing and would require time to properly understand. The former was simply troublesome.

And he only had five years to finish all of it.

With his comprehension, Michael felt that creating a Domain before advancing might not be impossible. But suddenly, he who had initially been so impatient to advance found himself feeling that five years was too little. He was not confident enough, but he could not blame anyone but himself for the situation he was now in.

Fortunately, the rewards made everything seem worth it. And the penalty for failure was clear enough to keep him motivated. If he failed to advance within five years, he would be unable to attempt advancement again for another ten. That meant at least fifteen years of stagnation at the very worst.

Though the urgency made him anxious, it also made him want to act immediately.

He truly did not have much time to waste.

Fortunately, the rewards were genuinely worth the pain.

Putting aside the Epic Grade treasures, attribute points, and Legendary item, just the Gift and fifteen level ups alone made five years of suffering look worthwhile.

The Gift was the reason he was an awakener in the first place. Aside from the Mark of Origin, he possessed another Gift, the Eye of Truth, and each was unique and extraordinarily powerful in its own right. A third Gift at that level would be an overall boost to everything he was capable of.

The fifteen level ups were self-explanatory. Even if his peers ascended before him in five years, the moment he advanced to Rank 4 he would emerge as a Level 90 awakener. Only ten levels from Level 100.

Alongside the other rewards, this task could truly be said to represent the highest possible grade advancement the Origin Will had promised him. Michael could imagine that if he had not been in his current situation, a standard first limit-break task might have looked something like this instead.

[Rank Advancement Quest]

Achieve full comprehension of your Law and begin touching the realm of Domain.

A Death's Heir is the future sovereign. Even young, every supreme has been stated to be special. Be Renowned.

[Achieve Realmic Influence Level]

Have Five Rank 4 Subjects.

Perhaps it truly might have been something as simple as that.

Unfortunately, there were no shortcuts.

Closing his panel, Michael turned to exit the void, where outside the people of the Black Serpent Empire waited to learn their fate.

Meanwhile, back in Aurora, inside the purple world, another important matter was approaching its conclusion.

At the center of a vast clearing stood a beautiful naked woman. Or rather, a body. The clone vessel Michael had prepared for Arianne. Grass and flowering vines covered the important parts of her form, concealing her nudity while simultaneously feeding life essence into the newly created vessel.

Not far away stood a coffin formed entirely from cold blue ice. Within it rested Arianne's original body. Her eyes remained closed. The entire coffin radiated chilling mist as layer after layer of preservation formations continuously maintained her condition.

Several dozen meters away, Michael and Jester stood side by side. Both looked exhausted. Their faces were slightly pale and traces of dried blood could still be seen around the enormous formation beneath their feet. The formation itself stretched for hundreds of meters. Countless runes overlapped one another.

Michael stared at it with narrowed eyes.

Truthfully speaking, he did not understand half of what Jester had done. The former Golden Core cultivator possessed centuries of accumulated knowledge while Michael had been a supernatural for less than a year. Many times he had considered inheriting the full knowledge directly, but had always settled for only having Jester vet specific methods for him. Now that decision was even more important given how many strong individuals' memories he had already absorbed. If he was not careful, he could create serious problems for himself.

Yet despite not fully understanding the ritual below, Michael felt increasingly reassured the longer he observed. Several portions of the formation looked strangely familiar. He could clearly recognize traces of his own Undead Revival skill hidden within the larger structure.

The discovery significantly increased his confidence in the process.

"The preparation is complete," Jester stated, his gaze shifting toward the clone body. "The difficult part starts now."

Michael nodded.

After everything they had invested, there was no turning back.

Soon they would discover whether Jester's method truly worked, and whether it was truly possible to bring someone back from the dead as a living creature.