Under the pounding of Lucci's divine thought, the laws representing "death" no longer opposed the laws of "life," but became the end and beginning of the cycle of life.
The law of "devouring" no longer opposed the law of "creation," but became an essential part of material cycles and energy conservation.
The originally chaotic eighty-one laws, under his refinement, began to form a perfect, contradiction-free miniature universe model—endless and self-consistent!
As the artifact's internal structure gradually reached perfection, Lucci proceeded to the second stage.
Understanding countless cosmic laws, he became an invisible carving knife of laws, etching his own "Path" into the shaping mass of liquid metal.
He did not carve specific runes.
What he carved was reason, law, Path.
He carved the core secrets of the "Great Cosmos Meditation Method," binding it eternally to his soul.
He carved the laws of the origin true flame, making it the supreme carrier of true fire.
He carved the vision of "infinite growth" and "self-evolution," granting it boundless possibility.
At this moment, time seemed like it was being infinitely stretched.
The dwarves of Nidavellir could only see the massive golden origin true fire pulsing rhythmically like a gigantic breathing heart.
They couldn't understand Lucci's actions, yet they could feel a sublime, vast aura slowly being born from that true fire—an aura that shook their souls.
Finally—
When Lucci completed his last understanding of the Path, the artifact prototype was finished!
It still had no specific shape, but the mixture of energy and matter had formed a complete cycle of laws.
Now, it began to take form.
Buzz—
An inexplicable Path resonance, centered on Nidavellir, spread in an instant!
Ignoring spatial distance and material barriers, it was like dropping a stone into a silent lake—ripples spreading and instantly sweeping across the entire universe.
This Path resonance triggered the resonance of the most ancient, fundamental laws in existence.
In Jotunheim, the Frost Giant King felt the laws of ice in the air become unprecedentedly active and obedient.
In Alfheim, the dark elf leader awoke from sleep, staring toward Nidavellir in shock.
On Earth, the Supreme Sorcerer Ancient One, meditating in Kamar-Taj, suddenly opened her eyes—countless timelines appeared, all trembling at this moment.
Whether powerful sorcerers, so-called interstellar gods, elemental monarchs, or explorers of dimensional mysteries…
At this moment, all strong beings of sufficient level felt the laws of heaven and earth shift.
The change was subtle, yet vast in impact—like someone had adjusted the underlying code of the entire cosmos.
Countless beings lifted their heads, gazing at the boundless starry sky, hearts filled with confusion and shock.
Who was sacred?
What great existence could cause such an immense resonance of cosmic laws?!
…
In Asgard.
Odin's body suddenly shook.
His closed eye snapped open, no longer calm or deep, but filled with pure shock and disbelief.
He "saw" it.
As a All-Father-tier existence and supreme ruler of the Nine Realms, he was more closely linked to the laws of the Nine Realms than anyone.
He felt the resonance more clearly and deeply than even the Ancient One or Laufey.
In his perception, the entire sea of cosmic laws was being drawn toward a "sun" at this moment.
It wasn't a single law fluctuation—not fire, ice, space, or time—
But something that encompassed everything.
It seemed to accept and integrate all mysteries and truths, ultimately sublimating them into a higher "Path."
That Path resonance was lofty and vast, gentle and perfect—like the prelude to the birth of the universe, a harmony filled with infinite possibility.
Odin surged to his feet from the throne.
"This… this…"
His voice grew hoarse with shock.
He had lived long, witnessed countless miracles, personally participated in universe-scale wars—
Yet he had never felt such pure, original resonance of laws.
Where was the source?
Odin's divine thought brushed against Heimdall's all-seeing sight, spanning endless void, tracing the resonance back to its origin.
No suspense.
His divine thought locked onto the ring world he had just been watching—
Nidavellir.
At the moment he sensed it, Odin understood at once.
Lucci.
Who else could it be?
Odin's heart began to pound violently, uncontrollably.
