Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

As he said that, Baphomet was ready to have this avatar's Golden Soul destroyed, but, much to his shock, Adam said "Actually, I can spare your Golden Soul and allow it to go back to your main body."

While he didn't know much about other avatar techniques than the Yin-Yang Technique he used, he could guess that losing an avatar would always result in a weakened period, or it could even be permanent in certain cases. If Adam lost one of his avatars, half of his soul would be lost forever, alongside his understanding of the Fire or Water Concept.

While shocked, Baphomet said after a short moment "Don't think sparing my soul will save you."

Adam smiled and said "If I didn't know better I would almost think you want your avatar to be destroyed." Baphomet replied "Although I don't know what you did, but you angered the Higher One to the point he set an astronomical bounty on your head. All demonic factions will hunt you down in the future, whatever happens to me. While I would like to keep this avatar alive, lying is below me."

Adam raised an eyebrow and said "Lying is below you, a demon?" Hearing the doubt in Adam's voice, Baphomet snorted "Demons aren't a race, it is more of a denomination of various races, just like humanoids. Not all of them are the same."

He added "Moreover, I am not one of those inferior demons, I am the Great Devil of Purgatory, holder of Hell's Fire."

Adam asked, a little shocked "Are you telling me you are the equivalent of a God in power? Would such a persona accept the orders of another demons?"

Baphomet sneered though "Do you think all Great Devil are equal? Don't you humanoids have Skyfathers and Skymothers? Aren't they superior to other gods too?" Adam nodded, that made sense.

The allegedly Great Devil continued "While I am under the Sin of Pride, you are right to say he can't order me though. The only reason I accepted to come here was because the prize he offered for your life is something I've wanted for long."

Adam shrugged and said "I see. Well, knowing that, I can set you free, as long as you satisfy my demands." Baphomet said "I'm all ears."

Adam rolled his eyes at the literal ember and said "First, don't hunt me down in the future, that would be nice. But more importantly, I want information. You already gave me a lot, but I want to know one last thing."

Baphomet said "I'm fine with not hunting you in the future, I quite like you. I'm fine with this, if you can trust me in not hunting you. As for information, it depends on what you will ask."

Adam nodded and said "The first condition isn't very important anyway. I want to know about Hell's Fire. What you used was clearly the Fire Essence, and yet there seemed to be a twist to it, which I can only relate to Hell's Flame. Is it possible to absorb a special flame and change an Essence or a Concept?"

Baphomet was clearly surprised as he asked "Is that all you are asking for?" Adam was surprised at the demon's surprise too and asked what made him so surprised. Baphomet then said "It's quite common knowledge among the powerful, from what I know even Heroes from the Major powers know about this."

Adam replied "I am not part of any major power." Baphomet hummed "I see. Do you know about Spiritual Beings?" Adam nodded, so Baphomet continued "They do not limit to fruits or liquids, they also extend to the four basic elements. For example, Hell's Fire is a Spiritual Fire."

"As for how to integrate them, it is actually quite simple. Once you have condensed an Essence of one of the four basic elements, that is fire, water, wind or earth, you will be able to absorb the Spiritual Elements into your Essence. However, once your Essences fuses with a Spiritual Element, it will become bound to it and it will be impossible for you to change."

Adam nodded and said "I see. Thank you for the information. As per our deal, you may go." Baphomet said "I need your approval to form a spatial channel out of this dimension." As he said that, Adam felt a ripple come from the core of the dimension he had absorbed. He accepted it, and a spatial vortex appeared near Adam and Baphomet.

However, with their strength, the vortex was unable to influence either of them. Baphomet wiggled a little in his ember form as he said "Farewell, Adam Collins. May our next reunion be peaceful." Adam nodded without a word and Baphomet entered the spatial vortex, disappearing from Providence.

Now alone, Adam couldn't help but sigh. It was finally over. After a year imprisoned in this dimension, cultivating like a mad man in a race against time to earn a chance at survival, he had managed to come out on top in the end.

For the past year he had been filled with a sense of urgency and crisis. Now though, he could relax. Providence was his, he held total control over everyone inside, and his next plans would be easy to put in place. More importantly, he didn't have to do everything as quickly as he always did.

Until now, his growth had been incredibly quick, reaching a Legend's level of power in slightly more than a year. Even with his powerful body, it had taken a toll on him. Now, what he needed to do was the exact opposite. He didn't have to rush, but to stall.

His personal power would grow at a much slower rate now, and his kingdom would need time to build up. Moreover, with his plans, it would be hard to establish his kingdom in any of the Racial Powers, and without their support it would take quite long for his power to grow.

But he had no worries, for he was confident. Moreover, he would have years, even decades to grow.

Before any of that though, he had one last hurdle to get pass, and that was his tribulation. Honestly, he wasn't very scared of it, he was extremely confident of passing it. It was a tribulation meant for Silver Ranks after all.

Although it would adapt to his power, it was only so for his physical body. It didn't take into account his Concepts and Essence.

Since the tribulation would most probably be extremely destructive, Adam didn't return to the Divine Capital and instead prepared for the tribulation in the wild.

Going underground would be totally useless, so after two days of wait he sat on top of a mountain. By now, the clouds in the sky had reached hundreds of kilometers in size, and they exuded such might that no intelligent life dared to stay under it.

And finally, the awaited moment came. From the clouds, a thick bolt of lightning fell on top of Adam's head. However, upon contact, it did not even managed to crack his skin. Still, a major part of the force forcefully infiltrated his body.

But as it did, Adam's Sword Essence swept through the lightning, destroying it and transforming into energy that directly went toward his Qi Pillars. A transformation starting taking place as an even stronger lightning bolt fell. But like the previous one, it harmlessly transformed into energy.

Like that, lightning bolt after lightning bolt, they continued increasing in might. When they reached 50, a change took place though. As the lightning entered his body, Adam felt it didn't just spread it's strength all around his body, but instead accumulated in certain places to deal the most damage. He was able to disperse it, but it took more effort.

When the 80th lightning bolt fell, all of it was concentrated into one point, finally showing the incredible piercing power of lightning.

When the 90th lightning bolt fell, it couldn't even be considered a lightning bolt, but rather a lightning beast. A tiger entirely made of lightning had struck Adam, and fought against his Essence inside his body.

Various monsters were formed in the following bolts. Finally, the 98th one turned into a Divine Roc, the 99th one into a Dragon, and finally, the 100th one fell.

Adam had taken a considerable amount of damage from the consecutive strikes, as they not only attacked his body, but his soul and mind too. However, he could feel that this would be the last one, the hundredth strike, the ultimate one, the one that would let him be reborn.

And what better monster to incarnate such divine lightning than the Phoenix, the Divine bird of Nirvana?