The rising levels are slow, as the living beings that die in the Lower and Upper Realm are often below level 1,000. There are a few notable figures in the tens and hundreds of thousands that raise the averages, but this is not the bulk of the common citizens that pass away.
The population of linked system users has grown to reach over 1 septillion individuals. While the average lifespan of lesser races is kept between 100 and 1,000 years, some of the more advanced ancient races have natural lifespans in the tens of thousands, even for those that do not ascend to the Upper Realm.
Even as the population grows, there are still hundreds of quintillions of natural deaths every year.
My level is well over 6 million, and gaining the experience points from one of these deaths does not amount to much. Yet, their collective experience does start to add up.
When the hundreds of thousands of years that pass by stack upon this equation, it becomes noticeable.
I'm actually leveling up at quite the rapid rate as time flies by.
The harder I pull on the soul ties of the Origin Plane, the passage of time compared to my internal consciousness exponentially separates.
A full million years pass by the time Maria and I let another drop of Emperor's Essence fall into the construct again.
We return right back to the cultivation chamber where Abby continuously restores her mortal body.
The essence of life from thousands of generations has coursed through her Primordial Tree's Ether pathways, and her energy control has ascended to a height that cannot be comprehended by any living being in the current galaxy.
It has reached a level millions of times stronger than any of the generals' or commanders' ethereal avatars left behind.
Unlike these ascended avatars, Abby is still alive and connected to the system. Even if she dared to exert every last strand of energy within her being, she would be able to heal and absorb it back slowly over time. For those that have sacrificed their worldly attachments to ascend, they do not have this luxury. They are confined as hidden weapons that are slowly succumbing to the passage of time.
"I am beginning to understand how you two perceive this place. Though, I can never claim to fully comprehend it. The difference between us still must be extraordinarily vast. I cannot even sense a weakness left in the Upper Realm's Construct seal. The beyond must be even more profound."
These words echo through the chamber as Abby opens her eyes and greets us.
All three of us have the mental capacity to perceive every particle and lifeform in the Upper and Lower Realms.
Recently, even the Demon race's sole representative, Pluto, has reached his natural end. Even as a fully realized True Purple-Cored Demon, he was born a commoner, and over a million years of life is an incredibly impressive feat.
Ren brought him to the ascension chamber, but his sacrifice was slightly different than the normal mana-based lifeforms that went through a similar procedure. While leaving behind his mortal flesh, system levels, and even demonic energy, he had to sacrifice his bonded dragon as well.
The demonic earth dragon transformed into pure ethereal glyphs and became a part of the arrays holding his soul together.
It is a similar sight to the ascended Demons I encountered long ago when I first invaded the imperial-run Purple Zone.
There are many generations of Demons that do not hold divine cores, or came from commoner bloodlines, that have already passed on these last 1.3 million years since the end of the demonic era. Many of them dissolve back into the Origin Plane and leave behind raw demonic energy for their descendants to use to grow.
Yet, as the existence of thrones and labyrinths have been discontinued, so have the mass production and bonding rates of new dragons. The system itself has mutated once again, no longer spawning these mana-based manifestations to pair with this race. It is an old piece of data that has served its purpose and no longer needs to continue running.
Unlike the prospering mana-based races, the demonic population is slowly declining. Pluto's ascended ethereal avatar still sits meditating in their most expansive temples, keeping the remnants of the rebellious past in line.
The rest of the galaxy thrives. Alveron is a unique ancient lifeform that already lived for millions of years before the end of the demons' era. The creature's mind's growth has stagnated; it is no longer in its prime but does not show any signs of aging or dying soon. The loyal monster maintains the functions of the World Wide Connectivity system and the Galactic Trade Commission without fail.
It is a completely neutral party that makes sure everyone below the Immortal Healer and the Emperor's Above all follow the rules without question.
There are no longer any unexplored worlds left in the Lower Realm. All of the fast travel Ether pathways have been consolidated and aligned to C-Tier and above Civilization Ports. These enormous hubs are so large that many lifeforms born on them never even travel across the entire port in their whole lives.
The technology has grown so advanced that rented living chambers are so indistinguishable from reality that some clans build entire simulated worlds within and live out their days inside. Purchasing solely pure mana-based constructs is the cheapest, while adding levels of divine threads or varying Ether purities to these artificial worlds costs more and more.
This is taking place even in the lowest-tiered red star-powered 5th Class civilizations.
In many of the ancient A-Tier megaports, they have built them so large over the passage of a million years that a few are over a full light year in width. They fill these structures with pure yellow divine threads and low-quality Ether, creating miniature pocket world constructs as though they are minor layers of the Upper Realm below the green zone.
As Maria, Abby, and I all scan through these new developments in the galaxy, we see the truth that those living within cannot.
All of the pure energy in this galaxy is slowly slipping out of the untraceable cracks and reconnecting with the membrane. This is the peak of technology and civilization as we know it, the final bright flicker of the candle before the decline.
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Author's Note:
If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.
There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!
Thanks for reading:)
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