1586 Two Decades Later...

Everyone was left speechless at the clones' blatant disrespect, feeling second-hand embarrassment for Lord Marduk.

"Stop speaking for immediately and don't bow no more."

Felix swiftly tried to redeem the situation, not wanting to disrespect Lord Marduk by ordering his clones around.

The clones listened to Felix's orders like they were god-sent decrees.

"How? How does this make any sense?" Lord Marduk stood before his clones with a deep sense of bafflement.

He could sense his senses were completely cut off from his clones like they were stand-alone people.

This shouldn't have happened since he was creating them with an elemental ability, not a law-based ability...In other words, they needed his constant supply of elemental energy to survive.

"I think evil energy is fueling their existence." Felix shared.

He didn't make a guess, he could feel the clones' evil energy attempting to suck off purities from the area to sustain their hosts' existence.

"It makes sense, evil energy is like a parasite that attaches itself to the soul." Lady Sphinx nodded, "I believe if you ordered it to stop, the clones would eventually die out on their own unless you ordered them to self-sustain themselves through neutral energy conversion."

"I don't want anything to do with this." Felix addressed Lord Marduk, "If you want them to die out, just say the word."

While having two perfect clones of Lord Marduk was a massive deal, Felix had no interest in keeping them around if Lord Marduk didn't approve of it.

It was too much of a cowardly move after he trusted him to join his team and offered his assistance wholeheartedly without pulling back.

"I don't care you keeping one." He shrugged his shoulders, "You can use him to create natural treasures, minerals, and purities for you to consume...It will save me a lot of trouble of creating new clones to do those jobs."

"Are you serious?" Felix raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Felix knew that if he were in his position, he would never allow his clones to be under someone's else leadership regardless of his identity.

However, Lord Marduk seemed to have a different thought process.

"It doesn't affect me negatively at all...Instead of letting them go and wasting all of my efforts in creating them, you might as well use one of them." He explained calmly.

"Why not both, if you don't mind me asking?" Fenrir inquired.

In his eyes, if he allowed one to stay, he might as well allow the other, which would boost Felix's upgrades much better.

"It's because he can't afford to have two significant pieces of his soul detached from him without being able to utilize them." Elder Kraken answered the question for him, "Each time he split his soul to create a new clone, even if it recovered, it would never really be at 100% of its strength. The only way to have it 100% complete was through having all other pieces of his soul return to him."

"In other orders, he could have a limited number of clones each time and it was too much to have two clones outside of his control."

Lord Marduk nodded in confirmation, causing Felix and the others to have a much deeper sense of respect for him.

In a sense, he was giving Felix an ownership of part of his soul, and all of them knew, that he wasn't doing this out of love or politeness.

No, he truly sought victory in the cause and he was showing that he would do anything to make it happen.

"Much appreciated Elder." Felix bowed his head in gratitude as he gave him his word, "I vow you, your clone won't be disrespected in any fashion."

"I already understand that." Lord Marduk smiled faintly.

***

Two months later...

In the vast emptiness of space, Felix prepared for a monumental transformation. He stood amidst the stars, a lone figure against the backdrop of the endless cosmos.

With a deep breath, he began to channel his energy, focusing on the task at hand.

Slowly, his form started to grow, expanding exponentially until he towered over the celestial bodies around him.

Felix became a moon-sized giant, his presence so massive that it warped the very fabric of space around him.

In this gargantuan form, he assumed a meditation position, a serene and focused expression on his colossal face.

In his enormous hand rested a crystal cup of unimaginable proportions, within which lies a mountain of natural treasures and elemental minerals, each one a rare and potent source of energy.

The cup, a hundred kilometers in size, was filled to the brim with these treasures, glowing and pulsating with raw power!

Felix waited patiently for two months for the sake of gathering this much quantity...This cup held within it the collection of the primogenitors, his friends, and even his subordinates as he had ordered Malak and Mr Igris, his business empire's representatives to purchase everything available in the market.

'This cup alone must be worth hundreds of empires' and I am about to devour it whole.' n-/In

With a faint chuckle, Felix brought the cup to his lips...Then, he consumed the entire collection of natural treasures and elemental minerals in one grand gesture, an act that symbolized his insatiable quest for power and knowledge.

As the last of the treasures disappeared into his colossal form, Felix closed his eyes, his breathing deepened, and he entered a state of deep meditation.

This was no ordinary rest; he actively put himself in a deep slumber that would last years or perhaps even decades.

He had to do this if he wanted to digest the massive quantity of treasures in the least possible time.

As for his colossal size? He could maintain it even in his slumber as he had already learned all the available elemental techniques.

One of them was passive neutral energy absorption. When added to elemental expansion, he could remain in this form for eons to come unless the entire universe ceased to exist.

While Felix had placed his main consciousness in deep slumber, the hundreds of his clones weren't going to halt working at all.

******

Time went by slowly for some and fast for others...Before one could realize it, over two decades passed in the cosmic realm, a period marked by a few significant events.

During this time of quiescence, the universe did not stand still.

Notable among the myriad changes was the liberation of the Watchers' race from their dimensional imprisonment!

This event reshaped the dynamics of cosmic politics and power, as the Watchers, beings of profound insight and power, rejoined the universal stage, to reclaim their lost honor.

This was Felix's payment to the watchers' king after failing to convince Lord Shiva to meet up...Even though Lady Sphinx had picked up his slack and made it happen eventually, Felix still felt indebted and he didn't like that.

Meanwhile, the Void Nation had achieved a significant milestone...They successfully gathered enough void creatures to manifest two more wishes, which would help Felix have four immunities in total.

In the realm of creation and research, Felix's use of wisps led to the successful crossbreeding of multiple new SSS natural treasures!

These novel creations, teeming with untapped potential and power, were entrusted to the demonized Lord Marduk's clone to be studied and recreated for Felix's utilization.

Felix sure used them to the fullest as he had successfully concocted the fabled God's Pillar potion at last, a feat made possible by Lord Marduk's recreation of the key ingredients.

Additionally, Felix managed to create a new unique rank-six recipe.

While it was not the exact formulation he initially sought to help him with the treasures' absorption, it represented a breakthrough in his alchemical journey, expanding the boundaries of what was possible within him.

There were many other smaller events like Malak reaching the peak of her bloodline at last and obtaining Phoenix's remarkable ultimate ability, Nirvana Revival.

It was quite a powerful ability, which somewhat explained Lady Phoenix's obsession with sleep.

The moment Malak possessed it, she started sleeping for long periods too since Nirvana Revival activated only during long slumbers.

What it did was somehow self-burn the user until they turn into ash and then revive their bodies much stronger overall.

This process could happen potentially infinitely depending on the owner's limitation.

So, god knows how powerful Lady Pheonix was compared to other primogenitors when she spent billions of years asleep, going through an uncountable number of Nirvana cycles!

Meanwhile, after decades of slumber, Felix began to stir at last...The universe itself seemed to hold its breath as he awakened.

As Felix slowly opened his eyes, a new power radiated from within him...The energy he absorbed during his long meditation had immediately been fully assimilated.

With a graceful motion, he stretched out of his colossal arms, causing a shockwave of energy to ripple out from him!

This wave was not just immense; it was cataclysmic!

The nearest planets, caught in the path of the energy wave, began to tremble violently.

Rumble Rumble! Within moments, they imploded under the sheer force, collapsing into dust and debris that scattered into the void...

'That was quite a well-needed slumber." He yawned with a muddled look.