Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4573: The First Tongue IV

Across existence, entities specialized in their cultivation and advancement.

The very act of following any Way that was not pure Mana could be considered a form of specialization, even if practitioners did not consciously recognize it as such.

The Way of Fire, The Way of Ice, The Way of Gravity, The Way of Destruction. One could mention countless concepts across all domains and folds, and there would be corresponding specializations built around each one.

Noah had many powerful concepts cultivated within his existence. Gravitation, Polarity, Fire, Chaos, and many others pulsed with potency inside him. But he had deliberately not chosen to make any of them his fundamental Way of Existence. He had chosen Mana over all of them as his core foundation.

If he had instead chosen to follow The Way of Infinity as his fundamental path, would he have been considered to have specialized in that concept? And would such a choice have meant losing pure Mana entirely from his cultivation?

He could not say for certain what might have occurred. But because he had chosen The Way of Mana as his foundation, he could now fully embody the quality of Infinity within that Mana itself without sacrificing versatility.

And now, as he received more and more profound knowledge regarding this wonder from an ancient teacher, his Way was advancing even further with remarkable speed. Knowledge remained absolutely critical when it came to making genuine progress in one’s Way of Existence.

THE Primeval Titan looked at Noah with what felt like growing discernment beneath all that flowing hair.

|It is not impossible to keep advancing without choosing a specialized identity,| Ul’moreth said with measured consideration. |But it is extraordinarily difficult for reasons most entities do not comprehend. Pure Mana, The First Tongue itself in its undifferentiated state, simultaneously holds all possible identities and none at all. This creates a fundamental problem.|

His presence intensified with emphasis.

|Existences who wish to cultivate power must choose something specific to attach their Way to, to give it a defined identity and direction. Otherwise, they would catastrophically explode from trying to express all identities in existence simultaneously. After all, individual entities themselves are not boundless in their capacity. They have limits to what they can contain and process.|

|You somehow managed to avoid this existential constraint entirely. You fully formed your Way around Mana, The First Tongue itself without collapsing. The only explanation for why your existence did not implode when you decided to make your fundamental path The Way of The First Tongue was that you also had to be boundless in some critical aspect. You had to be compatible with taking on Mana’s already boundless identity without being destroyed by that boundlessness.|

His voice carried a question that was also an answer.

|If all of us could have accomplished what you have done, do you genuinely think we would not all be walking The Way of The First Tongue in its pure form rather than accepting variations and specializations of it?|

BOOM!

Another set of profound words made complex truths suddenly clear in Noah’s understanding.

The issue was simple when properly explained. The First Tongue, pure Mana in its undifferentiated state, contained the potential for every possible identity that could exist. Life, Death, Helios, Singed, Outerversal, Fire, Ice, Storm, Hunger, Time, Space, Gravity, and infinite others all existed as potential expressions within it.

For a normal entity with finite capacity to declare "I follow The Way of Mana" would be like trying to pour an ocean into a cup. The sheer boundless nature of what Mana represented would overflow and shatter any container that tried to hold all of it simultaneously.

So entities specialized. They chose one tributary from the infinite river. They declared "I will be Fire" or "I will be Storm" and accepted the limitations that came with such focus in exchange for the ability to actually survive their cultivation.

But Noah had declared his Way to be Mana itself while simultaneously possessing Infinite Mana as a fundamental characteristic of his existence. He had made himself a boundless container before attempting to hold the boundless substance. His infinite capacity matched the infinite potential of what he was trying to cultivate.

That was the critical difference. That was why his path was possible when it should have been impossible.

Noah’s entire existence continued to shine with luminous and terrifically bright light as he absorbed the full implications of this revelation. His body radiated waves of blue gold Primus Mana with increasing intensity.

Ul’moreth looked at him with what felt distinctly like a smile beneath all that obscuring hair. The ancient being rose upward slightly and spoke with purposeful direction.

|Come on, follow me. There is more you must witness and understand.|

With such words, THE Primeval Titan radiated concentrated obsidian gold light that wrapped gently but firmly around Noah’s form. The energy began pulling him along smoothly, heading deeper into the heart of Ginnungagap’s ancient landscape.

Noah continued monitoring his rapidly advancing Way of Existence as they traveled. New comprehensions were integrating into his foundation with each passing moment.

This revelation explained so much. This was precisely why his weavings of Protagonist, Cheats, and Loot had been buzzing with such fervor since his arrival here!

Oh, what a genuinely glorious place Ginnungagap was turning out to be!

---

In an entirely different direction of Ginnungagap’s vast territory, separated by countless Gigaparsecs of dangerous terrain, a very different scene was unfolding.

BOOM!

"I! Fucking! Hate! Ginnungagap!" The voice of THE First Hunger boomed out across the chaotic landscape with genuine frustration and rage.

The surrounding environment trembled as THE First Hunger and THE Living Origin fought desperately against three massive Malformed Ginnu Lifeforms that had ambushed them after slipping past the first.

The first creature resembled a serpentine dragon covered in crystallized obsidian scales, but its body twisted through dimensions in ways that made tracking its position nearly impossible. Its multiple heads existed in different spatial layers simultaneously, striking from angles that should not geometrically exist.

The second was a massive arachnid with legs that extended through temporal rifts, allowing it to attack from multiple points in time at once. Each strike came from both past and future simultaneously, creating paradoxical wounds that tried to collapse causality itself.

The third appeared as a shifting mass of liquid obsidian that could not maintain consistent form, constantly flowing between solid and ethereal states. It absorbed attacks by simply ceasing to exist at the moment of impact, then reforming to strike back.

The battle was absolutely brutal in its intensity.

THE First Hunger had his jaws opened impossibly wide, releasing seas of obsidian crimson Hunger that systematically devoured massive chunks of the creatures’ existence. But the suppression of The Light of Ginnungagap reduced his authority by ninety percent, forcing him to expend tremendous effort for effects that would normally be trivial!