He remembered Lucci restarting the neutron star furnace with bare hands.
He remembered Lucci deducing the "Uru Dimensional Ascension Formula."
He remembered Lucci looking down on even the Stormbreaker—worthy of being called a King of Artifacts.
He had long known Lucci would forge a natal artifact for himself, and he had looked forward to it.
But he had never imagined this!
Lucci moved fast—and what he called "forging" was truly shocking.
"How long has it been… how long has it been?!"
The shock on Odin's face gradually turned into indescribable ecstasy and expectation.
"Resonating with the laws of the cosmos… This… this is no longer forging. This is creation!"
Odin knew better than anyone what that meant.
It meant what Lucci was creating was not merely a "weapon."
It was a Path artifact—of an extremely high status—recognized and blessed by the laws of the universe from the moment of its birth.
Such a level of creation had not appeared for tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands—of years.
The last similar record was at the dawn of the cosmos, when creator gods forged original relics for themselves.
"This child… this child… how many surprises will he give me?"
Odin's one eye shone with unprecedented light as he looked toward Nidavellir, shock beyond words.
And beyond that shock—
It was the greatest pride from the heart of a father.
And endless expectation.
…
Nidavellir.
The resonance of cosmic laws came swiftly and faded swiftly.
When the sublime Path resonance that swept across the Nine Realms gradually settled, all the powerful beings fell into long contemplation and suspicion.
And at the center of it all, before the forge platform—
That colossal golden origin true fire's radiance reached an unprecedented peak!
Within the incomparably brilliant core, the artifact prototype completed its final law imprints and structural formation.
It was no longer a chaotic lump of liquid metal, but condensed and contracted, gradually revealing its final form.
"Congeal!"
Sitting cross-legged, Lucci spoke a low decree of supreme authority.
With that command, the invisible power brought by the law resonance spread across Nidavellir, becoming unseen torrents that surged into the true fire and were absorbed by the prototype.
This was the universe's "gift of blessing"—the laws' blessing upon this newborn Path artifact.
After absorbing that immense law power, the mass within the true fire began its final transformation.
From liquid to solid, rapidly.
Its form shifted: sword, saber, spear, halberd…
Countless weapon shapes cycled, as if searching for the most suitable form to carry Lucci's "Path."
Eventually, it froze into the form of a sword.
The sword is the king of weapons, symbolizing righteousness, authority, and decisive severance.
It matched Lucci's current Path: to cleave falsehood and pierce the heart.
The moment the sword took shape, Lucci suddenly withdrew it.
The origin true fire that had burned for so long collapsed inward as if grasped by an invisible hand, and in an instant all light and heat vanished without a trace, returning once more to a golden flame that was drawn back into Lucci's mouth.
When the true fire vanished, the new artifact floated quietly in the air.
All the dwarves—including Eitri—held their breath, eyes wide, unblinking as they stared at the sword.
Yet everyone was stunned.
Because this sword's appearance was…
Too minimalist.
It was a standard longsword: slender body, simple hilt.
Its color was a deep, starry black that seemed to absorb all light, as if cut directly from the night of the cosmos.
And besides that…
Nothing.
No beautiful lines on the blade, no shining gemstones—
Not even a basic edge.
The blade was rounded, looking completely incapable of harming anyone.
No runes the dwarves could understand were engraved upon it. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, yet it reflected no image—only deep emptiness.
It floated silently, without glow or energy fluctuation, like an ordinary obsidian-polished craft piece.
But this "ordinary-looking" longsword made every dwarf's soul throb from the depths—
Ten thousand times more terrifying than facing the Stormbreaker.
They didn't dare look at it directly.
They felt that if they stared for even one more second, their souls would be swallowed by that deep starry sky, falling into eternal void.
Lucci slowly rose and extended his hand.
The longsword, as if sensing its creator's call, let out a light, joyful hum.
The sound wasn't loud, but it rang directly in the depths of everyone's souls, making them want to kneel.
The sword became a streamer of light and fell slowly into Lucci's hand.
It felt slightly cool—yet as if it held the entire cosmos.
Lucci stroked the smooth, edgeless blade, sensing the law pulses resonating perfectly with his soul, and finally smiled in satisfaction.
"From now on, your name is Path of Flame."
Path of Flame.
The Great Path is guided; all laws are unified.
It was the name Lucci bestowed upon his natal artifact—and the best interpretation of its core traits.
Eitri dared to ask carefully, "Forgive my ignorance… this… this Path of Flame divine sword… what is its greatest characteristic?"
He truly couldn't see where the power of this edgeless sword lay.
Lucci held Path of Flame, feeling the perfect unity between man and sword, and explained lightly:
"Its power is not fixed."
"Its greatest characteristic is that it can grow without limit, evolve without limit, with my understanding of the Path."
"Today, my Path is the sword, so it takes the form of a sword."
"If in the future I comprehend reincarnation, it can become a Reincarnation Disk."
"If I explore time and space, it can become a Time Shuttle."
"My Path is its Path."
"My growth is its growth."
"It has no limit."
Lucci's words made all the dwarves feel as if they were listening to heavenly scripture again.
At the same time, they understood the most critical point:
Infinite growth.
Infinite evolution.
A living artifact.
"Then…" Eitri's voice trembled even more. "Right now… what is the power of the first form—the sword?"
Lucci's lips curved into an odd arc.
He turned, holding the edgeless "Path of Flame" casually, and gently swung it toward a tabletop-sized chunk of abandoned Uru divine steel beside the forge platform.
No sound.
No light effects.
No energy fluctuations, no spatial distortions.
Not even a wisp of wind.
Under the dwarves' baffled gazes, that incomparably hard Uru divine steel…
vanished.
As if it had disappeared into thin air.
As if it had never existed.
Eitri and the others froze, rubbing their eyes as if seeing an illusion.
"Gods… ah…"
"That chunk of steel… where did it go?"
Lucci sheathed Path of Flame and explained calmly:
"I only used it to sever the karma of its existence, here and now."
"From this point, it disappears completely."
"It does not go to the past or the future. It is simply erased from the very concept of existence."
The moment those words fell, the whole of Nidavellir seemed to go cold.
Eitri and all the dwarves felt as if they had fallen into an icy cavern.
Sever… karma?
What kind of attack method was that?
It completely surpassed their understanding of physics, energy, and magic.
This was—
Unbelievable.
A purely conceptual attack.
They finally understood why the sword had no edge.
Because it didn't need one.
When the method of attack reached the conceptual level of "erasing existence," did sharpness still matter?
Dwarf King Eitri couldn't stop trembling.
He wasn't afraid Lucci would use the sword against them.
He trembled from fear at his past ignorance and shallowness.
He still remembered the vague contempt in his heart when he first met Lucci.
He still remembered viewing Lucci as merely a young Asgardian prince here to learn forging.
He still remembered considering the Stormbreaker his supreme masterpiece.
Looking back now—
How ridiculous. How laughable. How utterly foolish.
He thought he had seen Lucci's power.
Restarting a neutron star furnace with bare hands, deducing the "Uru Dimensional Ascension Formula," directing the forging of the Stormbreaker…
He thought he had raised Lucci's status to the highest imaginable: a "God of Forging."
But only now—only after witnessing the birth of Path of Flame with his own eyes, only after hearing "severing karma"—
did he awaken.
I was wrong.
Utterly wrong.
How could the existence before him be defined by something as small as "God of Forging"?
Forging was merely one insignificant fragment among the billions of mighty powers he displayed.
This was playing with "concepts."
This was rewriting "laws."
This was defining "existence" and "nonexistence."
This was…
the authority of a Creator God.
He was not the "God of Forging" as they had believed.
That title was far too small for him.
He was a living, walking, real—
Creator God.
...
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